Saratoga Springs, NY – William “Bill” Blake Jr. passed away on Saturday, January 21, 2023, following a recent stroke. He was 83.

Bill was born on May 7, 1939, in West Burke, VT. From an early age, he loved to hunt and fish. But his ambitions soon changed the first time he saw his father’s harness horse race in Montreal. The thrill he felt watching that horse go from last to first over the course of a mile was like watching the Dodgers beat the Yankees in 1955, but it happened in two and a half minutes. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be sitting behind that horse, guiding it to victory. Over the span of 50+ years, Bill got to experience that feeling himself repeatedly, having driven and trained countless horses into the Winner’s Circle.

After serving his country in the Army, Bill helped his brother, trainer-driver Wendell Blake, with the horses and the two traveled around the Grand Circuit. Saratoga Harness became Bill’s home once he met Barbara LaRouech, who groomed horses for her father, Freddie LaRouech. Bill and Barbara were married in 1966 and raised four daughters as they worked alongside each other with the horses until her passing in 2000. Inducted into the Saratoga Hall of Fame in 2006, Bill joined three of the horses he trained and drove into the Hall: pacers Nifty Nelse and Mark’s Pal and back-to-back Saratoga Horse of the Year, trotter American Kash. Bill surpassed $1M in purse earnings, the majority of which were from overnights at Saratoga.

Glaucoma forced Bill to retire in 2016, otherwise, he would’ve still been training horses. That’s who he was. Hard-working. Humble. Dependable. Well-liked and respected. He’d give you the shirt off his back in the middle of winter and say he was hot anyway. To his family, he was their anchor. No matter how turbulent the sea got, he kept things grounded. He was as steady and as decent a man as you will ever find, and he will be deeply missed.

Besides his wife, Barbara, Bill is predeceased by his father and mother, Willam and Lila Blake; his brothers Bernard, Clifton and Wendell; his mother and father-in-law, Elizabeth and Clyde Revier, and his father-in-law Fred LaRouech.

Bill is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Darcy and Steven Alheim of Moreau, daughters Laury Blake and Shelley Blake of Saratoga, daughter and son-in-law Billie and Anthony DeLuca of Greenwich; sisters Wilma Fournier and Marylyn Blake of VT, sister-in-law and brother-in-law Carol and Edward McNeil of Ft Edward, brother-in-law Fred LaRouech of IL; grandchildren Rachael and Kenneth Ricks, Nicole and Amanda Malfer-Compton, Tyler Hendrickson, Brennan DeBates and Rylee DeLuca, five great-grandchildren and many beloved nieces and nephews.

Services will be held at William J. Burke & Sons Funeral Home, 628 North Boadway, Saratoga Springs from 3-5 p.m. on Monday (Jan. 30), 2023, with Military Honors bestowed following the service. A Celebration of Life will be held on May 7, 2023. Donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association or The Glens Falls Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired.