Otto Thorwarth

Biography

Otto Thorwarth, the author of the foreword to The Simple Game, is a retired professional jockey, who co-stars with Diane Lane and John Malkovich in Walt Disney Studio’s feature film Secretariat. Thorwarth plays the role of Ron Turcotte, Secretariat's go-to jockey. He grew up in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the home of Oaklawn Park Race Track. He came up under trainer Frank Brothers and after graduating from high school, Brothers sent him to a farm in Texas. While there, Thorwarth learned to ride horses by training two-year-old Thoroughbreds. Following this “apprenticeship,” Thorwarth started riding professionally at Oaklawn Park in 1991, where he won his first race on his first mount at thirty-to-one odds! He rode all across the Midwest and East coast, and eventually concentrated his career in Kentucky and Ohio, where he accumulated four riding titles. After winning nearly fifteen hundred races, he retired from riding upon landing the role of Ron Turcotte. Bitten by the acting bug, Thorwarth is currently pursuing a career in acting and writing. He resides in his home town of Hot Springs, Arkansas, with his wife of eleven years and their two daughters