Secretariat's Jockey: Ron Turcotte (2013) - full transcript

(soft music)

(bell ringing)

(hooves clanging)
(people cheering)

(cheerful music)

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.

(muffled announcing)
(cheering)

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.

(muffled announcing)

(clanging)

(speaking in foreign language)

(cheerful music)

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.

(speaking in foreign language)

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.

(cheerful music)

(speaking in foreign language)

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.

(speaking in foreign language)

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.

(laughing)

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.

(cheerful music)

(people chatting)

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!

(yelling)

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.

(laughs) Goodnight, guys, goodnight.

Night, thank you.

See you soon, Ron.
Yeah.

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

(cheerful music)

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--

You know something, everybody knew when I was coming.

They could smell the cigar first.

(laughs)
When I turned the corner.

Ah, well.

Pat Day is a hall of fame rider who,

over the course of 30 years,

accumulated 297 million in purse money won

and 8800 races won.

He is one of the all time greats, a hall of famer,

and certainly a very important person

to the horse community, the jockey community,

and spiritually, across the world.

And he also is Churchill Downs all time leading winner

at the racetrack there.

He won so many races at the track,

they called him Pay Day.

Pat Day and Ron Turcotte have been friends

since their early days in New York, riding together.

That is not your boots.

Got my name in them now,

but they got somebody else's name in there beside it.

My boots, my name.
Yeah.

That's right.

God bless you, keep them.
(laughs)

They're yours.

You were my only ally in the jockey's room.

You didn't need no protection.

He could take care of himself.

I didn't even want to fight him.

He was strong as a bull and--

After I had a couple of drinks,

I thought I could whip anybody.

Being a jockey is a high stress,

it's a high stress environment,

a very dangerous environment.

And so we allow ourselves to be misled into the idea

that we need something at the end of the day to relax.

That was my out.

Oh, I'm in a dangerous profession.

It's a high stress environment.

I need something to unwind.

And I started drinking.

And then I discovered that it didn't matter

how many races I won.

At the end of the day, I was looking for a higher high.

And I started, I got involved with drugs.

When it started to turn belly up, I went nuts.

Just--

I couldn't tell.
Didn't care.

You were such a natural and

I just couldn't see you leaving.

Well, I needed to grow up.

I needed to mature and so we did, we--

I hope I wasn't a bad influence on you.

No, no, you was,

and if there was a good influence up there, that was you.

Ultimately, I believe that Jesus set me free

from the bondage of drugs and alcohol

when I invited him into my heart.

With that revelation, it gave me a newfound reason

to pursue my career as a jockey.

(soft music)

(speaking in foreign language)

He really likes people.

That's what make him a good horse, I guess.

We call him Big Red.

He was the greatest horse.

I mean, how can I say it?

He was the greatest horse that ever lived.

He set a new track record in the derby.

Then he set a world record.

That was a world record at Belmont.

And he went on and set another record in the Marlboro Cup.

(muffled announcing)
(cheering)

Speed is always a big thrill on a horse.

I just enjoy, it gives you a special feeling.

(soft music)

You see?

He's up there telling stories.

Yes, and he's got Albert.

Ah yes, Albert is back.
That's great.

Hello.
Hi, how are y'all?

Why, Ms. Chenery, you look like an 18 year old.

Look at her walk.

It's good to see you.
How are you?

I am fine.
Same here.

Hello.

That's the way the French people do it.

Fine, thank you, how are you?

You've gotten grayer since I saw you.

Did I?
Yeah, uh-huh.

But you still got hair.

Yeah but very light.

(laughs) How old are you now?

71 this year.

That's what I thought.

You're just 20 years younger than I.

'Cause I'll be 90 in January.

Yeah so, we're still here.

That's the best part.

Well, the trainer Lucien is gone.

Eddie Sweat the groom is gone.

The thing that has happened since his accident

is he has become a wonderful spokesman

for the racing industry,

and he will go to racetracks and sign autographs

and talk to people endlessly.

And he gives of himself in that way.

He has managed to find a purpose

in a life that was cut short

of the thing that he was trained and so successful at.

He was something else, wasn't he?

He truly was.

And the people love to come and pay tribute to him.

Yeah, they do, these flowers.

I'm surprised that there's none on Riva Ridge.

He was our favorite too.

I know, well.

