Ron Turcotte hospitalized after motor vehicle accident

Ron Turcotte, the Canadian horse racing legend who rode the world-renowned Secretariat to the Triple Crown in 1973, is in hospital in New Brunswick after being in a motor vehicle accident on Monday.

Turcotte, 73, was hospitalized in Perth-Andover, N.B., after the accident Monday and was being transported to Fredericton on Tuesday to see an orthopaedic surgeon.

The former jockey's injuries are not considered life-threatening. He is said to be conscious and calm.

Turcotte was paralyzed from the waist down in a horse racing accident at Belmont Park, N.Y., in 1978. Because of that paralysis, Turcotte is not feeling any pain from Monday's accident.

RCMP Const. Yannick Pelletier said police were called to a single-vehicle accident on the Trans-Canada Highway at about 9:45 a.m. Monday near Four Falls, N.B.

Pelletier said the driver of the van lost control in slippery conditions and the vehicle landed on its side.

Turcotte was one of two men in the van. Both were sent to hospital with injuries.

"We prefer to talk to reporters when it was good news," said his wife, Gaetane Turcotte, who was still shaken by Monday's events.

Turcotte lives in Drummond, N.B. and spent Monday night at the Hôtel-Dieu Hospital in Perth-Andover.

The New Brunswick native won racing's Triple Crown with Secretariat in 1973 and set records in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes that still stand. It was the first Triple Crown win in 25 years.

Turcotte is the first person from thoroughbred racing ever appointed as a member of the Order of Canada.

In 1980, he was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame.