LEGENDARY trainer Bill Turner is fighting for life in hospital – with his family facing a heartbreaking decision ‘in the next 24 hours’.
A top handler of juvenile talent on the track, Turner, who had a runner just last weekend, was riding one of his up-and-comers at his Dorset yard.
Much-loved trainer Bill Turner is fighting for life in hospital after fracturing his skullRacingfotos.com
But as Sun Racing’s Matt Chapman reported on Sky Sports Racing, Turner, who turned 78 on Sunday, fell off and suffered a devastating injury.
Chapman, reporting from Lingfield, said: “He had a serious accident at home and it’s not good news at all.
“Bill, as everyone knows, is a character, he must be well into his seventies, and he will still ride very, very young horses.
“He was riding a colt yesterday and there was an accident of some sort.
“Bill fell on his head and there was a fracture of his skull.
“That freacture is very, very serious and Bill is on a ventilator right now.
“The situation is such that whatever the outcome is over the next 24 hours, it’s not going to be a good one for Bill.
“The family will have to make a decision in the next 24 hours as to whether they want to keep that ventilator going or not.
“Hopefully, as I say these words, everyone in the racing world can just say a little prayer for Bill and his family.”
As recently as 18 months ago Turner said he was still riding out three lots a day – something he loved to do.
Recalling his passion for racing and horses, he said how his late father would tell him: “Don’t retire, because there are two chairs that will kill you – the electric chair and the armchair!”
Turner, was born in 1947 in the Shropshire village of Clun, has won the Brocklesby at Doncaster – the first big two-year-old race of the season – a record six times.
A trainer for decades and jockey before that, he has two Listed victories to his name as well – and has never been afraid to try new things.
One of the most bizarre was when he started training a zebra called Zebedee to run like a thoroughbred.
Bought from a Dutch game reserve for £4,500 in 2009, Turner ultimately wanted to get the horse over jumps.
But he had to settle for riding round his Sherborne base – much to the amusement of drinkers down the local who thought they had had a few too many when they saw him cantering past.
Turner, who was described by the local newspaper as ‘bonkers’, said at the time: “I had always wanted to see if I could train a zebra like a horse and had tried for years to get one.
“Then a friend in Belgium who knew I wanted one managed to find one and I brought him over.
“He is only half grown and we’ve only been training him for a few weeks but it is going very well.
“At first I thought I had bitten off more than I could chew because he saw everything as a predator.
“I ride him with a saddle and I take him out to the village and the first time I did it a few people outside the pub ran back in thinking their beer was a bit strong.”
Turner’s most successful year as a trainer came in 2012 when he saddled 29 winners and won just shy of £100,000 in prize money.
He smashed the six-figure ceiling several times, including in 2006 when The Lord gave him the first of his two Listed wins with victory in the Achilles Stakes at Goodwood.
Trainer Dylan Cunha was among those sending their best to the Turner family.
Writing underneath Chapman’s video on X, he said: “Terrible news. Best wishes, Bill.”
Turner declared a horse, Red Snapper, to run at Chepstow on Thursday.
His daughter Kathy said the juvenile will race at the Welsh track – as it’s what her dad would have wanted.
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