He didn't do what this one did.

He needs a better press agent, Riva does.

(cheering)

When Ronnie inherited Riva Ridge,

the ride on Riva Ridge,

that horse was timid.

And so Ronnie would get horses to come in on him

during training periods

and kinda squeeze him a little bit

to get him used to being in traffic.

Teaching the horse that you gotta be tough, kid.

Bloody his nose a little bit.

Riva Ridge, unlike Secretariat,

who was a moose or a bull,

Riva was a deer.

He ran like a deer.

He ran like a deer being flushed out of a burning forest.

He'd come out very light on his feet.

He almost bounded along.

(soft music)

Secretariat was a lot rougher

and moved more muscularly.

Riva would just (exhales) like a dancer.

He was Baryshnikov.

And they're off for the lead.

Looking for the lead as Riva Ridge

in the center of the track holds a piece on the inside also.

I didn't know whether it would be good to lead

all the way on a quarter and with every horse I passed,

I was just saying to myself,

boy, you're doing good, nobody's challenging.

We're gonna have plenty left to run.

In the 3-8 pole, I get the running.

I was sure then, I mean,

I had no doubt in my mind after that.

Coming over there is Riva Ridge,

under a hand ride by five lengths.

It's full ahead and going by in the next second

and hold your beast there.

Coming to the wire is Riva Ridge.

Ronnie should've been a horse trainer.

He had an uncanny sense of

where a horse was in his training.

He rode a textbook race in the Kentucky Derby.

(soft music)

The Kentucky Derby is the signature race in horse racing.

It's the most prestigious, one of the oldest,

and certainly the most respected.

It is the Holy Grail for horse racing.

If you are in the horse racing business,

that's what you want to win.

(people chatting)
(muffled announcing)

It's always exciting.

For me, anyway.

Yeah, oh, it's great memories.

To walk around and see just the memories of,

I can remember the whole day that I was here.

Just all the things that happened at the time.

And it was 34 years ago,

but I can remember that race

and every one of the three Triple Crown races

(snaps) like it was yesterday

because it's a huge part of your life.

Steve achieved great claim and fame early on.

He was known as The Kid.

He went on a winning streak as a 16 and 17 year old

that was remarkable.

And over a period of 17 years,

won many, many significant races,

first in America and then abroad.

People often say, what's the difference between

a great jockey and the average jockey?

And the only difference is the great jockey

makes less mistakes.

That's about it.

A split second decision can be the difference of,

it can be five lengths, a five lengths decision.

You have to have an ego to be a good jockey.

You don't have to be arrogant, but you have to have an ego.

You have to believe that you're--

The best.
Making the right,

that you're the best, you're making the right decisions,

and have confidence in your decisions throughout the race.

(cheerful music)

Turcotte, it's a pleasure.

Thank you so very much.

(cheerful music)

You need everything during the Triple Crown to go right.

I don't care, you have to have a great horse,

but you have to have the good fortune of

no significant mishaps.

Ron would know too.

Ron, Secretariat got beat in the Wood Memorial.

That's Secretariat on the outside seventh.

Got up five lengths and flush.

The six million dollar horse had become

the $100,000 claimer.

And Turcotte was bewildered.

Lucien was embarrassed and Penny Tweedy was furious.

How did you get my horse beat, she said.

Well, get mad at Ronnie.

I'm not blaming Ronnie, I'm blaming you.

You're the trainer.

How could you embarrass this horse?

Two weeks before the most important race in his life.

(speaking in foreign language)

All of a sudden Ronnie said, I felt euphoric.

That was it.

That was the answer.

That's why he kept throwing his head

when I kept trying to take ahold of him.

Yay, voila.

My horse is back.

As Secretariat came on the track,

his fans showed their support,

making him the three to two favorite.

But still, there were the doubts.

Secretariat, number 1A, walked quietly into

post position number 10.

Moments from the start.

And they're off.

For the lead.

On the inside, Angle Light for the lead on the outside,

Checky Green, Royal and Regaled,

and on the reel, it's Restless Jet

followed by Our Native.

I didn't know whether he was quite tight enough

to go all out the mile on the quarter,

so I took it easy the first part.

When they split, I started edging up toward the front,

improving my position.

Angle Light in fifth,

the Secretariat has made a sudden move and is now sixth.

