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GRAND FALLS, New Brunswick -- Ron Turcotte, the Hall of Fame jockey who won the Triple Crown aboard Secretariat, was in a hospital Tuesday after the van he was driving hit a snowbank and flipped near his home in New Brunswick. The 73-year-old Turcotte, paralyzed from the waist down after a racing spill in 1978, and another man were hurt in the accident on the Trans-Canada Highway, police said Tuesday. Both men were taken to a hospital in Perth-Andover. Police had no comment on their conditions. Leonard Luskey, who operates the website Secretariat.com, said Tuesday in an email to The Associated Press that he has spoken to Turcotte and his wife, Gaetane, and hopes to provide an update later Tuesday. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Constable Yannick Pelletier said the accident occurred about 9:45 a.m. near Four Falls. He said the snow-covered roads were slippery at the time and the accident is under investigation. Turcotte is best known as the rider of the great Secretariat, who swept the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes in 1973 to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1948. Turcotte also won the 1972 Derby and Belmont aboard Riva Ridge. Secretariat's rise to superstardom was made into the movie "Secretariat," released in 2010. It told the story of how Penny Chenery took over Meadow Stable and hired trainer Lucien Laurin, who then called on Turcotte to ride the horse known as "Big Red." Turcotte won more than 3,000 races during his career, which ended in 1978 when the jockey tumbled from his horse at the start of a race at Belmont Park. In the '73 Belmont, Turcotte was aboard for the greatest ride -- and perhaps the greatest race call -- in racing history. As Secretariat widened his lead with every stride and the crowd on its feet cheered him on, track announcer Chic Anderson uttered the memorable line, "He is moving like a tremendous machine." Big Red won by a record 31 lengths and in record time. Turcotte has appeared at many Triple Crown events in recent years, including last year when California Chrome won the Derby and Preakness but came up short in the Belmont. After the movie was released, Turcotte discussed his ride aboard Secretariat throughout the Triple Crown. "The greatest race was the Preakness," he told the AP in a 2010 interview. "I could have won by 15 lengths if I'd wanted to." In the Belmont, "he had such a nice, rhythmic stride. He was just covering ground. He was doing it so easy. When he (Anderson) called me 20 lengths in front, I could see the crowd and hear the roar."
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