While the debate surrounding, “Who is the greatest thoroughbred racehorse of all time?” will perpetuate now until the cows come home, there is no argument when it comes to the question of, “What is the single most impressive performance ever witnessed in the annals of North American flat racing?” Unequivocally, Secretariat’s thirty-one length victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes, one that solidified his stature as the “Sport of Kings’” ninth Triple Crown Champion, is far and away the most impressive feat ever turned in by an equine athlete.
Now, I am personally of a mind that every superlative which could possibly be concocted by the human imagination has already been affixed to the aforementioned tour de force. Thus, I won’t attempt to author anything original. Instead, I’ll simply spell out what are, in my opinion, the two most impressive facts regarding Secretariat’s Belmont Stakes rout. First off, “Big Red” ultimately covered the Belmont’s twelve furlongs (1 1/2 miles) in a world record time of 2:24 flat. A record that still stands, this is likewise a benchmark that will never ever be broken. Second, Secretariat ran each furlong in the Belmont Stakes successively faster than the previous furlong. Meaning, his velocity continuously increased throughout the entirety of the race!
While we could fill tomes from here to Timbuktu anent to Secretariat’s greatness, I must now remind you that, no horse is an island. The fact is, somebody had to guide “Big Red” through the gauntlet known as thoroughbred horse racing’s Triple Crown Series and while you may have run across the name Ron Turcotte a few times before, I assure you that this jockey’s significance is not solely tied to Secretariat. Hence, let us now pay tribute to an individual who was by all accounts an eminent jockey, and an even better human being.
Ronald Joesph Morel Turcotte was born on July 22nd, 1941 in Drummond, New Brunswick, Canada. One of twelve children, Turcotte dropped out of school when he was 14 years old to work alongside his father Albert, a stalwart and sinewy individual who expertly plied the trade of lumberjack. Too small to wield an axe himself, a 5-foot-1-inch, Turcotte consequently supervised the team of horses who continuously hauled the cut timber out of the forest. (This is what we call irony.)
Years later, Turcotte would recount, “My father taught me how to be patient with horses. He taught me how to give horses confidence.” Unfortunately, this same father sold Turcotte’s favorite work horse for some badly needed cash and as a result, our hero headed off towards Toronto hoping to find some work in the construction business. When an industry strike evaporated this plan, Turcotte found himself selling worms as fishing bait just so he could pay the rent.
On the cusp of heading home with his tail between his legs, Turcotte encountered his landlord who was taking in a broadcast of the 1960 Kentucky Derby. Behind eyeing his tenant’s diminutive stature, Turcotte’s landlord inquired, “Hey kid, have you ever thought of becoming a jockey?” After replying, “What’s a jockey?”, the room’s future Hall of Famer casually heard, “Those little guys in white pants.” The rest, as they say, is history.
Deciding he had nothing to lose, Turcotte packed his belongings and hitchhiked to Toronto’s world-famous Woodbine Racetrack. With the help of some luck and persistence, he got a foot in the door at the influential Windfields Farms stable. As one might expect, Turcotte started at the bottom as a hotwalker, cooling out horses after they had raced. Though menial on the surface, Turcotte saw the work as a blessing and later stated, “I enjoyed it. To me it was a picnic (working) around the racetrack. It was much easier than cutting lumber.”
Eventually a trainer named Gordon Huntly recognized that there was potential greatness in his midst and therefore, put Turcotte on a path to become an apprentice rider. Launching his career at Fort Erie Racetrack in 1962, Turcotte finished the season atop the jockey standings with 180 victories. There were over 200 trips to the winners’ circle the following year and combined with this success was Turcotte’s steel determination to succeed on the New York racing circuit, an arena where the purses were as prolific as the competition.
Ron Turcotte’s Triple Crown Series breakthrough occurred on May 15th,1965 in the 90th running of the Preakness Stakes. Having endured some terrible racing luck two weeks earlier in the Kentucky Derby aboard Tom Rolfe (which resulted in a third-place finish), Turcotte subsequently helped his mount secure revenge by way of an intimidating ride which caused Dapper Dan to flinch (and break stride) a few jumps from the wire. Tom Rolfe’s resulting neck victory conferred a healthy $9.20 win mutual (based on a $2 bet) to those backers who despite a scathing Derby defeat, refused to jump ship.
