LUKE

We all lost a friend with the sudden death of Luke Kruytbosch. What a high-spirited, gregarious, thoughtful soul was Luke. We first met while doing racing telecasts in Western Canada and the friendship grew when we both migrated to the Kentucky mainstream of racing and breeding.

Luke had the two best attributes a racecaller needed. He was accurate and enthusiastic whether it was the Kentucky Derby or a bottoms maiden claimer. Luke was unafraid to pump a little life into a mundane card, like the time he informed us that Bubba Gum was sticking to the rail.

One day I alerted him to the fact that a maiden I had bred was thought by trainer Bobby Barnett to have a chance in the nightcap at Churchill Downs. Luke got a bet down and gave us a masterpiece call of a maiden claimer circling from the “back of the pack” to win in the last stride at 20-to-1.

He was a consummate professional in his work and a loyal friend. What else is there to say?