Bill McKay was from Boort in Northern Victoria.
He was well established on the show circuit and was employed as a horse-breaker before entering trotting as a trainer-driver when the trainer of the filly Direct Home incurred a long suspension.
McKay won at his first start with her and they went from success to success.
Together they won nine metropolitan races at Richmond, including the Richmond £500. In Sydney, they won the 1929 Sydney £1000.
After moving to Melbourne during the 1930s Bill McKay trained and drove Auburn Lad, Lee Derby and won on the legendary Walla Walla.
He moved his stables to the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds with his brother Jack in 1932 to be close to the Ascot track, which was the home of metropolitan trotting after the closure of Richmond.
From here came top class horses including Lee Globe, Star Queen, Pink Globe and Lee Tennessee. He won both Victoria and NSW Derbies in 1936 with Gentle Bobbie.
Bill trained and drove the NZ mile champion and eight-time metropolitan winner Auburn Lad. He won eight Melbourne training and driving premierships, had 10 Derby winners and also prepared the 1949 Grand National Hurdle winner Chatsol.
Bill, with his brother Jack, was credited with changing the way that standardbreds were raced, having produced numbers of young horses to win at two.
When the Victorian Breeder’s Plate was introduced in 1951, McKay won driving the Abraham brothers' Convivial. He won the next year with Peter Scott then Carol Dillon, Explicit and then made it five in a row with the brilliant filly Argent.
He trained the winners of six successive Victorian Sapling Stakes, driving four of them, with Dal Fitzpatrick driving the other two. His best pacer in the 1950s was Selwyn, who won its first nine starts, and he also started Sheffield Globe on his illustrious career.
Along with his brother and fellow Hall of Fame inductee Jack, Bill dominated not only juvenile racing in the early days of the Showgrounds but also won more than 800 prizes in the show arena with their jumpers.
Bill had a team of trick horses that were a star attraction at Melbourne shows. His most famous trick horse was Silver King, who was well known in trotting circles because he was used as a galloping companion in numerous attempts against the clock by McKay horses.
