Ron Turcotte riding the Secretariat to Triple Crown Glory, dies at 84 | Horse Racing

Hall of Fame jockey Ron Turcotte was the Triple Crown in 1973 in the Cycling Secretariat. He is 84 years old.

Turcotte’s family through his long-time business partner and friend Leonard Lusky said the Canadian-born jockey died of natural causes at his home in Drummond, New Brunswick on Friday.

He won the Kentucky Derby, Prekness and Belmont Bet Twice each, most notably, the three men, together with the Secretariat, swept away the Triple Crown drought in horse racing, whose history was quoted in 1948. The Secretariat won 31 victories at 2:24 in Belmont, still 52 years later.

“Ron is an excellent jockey and an inspiration for many people in and out of the racing world,” Lusky said. “Although he was at the peak of his success in his career, his rich faith, courage and kindness are real measurements of his greatness.”

Turcotte has won more than 3,000 games in his nearly two decades of career, which ended in 1978 when he fell a horse early in the race and injured him to become paraplegic. William J Punk, president of the Permanent Disability Jockey Foundation, called Turcotte one of the sport’s greatest champions and ambassadors, and praised his advocacy and efforts to help fallen riders.

In 1979, he was sent to the National Museum of the National Racing Hall of Fame.

“The world may remember Ron as a famous secretary jockey, but for us, he was a great husband, a loving father, grandfather and a great rider,” the Turcotte family said in a statement through Lusky.

Turcotte was born on July 22, 1941 in Drummond and is one of 12 children. He quit school to work as a lumberjack and moved to Toronto for horse racing, first as a popular stalker and then a jockey, becoming the leading rider at Woodbing Racecourse and then advanced to the Triple Crown level.

Woodbing chairman Jim Lawson said Turcotte was “a true Canadian idol and his impact on horse racing is immeasurable.”

“Ron assumed his identity with humility, strength and dignity,” Lawson said. “His legacy in Woodbing and around the world will remain forever.”

Turcotte won Preakness with Riva Ridge in 1965 on Tom Rolfe and Derby. But it was his time in the Secretariat that made Turcott a household name in racing, which he called “the first time riding.”

“He’s the type of horse that you’ll never see again,” Turcott said in 2023. “He’s doing things you’ve never seen before and probably never see again.”