He gabs animatedly with Crum about horses and about his alma mater, Wisconsin, winning the Rose Bowl and then in hushed tones about Jeff, and thanks him for calling, hangs up and says: “Half the basketball coaches in the country must have called by now. Bob Knight is as close a friend as he has. He chats with the Louisville basketball coach awhile. “Denny Crum! Hi, coach, how you doin’?” Wayne says.

So everything you have, remember, you owe 85% of it to your mother. “So, I took her program and wrote: Dear Bill: In thoroughbred racing, 85% of the production comes from the dam. “When I was about to leave, she said: ‘Would you write on my program for me? Write something to Bill so that he’ll know you and I spoke.’ I’ve got Bill Clinton in a couple of my win pictures from races in Arkansas. “I was in Arkansas with her, at the races,” Wayne says. In the news this day, he sees that Virginia Kelley, the mother of President Clinton, has died of cancer at 70. He will go back to the hospital soon and read today’s news to him.

He has horses running, horses he and Jeff have trained. The private phone number to Jeff’s room is pinned to a bulletin board above him. “It’s probably therapeutic for me to talk about it,” Wayne says later, in his office. 15, he went outside in time to see his 36-year-old son stand in front of Tabasco Cat, trying to intercept the stampeding horse. When Wayne Lukas heard the commotion outside his office around 8:30 on the morning of Dec. Out the threshold of Barn 66, he had a clear view of the washing stall where Tabasco Cat, a magnificent horse, a potential Kentucky Derby horse, had broken free from his rein and gone galloping along the hardpan. Wayne Lukas had tried to go about his business, training horses at Santa Anita, but the distraction made it difficult. All they could do was check for a response. They would never be sure how much he would hear. One of them would press the recorder to Jeff Lukas’ ear. He or his mother or grandfather would go to the hospital. At home, Brady spoke into a hand-held recorder, making conversation with his father. “Are you taking good care of my dad?” Brady asked.Īnd he began making tapes. They let him examine the model, explore it, ask questions. They showed the boy a syringe, and how one works. They explained how oxygen is supplied to the human brain. Wires were tethered to it, machines connected to it. Tubes protruded from it, every which way. They took Brady Lukas to a room occupied by a mannequin. Then that uplifting moment came, when Jeff moved his hand. He told of the phone calls, the faxes, the letters. He read the daily sports page to his son. His father, Wayne, whispered into his ear. He lost 39 pounds, unable to take nutrition even intravenously. Long days and longer nights would pass before there was even a glimmer of life.

Hope Model Torrent