Devil His Due, Lure in Dead Heat in Gotham

Devil His Due and Lure finished in a dead heat for first place Saturday in the one-mile Gotham Stakes for three-year-olds at Aqueduct.

Devil His Due appeared to brush Lure in the stretch and Lure’s jockey, Mike Smith, made a foul claim, but the stewards allowed the result to stand. It was the first dead heat for first place in the 65-year history of the Gotham.

Both horses prompted extremely fast fractions of 43 4/5 and 1:08 1/5 before finishing the one-turn mile race at 1:35 3/5.

It was the first stakes victory in four starts for Lure, who returned $2.40, $2.60 and $2.20. Devil His Due won for the third time in five starts and returned $5.60, $6.20 and $3. Best Decorated was third and returned $2.60.

In the race before the Gotham, Strike The Gold failed to win for the 12th consecutive time since his victory in the Kentucky Derby last year. Strike The Gold finished second by six lengths to Red Pine in the 1 3/16-mile Thirty Six Red Stakes.

Strike The Gold, last in a four-horse field for most of his race, will be sold at an auction at Belmont Park May 4, a year to the day after he won the Kentucky Derby.