Friends and admirers come to the aid of Seattle Slew’s trainer in time of need
Rick Wallace merely wanted to help. His new friend at the Ocala Jockey Club had suffered a broken neck. Surgery revealed additional medical problems. Treatment was required. Rehab. Expenses. The kind of expenses his friend did not have the means to pay.
“So someone suggested I start a GoFundMe page,” Wallace said Tuesday morning. “I’ve been gratified by the response.”
No surprise considering his friend is none other than Billy Turner, who trained 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew.
“He’s one of the great trainers in history,” Wallace said.
Turner campaigned Slew from his Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old season through his undefeated Triple Crown run, just the 10th colt to accomplish the magnificent feat. A philosophical disagreement after the Belmont Stakes caused owners Karen and Mickey Taylor to change trainers. Overcoming some personal difficulties, Turner went on to win other Grade 1 races in his career, but he will always be known for Seattle Slew.
Now 80, Turner and his wife, Pat, a former jockey and exercise rider, retired to Reddick, Florida, in 2016. Turner was helping out at the Ocala Jockey Club in April, where the couple lives, when he suffered the neck injury. Not knowing it was broken, Turner remained home, but developed pneumonia. That prompted hospitalization in Gainesville. During his stay, Turner learned he also had prostate and bone cancer.
Damage from the injury impaired Turner’s cognitive ability and balance. Learning to walk again required a month of rehab in the hospital. Turner also had trouble swallowing. He has improved on both counts but needs more rehab to fully recover.
“He’s resting nicely at home,” Wallace said. “What we’re trying to do is get him the health care that he needs. We spent a lot of time with him (Monday) and let me tell you he’s sharp as a tack. We’ve just got to get his neck fixed up and make sure he gets all the care that he needs to keep quality of life.”
“Bill needs serious nursing care for a few months to try and get over this hump,” said Pat Turner.
The hope is that once Turner’s cognitive and physical problems improve, the doctors can concentrate on treating his cancer.
All this costs money, of course. Unfortunately, Turner was talked into giving up his Medicare policy for another form of insurance that, according to the couple, refuses to pay his $450,000 hospital bill. The insurance company says Turner’s doctors are out of network.
That’s where Wallace comes in. An equestrian based in Tallahassee, he moved to Florida in January of 2019. One day he was at the Ocala Jockey Club, where his barns are located, when someone told him that was Billy Turner, the trainer of Seattle Slew, on a tractor mowing. Wallace owns Munson Slew, sired by Chesterfield Slew, a son of Seattle Slew.
“I waved him down and said, ‘Mr. Turner, I can’t believe you are here. This is Munson Slew,’” Wallace said. “He looked over and got off the tractor. He stood next to Munson and he said, ’This looks a lot like Slew.’”
A friendship was formed. When Turner suffered his injury, Wallace did what friends do.
“Over the years we all know Billy had great success and had some challenges,” Wallace said. “He’s such a wonderful man, so nice and kind-hearted. I wasn’t going to sit there and let them not have any money or beneath what they needed.”
He started the GoFundMe page with an original goal of raising $25,000. In just two days, donations had almost reached that mark. So, after some urging from Turner’s friends, Wallace increased the goal to $75,000.
“When you see Bob Baffert give money, you really know that it’s touching the community,” Wallace said. “People all the way down to $5, which is amazing. They’re giving what they can give. . . . I’m absolutely thrilled at what’s going on.”
He also hopes this may help Turner in another way.
“I’ve heard from a lot of people that Billy should be in the Hall of Fame and I totally agree with that,” Wallace said. “This fund-raising has also brought to the attention there’s a great racetrack trainer that still hasn’t been recognized for his contributions to the sport.”
