Yves Turcotte wins Avelino Gomez Memorial Award, joins brother Ron

Yves Turcotte’s 1,347 career victories finally have the kind of recognition that fits the scale of his career and the family name attached to it. The former rider, now a steward, was named the 2026 recipient of the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award on June 17, a distinction reserved for a Canadian-born, Canadian-raised or long-term Canadian rider who has made significant contributions to Thoroughbred racing.

That is why this honor lands as more than a ceremonial nod. Turcotte’s record says enough on its own, but the award also ties him to a racing lineage that helped shape the sport across Ontario, Quebec and the border into the United States. His older brother, Ron Turcotte, received the same award in 1984, and Yves said the moment was deeply personal because it connected him to the brother who inspired his path into the game.

Turcotte’s own route into racing came only after Ron was injured and could no longer continue. Yves began riding in 1980 and built a career that made him a familiar figure in Canadian racing circles for decades. He said the award “means the world” to him, and the emotion behind that reaction made sense: he was not just being honored for a number, but for a career that grew out of family sacrifice and stayed rooted in Canadian racing.

The award itself carries a meaningful history. Avelino Gomez, the Cuban-born rider for whom it is named, died of complications from injuries suffered in a three-horse accident in the 1980 Canadian Oaks. Woodbine says a life-size statue of Gomez overlooks the track’s walking ring, and a replica is presented each year to the recipient, giving the honor a visible link between memory and achievement. Gomez had called Toronto home and raised a family there, which makes the award especially resonant in a city that has long been central to the sport.

Ron Turcotte’s career gives the family link even more weight. Woodbine says he began mucking stalls and galloping horses in 1960-61, won his first race at Fort Erie in 1962, then led Canada with 180 wins that year and 216 in 1963. He later won the Preakness Stakes aboard Tom Rolfe in 1965 and went on to collect some of the sport’s highest honors, including the George Woolf Memorial Award, the Sovereign Award and the Order of Canada.

Recent winners show the award’s place in the sport’s present as well as its past, with J.P. Souter honored in 2025, Gunnar Lindberg in 2024 and Russell Baze in 2023. Turcotte now joins that list for a career that matters not just because of the wins, but because it connects Canadian racing history, cross-border success and one of the sport’s most enduring family stories.