Hall of Fame jockey Ron Turcotte, who rode Secretariat to the Triple Crown in 1973, has died. He was 84.
Turcotte’s family said through his longtime business partner and friend Leonard Lusky that the Canada-born jockey died of natural causes Friday at his home in Drummond, New Brunswick.
He won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes twice each, most notably sweeping the three with Secretariat to end horse racing’s Triple Crown drought that dated to Citation in 1948.
“Ron was a great jockey and an inspiration to so many, both within and outside the racing world,” Lusky said. “While he reached the pinnacle of success in his vocation, it was his abundance of faith, courage, and kindness that was the true measure of his greatness.”
Secretariat’s record time of 2:24 in the Belmont, winning by 31 lengths at a 1 1/2-mile distance, still stands 52 years later.
“I still had a lot of horse when I passed the wire,” Turcotte said in 2023, nearly 50 years to the day since riding Secretariat in the Belmont. “He was not tired. ... It was amazing."
Turcotte won 3,032 races over a nearly two-decade career that ended in 1978 when he fell off a horse early in a race and suffered injuries that made him paraplegic. Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund chairman William J. Punk Jr. called Turcotte one of the sport’s greatest champions and ambassadors and praised him for his advocacy and efforts to help fellow fallen riders.
“While his courage as a jockey was on full display to a nation of adoring fans during that electrifying time, it was after he faced a life altering injury that we learned about the true character of Ron Turcotte,” New York Racing Association president and CEO David O'Rourke said. "By devoting himself to supporting fellow jockeys struggling through similar injuries, Ron Turcotte built a legacy defined by kindness and compassion.”
Turcotte was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 1979.
“The world may remember Ron as the famous jockey of Secretariat, but to us he was a wonderful husband, a loving father, grandfather, and a great horseman.” the Turcotte family said in a statement through Lusky.
Turcotte was born in Drummond on July 22, 1941, as one of 12 children. He quit school to work as a lumberjack before moving to Toronto to get involved in horse racing, first as a hotwalker and then a jockey, becoming the leading rider at Woodbine Racetrack before rising to the Triple Crown level.
Woodbine chairman Jim Lawson said Turcotte was “a true Canadian icon whose impact on horse racing is immeasurable.”
“Ron carried himself with humility, strength and dignity,” Lawson said. “His legacy in racing, both here at Woodbine and around the world, will live forever.”
Turcotte won the Preakness in 1965 aboard Tom Rolfe and the Derby and Belmont in 1972 with Riva Ridge. But it was his time with Secretariat that made Turcotte a household name in racing, and he called it “love at first ride.”
“He was the type of horse that you’ll never see again,” Turcotte said two years ago. “He was doing something that you’ve never seen before and will probably never see again.”
Turcotte was the last surviving member of Secretariat's team: The colt died in 1989, groom Eddie Sweat in 1998, trainer Lucien Laurin in 2000, owner Penny Chenery in 2017 and exercise rider Charlie Davis in 2018.
“Ron Turcotte was an icon and will forever be fondly remembered as the trusted partner of legendary Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown winner Secretariat, arguably the most popular thoroughbred in history," Churchill Downs Racetrack president Mike Anderson said. “Ron’s many accomplishments on the racetrack and his deep passion for horse racing brought countless fans to the sport. He will be greatly missed.”
AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
FILE - Triple Crown winner Secretariat, with his usual jockey Ron Turcotte aboard, struts past the grandstand at Aqueduct Rack Track in New York, Nov. 6, 1973, as the 3-year-old colt, nicknamed "Super Red" by his fans, made a final appearance before going to stud at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky. (AP Photo/Dave Pickoff, File)
FILE - Ron Turcotte poses next to a statue of him and Secretariat in Grand Falls, New Brunswick, Canada, May 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Stephen MacGillivray, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes ticked higher Monday, while other markets made louder moves, including another record-breaking rush for the price of gold.
The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and won back its losses from last week’s dip. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 313 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.4%.
Baker Hughes helped lead the way and rose 4.4% after delivering a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The energy technology company said it’s benefiting from strong momentum in demand for liquefied natural gas, among other things.
CoreWeave climbed 5.7% after Nvidia said it invested $2 billion in the stock and will help accelerate the buildout of CoreWeave’s artificial-intelligence factories, which use Nvidia chips, by 2030 to advance AI adoption. Nvidia slipped 0.6%.
USA Rare Earth rallied 7.9% after saying the U.S. government agreed to provide $277 million in federal funding to help the company produce heavy rare earths, minerals and magnets. The Trump administration also agreed to a proposed $1.3 billion loan, while the company separately raised $1.5 billion through private investors.
Much of the rest of Wall Street was relatively quiet. That included mixed performances for airlines, which had to cancel thousands of flights due to the winter storm that swept much of the United States over the weekend. Delta Air Lines lost 0.7%, and Southwest Airlines added 0.2%.
All told, the S&P 500 rose 34.62 points to 6,950.23. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 313.69 to 49,412.40, and the Nasdaq composite gained 100.11 to 23,601.36.
The action was stronger in the gold market, where the metal’s price rallied another 2.1% and briefly topped $5,100 per ounce for the first time to set another record. Silver surged even more and settled 14% higher.
Prices for precious metals have been soaring as investors look for safer places to park their money amid threats of tariffs, still-high inflation, political strife and mountains of debt for governments worldwide.
The latest worry to pile atop the swelling list was President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 100% tariff on goods from Canada if it signs a free trade deal with China.
The U.S. dollar’s value also continued its recent slide against peers. Last week, it was U.S. tariff threats related to Greenland that drove some global investors away from the dollar. This time, it was the Japanese yen leaping sharply because of expectations that officials in both Japan and the United States may intervene in the market to prop up the Japanese currency’s value.
More swings could be ahead for financial markets in a week full of big tests.
The Federal Reserve will announce its latest move on interest rates on Wednesday. It’s been lowering its main interest rate and has indicated more cuts may be on the way in 2026 to help shore up the job market and give the economy a boost.
Most economists expect it to hold steady on Wednesday, in part because inflation remains stubbornly above the Fed’s 2% target and lower rates could worsen it. Whatever the Fed decides, comments from its chair, Jerome Powell, following the decision could sway stock and bond markets.
Several of Wall Street’s most influential stocks are also set to deliver their latest earnings reports this week. That includes Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Tesla on Wednesday and Apple on Thursday.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.21% from 4.24% late Friday.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed amid mostly modest movements in Europe following some sharper swings in Asia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.8% for one of the world’s bigger moves. A stronger yen could hurt Japanese exporters, and Toyota Motor fell 4.1%.
AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.
Trader William Lawrence works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialist James Denaro works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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Specialist Douglas Johnson works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A dealer walks past near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A dealer walks past near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A dealer walks past near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
