AP Report: Champion jockey snubbed

The jockey who rode Secretariat to the 1973 Triple Crown says he was denied parking assistance at Churchill Downs the last two times he visited the home of the Kentucky Derby, reports the Associated Press.

Ron Turcotte said Wednesday he was so disgusted that he decided not to attend this Run for the Roses on Saturday.

Turcotte was paralyzed in a riding accident in 1978.

At last year's Derby, he said he had to park in an off-track neighborhood lot near the track, and then was unable to get a ticket into Churchill Downs.

Churchill Downs spokesman John Asher says any snub was the result of a ``communication breakdown.''

Asher says the track has provided a parking pass to Turcotte since 2012.

Turcotte won the Derby twice, aboard Secretariat and Riva Ridge.