Enough Rachel....Let's me ask..Is Lure a Hall of Famer?

[Jasonm921]

If there was a fantasy all time Turf race run at a mile wouldn't he be in the starting gate? Let him have a plaque in Saratoga.

[Mineshaft]

yes

[Jasonm921]

Photo of Lure and a young Mike Smith.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/easygoer/1494821004/

[horses4courses]

I don't see why not.....

A highly talented performer on the lawn at a mile. :ThmbUp:

[Ian Meyers]

One of my all-time favorites. I have a framed piece, 3 photos with Danzig (his sire), Endear (his dam) and Lure autographed by Woody. It occupies a special place in my home. :)

[tzipi]

Great horse and one of my favorite grass horses.

[statik27]

It wasn't just the grass either, remember the race he and Devil His Due threw down in the Gotham, still gives me goosebumps. Great horse.

[Jasonm921]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/easygoer/2293959728/in/set-72157603424114036/

I have a pic of that race as well.

[sandpit]

One of my all-time favorites. I have a framed piece, 3 photos with Danzig (his sire), Endear (his dam) and Lure autographed by Woody. It occupies a special place in my home. :)

Ian, that is really cool; it would certainly be the centerpiece of my collection!

Lure is in the BloodHorse's Top 100 horses of the 20th century, and all of those belong in the HOF without a doubt. I'll take it a little further and say he is the best horse ever to not win a championship.

He broke three track records at three different track at three different distances, one on dirt and two on grass. I think he still holds the 1 1/8 track record on the grass at CD. In the Bernard Baruch, he ran ever quarter mile fast or faster than the previous one; the only other horse to do that in a route race is Secretariat.

A few years ago Lure came up in a conversation I had with Bill Mott's long time assistant Ralph Nicks. Ralph said that Lure was the toughest horse they ever faced, and they had a pretty good one in Paradise Creek.

The best for me personally is how gentle of a horse he was to be around, which I was lucky enough to do several times while he was racing. HRTV did a nice little five minute video of him at Claiborne a few years ago. Here's a link:
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/videos/watch/1A709982-255E-4F73-ACF8-E7C27F26990F

[Jasonm921]

Great piece...thanks for the link.

[Rackon]

Lure should be in the HOF and not just 'cuz I won a pile or two on him back in the day. He had a great record IMO.

What a nice horse - I always enjoyed watching him run and got to see him race in person many times throughout his career. He was a monster at a mile on grass but that Gotham was a real thriller. He was more versatile than he gets credit for - people seem to forget about the Gotham and his wins at 1 1/8.

Thanks for the inside info, Sandpit.

[Fingal]

Photo of Lure and a young Mike Smith.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/easygoer/1494821004/

Believe that was when he still had hair & hadn't gone for the bald look. Of course Lure belongs in the HOF. He's fallen into the same type of category as Gil Hodges, deserving but never getting in.

[46zilzal]

If there was a fantasy all time Turf race run at a mile wouldn't he be in the starting gate? Let him have a plaque in Saratoga.
yes...any animal twice winning a breeder's cup race, and that last one from a really bad post, has overcome enough for that distinction.

[GMB@BP]

yes...any animal twice winning a breeder's cup race, and that last one from a really bad post, has overcome enough for that distinction.

Not only was it a bad post but I think it was Wolf Trail caused a total wipe out into the first turn.

[Rackon]

Lure got carried very wide into the first turn but I think it was the next tier of horses that almost got wiped-out. A Euro (forgotten who) blew the turn, went way wide and it looked like bumper cars.Happy to see a lot of folks appreciate Lure. A top horse that doesn't get enough respect nowdays.

[sandpit]

Lure got carried very wide into the first turn but I think it was the next tier of horses that almost got wiped-out. A Euro (forgotten who) blew the turn, went way wide and it looked like bumper cars.Happy to see a lot of folks appreciate Lure. A top horse that doesn't get enough respect nowdays.

You're right, he was clear going into the turn. It was Bigstone and Barathea who would take the worst of it. Ironic, Barathea would come back to win the race the next year at CD when Lure finished worse than second for the only time in his turf career. He had wrapped a tendon a few weeks before the race, and it wasn't right that day. Too bad, since he would have been the first 3-time BC winner.

[classhandicapper]

I vote yes. :ThmbUp:

[Buckeye]

Dominant speed with a capital D at a mile on the turf. Would win the BC mile every year if he could live forever. Definitely a hall of fame horse.