Horatio Luro
| Horatio Luro | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Trainer |
| Born |
February 27, 1901 Argentina |
| Died | December 16, 1991 |
| Career wins | 910 |
| Major racing wins | |
|
American Classic Race wins: Queen's Plate (1960, 1962, 1964) Prince of Wales Stakes (1969) | |
| Honours | |
| National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame (1980) | |
| Significant horses | |
| Princequillo, Miss Grillo, Eugenia, Talon, Iceberg II, Spinney, Victoria Park, Flaming Page, Decidedly, Northern Queen, Northern Dancer, One For All, Jumping Hill, Tap Shoes | |
Horatio A. Luro (February 27, 1901 - December 16, 1991) was a thoroughbred horse racing trainer in the United States.
Born in Argentina into a wealthy family that had been involved with horses for several generations, Horatio Luro grew up as something of a playboy and maintained this lifestyle after moving to the United States. Well connected, he was friends with the social and business elite who could afford to be involved in the costly sport of thoroughbred racing. One of those elite was Canada's E. P. Taylor (1901–1989), chairman of a giant business conglomerate, the founder of the Jockey Club of Canada, and later the president of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association. Taylor hired Luro to run his Windfields Farm, a large breeding and racing operation with two farms in Ontario and another in Chesapeake City, Maryland.
In a career that spanned 48 years from 1937 to 1984, Luro trained 43 Stakes winners and 3 Champions. He won the 1962 Kentucky Derby with California-bred Decidedly and two years later won both the Derby and the Preakness Stakes with Northern Dancer, a horse who went on to be the 20th century's greatest sire. Luro also trained three winners of the Canadian International Stakes: Eugenia II (1956), Spinney (1957), and One For All (1971).
While running Windfields Farm, Luro oversaw the breeding of Nijinsky II and from 1960 to 1969 won more races than any other breeding farm in North America. Luro trained three horses that won Canada's most prestigious thoroughbred horse racing event, the Queen's Plate.
Luro basked in the publicity surrounding his racing success, associating with the rich and famous including Hollywood stars such as Bing Crosby while his dashing personality and good looks saw him dating some of society's most glamorous women. He eventually acquired "Old Mill Farm" in Cartersville, Georgia, where he and his wife Frances raised their family.
In 1980, Luro was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
References
- Hirsch, Joe. The Grand Señor: The Fabulous Career of Horatio Luro (1989) Blood-Horse Publications ISBN 0-939049-25-2
- Horatio Lurio at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame