HOF Jockey Turcotte Injured in Accident

Ron Turcotte, the Hall of Fame rider best known as the jockey for 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat, is hospitalized with fractures in both legs after a single-vehicle accident March 9. 

Turcotte was injured when the van he was driving hit an icy patch on a road near his home near New Brunswick and flipped on its side. A family friend was a passenger in the vehicle and suffered minor injuries.

Both men were taken to a hospital near Perth-Andover.

Leonard Lusky, spokesman for the Turcotte family, said Turcotte is in good spirits and still has his sense of humor, noting that the retired jockey asked attending physician for one blue cast and one white cast, the renowned racing colors of Secretariat's Meadow Stable.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Const. Yannick Pelletier said that the accident, which happened around 9:45 a.m. near Four Falls, is under investigation, but roads were covered in snow and slippery at the time, The Canadian Press reported.

Lusky said in a press release that the Turcotte family appreciates the well wishes and concern of fans and the Thoroughbred racing community but asked for privacy. Further information about Turcotte's condition will be released through Secretariat.com as it becomes available. 

Turcotte rode Secretariat to victory in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont (all grade I), and rode Riva Ridge to win the 1972 Derby and Belmont, both for Meadow Stable.

Now 73, Turcotte was paralyzed from the waist down when he fell from a horse during a race at Belmont Park in 1978.

Turcotte's existing scheduled appearances and signings have been canceled.