Allan 'Billy' Williams
-
A Living Legend
Three-time winner of the Jamaican race horse
'Trainer of the Year' award, Allan Evan Williams
- or Allan 'Billy' Williams as he is referred
to on the track - was born on December 9, 1930
in St. Andrew. His early exposure to the "sport
of kings" came courtesy of his uncle D.
E. G. Williams, who operated an agency on Duke
Street in Kingston and used to write about horse
racing for The Gleaner newspaper.
"That was during my juvenile days [while
attending Calabar Primary School and Tutorial
College]. As I got older, I got more into horse
racing. I used to visit the stables pretty often
and I got to learn more about horses,"
he recalled.
One of the island's leading all-time trainers,
Billy Williams is veritable treasure chest of
information about horse racing and its history
in Jamaica. He can talk about the days before
the establishment of Caymanas Park or track,
when facilities such as Knutsford Park existed,
and of the days when Eileen Cliggott rose to
prominence as the island's first female trainer.
This horse racing stalwart was the first trainer
to amass $1 million in stakes. In 1993, he became
the first trainer to saddle 1000 winners and
was inducted into the Hall of Fame. He is the
longest serving trainer still active at the
track.
"In 1946, I made up my mind to train horses
and in 1951 I got my trainer's license,"
he told Buzzz. He had his first winner in 1952
with MI LING at the Marlie Racetrack in Old
Harbour, St. Catherine. Despite this relatively
early success, it was not all fun and games
from there on for the veteran trainer.
In the mid 1950s, he worked for Abbie Grannum
as assistant trainer. He was ill for a few years
and subsequently secured a position with attorney-at-law
Harry Dayes and Frank M. Watson, who owned Merrick
Stud Farm in Mona in 1957.
"The stud farm was on land owned by the
National Water Commission, but it was slated
for development by Matalon and so they were
supposed to move to lands at Bushy Park [in
St. Catherine]. But in 1958, Frank Watson and
the then Jockey Club had a falling out and he
decided to give up. He gave the horses to Harry
Dayes. I was supposed to go to England…go
to stud farms and racing stables and learn,
but that was abandoned as far as stud farms
were concerned. However, I was offered the chance
to go to and study racing stables and I did,"
he explained.
He went to Yorkshire, England in 1958, where
he studied with English trainer Captain Charles
Elsey. He stayed there for four years before
returning to Jamaica in 1962.
"I got a really great opportunity to lay
a foundation. I trained in Jamaica from 1962
to 1977. Then I left for England and then Florida,
where I stayed until 1985."
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