Leonard Lusky, the spokesman for Hall of Fame jockey Ron Turcotte said the jockey who rode Secretariat to victory in the 1973 Triple Crown hopes to be released from the hospital shortly. He will return home and recover from his broken legs suffered in a one-vehicle crash nearly four weeks ago.

Turcotte suffered a fracture in each leg when the van he was driving hit an icy patch on a road near his home in New Brunswick and flipped on its side. A family friend was a passenger in the vehicle and suffered minor injuries.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the accident occurred in the morning Four Falls. He said the snow-covered roads were slippery at the time and the accident is under investigation.

Turcotte is best known as the rider of the great Secretariat, who swept the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes in 1973 to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1948. Turcotte also won the 1972 Derby and Belmont aboard Riva Ridge.

Secretariat’s rise to superstardom was made into the Disney movie “Secretariat,” released in 2010. The movie told the story of how Penny Chenery took over Meadow Stable and hired trainer Lucien Laurin, who then called on Turcotte to ride the horse known as “Big Red.”

Turcotte won more than 3,000 races during his career, which ended in 1978 when the jockey tumbled from his horse at the start of a race at Belmont Park was paralized.

Leonard Lusky said that Ron’s “recuperation is going well, and he hopes to be released soon, begin physical therapy, and continue his recovery.” The retired jockey remains “upbeat and spirited,” Lusky said, in a hospital in New Brunswick, Canada.

Lusky also said that the 73-year-old Turcotte is thankful for the support from friends and fans, and is still sporting blue and white casts—the colors of Secretariat’s owner Meadow Stable.