Then it's Restless Jet,

Our Native beginning to move up,

Secretariat is fourth and moving up on the outside

and is now third

and moving past the leaders as they come

for the head of the stretch.

In the Kentucky Derby, to this day,

Secretariat remains the only horse

to run every quarter mile successively faster

than the previous one.

Which means he started slow

and he got faster and faster and faster.

Holding in second.

And Secretariat moving in lead as by two and a half.

Sham then on the outside, Our Native.

Passed the wire is going to be Secretariat.

He wins it by two lengths.

The big horse, the six million dollar syndication.

Feel better than he did two weeks ago.

Yes, sure do, sure do.

I know he didn't run his race two weeks ago

and when a horse doesn't run his race one time,

you always have that at the back of your mind.

It was just an amazing performance and to this day,

40 years later, he still holds the track record.

(people chatting)

We're so proud of you, man.

Thank you very much.

Came from California to see you.

(people chatting)
(upbeat music)

(cheering)

(people chatting)
(upbeat music)

Thank you.
Try again, do one more.

(people chatting)

(speaking in foreign language)

(people chatting)

How long were you riding before you got hurt?

About six months.

So how you doing?

All right.

Man upstairs stronger than I.

Luckily, I've been healthy.

Only thing I have a problem is neuropathic pain

right along my injury line on my chest.

I mean, it hurts so bad.
Hurt that high too?

Oh yeah, chest.

T4.
Are you leaning there too

or you can straighten, you're all right.

I mean, I can straighten but I lean a lot.

Me now, I have a lean now, I got to that point.

I got that.
My column was misaligned.

You got rods?
Huh?

You got rods in your back?
Yeah.

And 14 screws.

So they got me.

How many vertebrae did you break?

Two.

I broke four.
Wow.

How long have you been hurt now?

34 years.

Ron, you're an inspiration.

Inspiration.

34 years, that's inspiration to me.

Take it one day at a time, pal and

that's the way I did it.
Exactly.

I believe it.

You can do it!

There's Matt right here.

I'm not going nowhere.

There's my brother.
How you doing, pal?

Hanging in there.

He rides for the both of us now.

That's it.

There's a state one there and then you go to the other.

It's crazy, crazy game.

At least I'll be able to--
It's a nice game though,

when you win it.
Yeah, when you win.

(grand trumpet music)

And they load into the gate.

All in line and ready for the start.

They're off in the Kentucky Derby.

And as expected, Trinniberg had a great start.

Where'd they go to quarter?

Hanson is in between

and now Bodemeister's ahead of Trinniberg.

Bodemeister and Trinniberg will lead that charge

to the first turn at Churchill Downs.

Yeah, you got it.
Yeah, he's got it now.

He's got it, nice spin.

Bodemeister at the top of the stretch.

And Bodemeister's got a five length lead.

I'll Have Another on the outside.

Come on, Mike.

Come on, Mike.
He's got it.

The outside is closing in.

Another call by Bodemeister.

Still ahead on the far outside.

Here's the wire.

I'll Have Another has won the Kentucky Derby!

Wow, I picked him, I picked him.

He's on one of my tickets.

Mario and in his first try

wins the Kentucky Derby, wow.

I think I won.

What?

19 and six.

(people chatting)

Oh yeah.

Hey, hey, he had the winner.

I had the winner.
Thank you.

(laughs) I might be a catch here.

Mario Gutierrez, who was based in

Hastings Park in Vancouver.

(speaking in foreign language)

The Kentucky Derby jockeys are here tonight.

They're ready to party with you.

Got a great band lined up.

But we also have an amazing auction.

The benefits go to the PDJF

for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.

Oh, you've got to get up and go, huh?

Only from here up. (laughs)

Hope you guys don't mind if I get

my picture with you guys?

Come on.
I got it.

(people chatting)

How does it feel to be the star of the show?

It's unbelievable, unbelievable.

It is believable.
It is unbelievable.

No, everything's believable.

As long as you think that way.

We have a special guest here tonight.

He's one of the greatest riders of all time.

Rode Secretariat, Ron Turcotte.

(clapping and cheering)

You the man.

(clapping and cheering)

Penny's here to make a special presentation.

(clapping and cheering)

Good to see you all.

And I'm so pleased to be up here

with all these good looking fellas.

I don't know how I achieved this.

But I have something special for our good looking fella,

and that's something for you.

Riva Ridge, there it is.

Thank you, thank you.

It says Riva Ridge on one side

and Secretariat on the other.

And I think you ought to ask your owners

to step up and give you something nice like that, yeah.

(soft music)

(speaking in foreign language)

Hey buddy, hi, what a good boy.

Hi there, you good boy.

Hey, buddy.

Hey buddy boy, how are you, boy?

You're good.

You did good, man, second.

That's good.

(speaking in foreign language)

Business picking up.
Good.

Good, I got five or 10 calls mass using, so.

Oh yeah?

Well I saw you picked up a mass using awhile back

and won a lot of races with that.

Put me on four or five days.

Some good ones.

How old are you?
45.

45?

Better get--
Got one more shot.

45, then 50.

Gotta be tougher.
It's my last one.

Your weight, don't throw your weight now.

No, I'm good.
Always had trouble before.

A little bit, yeah.

I came from cutting lumber, weighing 130 pounds.

I had to go down below 100 pounds.

'Cause back then I was 105.

I mean, I was really low.

You fought for the weight.

You get kicked or taken out of the racetrack with handcuffs.

When you go out--
When I go out,

I'm a go out swinging.

I'm 100% behind you.
I know you are, I love you.

Thank you, good to see you.

(people chatting)

The way it's been working in racing,

the scale of weights, for about five or six years.

Everybody's different but some of us,

I mean, I eat one meal a day.

Other ones do not eat and other ones do eat

and will have to heave it.

And other ones have to run, have to sweat,

have to use the box.

So it's still very difficult enough.

If a jockey is dehydrated, he's weak.

He will lose concentration.

That's not anybody's best interests.

And it could cause a risk to himself

and other jockeys in the race.

(bell ringing)

(muffled announcing)

(speaking in foreign language)

(upbeat music)

We're going to Baltimore.

Pimlico racetrack is nearby there.

I just love Maryland.

I used to do a little bit of hunting there

and fishing and it's very country-like.

(cows mooing)

(upbeat music)

Hi, hi.
Hi, Ron.

All right, how you doing, man?

Pleasure.
Pleasure.

When he goes to racetracks,

he'll go to the jock's room and he's a hero, of course,

to the other jockeys.

And he will coach them and give them tips and so forth.

So he's become really a very important

figure in the racing world.

And he didn't have to do that.

At first, he sort of stayed home and felt sorry for himself,

which one would having had such an active life

and then to be in a wheelchair.

But he has figured out how to make a good life.

And I'm really very proud of Ron.

Don't feel bad about being called Shorty.

I'm still the shortest one in the room.

I figured I'd be amongst my peers.

I'm still shorter.
How tall are you?

4, 10.

4, 10?

Oh wow, you're shorter than me.

And I'm still the shortest one.

I remember Ronnie coming in has a relative newcomer.

Very early on, made an impact.

Ron had that quality

where he communicated very well

with the horses he was on.

And in the kingdom of horses,

I'm sure they all talked to one other.

And they say, well, this guy's no good.

I don't like his hands, I don't like his feet.

And so I don't run for him.

I'm sure when Ron's name came up, they said,

yeah, he doesn't feel very good on top of me but I like him.

I like his hands and I run for him.

And so horses ran for Ron.

Maryland really holds a special place in my heart

because I had so many supporters here

and I rode so many races.

Even after I was riding in New York,

I would come down and run a lot of races here.

Another thing that I met Lucien Laurin over here.

And the paper came to the office.

He said, where's Turcotte?

And just came over to ask me to work his horses.

Lucien selected Ronnie.

At the time, Ronnie had more stature on the racetrack

than Lucien did.

And so Ronnie was a well-known

and highly thought of jockey.

And it was interesting to see them kind of negotiate.

They're two Canadians.

They both spoke French-Canadian to each other in the paddock

so nobody else knew what they were saying.

It wasn't complicated instructions.

Lucien would say, Ronnie...

(speaks in foreign language)

And Ronnie would nod and he'd get on the horse

and off he went.

'72, I really thought I was a cinch to win the Preakness

because Riva Ridge was so much more mature

than the rest of the horses.

But the night before, the sky just opened up

and it poured and the track was muddy.

(bell ringing)

The Preakness of 1972 was a mess.

