The racing horse jockey who rode Virginia-born legend Secretariat into history has died.
Ron Turcotte, 84, rode Secretariat, who was born in Doswell, on March 30, 1970, into Triple Crown history when the Thoroughbred born and raised on Meadow Farms won the Belmont Stakes on June 9, 1973.
Secretariat, whose barn name was “Big Red” and what his groomer, the late Eddie Sweat, and owner, the late Penny Chenery Tweedy, called him, had won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes earlier that year. He was the first horse to win all three races and earn the Triple Crown in 25 years, after Citation in 1948.
Turcotte, who rode Secretariat in all three races, died Friday of natural causes at his home in New Brunswick. The Canadian-born jockey also won the 1972 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes on Riva Ridge, who was also born and raised at Meadow Farms. In 1965, Turcotte won the Preakness aboard Tom Rolfe.
Turcotte spent the last years of his life in a wheelchair after falling off a race horse in 1978 and becoming a paraplegic. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame the following year.
According to New York Racing Association President and CEO David O’Rourke, while horse racing fans adored Turcotte for his courage, the jockey’s true character was revealed after he became wheelchair bound.
“By devoting himself to supporting fellow jockeys struggling through similar injuries, Ron Turcotte built a legacy defined by kindness and compassion,” O’Rourke told The Associated Press.
In his career, Turcotte earned $28,606,490 and won 3.032 races. His and Secretariat‘s 31-length victory in 1973 was also special because Secretariat‘s 2:24 stands as the record for winning the Belmont Stakes.
“The world may remember Ron as the famous jockey of Secretariat, but to us he was a wonderful husband, a loving father, grandfather and a great horseman,” Turcotte’s family said in a statement according to The AP.
Churchill Downs Racetrack President Mike Anderson said Turcotte “was an icon and will forever be fondly remembered as the trusted partner of legendary Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown winner Secretariat, arguably the most popular Thoroughbred in history. Ron’s many accomplishments on the racetrack and his deep passion for horse racing brought countless fans to the sport. He will be greatly missed.”
Secretariat died of laminitis in October 1989 at the age of 19. Sweat died in 1998 and Tweedy died in 2017. Turcotte was the last of Secretariat’s Triple Crown team.
A bronze statue was unveiled in 2019 in Lexington, Kentucky during the Secretariat Festival which depicts Turcotte riding Secretariat in the Kentucky Derby. The pair were also immortalized in the 2010 Disney film “Secretariat,” starring John Malkovich and Diane Lane.
Meadow Farms is now owned and operated by the State Fair of Virginia and where the annual event will be held in late September. Tours of the farm, including the barn in which Big Red was born, are conducted regularly.
“I still had a lot of horse when I passed the wire,” Turcotte said in 2023 according to the AP, nearly 50 years to the day he rode Secretariat in the Belmont. “He was not tired…it was amazing.”
Related stories:
Long live Big Red: Fifty years since a horse racing legend won the Triple Crown
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Rebecca Barnabi
