Jockey Yves Turcotte: Horse Racing Profile and Career Overview

Who Is Yves Turcotte?

Yves Turcotte rode 1,347 winners across a 17-year career and earned every one of them through sheer hard work. He is the youngest of the 14 Turcotte siblings from Drummond, New Brunswick, the family that gave racing Ron Turcotte and the Secretariat Triple Crown of 1973. Yves carried that famous name and built a distinguished record of his own. On June 27, 2026, he accepted the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award at Woodbine in recognition of a lifetime given to the sport.

The Gomez Award goes to a rider, Canadian-born, Canadian-raised, or a regular in the country for more than five years, who has made a real contribution to Thoroughbred racing. His brother Ron was the first recipient in 1984. Yves now stands on the same list, alongside Sandy Hawley, Patrick Husbands, Emma-Jayne Wilson, Russell Baze, and Paul Souter.

Jockeys Canada congratulates Yves on the honour. His name, beside his brother’s, closes a family story that ran through four decades of Canadian racing.

The Turcotte Name in Canadian Racing

Five Turcotte brothers rode professionally: Ron, Rudy, Roger, Noel, and Yves. Between them, they won thousands of races across North America. Ron is the most famous, a dual Hall of Fame jockey who rode Secretariat and Riva Ridge, and whose career ended in a 1978 spill at Belmont Park that left him in a wheelchair.

Yves was the last brother to take up the saddle, and the last to leave it. He had not planned on a riding career. He was working long weeks in frozen-food shipping at McCain Foods when Ron’s accident changed the family’s path. Yves came west to visit Roger, took work around the barns, and committed to the game.

Yves has always spoken of his brothers with deep respect and credited his own success to relentless effort. As he puts it, his whole approach was to work, and work, and work. That work ethic is what defines the record below.

Early Career and Entry Into Riding

Yves came to the racetrack in 1980 and reached Toronto in 1982 with his brother Noel acting as his agent. He learned the trade alongside Rudy in Maryland, working horses in the mornings before he ever took a mount in the afternoon. His first winning year on the official record is 1981.

The class of 1982 was a strong one to break into. Yves rode as an apprentice that year against Richard Dos Ramos, Jack Lauzon, Robert Landry, and Robert King Jr., all of whom went on to win the Gomez Award themselves. He has called it a tough gang to come up against, and a group where everyone made a living.

Riding Career: 1981 to 1999

Yves rode for 17 years and recorded 11,128 career starts. He won 1,347 races, with 1,486 seconds and 1,557 thirds, for total earnings of 8,866,446 dollars. His career win rate sat at 12 per cent, and he finished in the money in 39 per cent of his starts. Equibase classes him as a multiple stakes-winning jockey.

His strongest single season by earnings was 1988. The year-by-year record shows the steady, durable production of a rider trainer could count on, season after season.

The 1999 Retirement

A head injury ended Yves Turcotte’s riding career in 1999. It was not his first. The physical toll of the job, the falls, the gate incidents, and the lifelong fight with weight are part of the Turcotte family’s story and the wider reality of the sport. Yves walked away from the saddle, but not from racing.

A Second Career as a Steward

Yves had decided on his next role years before he stopped riding. He did not want to train, and he did not want to be an agent. He wanted to be a steward. He has now served as a steward for 17 years, the same span as his riding career, and works today at Century Mile Racetrack and Casino in Edmonton, Alberta.

That balance, 17 years in the irons and 17 years in the stand, is the contribution the Gomez Award recognises. A rider who understood the job from the saddle now applies that understanding to the integrity of the race from the other side.

The 2026 Avelino Gomez Memorial Award

The award was announced on June 17, 2026 and presented at Woodbine on June 27, 2026. The Gomez Award honours Avelino Gomez, the Cuban-born Canadian and American Hall of Fame rider who died in 1980 from injuries in the Canadian Oaks. A replica of the Gomez statue that stands at Woodbine’s walking ring goes to each recipient.

Yves has said the honour means the world to him, largely because Ron received it first in 1984. He called the chance to stand beside his brother’s name on the list surreal, and said he never expected to win it.

Why Yves Turcotte Matters to Canadian Racing

Canadian racing depends on riders who turn up, do the work, and stay in the game for the long term. Yves Turcotte did all three across two careers. He honoured a storied family name, built a distinguished record of 1,347 wins, and then gave a second working life to protecting the sport as a steward. That is exactly the kind of lifelong service the Gomez Award was created to mark.

Frequently Asked Questions About Yves Turcotte

Q1: Who is Yves Turcotte? 

A: Yves Turcotte is a retired Canadian Thoroughbred jockey and current racing steward. He is the 2026 Avelino Gomez Memorial Award recipient and the youngest brother in the Turcotte racing family.

Q2: How many races did Yves Turcotte win?

A: He won 1,347 races from 11,128 career starts, a 12 per cent win rate, with total earnings of 8,866,446 dollars—source: Equibase.

Q3: What were his biggest wins? 

A: His signature stakes victories were the 1988 Canadian Derby (Grade 3) aboard Elmtex and the 1996 Alberta Derby aboard Letkingo.

Q4: Is Yves Turcotte related to Ron Turcotte? 

A: Yes. Yves is Ron Turcotte’s youngest brother. Ron rode Secretariat to the 1973 Triple Crown and was the first Avelino Gomez Memorial Award winner in 1984.

Q5: What does Yves Turcotte do now? 

A: He works as a racing steward at Century Mile Racetrack and Casino in Edmonton, Alberta, a role he has held for 17 years.

This article was enhanced using AI tools for drafting, but was thoroughly reviewed and edited by our team of experts at the JBAC.

Career Highlights

Career totals (1981 to 1999)

Source: Equibase official profile, as of June 27, 2026.

Signature wins

• 1988 Canadian Derby (Grade 3), aboard Elmtex.
• 1996 Alberta Derby, aboard Letkingo.

Sources: Woodbine; BloodHorse; Paulick Report.

Career arc

• Came to the track: 1980.
• First winning year on record: 1981.
• Reached Toronto: 1982.
• Retired from riding: 1999, after a head injury.
• Years as a steward: 17, currently at Century Mile Racetrack and Casino, Edmonton.

Sources: Woodbine; Paulick Report; Equibase.

Honour

• 2026 Avelino Gomez Memorial Award recipient. Announced June 17, 2026. Presented at Woodbine, June 27, 2026.

Photos compliments of

• June 17, 2026 | Yves Turcotte Named 2026 Avelino Gomez Memorial Award Recipient | Matthew Lomon, for Woodbine – Woodbine
• June 17, 2026 | Yves Turcotte Wins 2026 Avelino Gomez Memorial Award | Press Release, Woodbine – BloodHorse
• June 17, 2026 | Former Jockey Yves Turcotte Recognised With Avelino Gomez Memorial Award | Matthew Lomon/Woodbine – Paulick Report
• June 16, 2023 | New book reveals triumph, tragedy of a Canadian racing dynasty – St. Albert Gazette