There should be no mention of the mighty Triple Crown champion Secretariat without pointing to jockey Ron Turcotte as an integral member of a dynamite team. It might appear from watching replays of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes in 1973 as if Turcotte was merely a passenger taken for a wonderful ride by the gleaming colt they called “Big Red.” But Penny Chenery, Secretariat’s owner, knew better.
Tag: Legends
How Surgery Took Racehorse Alysheba from Unremarkable to World Champion
In the mid-1970s, a crafty but achy-armed left-handed pitcher named Tommy John faced the prospect of surgery to extend his career in Major League Baseball. His surgeon, Dr. Frank Jobe, devised a new way to treat John’s ailment, using a tendon elsewhere in his patient’s body to replace a damaged ulnar collateral ligament. The new technique proved a stroke of genius as it not only allowed John to resume his career, it also saved the career of a long list of pitchers in future years. Today, Jobe’s breakthrough surgical procedure is known as Tommy John Surgery.
Hall of Fame Jockey Bill Shoemaker: A Racehorse’s Best Friend
Did a racehorse have a better friend? At 4 feet, 11 inches tall and 98 pounds, it didn’t look like Bill Shoemaker could muscle a few sacks of groceries, let alone control a head-strong Thoroughbred a dozen times his weight. Still, Shoemaker personified that mysterious bond between horse and rider. He communicated with an innate light touch on the reins, coaxing the horse into the action, gentling it with his hands.
Secretariat Shows Off New Trick in 1973 Gotham Stakes
Having proved in the Bay Shore Stakes three weeks earlier that he had progressed through the winter and come back bigger and stronger than ever, Secretariat returned to competition in the Grade 2 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct April 7 at a mile, an eighth of a mile longer
