Ron Turcotte, rider of Secretariat, dead at 84

Aug 22, 2025 Vance Hanson/Brisnet.com

Secretariat wins the 1973 Kentucky Derby, ridden by Ron Turcotte.(Courtesy of the Kentucky Derby/Churchill Downs)

Ron Turcotte, the Hall of Fame jockey who guided Secretariat to his record-smashing sweep of the 1973 Triple Crown, but whose career was later cut short after a 1978 spill left him confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, died in his New Brunswick, Canada, hometown on Aug. 22 at the age of 84.

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, to which Turcotte was inducted in 1979, announced his death in a press release.

Turcotte was the last surviving human link to the inner circle of Secretariat, who is widely considered the greatest American Thoroughbred racehorse of the 20th century, if not of all time. Turcotte rode Secretariat in 18 of the colt's 21 starts and to 14 of his 16 career wins.

Penny Chenery, who took over the operation of Meadow Stable during Secretariat's career, died in 2017. Secretariat's trainer, Lucien Laurin, died in 2000.

Voted Horse of the Year at age two in 1972, Secretariat rewrote the record books in the spring of 1973, becoming the first American Triple Crown winner since Citation in 1948. He set stakes and track records in all three classics, most of which still stand.

Secretariat was the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby in under 2:00, recording a time of 1:59 2/5 for 1 1/4 miles. He later produced what is arguably the sport's most iconic moment, winning the Belmont Stakes by an other-worldly margin of 31 lengths in a time of 2:24 for 1 1/2 miles.

Although most identified with Secretariat, Turcotte enjoyed vast success with many other racing greats of the 1960s and 1970s. He won the 1972 Kentucky Derby and Belmont with Riva Ridge, who was also owned by Meadow Stable and trained by Laurin, and scored his first classic win in the 1965 Preakness on Tom Rolfe.

In a 2021 article for Brisnet.com, Turcotte reflected on some of his other famous mounts, including Hall of Fame runners Northern Dancer, Damascus, Shuvee, Fort Marcy, and Dahlia.

Turcotte's riding career, during which he rode more than 3,000 winners, came to an unexpected end in July 1978, when, nine days before his 37th birthday, he was rendered a paraplegic after falling from a horse at Belmont Park. Much of his post-riding career in racing was as a fundraiser and advocate for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF).