Secretariat's Jockey, Ron Turcotte

Where do you folks live?

Grand Falls.

Where are you going today?

We're going to the Triple Crown Races.

Okay, enjoy your trip.

Now we're off to the derby.

We start at the Triple Crown, we're at the derby.

The Kentucky Derby is right in Louisville, Kentucky,

and then we have the Preakness,

which is run in Baltimore, Maryland,

and then we finish with the mile and a half.

Belmont Stakes in New York.

It has now been 34 years since Triple Crown was won.

It was 25 years when I won it.

It was probably the greatest horse that

ever set foot on a race track.

Secretariat is lightning now.

He is moving like a tremendous machine!

Secretariat is in a position that's just impossible to cap.

He's into the stretch.

Secretariat leaves his heel by 18 lengths.

He is going to be the Triple Crown winner.

Here comes Secretariat for the wire.

An unbelievable and amazing performance.

He hits the finish 25 lengths in front!

No contest.

Listen to the crowd, listen!

A gallant wave of a half pike turnout

and he certainly should be proud of what

he and his horse did today, Jack.

My goodness, never in my dreams did I think

it would be a race of that count.

I was raising my own horses and I love horses

and I love riding them.

I'd run them bareback.

I even worked with them in a lumber.

Dad was a lumberjack and I followed into his footsteps

and cut lumber for five years.

Well, the wages wasn't so high

and the lumber I'd drop, we didn't have no much to cut,

so he said, I'm going to Toronto,

and I didn't feel much about letting him go

'cause he was small and I thought he wouldn't find a job

and he would've had a hard time.

So I didn't feel too good when he left.

In Toronto, I went to look for work.

After walking the city for a month,

I was running short of cash.

Of course, I had been running short for quite awhile

since I left here with $50 in my pocket.

I had to pick worms to pay my room.

And we found a restaurant that accepted us washing dishes

so we could eat.

Seems like everybody was looking for work.

One Friday evening, we were very tired and discussed it

and we wrote a letter home with tears in our eyes

that we might have to come home

because we couldn't find any work.

And the landlord asked me, why don't you try the racetrack?

He says, you look small enough to be a jockey.

I says, what's a jockey?

He says, little boys in white pants.

I at first got hired by EB Taylor, Winfield Farm.

Mr. Taylor was known as Mr. Racing.

You worked from 5:30 in the morning, seven days a week.

I enjoyed it.

To me, it was really a picnic around the racetrack.

It was easier than cutting lumber.

Gordon Huntley was a trainer who said he'd like to try me

and that he was going to give me a contract.

I didn't win a race the first year, that was 1961.

And the following year, I was on a winner

when I became leading rider in Canada.

Champion jockey of Canada.

Also got to ride Northern Dancer.

He was the best and he had no falls on.

Then I rode a horse for Jean-Louis Levesque, Fanfreluche.

1963, Gordon Huntley told me that I had

proven everything I had to prove in Canada,

that I should go to the United States

and prove that I could ride with American riders.

Shifting venues from a place like Canada or anywhere else,

Europe, coming to the United States,

the riding style is a little bit different.

You have to get used to the jockey colonies.

And Ronnie adapted very well.

I know that because in 1964,

you've already won 250 races.

When I first really realized what a leading rider he was

was when he won the Preakness Stakes on Tom Rolfe.

This is the race, these two.

And Tom Rolfe lands the win. Tom Rolfe.

Relentless horse in the race

with a flawless ride from Ron Turcotte today,

came in the winner with a brilliant move

at the top of the strengths.

Jean Cruguet, one of my favorite riders,

was the Triple Crown winning jockey for Seattle Slew.

Over a course of 40 years,

Jean won approximately 51 million in purses

and had a just enduring, important career.

Did you learn French with him?

Oui.

So welcome to the farm here.

Thank you very much.

We're happy to see you. Take good care of him, huh?

Yes, I'm trying to take care of him.

He needs somebody.

He's always after my money, see?

Here, you want it, take it.

He loves money but it burns holes in his pocket.

Still burns holes in his pocket?

It does, especially during this week,

during Derby Week it does, yes.

This is a very historic farm

and this whole corridor is really

where the thoroughbred industry started in Kentucky

back in the late 1700s, early 1800s.

How many horses you have, Lu Ann?

Well, we have eight broodmares right now,

and as a small breeder,

I usually just have four or five babies a year.

The mare is a granddaughter of Secretariat

and she happens to look pretty much like him.

She has that coppery color that Secretariat had.

Yeah.

You can especially see it... A little bit lighter.

Yeah, and she and Secretariat are even missing

the same white sock.

The next generation to go to the track next year.

You can't go out yet.

You don't like to be caught, huh?

You don't like to be caught.

Give me a kiss, come here, come here.

Yeah, there you go.

That was fast.

How you doing?

That guy's a pain in the neck every day, every day.

Every day, huh?

Little people, you know what I mean?

Somebody has to put him up to it.

Does he give you a tip?

All you gotta do is look in there

for a two to five shout, that's his tip.

I was gonna say, just six to five and three to one.

I say that every day. I wanted to tell you,

one of my prized possessions,

I've had for quite awhile,

is a picture of you looking back off Secretariat

and not seeing anything there.

I was not looking back, I was looking at the clock.

Oh really?

Well, my prized possession.

It's got your signature on it.

Thank you.

Ron Turcotte wants to make a bet.

Two over six, seven, eight, nine.

Alrighty.

There's my four lane second, yeah!

Get him, get him, get him down there!

Keep going! Get him down there!

Hey, get him boy, hey!

Ah, shot.

We're dead.

I bet 260.

All my money's gone.

One, two, three. You got them all

or you got nothing.

Well, I got them reversed, that's all.

Better than you.

Yeah, only with 17.

I lost on 17.

See you guys.

All right. Thank you.

Be good now, Jean. Got my keys?

Give me my keys.

Where are my keys? You're not going nowhere.

You're not going nowhere. I'm late, come on.

I know you got my keys.

You're not going nowhere.

I'll get the money. No, hey.

No! Come on.

I told you not to leave your keys around.

I'll take something.

Goodnight, guys, goodnight.

Night, thank you.

See you soon, Ron. Yeah.

I'll see you later. Okay, see you there.

How are you doing, Mr. Turcotte?

Yeah, how do you feel?

Old buddy.

Nice to see you, good.

Appreciate you coming to my house.

Thank you very much, it's our pleasure.

You had a good head of hair.

You had a little cowboy hat

and you always had that stinky cigar stuck in your face.

The little cigars, right?

Yeah, it was a little one like this.

Yeah, but it was really, it seemed...