D. Wayne Lukas, the Hall of Famer who became one of the most accomplished trainers in the history of horse racing and a face of the sport for decades, has died. He was 89.

His family said Sunday that Lukas died Saturday night at his Louisville, Kentucky, home. Lukas had been hospitalized with a severe MRSA blood infection that caused significant damage to his heart and digestive system and worsened preexisting chronic conditions.

“Wayne devoted his life not only to horses but to the industry — developing generations of horsemen and horsewomen and growing the game by inviting unsuspecting fans into the winner’s circle,” his family said in a statement. “Whether he was boasting about a maiden 2-year-old as the next Kentucky Derby winner or offering quiet words of advice before a big race, Wayne brought heart, grace, and grit to every corner of the sport. His final days were spent at home in Kentucky, where he chose peace, family, and faith.”

“The most important decision you’ll ever make in your life is your attitude decision. Make it early, and make the right one.”

D. Wayne Lukas

Lukas won 15 Triple Crown races, including the Kentucky Derby four times, the Preakness Stakes seven times and the Belmont Stakes four times. Only good friend Bob Baffert has more Triple Crown victories, and Lukas owns a record-tying 20 in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

“The whole secret of this game, I think, is being able to read the horse: Read what he needs, what he doesn’t need, what he can’t do, what he can do,” Lukas said in May before his 34th and final Preakness. “That’s the whole key. Everybody’s got the blacksmith; everybody’s got the same bed available, the feed man. We all can hire a good jockey. We all can hire a pretty good exercise rider, if we’ve got the means, so what the hell is the difference? The horse is the difference and what we do with him in reading him.”

Lukas was affectionately known around the barns and the racetrack as “Coach” because he coached high school basketball before his professional career with horses began. Even with months to go before his 90th birthday, he would get on his pony in the early morning and go out to the track himself, rather than letting his assistants do the day-to-day work.

Bill Knauf, president and general manager of The Maryland Jockey Club, praised Lukas as “a true titan of Thoroughbred racing.”

“His unmatched accomplishments, unwavering dedication, and enduring influence on the sport have left an indelible mark on racing history,” Knauf said in a news release from the Jockey Club. “With seven wins in the Preakness Stakes, D. Wayne was not only a champion on the track but a mentor and inspiration to generations of horsemen and women … His legacy will forever be part of Maryland Racing and the Preakness Stakes.”

The Jockey Club noted that Lukas-trained horses also won the Pimlico Special twice and the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes four times.

“I’ve always had a lot of admiration for Wayne since I was 17 years old,” Baffert said at a Preakness breakfast last month, according to the news release. “The first time I saw him train horses [was] in Arizona, and I wanted to be Wayne.”

Born Darnell Wayne Lukas on Sept. 2, 1935, in Wisconsin as the second of three children, he rose to prominence in the sport with quarter horses in races that are effectively sprints. He moved into thoroughbreds in the late 1970s and won his first Preakness with Codex in 1980.

Lukas had 4,967 documented victories in thoroughbred racing, with his horses earning more than $310 million from more than 30,600 starts.

“Today we lost one of the great champions of Churchill Downs and one of the most significant figures in Thoroughbred racing over the last 50 years,” Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen said. “We will miss his humor, his wisdom and his unmatched capacity to thrill the fans with the performances of his horses on our sport’s biggest days.”

Achieving something of a career renaissance over the past decade, one he credited to finding the right owners willing to spend money on horses, Lukas won Preakness last year with Seize the Grey. He returned to Baltimore last month with Virginia Derby winner American Promise, which finished eighth.

Asked what motivates him to keep doing his job well into his late 80s, he gave a pep talk fit for a locker room before a big game.

“If you have a passion, you eliminate all the excuses,” Lukas said. “That’s how it works. You get up early. You go without a meal. You drive. You go without sleep — as long as you got the passion. Don’t let that sofa pull you down. It’s a little easy when that alarm goes off to say, ‘Oh my God, I don’t know if I really want to do this today.’ Erase that. The most important decision you’ll ever make in your life is your attitude decision. Make it early, and make the right one.”

Banner staff contributed to this report.