One year before the biggest season of his life, Ron Turcotte was riding high aboard a light bay colt named Riva Ridge. Keenly aware that this classy mount often became skittish if other racers got too close, Turcotte consequently instructed his fellow riders to crowd his “fraidy-cat” during early morning workouts. This toughening tactic proved effective and helped propel Riva Ridge to a gate to wire score in the 1972 Kentucky Derby. A runner who absolutely detested sloppy going, Riva Ridge’s Triple Crown dreams were hence dashed by five lengths on a wet, dreary and dismal Preakness Day. Redeeming himself three weeks later, Riva Ridge coasted to a frontrunning seven-length Belmont Stakes score that was exponentially aided by Ron Turcotte’s unique ability to ration out an equine’s energy.
The fact was, Secretariat had emitted the air of a “super-horse” ever since he’d been weaned however, a lackluster third place performance in Aqueduct Racetrack’s prestigious Wood Memorial (“Big Red’s” final prep race before the Kentucky Derby) caused many supporters to lose sleep. Later attributed to an abscess in his mouth that was only further irritated by his racing bit, Secretariat’s disappointing Wood Memorial performance soon became an afterthought thanks to an awe-inspiring Kentucky Derby conquest that was clocked in a record time (that still stands) of 1:59 2/5. Somewhat at a loss for words during a post-race interview, Ron Turcotte eventually sighed and then summed up his mount’s scope by simply saying, “(Today) he was everything.”
Like many in the grandstand who watched his every move, Turcotte was a gambler (in the sense that he wasn’t afraid to wield an unconventional riding maneuver). A prime example of this occurred in the 1973 Preakness Stakes. Racing dead last from the jump and sensing a slow early pace, Turcotte thus encouraged Secretariat to make an electrifying move on the first turn that essentially, put the Preakness away. Forever aglow regarding the bold move that racing historians still recount to this day, Turcotte on more than one occasion reminded his publicist, “That’s unheard of. That’s the proudest move of my racing career.”
In the Belmont Stakes, there were many onlookers, including trainer Lucien Laurin and owner Penny Chenery, who believed that Turcotte had let Secretariat “get away from him”. These connections simply thought it was impossible for a horse to finish a mile and a half race with any sort of kick behind carving out an initial half mile in a blistering :46 1/5. Alas, there wasn’t a single butterfly in Turcotte’s stomach nor a post-race interview where a microphone didn’t capture, “I guess I was the coolest one out there. I knew what I had under me.”
By writing that Ron Turcotte’s riding career traversed the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, I have officially authored the biggest understatement in the history of Gaming and Destinations Magazine. See, on July 13th, 1978, Turcotte’s career as a jockey ended abruptly when his horse, Flag of Leyte Gulf, clipped heels with a neighboring equine in the eighth race at Belmont Park. As a result of being thrown headfirst into the strip, Turcotte completely shattered several vertebrae in his back. This horrific injury left him permanently paralyzed from the waist down.
In summation, Ron Turcotte won 3,032 races and over $28 million in purse money. Aside from Secretariat, he rode legendary horses like: Arts and Letters, Damascus, Northen Dancer, Dark Mirage and Shuvee. Following his retirement, Turcotte returned to New Brunswick and resided on a 220-acre farm that was not far from Drummond. Inducted into the National Racing Museum and Hall of Fame in 1979, Turcotte has likewise been installed into six other Hall of Fames including the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.
Right up until the very end of his life, Ron Turcotte remained a spokesman for both permanently disabled jockeys and those who had suffered debilitating spinal cord injuries. He died on August 22nd, 2025, of natural causes at the age of 84 at his home in New Brunswick, Canada. A recipient of the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in 1979, Ron Turcotte perpetually emulated this honor’s accompanying description of, “Presented annually to a North American thoroughbred horse racing jockey who demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct on and off the racetrack.”
Well done good and faithful servant.
By Eric Floyd
