He won over 3,000 career races, but Ron Turcotte will forever be remembered for the three he registered aboard the legendary Secretariat 52 years ago.
Turcotte guided Secretariat to an emphatic American Triple Crown sweep in 1973. So dominant was that performance that Secretariat still holds the records he set that year in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont.
Turcotte’s family said through his longtime business partner Leonard Lusky that the jockey died of natural causes at his home in Drummond, N.B., on Friday. He was 84.
Secretariat capped the Triple Crown sweep in dramatic style, registering an emphatic 31-length victory in the Belmont. That performance, dubbed by many as one of the most dominant in sports history, made Secretariat and Turcotte the first American Triple Crown winners in 25 years.
That race also produced the iconic photo of Turcotte, in deep stretch, looking behind to see the remainder of the field well back.
“I only looked back for the other horses at the quarter pole and I couldn’t see anything under my arm,” Turcotte told The Canadian Press in 2023, the 50th anniversary of the historic win. “The picture you see of me looking in was when I was looking at the (infield teletimer) because we’d run the first mile and a quarter faster than we did when we won the Derby.”
But Turcotte wasn’t the lone Canadian tie to the majestic colt. Secretariat’s trainer was the late Lucien Laurin, of Joliette, Que. And the night before the Belmont, Turcotte was brimming with confidence.
“Lucien and I went for dinner the night after (Secretariat’s) last work,” Turcotte said. “I told him, ‘If I get beat in the Belmont, I’ll hang up my tack.’
“That’s how sure I was and how much confidence I had because of how he’d worked.”
Secretariat finished in the money in 20-of-21 career starts (16 wins, three seconds, once third). Secretariat was euthanized in 1989 after developing laminitis, a painful hoof disease.
“It was like losing a family member,” Turcotte said. “He was the kind of horse that made you want to get out of bed early, get to the barn and get your work done with him ΓǪ he kept you going.”
Turcotte was Secretariat’s regular jockey and rode the horse in 18 of his 21 career starts (15 wins). Secretariat finished his racing career in Canada, winning the ’73 Canadian International by 6 1/2 lengths before 35,000 spectators on a wet, cold October afternoon at Toronto’s Woodbine Racetrack with Eddie Maple aboard as Turcotte was serving a suspension at the time.
“Ron Turcotte was a true Canadian icon whose impact on horse racing is immeasurable,” said Jim Lawson, Executive Chair of Woodbine Entertainment, in a statement. “From his incredible journey aboard Secretariat to his lifelong commitment to the sport, Ron carried himself with humility, strength, and dignity.”
After dismounting Secretariat for the final time, though, Turcotte kissed the horse on his nose.
“That’s when he was leaving for the farm,” Turcotte said. “But I also gave him a kiss on the nose before the Preakness.
“So many memories, I’ll never forget him. Like I’ve said, he was such a lovable, kind horse. One of a kind.”
Turcotte was one of 14 children, and among five brothers who eventually became jockeys. At age 14, Turcotte went to work as a lumberjack with his father.
Four years later, Turcotte and friend Reggie Pelletier left Drummond for Toronto, where Turcotte was hoping to work as a roofer. A strike at the time scuttled those plans and forced Turcotte and Pelletier to look for whatever employment they could find, which included picking worms to help make ends meet.
It was 1960 and the first Saturday in May, which is when the Kentucky Derby is run. The landlord of the boarding house where Turcotte was living was watching the Derby and commented that, given Turcotte’s diminutive stature, he should be a jockey.
Not only did Turcotte not know what a jockey was, he’d never heard of the Kentucky Derby. As fate would have it, Turcotte found work at Woodbine Racetrack with E.P. Taylor’s barn and shortly afterwards was Canada’s leading rider.
Turcotte ultimately earned 3,032 career racing wins. That included riding Riva Ridge to victory in the ’72 Kentucky Derby and Belmont as well as the legendary Northern Dancer to his first-ever trip to the winner’s circle in 1963 at Fort Erie Racetrack.
“As much as I loved Riva Ridge, Northern Dancer is the second-best horse I rode,” Turcotte said. “He was a heck of a horse.
“I loved him from the first time I rode him.”
Turcotte’s brothers were also successful riders. Rudy Turcotte registered 1,740 victories and $11.6 million in earnings while Yves Turcotte had 1,347 wins for $8.9 million. Roger Turcotte recorded 1,187 wins for $6.5 million while Noel Turcotte accumulated 945 victories for $3.43 million.
Ron Turcotte’s riding career ended in 1978 when injuries suffered in a fall at Belmont Park left him a paraplegic. Following that, Turcotte had become a tireless advocate for the Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund, which assists injured riders.
In 1980, Turcotte was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame. He’s also a member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame and New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame.
There’s also a statue of Turcotte riding Secretariat in Grand Falls, N.B., where he’d lived in retirement.
