Hovdey: Entry is rare into this jockeys’ club

Victor Espinoza, the man who rides American Pharoah in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, is already on a list that includes Bill Hartack, Milo Valenzuela, and Kent Desormeaux, all of them in the Hall of Fame.

That’s pretty good company, but all the same, Espinoza would like to jump ship and join the club made up of Johnny Loftus, Earl Sande, Willie Saunders, Charlie Kurtsinger, Eddie Arcaro, John Longden, Warren Mehrtens, Ron Turcotte, Jean Cruguet, and Steve Cauthen.

Just as Espinoza has come close to winning the Triple Crown with War Emblem and California Chrome, Hartack tried but failed with Northern Dancer and Majestic Prince. Ditto Desormeaux with Real Quiet and Big Brown.

As for Valenzuela, he came up short when Tim Tam went wrong in the 1958 Belmont, but even if he had won the 1968 Belmont Stakes aboard Forward Pass, he would not have known for certain that he had won the Triple Crown for another four years. That’s how long it took for the courts to rule on the high-bute disqualification of the original ’68 Derby first-place finisher, Dancer’s Image. Instead, Forward Pass ran second to Stage Door Johnny in New York.

In case Espinoza needs further inspiration, two of the three living jockeys who won the Triple Crown will be at Belmont Park on Saturday. Jean Cruguet, who rode Seattle Slew in 1977, and Steve Cauthen, Affirmed’s partner in 1978, will be signing autographs and sharing memories of the two most recent Triple Crown winners. Ron Turcotte, who rode Secretariat in 1973, is still at home in New Brunswick, Canada, recovering from the leg fractures he suffered in a car wreck earlier this year, but he will be at Belmont in spirit.

“I don’t heal quite as fast as I did when I was young, though I guess nobody does,” Turcotte said on Monday. “But because I’m not active, I don’t get the same kind of circulation.”

Turcotte lost the use of his legs in a racing accident at Belmont Park 37 years ago.

“I was hoping to get the casts off last week, but there wasn’t enough change from the last set of X-rays,” Turcotte said. “I sure don’t like missing the race.”

After 36 years without a Triple Crown winner, fans can’t get enough of Turcotte, Cruguet, and Cauthen when they appear in the flesh. They are the next-best thing to seeing an elusive Triple Crown winner on the track.

The rest of their exclusive membership is led by Arcaro, the son of Italian immigrants who was born in the rough-and-tumble river town of Cincinnati and escaped to become a six-time national champion. Along the way, he won the Triple Crown with Whirlaway in 1941 and Citation in 1948.

Mehrtens won only 614 races during his short career, but three of them were the 1946 Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes with Assault for trainer Max Hirsch and the King Ranch of Robert Kleberg. Later that year, Hirsch replaced Mehrtens with Arcaro. Both riders died in November 1997.

Sande, the subject of “A Guy Named Sande,” by Damon Runyon, was a cowboy from South Dakota whose 1930 Triple Crown victory with Gallant Fox was the highlight of a career that included three national titles, a brief stint in movies, and a successful second act as a trainer. He died in 1968.

In June 1919, Chicago’s Johnny Loftus won a maiden race with Man o’ War and then the Belmont Stakes with Sir Barton. That was a pretty good month. The Belmont gave Sir Barton a sweep of the three springtime races that would later become known as the Triple Crown. Loftus died in 1976.

Saunders, who learned his trade from George Woolf, parlayed his early California experience into a solid East Coast career. Among his patrons was Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons, who put Saunders aboard Omaha to win the Triple Crown of 1935. Saunders died in 1986.

Kurtsinger already had won the Derby and Belmont aboard Twenty Grand and the Preakness on Head Play when he showed up at Churchill Downs in 1937 with War Admiral, who went on to add the Preakness and the Belmont. Kurtsinger was only 39 when he died nine years later of pneumonia.

Longden was born in England and grew up in Canada before his 21-race collaboration with Count Fleet ended with a sweep of the 1943 Triple Crown. A five-time national champ, Longden rode until the age of 59, retired with a winner, and went on to train Majestic Prince. He died on his 96th birthday, Feb. 14, 2003.

Turcotte, who turns 74 in July, was asked if he had any advice for Espinoza.

“American Pharoah seems like a very versatile horse,” Turcotte said. “It looks like you can do just about anything you want with him, so he’ll be okay if you can get him to relax. Every time I see a guy strangling a horse early to make them run farther, I know they’re not going to make it.”

Turcotte should know. In addition to Secretariat’s 31-length Belmont romp, he also won the 1972 running with Riva Ridge, who was on the front end from the time they hit the first turn and won by seven.

“I had a lot of good luck at Belmont Park, and I always thought the mile and a half was the easiest race to run,” Turcotte added. “As far as American Pharoah is concerned, the jock should just let him turn the bit loose and go to galloping. Horses have enough to do out there without fighting their jockeys.”