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Horse Racing|Ron Turcotte, Who Rode Secretariat to the Triple Crown, Dies at 84
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/sports/horse-racing/ron-turcotte-dead.html
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With Turcotte in the saddle, Secretariat powered to victory in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness in 1973 and then demolished the competition in the Belmont Stakes.
Aug. 22, 2025, 5:41 p.m. ET
Ron Turcotte, a champion jockey who made racing history when he piloted the great Secretariat to resounding victories in all three Triple Crown races in 1973, died on Friday at his home in Drummond, New Brunswick. He was 84.
Leonard Lusky, his longtime business partner, confirmed the death but did not cite a cause. Turcotte had used a wheelchair since being paralyzed in a racing accident in 1978.
Before his triumph riding Secretariat, Turcotte (pronounced tur-COTT) had already put his stamp on the Triple Crown. He rode Tom Rolfe to victory in the Preakness Stakes in 1965 and, the year before Secretariat’s triumph, won the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes aboard Riva Ridge, whose bid for the Triple Crown was stymied when he encountered a muddy track in the Preakness Stakes and finished fourth.
Secretariat, a big coppery chestnut nicknamed Big Red who, like Riva Ridge, was owned by Penny Chenery of Meadow Stable and trained by Lucien Laurin, made up for that disappointment in spectacular fashion. He powered to victory in the Derby and the Preakness, setting track records that still stand. He then demolished the competition in the Belmont Stakes to become the first Triple Crown winner since Citation in 1948.
Secretariat’s Belmont remains one of the most celebrated performances in racing history. Under Turcotte’s supremely confident handling, he cruised by the competition on the backstretch, “moving like a tremendous machine” in the famous race call by Chic Anderson, then drew off to win by an astounding 31 lengths. He broke the track record set by Gallant Man in 1957 by just under three seconds — the equivalent of 13 lengths — and set a new world record for the mile-and-a-half distance on the dirt, one that still stands and has never been approached.
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