By Curtis Stock

Firefly Books, 2023, ISBN 9780228104247, 368 pages, hardcover, Kindle

Reviewed by Tania Millen, BSc, MJ

Secretariat is a household name in the horse industry. The video of “Big Red” winning the Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths in 1973 and cementing his Triple Crown win is jaw-dropping. But few know about the Canadian jockey who won those spectacular races — Ron Turcotte. He hails from small-town Drummond, New Brunswick, won 3,032 races over his 17-year career, and was the first of five Turcotte brothers to exchange logging and picking potatoes for the glitzy world of Thoroughbred horse racing. Cumulatively, the Turcottes won over 8,200 races and almost $60 million in purse money.

The Turcottes: The Remarkable Story of a Horse Racing Dynasty details their unlikely rags-to-riches story with photographs and career statistics for each jockey. It’s an inspiring tale.

Alfred and Rose Turcotte, poor French-Canadians merely 1.62 m (5’4”) and 1.45 m (4’9”) tall, had 14 children between 1940 and 1960, most of whom didn’t finish school as they had to work. The family had nothing to do with horse racing or even knew it existed. At age 14, third child Ron started logging in the bug-ridden forests with his father: sawing down trees, limbing them with an ax, then dragging them to the river by horse. In an implausible set of circumstances, he arrived on the backstretch of Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto at age 19 and was hired to cool out horses for E.P Taylor. Taylor founded the Jockey Club of Canada and bred legendary Northern Dancer. Two years later, Ron was a winning jockey and eventually raced some of the greatest Thoroughbreds of all time, including Northern Dancer, Tom Rolfe, Kentucky Derby winner Riva Ridge, and the famous Secretariat.

“The kid is a natural, born not to be a lumberjack but a jockey,” writes Curtis Stock.

Recognizing opportunity, four of Ron’s brothers followed him to the track. Noel Turcotte had planned to be an electrician but instead became a jockey, eventually riding Canadian Hall of Fame mare Belle Geste. Rudy Turcotte was as talented as Ron and led the jockey standings “just about everywhere he rode up and down the Atlantic seaboard.” He also partied as hard as he rode. Roger Turcotte won 290 races at age 18 and became North America’s leading apprentice rider. The Turcotte’s last child, Yves, was 61 kg (135 lb) at age 13 so wasn’t considered jockey material. But he ultimately became a top jockey in Alberta before retiring and becoming a racetrack steward.

However, the extreme highs and life-sucking lows of a jockey in the moneyed world of Thoroughbred horse racing came at a steep price. The Turcottes were plagued by tragedy: life-threatening injuries, paralysis, eating disorders, alcoholism, depression, and suicide.

“Most jockeys only know horse racing,” writes Stock. “They arrive young, most with little education. And when the door closes… they don’t know where to turn. One minute trainers are falling over themselves to ride you. The next you’re old and forgotten. And often broke.”

Through careful research and interviews, Stock has documented the little-known lives of five brothers from small-town Canada who rose to the upper echelons of the Thoroughbred racing world, and the heartbreak that accompanied their success. It’s a remarkable story that illustrates the roller-coaster ride and human costs of top-level horse sport.

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More by Tania Millen.