Ron Turcotte

Ron Turcotte, jockey (b at Drummond, NB 22 July 1941). One of 11 children, Turcotte was always a strong jockey because of his early years as a lumberjack in New Brunswick. Unemployment in 1959 sent him to Toronto where he obtained a job as a hot-walker at E.P. TAYLOR's Windfields Farms. He recorded his first win in 1962 and was named Canada's top jockey that year and in 1963. In 1972 he rode Riva Ridge to victories in the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes. The following year he became the first jockey in 70 years to ride Kentucky Derby-winning horses in consecutive years: in 1973 he was aboard Secretariat, the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years. His career ended tragically on 13 July 1978 when he broke his back after falling from his horse at the Belmont track. In 1986 he lost a lawsuit seeking more than $190 million for his 1978 fall. Confined to a wheelchair, he now co-chairs, with Jocelyn Lovell, the Spinal Cord Injury Society in Canada. He is a member of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (1980) and the US National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame (1979).