New Brunswick·NewA onetime lumberjack, Triple Crown-winning jockey, North American icon and everyday gentleman was laid to rest Wednesday in northwestern New Brunswick.Man who rode Secretariat left a lasting impression in Grand Falls and beyond, say mournersJennifer Sweet · CBC News · Posted: Aug 27, 2025 4:05 PM EDT | Last Updated: 26 minutes agoSecretariat and jockey Ron Turcotte pose in the winner’s circle after the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on May 5, 1973. (File/The Associated Press)New Brunswick’s Grand Falls is lit in blue and white this week, the colours of the jacket that local horse racing legend Ron Turcotte wore when he won the 1973 Triple Crown atop the champion thoroughbred Secretariat.That’s just one of many tributes to the man some call the great Canadian jockey and “a North American icon,” since his death Friday at the age of 84.”People are saddened, of course,” said Mayor Bertrand Beaulieu.At the local market on Saturday, patrons and vendors reminisced about Turcotte’s exploits in racing as well as his community involvement, said the mayor.WATCH | N.B.’s winningest athlete laid to rest: Celebrated jockey Ron Turcotte remembered in N.B. hometown People in Ron Turcotte’s hometown of Drummond said goodbye to the jockey best known for winning the American Triple Crown with Secretariat. Grand Falls residents who were old enough to watch thoroughbred racing on television in 1973 remember well how Turcotte and Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes, said Beaulieu, after their earlier season wins in the Preakness Stakes and Kentucky Derby.It was an “unbelievable” accomplishment, he said, noting that, to this day, the records set by Turcotte and Secretariat in each of those races have not been beaten.Grand Falls Mayor Bertrand Beaulieu says Turcotte was a self-made hero and an example of determination. (Radio-Canada)”What’s impressive is that Ron is a self-made hero,” Beaulieu said.Turcotte left a job as a lumberjack, set off to Ontario and climbed to the very top ranks as a jockey, he said.People all over the world are marking Turcotte’s death, on sports networks and the front-page of the New York Times, Beaulieu added.Sarah Brooks, who lives near Portage, Maine, stopped by the Turcotte monument in Grand Falls on Tuesday evening. Anybody involved in horses knows his name, she said, and he was a hero to many of them.”He was somebody to look up to,” Brooks said. “You could feel the passion that came from within him when he was talking about his accomplishments and his life.Sarah Brooks drove a couple of hours from Maine to pay her respects to Turcotte. (François Le Blanc/Radio-Canada)”Anyone who had a chance to talk to him for a few minutes, that few minutes was a very, very special part of their life.”Brooks said she’d known Turcotte since the early 1990s. She described him as a gentle person and said there was nobody he would turn away from talking to.”He was such a great part of here,” she said.Horse racing enthusiast Blair Thomas of Red Deer, Alta., also stopped at the monument as he was travelling across Canada.Blair Thomas of Alberta says Turcotte’s success with Secretariat was a huge deal in the 1970s and likely always to be remembered by members of his generation. (François Le Blanc/Radio-Canada)”Interest in horse racing is waning, but people of my generation will always remember Ron Turcotte and Secretariat,” he said.They “caught the hearts of the world,” said Thomas, in an era when bingo and horse racing were about the only ways to gamble and after a number of years that saw no Triple Crown winner.”It was a really big deal back in the ’70s,” he said.Turcotte rode to more than 3,000 career race victories.Beaulieu imagines that number would have been much higher if not for the horse racing accident that sidelined Turcotte in 1978.Turcotte posed for photos in the paddock before the start of the 144th Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on June 9, 2012, in Elmont, N.Y. (Rob Carr/Getty Images)After the accident, Turcotte “just kept going and and didn’t give up,” said the mayor.”Ron just kept on giving to his community. It’s a great example of determination.”In his hometown, Turcotte was “an everyday person,” Beaulieu said. He was a regular at the market, where he chatted and traded stories with the people he met. He was a member of his church’s service group. And he was involved in building a community sports complex in the early 1980s.A funeral took place Wednesday morning at St. Michael’s Church in Drummond, the village where Turcotte was born and now officially part of Grand Falls.People have been stopping by the statue of Ron Turcotte and Secretariat in Grand Falls to place flowers and pay their respects. (François LeBlanc/Radio-Canada)Because of limited seating, the public was also given the opportunity to gather along the town’s main street, Broadway Boulevard, where the funeral procession stopped near a statue of Turcotte and Secretariat to observe a moment of silence.The statue is in the middle of the street, where it gives the impression that Turcotte and Secretariat are racing with passing vehicles.It also immortalizes their winning moment, said Beaulieu, who is glad Turcotte had a chance to see and enjoy it while he was alive.Turcott’s family has suggested anyone wanting to offer a gift in his memory make a donation either to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund or Horse Racing Alberta’s Backstretch Foundation, which supports workers in the horse racing industry.A book of condolences is available to sign this week and next at the Malabeam Centre, said a release from the municipality.A 2013 documentary about Turcott’s life is available for viewing on the National Film Board website.It’s called Secretariat’s Jockey, Ron Turcotte, and is directed by Phil Comeau, of Moncton. ABOUT THE AUTHORJennifer Sweet has been telling the stories of New Brunswickers for over 20 years. She is originally from Bathurst, got her journalism degree from Carleton University and is based in Fredericton. She can be reached at 451-4176 or jennifer.sweet@cbc.ca.With files from Information Morning New Brunswick and Radio-Canada
‘Great Canadian jockey’ Ron Turcotte remembered in his N.B. hometown
