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The jockey which set up the legendary secretariat of breed horses at the triple crown in 1973, Ron Turcotte, died at 84 years old.
The Turcotte family said through their trading partner and longtime friend Leonard Lusky that the jockey died of natural causes on Friday at his home in Drummond, New Brunswick in Canada.
“Ron was a big jockey and an inspiration for so many people, inside and outside the race world,” said Lusky. “Although he reaches the height of success in his vocation, it was his abundance of faith, courage and kindness which was the real measure of his greatness.”
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Secretariat and Ron Turcotte after winning Kentucky Derby (Jerry Cooke / Corbis via Getty Images)
He was enthroned at the renowned temple of the National Race Museum in 1979.
“The world may remember Ron as the famous jockey of the secretariat, but for us, he was a wonderful husband, a loving father, a grandfather and a great rider.” The Turcotte family said in a statement by Lusky.
Turcotte won over 3,000 races, but his career ended in 1978 when he fell from a horse at the start of a race and suffered injuries because he became paraplegic.
Turcotte won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes twice each, notably the three with the dryness of the secretariat to end the triple crown of Horse Racing which dating from the quote in 1948. The record time of the secretariat of 2:24 in the Belmont, winning by 31 lengths, is still 52 years later.
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Secretariat passing a crowd during a race in 1973. (Jerry Cooke / Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
Turcotte was born in Drummond on July 22, 1941, as one of the 12 children. He left school to work like a lumberjack before moving to Toronto to get involved in horse racing, first as a hotwalker, then a jockey, becoming the main rider of Woodbine Racetrack before going to the triple crown.
Woodbine president Jim Lawson said Turcotte was “a real Canadian icon whose impact on horse races is immeasurable”.
“Ron fell with humility, strength and dignity,” said Lawson. “His heritage in the race, both here in Woodbine and in the world, will live forever.”
People gather around a giant statue of the secretariat in Belmont Park in 2023, while they celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Secretariat for Belmont Stakes in Elmont, NY (Thomas A. Ferrara / Newsday RM via Getty Images)
Turcotte won the Preakness in 1965 aboard Tom Rolfe and the derby in 1972 with Riva Ridge. But it was his time with the secretariat that made Turcotte a familiar name in the race, and he called it “Love at First Ride”.
“It was the type of horse that you will never see again,” said Turcotte in 2023, almost 50 years of age since the conduct of the secretariat in Belmont. “He was doing something you’ve never seen before and will probably never see again.”
