Obituary: Perry Trained Formal Gold

William Perry, the longtime prominent East Coast trainer best remembered as conditioner of two-time grade 1 winner Formal Gold, died at age 71 Dec. 6 in Naples, Fla.

Perry, who had waged a courageous battle with Parkinson's disease for more than a decade, was a top trainer based on the New England circuit, at Monmouth Park, and in Florida during his career dating back to his first start in 1977. He was the inductee in the trainer category in the inaugural class of the New England Turf Writers Hall of Fame when it was established in 2007 and one year earlier won the organization's Sam McCracken Lifetime Achievement Award.

Although Perry's career was cut short in 2006 when the disease forced his retirement and he later moved to Naples, he saddled close to 1,500 winners from 6,672 starters which earned $18.2 million. His top horse was Formal Gold, who was owned by Massachusetts native John Murphy Sr.—one of Perry's longtime clients. Murphy also owned Perry's other grade 1 winner Star de Lady Ann, winner of the 1996 Acorn Stakes (G1).

Formal Gold, who bankrolled $1,533,600 from a record of 8-4-1 in 16 starts, had a banner year in 1997 with bookend scores in the Donn Handicap (G1) and Woodward Stakes (G1) in his 4-year-old campaign. In between, he also took the Philip Iselin (G2) and Brooklyn (G2) handicaps. While training for the 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Hollywood Park, Formal Gold fractured a cannon bone two days before the race and was retired. 

Perry trained another millionaire, Northeast Bound, who won six graded stakes races, including the 2001 Maker's Mark Mile (G2) at Keeneland in a career that lasted seven years and netted 12 wins and $1.36 million. The gelding finished second by a neck in the 2000 Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) as the longest shot on the board at odds of 42-1.

Perry, a native of Aiken, S.C., is survived by his wife Rosalie and daughter Adrian.