It messed up any hope that Riva Ridge had

of being the Triple Crown winner.

Which people were thinking at the time.

He ran off in the derby, looked really terrific.

And so they thought, well, no Triple Crown this year.

That was the 24th year since citation.

People thought, well, it'll never be won again.

Riva Ridge, it turns out,

we didn't know this at the time, hated the mud.

And there's nothing Ron Turcotte

or any of his contemporaries could've done

to get that horse to run in the mud.

I hated to lose.

But if you take it, that eats you up,

then it's no good.

I mean, you just forget about that one and go on

and think about the next one.

We had a two year old in the barn, Secretariat.

He was big and solid, had big bones and

I could do anything I wanted with him

already as a baby.

Had high hopes for him.

So we work with him, we work with him, we work with him.

I learned a whole lot from Ronnie

because I had a good teacher.

Ronnie is not dumb.

He is smart up here.

And you know he was a powerful horse.

It was the Preakness I worried about

because Riva had not done it.

And that, to me.

And when you have the favorite and you ship in,

all the local people are dying to beat you.

Secretariat goes and he doesn't even

want to go in the gate,

let alone not lean against the back of it.

Secretariat bobs his head.

We're still looking, and they're off.

The early lead, that's Deadly Dream on the outside.

Then it's also Torsion on the outside.

Now coming by us--

I once asked Ron why Secretariat always broke last.

Riders used to say it was because he got mugged

in his first race,

that the horses on the other side

broke in against him.

And Ronnie said, no, it just took him that long

to get his big rear end going. (laughs)

Our Native and Secretariat is last again

as they move into the first turn.

Sham under an easy one right now,

but here comes Secretariat.

He's moving fast and he's going to the outside.

He's going for the lead and it's right now

he's looking for it.

Ronnie Turcotte sets him alongside Colatage.

Secretariat is right alongside--

It was the most breathtaking move

in the history of the whole Triple Crown series.

One move.

No horse in the Triple Crown had ever done that

kind of a thing before.

And certainly not at Pimlico.

And he hit the lead.

What does Ronnie do?

Takes a hold of him.

Says, very good, Red.

He said, I could hear Sham behind me,

coming up behind me.

He said, I just (clicks tongue).

And he's making the run now.

But it's still Secretariat holding on.

Secretariat by two lengths.

Sham riding second.

There's a strong left handed with Pinkeye.

He goes to it time and time again.

But Ronnie Turcotte has him set away.

And Secretariat has him put away.

(inspirational music)
(muffled announcing)

It hits the wire, never went to the whip.

And Pinkeye was cutting his horse in half

all the way from the quarter pole home with the whip.

Right handed whip, left handed.

And nobody hit harder than Pinkeye.

And poor Sham just couldn't catch him.

And it was a powerhouse race again

by the big, strong Secretariat.

The teletimer said 1:55 and something.

Big mistake, we knew that was nuts.

But we found out from Frenchie Schwarz,

the great racing form timer,

who'd been around for 40, 50 years timing races,

he got him in 1:53 and two.

The official teletimer registered

one minute and 55 seconds.

That is not a fast pace.

It seemed very odd to be so slow

considering what everyone felt was

a very fast performance and coming off

a track record of the Kentucky Derby.

I know he ran much faster than that.

I mean, let's face it.

The other one was really driving.

The other one was pushing my horse

when he heard, kept hearing the whip.

So I ran even faster.

If the Preakness stakes is amended to 1:53,

it will mean Secretariat set a track record

at all three Triple Crown races.

A clean sweep of track records.

(soft music)

Well, good morning.
Yeah, how are you?

Good.

Got up early, huh?

(laughs)

Damn horses don't sleep late.

These are some of our team here.

This is Ron Turcotte.

Pleasure to meet you, sir.
Mr. Turcotte's my father.

I'm just Ron.

(laughing)

Larry Jones, pleased to meet you.

Any tips for riding this track?

Anything?

Well, horse on leads,

he'll be from the eight pole on, he'll be hard to catch.

Really, so.
The track,

last time I rode here,

seems you roll up a little low in the quarter pole,

about a 33 16th pole and the eight pole,

then you see--

It goes downhill.
That way and seems like

you're just--
Coasting.

You coast on down.
So at the eight pole,

you want to be right there.

You want to be close.
Okay, good.

That's good to know.

Johnny.

