Horatio A. Luro

Biography

Horatio Luro was born into a wealthy Argentinian family that had been involved with horses for generations. Well connected, he was friends with the social and business elite. One of those clients was Canada’s E. P. Taylor, chairman of a giant business conglomerate and founder of The Jockey Club of Canada. Taylor hired Luro to run his Windfields Farm, a large breeding and racing operation with two farms in Ontario and another in Maryland.

In a career that spanned 48 years, Luro trained 43 Stakes winners and three champions. He won the 1962 Kentucky Derby with California-bred Decidedly, and two years later won both the Derby and the Preakness Stakes with Hall of Famer Northern Dancer. 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 the great Nijinsky II. From 1960 through 1969, Windfields won more races than any other breeding farm in North America. Three times, Luro-trained horses won Canada’s most prestigious race, the Queen’s Plate.

Luro also won the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Santa Anita Handicap, Kentucky Oaks, Woodbine Oaks (twice), Blue Grass Stakes, Florida Derby, and Prince of Wales Stakes, among others.

Other notable horses trained by Luro included Kayak II, the 1939 Champion Handicap Male, and Iceberg II, the 1953 Champion Turf Horse.

Luro eventually acquired Old Mill Farm in Cartersville, Georgia, where he and his wife, Frances, raised their family.
 

Achievements

Triple Crown Highlights

Won the 1962 Kentucky Derby — Decidedly
Won the 1964 Kentucky Derby — Northern Dancer
Won the 1964 Preakness Stakes — Northern Dancer

Canadian Triple Crown Highlights

Won the 1960 Queen's Plate — Victoria Park
Won the 1962 Queen's Plate — Flaming Page
Won the 1964 Queen's Plate — Northern Dancer
Won the 1969 Prince of Wales Stakes — Sharp-Eyed Quillo

Other Highlights

Won the Canadian International Stakes — 1956, 1957, 1971