D. Wayne Lukas set the standard in horse racing. And the sport followed suit. Trainers wanted to be like Wayne.

"Wayne Lukas reinvented the game," Lanny Kohnhorst, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association's Director of Horsemen's Relations. "Wayne produced champions, from Grade 1 winners to stallion prospects to next generation of trainers, and defined American Thoroughbred racing."

D. Wayne Lukas, a Hall of Fame thoroughbred horse racing trainer whose career exceeded six decades, died Saturday night at the age of 89 after battling several health problems in recent weeks.