Ronnie Turcotte, legend.

Ronnie, nice to meet you.

(people chatting)

(grand trumpet music)

They're off in the Preakness.

Bodemeister and I'll Have Another

both had good beginnings.

It's above average year,

as far as the quality of the horses.

I think it's a good year.

Everybody wants to see a great horse come along.

I love racing so I'd love to see

a superstar champion appear.

That's what anybody that loves racing wants to see.

And he's three wide

and they're into the stretch.

And it's Bodemeister coming to the eight pole.

I'll Have Another makes his move on the outside.

With one furlong to run, Bodemeister's in front.

I'll Have Another is bearing down on him.

It's Bodemeister and I'll Have Another

in a dramatic Preakness.

We'll see who can get there.

Here he comes, here's the wire.

I'll Have Another does it.

He ran out Bodemeister to win the Preakness

and the Triple Crown!

And now two for two in Triple Crown races

and with a chance to win the Triple Crown

in the Belmont Stakes in three weeks.

(cheering)

Winning another Triple Crown after,

now it's 35 years,

would be a tremendous boost for horse racing in America.

What we need is another

Steve Cauthen performance on Affirmed

or another Jean Cruguet performance with Seattle Slew

or another Ron Turcotte performance with Secretariat

to really give it a shot in the arm.

And well, it's getting tougher and tougher.

Horses are more and more fragile.

(cheerful music)

Well, I'd like to see another Triple Crown come along.

Mario's a good rider.

I mean, he just, what I saw of him,

he's a top rider and he is cold.

And the horse, if there's any change, he'll give it to him.

(cheerful music)

A lot of breaking and developing news this hour.

Now this is coming from Belmont Park.

I'll Have Another will not be racing

into the Belmont Stakes.

Dashing hopes of the first Triple Crown victory since 1978.

Gone.

Dr. Hunt said it was the start

of tendonitis in his left front tendon.

I feel so sorry for the whole team.

We've had such an amazing run.

It's extremely disappointing and

I feel so sorry for the whole team.

We've had such a...

Well, this race is not meant,

the Triple Crown is not meant to be easy.

I thought I had it with Riva Ridge.

I had the best horse.

Come back again.

I gotta go, I'll see you.

(soft music)

(grand trumpet music)

(bell ringing)
And they're off.

Painter is the first way.

Mike Smith sending him early on.

Unstoppable You is also up for speed

as they move for the first turn.

(muffled announcing)

(speaking in foreign language)

(cheering)

He'd been on the cover of Newsweek,

Time and Sports Illustrated.

Here's a horse who had come along

at the perfect intersection historically of time and space.

Here it was, we were still in Vietnam.

Body bags were still coming home.

The nation was in a funk over Watergate.

Secretariat declared a national recess in 1973.

Must be going in fine today.

Yes, he's in and well.

And Sham now going in, he's the outside horse.

And we're ready to go for this tremendous Belmont Stake.

Everybody's in line and they're off.

Looks like the early lead goes to My Gal.

Yes, My Gal going for the lead

with Price of Prints on the outside.

Secretariat away, very well has good position on the rail

and in fact is now going up with the leaders.

And moving for the first turn,

it is Secretariat, Sham on the outside,

is also moving along strongly.

And now it's Sham.

Sham and Secretariat are right together into the first turn.

Ron said, this is gonna be Sham's revenge.

I was...

Numb.

We did not know if he could carry his speed

for a mile and a half.

He's got it by about a length and a half.

Still Sham, 10 lengths back.

My Gal twice ahead.

They're moving on the turn now.

For the turn it's Secretariat.

It looks like he's opening.

The lead is convincing.

Make that three, three and a half.

He's moving into the turn.

Secretariat holding onto the large lead.

Sham is second and then it's a long way back to My Gal

and then twice ahead.

And then on the turn, Secretariat is blazing along.

But first three quarters of a mile and 109 is far ahead.

Secretariat is lengthening now.

He is moving like a tremendous machine.

Secretariat by 12.

Secretariat by 14 lengths on the turn.

Sham is dropping back.

So obviously history was involved here.

He was racing history now, he wasn't racing any horses.

Secretariat was in a position

that he could pass any moment now.

He's into the stretch.

Secretariat leads his heel by 18 lengths

and now twice ahead, just taken second,

and My Gal has moved back to third.

