Ron Turcotte died at age 84 of natural causes at his home in Drummond, New Brunswick. He rode Secretariat to the 1973 Triple Crown, winning the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes and ending a Triple Crown drought dating to 1948. Secretariat set a Belmont record of 2:24 and won by 31 lengths, a mark that still stands. Turcotte won more than 3,000 races in a career cut short in 1978 by a fall that left him paraplegic. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 1979 and later advocated for fallen riders.
Turcotte's family said through his longtime business partner and friend Leonard Lusky that the Canada-born jockey died of natural causes Friday at his home in Drummond, New Brunswick. He won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes twice each, most notably sweeping the three with Secretariat to end horse racing's Triple Crown drought that dated to Citation in 1948. Secretariat's record time of 2:24 in the Belmont, winning by 31 lengths, still stands 52 years later.
Turcotte won more than 3,000 races over a nearly two-decade career that ended in 1978 when he fell off a horse early in a race and suffered injuries that left him with paraplegia. Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund chairman William J. Punk called Turcotte one of the sport's greatest champions and ambassadors and praised him for his advocacy and efforts to help fellow fallen riders. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 1979.
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