By Mark Berner

D. Wayne Lukas has always been bold and outspoken about his horses. Some say brash, loud, and braggadocios. So when Lukas embraces his humble I'm-just-an-old-trainer persona it raises a red flag. And when he deflects questions about his horses with a plan to alter the Triple Crown, a much closer look at the two colts he entered in the Belmont Stakes is warranted.

Commendable won the Belmont Stakes for Lukas in 2000 and paid $39.60, and he took the 1996 edition with Editor's Note, a $13.60-winner. Lukas knows how hard the Triple Crown series can be on a horse and that's why he thinks he has a chance. “The Belmont is a different animal,” said Lukas. “It's a different race, a different track, a different distance. Some of these have had some pretty good campaigns,” he continued. “When you get to the end of a four or five race program, like so many of these horses have, some of them don't always show up on Belmont Day.”

Lukas, with four Belmont Stakes victories, knows what it takes to win a 1 1/2-mile race run over Belmont's wide, sandy surface. “I think he has to have some pedigree to have him run that far,” Lukas said. “Those horses that have a high cruising speed and can maintain it for a mile and a half, usually do pretty good in this race. I think it takes a special horse. All of them run a mile-and-a-half, some take a little longer.”

No names were mentioned, but Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird fits Lukas' profile of a horse that doesn't always do so well in the Belmont, while Flying Private, one of the Lukas charges, fits his description of a horse that has a big chance. His other starter, Luv Gov, won a maiden race on a sloppy track two starts back and most recently looked to be over his head in The Preakness. Lukas thinks he'll like the deep and sandy surface at Belmont Park, but only consider him if he looks especially good when he steps on the track Saturday.

Flying Private was rounding into form just before the Kentucky Derby, but turned in a sub-par effort at Churchill Downs. The colt, by 2000 Derby-winner Fusaichi Pegasus, drew the outside post in the bulky 19-horse field and he displayed good early speed while racing widest of all, then excusably faded to last. The grandson of 1990 Derby-winner Unbridled rebounded to a fourth-place finish in The Preakness, despite being steadied twice, and finding his best stride too late. “They (Flying Private and Mine That Bird) went for the same hole twice and bumped,” said Lukas. He figures the trouble cost his horse at least four lengths, the margin of his defeat.

Julian Leparoux is Lukas' choice of rider for Flying Private and the duo have combined for a win and a second in their only two recent pairings. Leparoux won the Eclipse Award for leading apprentice jockey in 2006, and last summer rode this colt at Saratoga.

Lukas' Belmont-winning profile also fits Charitable Man, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, the second choice on the morning line at 3-1. And it fits Dunkirk, trained by Todd Pletcher, third choice at 4-1. McLaughlin and Pletcher are both former assistants to Lukas.

This year Calvin Borel is attempting to become the first jockey to win the Triple Crown on different horses, but in 1995 Lukas became the first trainer to accomplish that feat. In fact, if Borel wins on Mine That Bird, the gelding would be the first to take the Derby and Belmont since Lukas won both with Thunder Gulch in '95. For Lukas, the 1995 Triple Crown came mid-way through a record-setting streak of six straight Triple Crown victories. The streak began in 1994 when Lukas won The Preakness and Belmont Stakes with Tabasco Cat, then continued in 1995, when he won the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes with Thunder Gulch and took The Preakness with Timber Country. The run ended when Grindstone won the Kentucky Derby in 1997.

Almost every training record has been set or broken by Lukas and he's won most every award in thoroughbred racing, some of them multiple times. One more win in a Triple Crown race would make him the all-time leader with 14. He is currently tied with the legendary Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons.

Lukas will be 74 on September 2, and after more than 30 years as a conditioner of thoroughbreds he still has a goal. “The one thing that would give me great satisfaction is to win the Triple Crown,” he said. “I've won it, but I won it with two horses. I'd like to get a Triple Crown winner. The game needs it. I need it. It would be good for everybody.”

When asked if he ever thought about retirement he said: “Not a bit. I have no intention of retiring. I can see myself go10-to-15 years easy. If mentally you’re sharp, it is not a physical job. There is no how-to book, so experience is paramount. The more you deal with these horses the better you should get, as long as you're health's good. And my health is excellent.”

Retirement is so far from his mind he's rebuilding his stable following the death of two longtime clients. “We're coming back,” Lukas said. “It took the clientele a while to realize that Bob Lewis had passed away and Bill Young at Overbrook had passed away. There was a huge void without those two operations, which was about 80-percent of our business.”

He may have fewer horses than he once did, but his desire to win hasn't diminished. He's back in the Belmont Stakes for the first time since 2005, and after running 19 horses in prior Belmont's, it's very curious that he isn't saying anything about his chances. When asked about Calvin Borel's guarantee that Mine That Bird would win the Belmont, Lukas said: “I think he's had a little too much caffeine.”