He competed at tracks throughout California and at the newly built Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, California he rode the first-ever winner for trainer Noble Threewitt during the opening season in which he would also win important races such as the San Felipe Stakes and Santa Margarita Handicap, the latter a race he would win three more times as a trainer. In 1946, Turk retired from riding and turned to training Thoroughbreds as a career. For owner Louis R. Rowan, Clyde Turk trained Ruken to a win in the 1967 Santa Anita Derby, the most important event for three-year-olds in California. At Churchill Downs they then won the Stepping Stone Purse which prompted bettors to make him their third choice for the Kentucky Derby in which he would finish eighth.
Louis R. Rowan
Clyde Turk