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Ron's birthday
On July 22, 1941, Ron Joseph Morel Turcotte was born to Fred and Rose Devost Turcotte -
Size growing up
Turcotte inherited his father’s small size as a gift. Although Fred was also small for a lumberjack and did not have much formal education to share, he encouraged his son to be bigger than his 5 feet 4 inches and 130 pounds. -
First race
Following a set of lucky circumstances, Turcotte found himself at the racetrack in Laurel, Maryland. In 1965, he rode Riva Ridge to a Kentucky Derby win. -
When he became nationally
He became nationally known and in 1971, Turcotte was introduced to Secretariat. -
Wining the Triple Crown
Turcotte, 59, is a French-Canadian sports hero who rode the world renown racing giant Secretariat to the coveted Triple Crown victory in 1973, meaning, the horse won the Kentucky Derby, the Pimlico Preakness in Maryland and the New York Belmont Stakes. -
Put in hall of fame
On August 23, 1980, Turcotte was inducted into the Canadian Sports hall of Fame at the Canadian National Exhibition Grounds in Toronto. -
Last race
Then last July 13, in his 20,310th race, Turcotte was riding Flag of Leyte Gulf at Belmont Park in New York.In the hospital two steel rods were inserted to realign and support his spine, but Turcotte was paralyzed from the waist down. -
Now and were he is
He is happily working at a barn.
