William C. Marshall

Horseracing personalities infobox
name = William C. Marshall


caption =
occupation = Trainer
birthplace = Newcastle upon Tyne, England
birth date = August 14, 1918
death date = November 1, 2005, Barbados
career wins = 648 (Barbados)
race = Barbados Gold Cup
(1984, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)
Midsummer Creole Classic
(1985, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2005)
Barbados Derby
(1985, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1997,
2000, 2002, 2004)
awards = Barbados Champion Trainer (11 times)
honours = Silver Crown of Merit (2003)
W. C. Marshall Creole Classic at Garrison Savannah
horses = Coo Bird, Blast of Storm
updated = CURRENTTIME, CURRENTDAYNAME CURRENTMONTHNAME CURRENTDAY CURRENTYEAR (UTC)

William Cyril "Bill" Marshall (DFC) (SCM) August 14, 1918 - November 1, 2005) was a Thoroughbred horse racing trainer and owner who had the distinction of being the only person to have saddled winners from stables on four different continents.

Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Bill Marshall was raised on a farm near Chichester where he developed his love of horses. In his early teens, he left home and made his way to Australia where he worked as a jockey for a short time before turning to training. While still only seventeen years old he headed to South Africa where he operated his own stable for a few years until the outbreak of World War II. Marshall returned to his native England and joined the Royal Air Force. As a pilot, he fought in the Battle of Britain thence served with a squadron in North Africa before returning to England to serve in the famous 91 'Nigeria' Squadron. By the time the war ended, Marshall had been shot down twice and was the recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross as well as mentioned in dispatches. Discharged from the military, Marshall remained in England and began training National Hunt horses then Thoroughbreds for flat racing.

In 1972 a small plane carrying Marshall and his wife Pamela, along with jockey Joe Mercer and racehorse-owner John Howard, crashed after taking off from Newbury Racecourse. The pilot died in the crash but although they were seriously injured, Marshall and his wife and the other passengers survived.

In 1981, the sixty-three-old Marshall and his wife Pamela moved to Barbados where he would become one of the most important figures in that country's horse racing industry. Among his successes at Garrison Savannah Racetrack, Bill Marshall was a seven-time winner of the island's most prestigious race, the Barbados Gold Cup and a nine-time winner of the Barbados Derby. In 1989 he conditioned Barbados Triple Crown champion, Coo Bird, who would win more races in his career than any other Thoroughbred in Barbados horse racing history. In all, Marshall won twenty-two Barbadian Triple Crown races and earned champion trainer honors eleven times.

In 2003, Bill Marshall's biography titled "You Win Some, You Lose Some" was published. That same year, the government of Barbados honored his contribution to horse racing with the Silver Crown of Merit.

Bill Marshall remained active in racing and was still winning at the time of his death in 2005 at the age of eighty-seven.

References

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/5246258.stm August 4, 2006 BBC article on William Marshall titled "Late WWII Spitfire hero honoured"]
* [http://www.nationnews.com/story/284605348780819.php William Marshall's obituary at the Nation newspaper]
* [http://www.gov.bb/portal/page/portal/BIG_Cabinet_Office/CABINET_Portlets_Page/CABINET_Home_Centre_Content_Portlet/Awards%20in%20the%20Order%20of%20Barbados3 Awards in the Order of Barbados, Government of Barbados website]