Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 19, 1990 TAG: 9005190151
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VAN BUREN, MAINE LENGTH: Medium
"Life is beautiful. Every moment is precious," Turcotte said while being congratulated by friends after the ceremony.
Turcotte, 49, was paralyzed from the chest down in a racing accident in 1978 and is confined to a wheelchair. The seventh-grade dropout said he was inspired to finish school by a friend who was a veterinarian at New York tracks while Turcotte was riding.
"When I saw [Dr. Manuel Gilman] at Saratoga a couple of years ago, he said I should go back to school, so whenever I feel ready to go back to work I'll be ready," he said.
Turcotte said he also was inspired by his wife, Gaetane, and daughter, Ann. They're both college graduates who taught school.
"I felt like the black sheep," he said with a smile. "I haven't done anything for 12 years - and I'm tired of it, too."
But even as he received his high school equivalency degree in this tiny town in the northeast corner of Maine, Turcotte talked about the next step - college.
"I'm thinking about it for the fall," he said, adding that he's considering business administration as a major. He may also take courses in public speaking since he's frequently asked to talk to groups.
Turcotte's 17-year racing career came to an abrupt end at Belmont Park in New York when the 5-year-old filly, Flag of Leyte Gulf, was knocked off balance. The filly tumbled and Turcotte was thrown over her head. The fall broke his back.
Turcotte had ridden in 22,000 races, winning more than 3,000, with purses totaling $28.8 million. After the accident, he retired to a sprawling stone house in the New Brunswick potato-growing town of Drummond, just across the border from Maine.
Memories of his great racing career fill a glass-enclosed cabinet brimming with dozens of gleaming trophies, including the Triple Crown for winning the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
But the Canadian native plays down the honors, saying he was just lucky.
Turcotte's beginnings were humble; he worked horses as a lumberjack before he even knew what a jockey was.
Keywords:
HORSE RACING
by CNB