Trainer William J. Morey Jr. Dies at 74
Image:
Description:
Northern California trainer William J. Morey, Jr., a member of the California Thoroughbred Breeders' Association Hall of Fame, died April 10 at a rehabilitation facility in Los Altos, Calif. after a long battle with cancer.
Morey was 74. Funeral services are pending.
A native of San Francisco, Morey grew up in San Carlos, Calif. and attended the races at Bay Meadows Race Course with his father. As a teenager, Morey got a job as a hot walker at the now defunct San Mateo, Calif. racetrack.
Morey received his official trainer's license in 1970 and won his first race that year at Pleasanton with Crimson Flag. Morey would go on to become a mainstay in Northern California racing with 7,885 starts, 1,347 wins, 1,290 seconds, 1,180 thirds, and $22,415,416 in earnings, according to Equibase, which began keeping detailed statistics in 1976. He was inducted into the CTBA Hall of Fame in 2014.
The trainer won 67 stakes, including eight graded events. Morey's top stakes stars were millionaires Dixie Dot Com (winner of four graded stakes and $1,332,775) and Bold Chieftain (the California champion turf horse in 2008 and earner of $1,683,181). Morey also trained graded stakes winners Big Chill, Nonies Dancer Ali, and Mellow Fellow.
Morey is survived by his wife of more than 50 years, Doris, son William E. Morey, daughter Kelley Green, and two grandchildren. William E. Morey followed in his father's footsteps and is one of the leading trainers in Northern California.