Rick Luhr, who was a leading jockey on the old New England circuit and at Tampa Bay Downs in the 1970s and 1980s, has died, reportedly after suffering a heart attack. He was 67.
The native of Caldwell, Idaho began his multiple stakes-winning career at Thistledown in 1976 and in 1977 relocated his tack to Suffolk Downs and Tampa Bay Downs, which was then known as Florida Downs. By the time he had retired from the saddle due to multiple injuries in 1988, he had ridden at tracks from the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in New Orleans to Parx Racing, then known as Keystone Race Track, to Rockingham Park in New Hampshire.
Over the years Luhr won multiple leading rider titles in different jurisdictions and a highlight of his career was a victory in the 1982 Tampa Bay Derby on Harbor View Farm’s Reinvested, who would go on to finish third in the Kentucky Derby (G1) that year under Don MacBeth.
In his career, Luhr rode 760 winners from 6,184 starters who earned $3,757,125 the hard way.
Luhr also served his fellow riders as a Jockeys’ Guild representative.
