Todd Pletcher, winner of a record seven Eclipse Awards as the leading trainer in North America, learned invaluable lessons as a top assistant to Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas.
Retired jockey Ron Turcotte, remembered for riding Secretariat to win the 1973 Triple Crown during a Hall of Fame career that ended prematurely in 1978 due to a tragic racing injury, died of natural causes Aug. 22 in his Drummond home outside Grand Falls, New Brunswick, in Canada. He was 84.
Athletes amaze fans with remarkable feats beyond imagination, which is a huge part of the allure of sports. Thoroughbred racehorses remind us frequently that on any given day you never know what you might witness at the racetrack.
There should be no mention of the mighty Triple Crown champion Secretariat without pointing to jockey Ron Turcotte as an integral member of a dynamite team.
It might appear from watching replays of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes in 1973 as if Turcotte was merely a passenger taken for a wonderful ride by the gleaming colt they called “Big Red.” But Penny Chenery, Secretariat’s owner, knew better.
