Did you know this about the IW Knights of Columbus?
“It was a horse race like none other. In June 1973, a 3-year-old chestnut colt named Secretariat was poised to be the first winner of the illustrious Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in 25 years. Secretariat, known affectionately as “Big Red,” had won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in dramatic fashion the previous month. The horse captured the world’s attention, surpassing the Vietnam War, Roe v. Wade and the Watergate scandal in headlines. Still, few could imagine how stunning the win at the 1973 Belmont Stakes would be, with a speed and margin of victory that remain unmatched.
This past fall, Secretariat’s owner, Penny Chenery, died at age 95. The horse lived to be 19 years old, before dying in 1989, and the trainer, Lucien Laurin, died in 2000. The jockey who rode Secretariat to victory 45 years ago, however, is still alive and well, and he is a 51-year member of the Knights of Columbus.
Ron Turcotte, 76, is a member of St. Michael de Drummond Council 6841 in Drummond, New Brunswick. Five years after winning the Triple Crown, he was thrown from a horse on the Belmont track and suffered major injuries, ending his career and leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. But it didn’t change his outlook on life.
In anticipation of this year’s Triple Crown races, Columbia’s editor, Alton Pelowski, spoke with Turcotte about his career and his memories of riding the ‘greatest horse that ever lived’.”
The preceding are the beginning paragraphs of an article published in the KofC Columbia On-Line magazine. The link to a Q&A segment between Mr. Pelwski and Mr. Turcotte can be found on: www.IWKnights.com/bulletin or at facebook.com/IWknights 9981 and NOW on Twitter at twitter.com/IwKnights.
Links Related to this week’s column:
- SECRETARIAT AND THE KNIGHT WHO RACED HIM TO VICTORY
By Alton J. Pelowski (Columbia Magazine).
- An interview with Ron Turcotte, the hall of fame jockey who rode the fastest steed of all time.
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We would like to talk with you about becoming an IW Knight. Please visit us on-line at our web site: www.IWknights.com/AboutUs. Or call Rob at: (314) 973-2373.
