Billy Turner, who in 1977 trained Seattle Slew to become the first undefeated Triple Crown winner, died Friday from cancer while at his home in Reddick, Fla. He was 81. Though Turner trained several graded stakes winners throughout his five-decade career, he is best known as the first conditioner of Seattle Slew, a $17,500 yearling purchase who became champion 2- and 3-year-old and was Horse of the Year in 1977. William H. Turner Jr., a native of Rochester, N.Y., rode steeplechase horses from 1958-63 before he had to quit riding due to his height. He was 6 feet, 2 inches. Turner, who worked with the Hall of Fame steeplechase trainer Burley Cocks, was an assistant trainer before going out on his own with flat horses in 1966. In 1967, Turner had his first stakes winner, Salerno, who won the Remsen and would finish second in the following year’s Withers. :: To stay up to date, follow us on: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter According to Equibase, Turner won 533 races from 4,314 starters from 1976 - when statistics began being compiled - until 2016, when he retired. In 1975, Karen and Mickey Taylor and their partners Sally and Jim Hill and Glenn Rasmussen purchased a son of Bold Reasoning for $17,500. Turner broke the colt at the Middleburg Training Center in Virginia and described a young Seattle Slew as somewhat clumsy. But the near-black colt turned into an ornery, speedy running machine. He won his debut on Sept. 20, 1976, by five lengths at Belmont Park. Less than four weeks later he had won two more races, including the Grade 1 Champagne, and was late crowned 2-year-old champion. Seattle Slew picked up where he left off at 3, winning an allowance race and the Flamingo at Hialeah and the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct leading into the Triple Crown. Seattle Slew’s weapon was his speed, and he was able to carry it a distance of ground in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness before romping by four lengths in the Belmont Stakes. Following the Triple Crown, Turner wanted to give the horse a rest, but the owners requested to run Seattle Slew three weeks after the Belmont in the Grade 1 Swaps at Hollywood Park, where he finished fourth. Turner, who admittedly had a drinking problem, was fired and the horse was transferred to Doug Peterson and didn't race again for 10 months. Jean Cruguet rode Seattle Slew through his 3-year-old season and for the first three races at 4. Angel Cordero Jr. rode Seattle Slew for the final four races of his career. Cordero credited Turner with developing Seattle Slew into the champion he became. “He was a great horseman," Cordero said. "Everybody respected him about that. He did a great a job with that horse. He was going to win with me, Cruguet, whoever. [Turner] developed him and made him a racehorse.” In a 2002 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Turner claimed his horse was faster than Secretariat. “Secretariat would lock into a perfect rhythm and just keep going,” Turner said. “But he wouldn’t have had a chance against Slew because he couldn’t accelerate like that.” While Turner never got another horse the caliber of Seattle Slew, he trained several other graded stakes winners including Czaravich, who won the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap as well as the Carter, Withers and Jerome. Play On won the Withers and was second to Gate Dancer in the 1984 Preakness. The Virginia-bred Punch Line was a hard-knocking sprinter who won 21 races from 55 starts and banked $963,749. He won 11 stakes, including the Grade 3 Fall Highweight in 1998 at age 8, making him the oldest winner of that race. Other graded stakes winners trained by Turner included Gaviola, Finery, Dust Bucket, Night Fax, and Eze. Turner retired in the summer of 2016, sending out his last horse, Holy Week, to a fifth-place finish in a maiden race at Belmont Park on July 13. Turner and his wife, Pat, retired to the Ocala, Fla. area. In early 2020, Turner was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which ultimately spread to other parts of his body. Turner was hospitalized in mid-December, and a GoFundMe page was set up to help cover healthcare expenses. In a post on that page on Friday, Pat Turner sent a message of gratitude to those who contributed money and sent messages. “I want to take a moment to thank every person who contributed to his physical care and lifting him up in your thoughts and prayers,’” Pat Turner wrote. “I was able to read him all the emails sharing your kindness and admiration of him. It meant a great deal to me to be able to let him know how loved he was in his last moments.” Pat Turner said plans for a memorial service would be announced at a later date.