They're in the stretch.

Secretariat has opened the 20 lengths clean.

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 and what an amazing,

unbelievable performance by this miracle horse.

I said 25, it could conceivably have been more.

He won by 31 lengths.

That day, Secretariat did so many things that

no one thought could ever be done.

Yes, he broke the track record,

but he broke it, he shattered it.

How does that feel?

To absolutely demolish them.

No contest, listen to the crowd, listen!

(crowd cheering)

Gallant wave of a half by Turcotte

and he should be proud of what he and his horse did today.

My goodness, never in my dreams did I think

it would be a race like that.

(speaking in foreign language)

The winners' circle and this horse.

We haven't been able to digest it yet ourselves.

That takes just innate courage,

saying, I can do this and I can do this

better than the next man.

And the hardest thing, of course,

was when he could no longer ride.

(soft ominous music)

My accident happened July 13th, 1978,

and it happened right there

where you see the gate over there.

I was riding Flag of Leyte Gulf

and Small Roger fell on my end side

and he pushed me across the other horse's heel

and I went down headfirst and

my horse went down headfirst

and I get thrown out in front

because I was pulling hard on the rein,

trying to get her back on her feet,

but to no avail.

(soft music)

His horse clipped that horse's heels and he went,

that horse just went like that,

just threw Ronnie like coming out of a slingshot.

(soft music)

And I got over there to him.

I jumped down on the stands and went over there.

And I said, Ronnie, I said, ambulance is right here.

He looked up at me.

His eyes were wide open.

God, I can't feel my legs.

And after knowing Ronnie so long,

if there ever was a man, he's the man.

But when he said that,

the way his eyes looked,

it was like it was a little child saying it.

He was afraid.

I can't feel my legs.

My legs were crossed.

Something like I hadn't seen my legs twisted.

And I went to straighten them out

and as I was reaching,

all the muscle in my belly had let go and I was,

I touched, I rubbed my belly

and just like I was touching somebody else.

Just like a bubble of water.

And when I touched my legs,

it was like I was touching somebody else's legs.

Doctor tells me that I'll never walk again.

But I'll be able to do things that

I was doing before and

I just might as well laugh in their face

and tell them that I was an,

I didn't break my head, I broke my back.

And so far, I didn't get anywhere with any doctor.

I went to see a doctor in Canada.

Look, there's nothing they can do for me right now.

They definitely told me I'll be in a wheelchair

the rest of my life.

But I have hope and

that's what I'm living on.

(soft music)

Horse racing's very dangerous.

We don't have, other than a helmet and a vest,

we don't have airbags, we don't have anything.

Obviously horse racing is just plain horses and us.

We weigh 110 pounds.

We race animals that are between 700 to 1200 pounds, so.

And any time we have a fall or an accident,

clipping heels or a horse unfortunately breaks down,

you're in danger to break any kind of bones

any time that you have a fall.

So it's very dangerous.

(soft music)

And not only just on the race.

Even just getting on the horses,

a lot of the guys get hurt, including me.

I got hurt before I even got on the horse.

I went to get on the horse.

The horse kicks and then broke my hip.

So it sends me 20 feet backwards.

So it's dangerous no matter what.

You have to be careful around the horses

and they're very fragile animals.

They get spooked pretty quickly.

The longest I've been out,

maybe about two and a half months,

and maybe it was a little pushing

to come back a little too early.

But that's the things that we have to do.

Even if we're not completely 100% to come back,

we have to come back, start exercising, getting stronger,

and try to ride as quick as you can because otherwise,

you don't get paid.

You're outside, you don't have any contract.

We only get paid when we ride.

(bell ringing)

It's important to protect the horse as well as the riders.

Well you mentioned horse drugging

and earlier in 2000,

the industry here in North America

created the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium.

But there's always a few bad apples.

So we gotta catch the cheaters.

It's very dangerous when the horse is drugged obviously,

for the jockey and for the animal as well,

because the horse is drugged,

the horse doesn't feel anything.

Horse goes and breaks down at full speed

and there it goes, the horse goes, jockey goes,

and someone else behind as well.

There's been a number of riders

in the last four or five years that's been paralyzed.

Rene Douglas, Michael Straight,

Michael Martinez, Tad Leggett in Oklahoma.

Jackie Martin, who's a leading quarter horse jockey,

was paralyzed from the neck down.

