Sylvester E. Veitch

Trainer of C. V. Whitney’s First Flight, champion 2-year-old filly of 1946, and George D. Widener’s What a Treat, champion 3-year-old filly of 1965, Syl Veitch said he “always liked fillies more than colts — colts are like boys, more bull-headed; fillies are more apt pupils.”

Inducted

1977

Born

Feb. 24, 1910, New York City, New York

Died

Feb. 14, 1996, Mineola, New York

Career

1946-1998

Biography

Trainer of C. V. Whitney’s First Flight, champion 2-year-old filly of 1946, and George D. Widener’s What a Treat, champion 3-year-old filly of 1965, Syl Veitch said he “always liked fillies more than colts — colts are like boys, more bull-headed; fillies are more apt pupils.”

Yet Veitch developed such top colts as Phalanx, champion as a 3-year-old in 1947 and winner of that year’s Belmont Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup; Counterpoint, winner of the Belmont and Jockey Club Gold Cup in 1951 en route to championship honors; and Fisherman, winner of the 1954 Travers Stakes, Lawrence Realization, and Washington, D.C. International.

Other standouts trained by Veitch included Bold Hour, Cornish Prince, Vulcan’s Forge, Mount Marcy, and Cold Command.

Born in 1910 near Belmont Park, the son of a horse trainer, Veitch rode and trained steeplechasers as a young man. In 1939, he rode and began breaking yearlings at the C. V. Whitney Farm in Kentucky; the first crop he took to the races as a trainer included champions Phalanx and First Flight for Whitney.

After stepping down as Whitney’s trainer in 1958, Veitch trained for the Widener stable until the owner’s death in 1971, when he opened a small public stable and sent out horse such as Captain Cee Jay and top sprinter Engine One.