Ron Turcotte Life and career bio of Ron Turcotte | Ron Turcotte life and horse racing career biography sketch. Born July 22, 1941, in Drummond, New Brunswick, Canada, was thoroughbred race horse jockey Ron Turcotte. Ron is best known as the rider of the winner of the U.S. Triple Crown in 1973, the legendary, Secretariat. His fame starts prior to 1973 though. Turcotte, in 1972 rode Riva Ridge to victory in the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes. He was one of the top jockeys in Canada during the 1960s and all of North America's in the early 1970s. Other accolades include the prestigious George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award that honors a rider whose career and personal conduct exemplifies the very best example of participants in the sport of thoroughbred racing. He is the first person from Thoroughbred racing ever to be appointed a member of the Order of Canada.