So in the last three or four years,

we've had a run of jockeys that have been paralyzed.

The number of jockeys over, since 1940,

there's been 151 fatalities,

which basically roughly comes to about two a year.

One of the things that we're doing

is we're trying to increase benefits

for the jockeys and their families.

I kept hope.

Just not too long ago, I said,

well, it don't look like I'm gonna walk.

But I just, I always took it one day at a time.

I never planned ahead, I just...

Some days are good, some days are better,

some days are worse.

So I just...

I just thank God every time I open my eyes every morning.

(soft music)

I'm very satisfied at what I did in my life.

A lot of people still recognize me after all these years.

After all, I've been hurt for 34 years.

I get so many letters every week.

I mean, there isn't a day that goes by

I don't get fan letters.

His ethics were from Drummond.

His father, Fred, was a very honest, hardworking guy.

And Ronnie wasn't gonna get any other

kind of behavior any different from that.

He was incorruptible.

A guy named Tony Ciulla had confessed to Sports Illustrated

that he had approached jockeys and fixed races in New York.

And it was during this time that Ronnie

was approached to pull a horse and he said,

no, I'm not gonna do that.

And somebody actually threw a hammer at him

in the jockey's room.

And he ducked and it hit right above his head.

(speaking in foreign language)

(soft music)

(speaking in foreign language)

When he won all those big races,

did you attend all the races

or were you able to--
No, I was home.

I watched on TV like just about everybody else.

How do your children accept all this?

Oh, they're all rooting for their father, of course,

and are feeling very happy when he wins

and disappointed when he loses and

they're kind of learning to take both, I guess.

Mom was always there for us.

Dad was there when he wasn't working.

Weekends he would take me hunting and fishing

'cause I loved hunting and fishing.

I would get to go to the racetrack

on some Saturdays and Sunday mornings with him.

That was fun, in behind with all the animals

and the trainers.

It's my favorite racetrack

'cause it's not in the city, it's outside,

and a couple of summers we had a Winnebago

and we'd park it on a farm and it was just fabulous.

It's a tough life, being a jockey.

You're away a lot, a lot of traveling,

and you're working anywhere between 14 to 18 hours a day.

It's a tough life and,

but I loved doing what I was doing.

When we moved back to Canada, we got the hobby farm.

We got the horses.

And I had a beautiful mare named Lady

and then we had a work horse.

Loved it, fabulous.

Taught you how to work 'cause a farm is all about work.

Whenever I retired from riding,

I always wanted to come back and I like it here.

It's nice.

It's really God's country.

Winter might be a little tough

but the summer's so beautiful.

I remember him going to work

and then remember not seeing him again.

And then when we did get to see him,

the way, he was injured bad and,

but he never, ever said, why me?

He used to say, why not me?

I'm no special.

And so it changed our lives dramatically in the way that

I know I myself,

and I think all my sisters too,

we never take anything for granted.

You get up in the morning, we tell our kids we love them,

we go to work, they say the same to us,

and you come home 'cause you don't know.

(speaking in foreign language)

(clapping)

Let me talk about the Turcottes.

There were four of you, all jockeys?

There was nine of us.

Nine.

But how many were jockeys?

Actually, it was 12 in the family, three girls.

(laughing)

And four jockeys, yes.

I have one more question then.

In that big, big year you had,

how much money did you make for the owners?

There he goes.

For the owner, I made 28 million, some odd thousand.

And how much of that went to you?

Well, I don't know.

Uncle Sam and I, we kinda shared it and kept most of it.

(laughing)
(clapping)

I was a lumberjack at one time and

I was like,

being out in the woods, I'll tell you, it's peaceful.

Relaxing and I like seeing nice forests

that's not all cut down.

I've been planting trees.

I've planted 265,000 trees.

They're growing very well and I'm very proud of that.

It's a good shelter for a wild animal.

(speaking in foreign language)

(soft music)

(speaking in foreign language)

Secretariat took his final curtain call.

Nearly 33,000 fans turned out on a non-racing day

just to say goodbye to the champion.

(soft music)

Secretariat, a winner again.

His winning time in the 1973 Preakness

has been changed to a Stake's record 1:53.

Secretariat now owns the record winning time

in all three legs of the Triple Crown.

It's all good.

(upbeat music)