Hall of Fame Jockey Ron Turkote, who rode the Secretariat in Triple Crown in 1973, died. He was 84 years old.
Turkote’s family said through his prolonged business partner and friend Leonard Lusky that a Canadian -born jockey died on Friday due to natural reasons at his home in Drummond, New Breanswick.
He won the Kentaki Derby, Prekness and Belmont Stax twice, mostly the three rotated with the secretariat, dated for the quotation in 1948 to eliminate the triple crown drought of horse racing.
“Ron was a great jockey and an inspiration for both within and out of the racing world,” Lusky said. “When he reached the pinnacle of success in his vision, it was his abundance of faith, courage and kindness that was a true measure of his greatness.”
The record time of the secretariat in Belmont wins a record of 2:24, 31 lengths at a distance of 1 1/2-mile, still stands after 52 years.
“I still had a lot of horses when I passed the wire,” Turkote said in 2023, almost 50 years since the secretariat ride in Belmont. “He was not tired. … It was surprising.”
Turkote won 3,032 races in a career of nearly two decades, which ended in 1978 when he fell early from a horse in a race and faced injuries that made him paraplaygic. William J., President of permanently disabled Jockey Fund. Pank Junior called Turkote one of the greatest champions and ambassadors of the game and praised him for his advocacy and efforts to help fellow fellow.
David O’Rurke, president and CEO of the New York Racing Association, said, “His courage as a jockey was on a complete performance for a nation to see fans during the electrification time, it was after facing a life-changing injury, which we had learned about the true character of Ron Turkote.” “By dedicating himself to support the fellow jockey struggling through similar injuries, Ron Turkote created a heritage defined by mercy and compassion.”
Turkote was included in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 1979.
“The world can remember Ron as a famous jockey of the secretariat, but for us he was a wonderful husband, a loving father, grandfather and a great horseman.” The Turkote family said in a statement through Lusky.
Turcotte was born on 22 July 1941 as one of the 12 children in drumund. He left school to work as a lumberjack before going to Toronto to join Horse Racing, first as a hotwoker and then a jockey, then became a leading rider in the Woodbine Resetrack before getting up at the triple crown level.
Woodbine President Jim Lawson said Turkote “was a true Canadian icon that has an effect on horse racing.”
“Ron carried himself forward with humility, strength and dignity,” Lawson said. “Their legacy in racing, both Woodbine and in the world, will remain forever.”
Turkote won the Prekness in 1965 with Tom Rolf and Derby and Belmont in 1972 with Rewa Ridge. But this was his time with the Secretariat that made Turkote a domestic name in racing, and he called it “love in the first ride”.
“That was the type of horse that you would never see again,” Turkote said two years ago. “He was doing something that you had never seen before and maybe never see again.”
The Turcotte was the last surviving member of the secretariat: Colt’s death in 1989, groom Eddie Sweat in 1998, Trainer Lucian Laurin in 2000, owner Penny Chenry in 2017 and Rider Charlie Davis exercise in 2018.
“Ron Turkote was an icon and will be remembered as a trusted partner of the Kentki Derby and Triple Crown winning secretariat, the most popularly most popularly in history,” said Mike Anderson, president of Churchill Dowtac. “Many of Ron’s achievements on the race and his deep passion for horse racing brought countless fans to the game. He would miss a lot.”
