Orville Clarke, Freelance Writer
WILLIAMS
After 50 years in the training profession, Allan 'Billy' Williams has no intention of calling it quits any time soon.
Now 76 years old, the legendary 'Hall of Fame' trainer, who conditions two-time 'Horse of the Year' MIRACLE MAN, has done it all in a long and distinguished career and like his great rival, Eileen Cliggott, who trained into her 80s, says he will continue as long as it's physically possible.
Williams, who turns 77 on December 9, has the distinction of being the longest serving trainer still active today, surpassing fellow veterans Ivan 'Bembe' Smith and Sydney Watson.
He started training as a young man in 1951 at Knutsford Park, and saddled his first winner, MI LING, the following year at Marlie race track in Old Harbour.
Williams fondly recalls that he posted MI LING to win five races at Marlie in three days - two on the first day, two on the second and one on the third day, only to be disqualified on the last occasion. With the help of trainer Leslie Jones and public relations pioneer Eddie Williams, he took up racing after attending Calabar Primary School and Tutorial College, both in Central Kingston. But while he made a dream start to his career with MI LING, the going during the formative years was not always smooth.
Lock shop
"There were some lean times in the mid '50s," confessed the three-time champion trainer. "I was forced to lock shop during that period and go to work for the great Abbie Grannum as assistant trainer when he became ill.
"Grannum's wife Sissy was in charge but I trained the horses under her instructions until Grannum was able to recover. I soon went back on my own but Grannum had a relapse and I had to go back and work for him again in 1956 and 1957.
"Then in the latter part of 1957 I got an offer to work for eminent attorney-at-law Harry Dayes and the bookmaking pioneer Frank Watson who owned Merrick Stud Farm in Mona.
"I ran the farm and trained a couple of horses for Harry Dayes, but Mona was designated for housing development in the late '50s and we had to relocate to Bushy Park in St. Catherine," he remembers.
He went on to explain that Frank Watson had a clash with the Jockey Club of Jamaica and decided to curtail his activities in racing.
"I was supposed to have gone to England to get an insight into their breeding at the William Hill Stud Farm, but that never materialised."As luck would have it, I got a second opportunity to go to England and in 1958, I left Jamaica to join up with the noted English trainer Captain Charles Elsey and the experience was invaluable. I worked in the stable at every level, from stable hand to assistant and was ready to take on the world when I returned home in 1962.
"I was encouraged to return home by Louis Graw, for whom I trained MI LING in the early days and noted owner/breeder and bookmaker Melvin 'Babu' Chin. I was told I would have a stable of 12 horses on my return in July of that year, but this was not to be. I was given only three horses, including a three-year-old filly, Bernadine," he recalls.
Ridden by a youthful Kenneth Mattis, BERNADINE provided the trainer with his first winner at Caymanas Park, and the rest is history.
NONE SUCH
Over the years, Williams not only established himself as one of the greatest trainers in the annals of local racing, but has conditioned many outstanding horses.
Best of these were the legendary '60s sprinter NONE SUCH with whom he won 27 races, fellow sprinter MABROUK, 'Horse of the Year' in 1970 and the crack imported sprinter DISTINCTIVE BINGO, not to mention the 1977 Derby winner LEGAL LIGHT whom the trainer conditioned during his three-year-old career and of course, MIRACLE MAN.
In 1993 he became the first trainer to saddle 1000 winners and was inducted into the Hall of Fame that year as well. He was also the first to amass $1 million in stakes.
After taking LEGAL LIGHT to Puerto Rico for the Caribbean Classic at the back end of 1977, Williams turned his back on local racing and the horse was transferred to the stables of Kenneth Mattis.
He spent a year in England before moving to Miami, Florida, where he worked as buying agent, also dabbled in the hardware business.
He returned home in 1985 and thanks to the exploits of the crack American sprinter DISTINCTIVE BINGO, the 1990 Guineas and Derby winner DISTINCTLY NATIVE along with the 1991 Guineas and Gold Cup Cup winner RESTLESS GLEN, and more recently MIRACLE MAN, who won back-to-back Red Stripe Superstakes, has left an indelible mark on the sport.
MIRACLE MAN
Champion trainer in 1964, 1967 and 1968, Williams has saddled countless big race winners including five Derby winners - THANK YOU SIR (1963), BUCKCHASER (1969), LEGAL LIGHT (1977), the filly DISTINCTLY NATIVE (1990) and of course, MIRACLE MAN (2005).
Other notable horses trained by the maestro include the 1975 'Horse of the Year' RIMSKY, PHEIDIPPIDES who won both the Governor's Cup and St. Leger in 1974, 2000 Guineas winner RESTLESS GLEN, Gold Cup winner MISS AMERICA, KANDAHAR, QUALITEX, OBERON, REPRIEVE, FANTASTIC DESTINY, PICCOLO PETE, GABRIELA, SHEER JOY, ORBIT, FIRE IN YU WIRE, CAPTAIN GOODENOUGH, HE'S TUNED OK and many more, several of them ridden by stable jockeys Kenneth Mattis and Winston Ellis.
The best horse
Not surprisingly, he singles out Joseph Duany's MIRACLE MAN as the best horse he has ever trained.
"Unlike None Such and Legal Light, Miracle Man is unique in that he both sprints and stays. He also has a big heart and in winning the Confraternity Classic in Puerto Rico last December, has provided me with my finest hour in racing", he said.
Unbeaten in 10 starts last year, MIRACLE MAN has redefined the stature of the man in the eyes of the Jamaican racing public.
