From the dirt on the tracks to the red carpet, our super star jockeys are about to appear in a Triple Crown jockumentary. I am one lucky girl and I was real excited that I had the accidental pleasure of meeting John Rousseau, producer, writer and director of “Heart, Hope & Glory-Masters of the Triple Crown”.
Earlier this week, I was hanging out and enjoying an evening off from work when I spotted a man in a Saratoga shirt. I couldn’t help myself, I had to ask him when he was there last. It was pretty recently and then he showed me his nice bridle style Seattle Slew bracelet, a gift from Jean Cruguet himself. Wow! I had to hear his story so I whipped out my Thoroughbred U business card and started grilling the man. As it turns out, this man is working on an amazing film on the last 3 living Triple Crown winning jockeys, prior to this year’s big win by Victor Espinoza with American Pharoah. Even nicer, part of the proceeds will got to fund the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.
The movie will feature Ron Turcotte, Jean Cruguet and Steve Cauthen. This is the first time that these famous jockeys have gathered together to tell their stories on camera. The film is set to be released in Lexington, KY this September prior to the Keeneland September Sale. The studio is GoldMark Media Ventures managed by GoldMark Farm owner Paul Bulmahn. There is already a movie trailer, a Facebook page, a Twitter account and a website. Heart, Hope & Glory
The PDJF was founded in 2006. It is a nonprofit public charity that benefits jockeys that have suffered debilitating on-track injuries. Currently, about 60 jockeys are being helped by this fund. Here is the link to read about the charity and/or donate to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund
Ron Turcotte is the amazing retired jockey for many horses including the 1973 Triple Crown Winner, Secretariat. Turcotte was born in Canada in 1941. He is featured in another documentary, “Secretariat’s Jockey, Ron Turcotte”, that had its world premier in Louisville, KY during the Kentucky Derby festivities in 2013. That film was directed by Phil Comeau. Turcotte was the 1st jockey to win 5 out of 6 consecutive Triple Crown races. He was the only one to do this until just this year when Espinoza matched him. Mr. Turcotte has been inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame and he received the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award. Secretariat was born in 1970 and grabbed the Triple Crown in 1973, after a 25 year drought of no Triple Crown victories. He was just our 9th Triple Crown champ ever. Secretariat has an amazing fan following and he earned it, collecting wins and awards in abundance. He is ranked 2nd on the list of top 100 U.S. Race Horses of the 20th Century. Man O War is ranked 1st. Secretariat made records in all legs of the Triple Crown and holds the fastest times to this day. In his retirement, he became the Leading Broodmare Sire in North America. He died in 1989 and was buried at Claiborne Farm in Paris, KY.
Jean Cruguet was born in France in 1939. He won the Triple Crown in 1977 riding Seattle Slew. Cruguet got his start in Europe but he moved to the United States in 1965 and only briefly raced in Europe again in 1972. He has a long list of achievements and honors. He has retired a few times since 1980 and is currently living in Kentucky. Back in June he rode American Pharoah around the barn area at Churchill Downs. This is probably the only time a Triple Crown winning horse has been mounted by two Triple Crown winning jockeys. Seattle Slew was born in 1974 and he is the only horse to ever win the Triple Crown undefeated in all races of his prior career. He went on to win the Belmont too and retired winning 14 of 17 career starts. He was our 10th Triple Crown horse and is ranked 9th of the Top 100 U.S. Race Horses. He had a nice stud career at Spendthrift Farm and Three Chimneys Farm and was buried at Hill N Dale Farm in 2002. He was a Leading Sire in North America as well as a Leading North American Broodmare Sire.
Right here, in Kentucky, in 1960, Steve Cauthen was born. He rode Affirmed in the 1978 Triple Crown sweep. Cauthen raced in the United Kingdom for many years and has racked up big wins in not only the United States but Great Britain, France, Germany, Ireland and Italy. He is a National Museum Racing Hall of Famer. So was his horse Affirmed. This Thoroughbred was inducted in 1980. He won our 11th Triple Crown and is ranked 12th on the Top 100 Race Horses. Affirmed later raced against Seattle Slew twice and was beat both times. These are the only times two Triple Crown winners have competed against one another. He was the sire to many stakes winners and champions. Affirmed earned many awards and titles and was buried at Jonabell Farm in 2001.
It was a pleasure to meet John Rousseau and to hear his stories and see the pictures on his phone. I love the passion he has for Thoroughbred horse racing and his special perspective on the human athletes of the industry. I can’t wait to see his jockumentary. I hope this makes him very successful and raises a lot of money for the PDJF. I think this will be a very special project to shed some light on many great racing stories of the past while the jockeys are still here to share those tales themselves. I love racing and all the interesting characters involved. Have a great weekend everyone and keep your eyes and ears peeled. You never know what opportunity knocks next! Oh, and my lovely dirt pics above are from my surprise backside invite to Churchill Downs for early morning breezing. That’s some nice dirt!
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