1972 Kentucky Derby
The 1972 Kentucky Derby was the 98th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 6, 1972, with 130,564 people in attendance. Ron Turcotte was the winning jockey of the 1972 Belmont Stakes Race and the U.S. Triple Crown in 1973. Turcotte’s career started in “Toronto as a hot walker for E.P Taylor’s Winfield’s farm in 1960.” He gained praise in result of his victory with Tom Rolfe in the 1965 Preakness Stakes. In 1973 Turcotte internationally famous when he rode secretariat, to win the first Triple Crown in 25 years . “Turcotte was North America’s leading stakes- winning jockey in 1972-1973.” He was the first jockey to win back-to-back Kentucky Derbies. This hasn't happened since Jimmy Winkfield in 1902 he “was the first jockey to have won five out of six consecutive Triple Crown Races. Eventually he was voted “the prestigious George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award.” He was “First Thoroughbred racing ever to be appointed a member of the order of Canada. “Turcotte’s career ended in 1978 following a tumble of his horse, Flag of Leyte Gulf at the starts of a race at Belmont  Park. He suffered injuries that resulted in Paraplegia.” He was put into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, and he was also voted into the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame in 1979 he made it into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. In 1984 he was the first recipient of the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award. The annual given rewards the jockey who is Canadian born raised or even a regular country who made significant contributions to this sport. “In 2015, a statue of secretariat and Turcotte crossing the finish line at Belmont Stakes was unveiled in  grand falls New Brunswick, The hometown of Turcotte. References. "Ron Turcotte | Secretariat.com". "www.secretariat.com". Retrieved 2021-12-06. Staff, Farmers' Almanac, and Farmers' Almanac Staffhttps://www.farmersalmanac.com/author/fa-admin. “Kentucky Derby Traditions: The History behind the Run for the Roses.” Farmers' Almanac, 10 Mar. 2021, https://www.farmersalmanac.com/the-kentucky-derby