Horse trainer Bill Turner has passed away aged 78. The legendary figure died on Thursday morning following a ‘freak accident’ earlier this week which saw him fracture his skull at his yard in Dorset.

Turner was hospitalised for two days prior to his passing after being knocked over by a horse and sustaining a serious fracture to his skull, after he had celebrated his 78th birthday on Sunday.

Turner’s daughter Kathy had previously provided an update on her father’s condition after the accident, revealing that he was in a ‘very serious condition’ and on a ventilator. She has since confirmed his passing whilst speaking to Sky Sports Racing.

Kathy said: “He passed away about an hour and a half ago. We had the phone call on the way up in the lorry. I've made the decision a couple of days ago I was coming here, that the horse was to run in Dad's name, in his honour. Whatever had happened, he would have wanted that. 

Turner trained winners on both the flat and jumps, and his success in both spheres made him a well-known figure up and down the country. He had remarkably produced six winners of the Brocklesby Stakes at Doncaster – one of the biggest two-year-old races of the flat season.

Kathy continued: “The messages and the support from everyone has just been absolutely outstanding. The love that man had was absolute. He was everyone's dad, you know, the people that he helped all through his years. They all look at him as a dad.

"It was just a freak accident. He was holding on to the horse. I still can't get around that this injury has done this to him because I've pulled him out from underneath horses on the gallops.”

Kathy went on to add that Turner had committed all of his time and energy to the world of racing simply due to his love of the sport, which meant they were forced to innovate to make ends meet. She concluded: "The thing was racing really for him, didn't earn him a living. It was something that he loved. So we always had to do things on the side to make money, if you know what I mean. To make the yard pay and so we've always had stallions, we've always bred cobs, we always bought and sold. 

"Unfortunately, this was we bought six [cobs] a couple of months ago to help someone out – a friend that had a had a divorce – and we were going to go to Worcester sales on Saturday with three of them and we were just getting the one last one in just to tidy them up before we went on Saturday."