RON TURCOTTE: SECRETARIAT, SUCCESS, AND TRAGEDY

Hall of Fame jockey Ron Turcotte passed away last week. He was 84 years old. Born in Canada to an impoverished family, he and four of his brothers sought a better life. With their diminutive size, jockey silks were the perfect fit for the Turcotte crew.

Ron was the first to make the move in 1960. He got his start as a groom at E.P. Taylor’s legendary Winfields Farm. One by one, his four brothers followed him to the racetrack. It wasn’t long before the Turcottes would carve out successful careers north of the border. They were all talented, but Ron was special. He was the leading jockey in Canada for the years 1962 and 63. He had proved that he was the best rider on the Canadian racing scene. Now it was time to make the move south to the states and the big time.

Ron headed for Maryland where he connected with fellow Canadian, trainer Lucien Laurin. Little did these two know that within a decade they would be two of the most famous personalities on the planet. Ron got his first taste of Triple Crown success with Tom Rolfe in 1965. He took the Preakness aboard that year’s three-year-old champion. He also rode the likes of Hall of Fame inductees Northern Dancer, Damascus, Arts and Letters, Fort Marcy, and Shuvee during the decade of the 1960s.

In the early 1970s, lightning would strike for Ron Turcotte with Penny Tweedy and her Meadow Stable’s Riva Ridge. He would give Ron a taste of things to come. The colt won both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes on the way to a Hall of Fame career. If not for a sloppy track on Preakness day, Riva Ridge could very well have swept the Triple Crown series. 

Waiting in the wings was his stablemate, a chestnut colt who would soon shake the racing world to its core. While Riva Ridge was busy winning Triple Crown races, Secretariat was about to make his debut at Belmont Park on the Fourth of July, 1972. It was at best a lackluster performance. After that, the two-year-old ran the table. He won his next eight races and became the first juvenile runner to be named Horse of the Year since the great Native Dancer in 1953. Ron Turcotte was on cloud numbers one through eight. The best was yet to come. In 1973, he would be sitting alone on cloud number nine. 

Secretariat was already a household name when he prepared for his three-year-old campaign. He started that season with blowout performances in the first two of New York’s Kentucky Derby prep races. He suffered a minor setback finishing third to stablemate Angle Light in the Wood Memorial. Two weeks later, he was on his way to Valhalla when Ron Turcotte guided him to a track record time in “The Run for the Roses.” The Preakness was two weeks later. Another track record was in the cards for the big horse. Next up was the Belmont Stakes. Secretariat annihilated the rest of the field in the mile and a half race. As announcer Chick Anderson called it, “He is moving like a tremendous machine.” At the finish, he was a mind-boggling 31 lengths clear of his nearest competitor. This one too was clocked in record time. Turcotte looking back at Secretariat’s beaten down rivals is an iconic photo in the history of the sport. 

“Bid Red” was hailed as the first Triple Crown Champion in a quarter century. He would go on to thrill fans across the horse racing universe throughout the season of 1973. It would have been fitting for Ron to be aboard the champ when he won his last race, The Canadian International at Woodbine. Unfortunately, he was in the midst of a riding suspension. His fellow Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Maple got the call and was onboard as Secretariat demolished the rest of the field by six and a half lengths. Secretariat’s career was over. He was named Horse of the Year for the second time.

Other Triple Crown champions have come along. The all-time greats Seattle Slew and Affirmed come to mind. Yet, Secretariat stands with Man o’ War and Citation as one of the three greatest horses ever produced on this continent. It is not a stretch to say that when one thinks of Secretariat, the next thought is that of Ron Turcotte. The two will always go hand in hand. 

Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there. Five years after the celebrated season of Secretariat, Ron was badly injured in a race at Belmont Park. The masterful winner of over three thousand races was relegated to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. 

It is said that one must go into the deepest valleys to climb the highest mountains. This can be stated when looking back at the life of Ron Turcotte. Despite being paralyzed, he never gave up. He spent the rest of his life promoting the Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund as a spokesman for that organization. Rest in Peace to a great gentleman of the turf, Ron Turcotte.