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SYLVESTER VEITCH rwvfH Whitney m Derbym Veitch Old Hands in Derby M Owners Ninth Derby Starter Marks Trainers Fifth Attempt By BOB HORWOOD HORWOODStaff Staff Correspondent Though he has been training thorough ¬ breds for only nine years Sylvester Veitch will be making his fifth try for a Kentucky Derby when he saddles Fisherman for C V Whitney this year The young conditioners record is rather remarkable two of his earlier Derby candidates finishing second and third and another going on to be voted Horse of the Year YearVeitch Veitch transferred from the C V Whit ¬ ney farm in Kentucky where he had superintended the breeding activities for eight years to take over the racing stable in 1946 That was to have been a temporary move but Veitch found the twoyearold filly champion and Futurity winner First Flight in his care in 1946 and did so well with that miss that any thoughts he may have had of returning to pasture remained unspoken unspokenPhalanx Phalanx also was with the stable that year but was less precocious than First Flight and somewhat less a known quan ¬ tity to Veitch as he had been bred by Abe Hewitt who retained a partners share in the colt The following year however Syl brought Phalanx to the Derby and just missed winning on the first attempt fail ¬ ing by inches behind Jet Pilot PilotThree Three years later Veitch sent out Mr Trouble for Whitney and that colt finished third behind Middleground and Hill Prince The following year Counterpoint could finish no better than eleventh but like several others in Count Turfs Derby had an alibi It will be recalled that the 1951 Derby was run through a dense cloud of dust and Veitch says He just choked up with the stuff and he wasnt the only one Counterpoint then finished second to Bold in the Preakness and went on to win the Belmont and eventually become Horse of the Year YearGood Good Stake Horses HorsesIn In addition to developing two three yearold champions in Phalanx sire of Fisherman and Counterpoint in the nine years that he has been training the Whit ¬ ney thoroughbreds Veitch has enjoyed great success with such other stake horses as First Flight Mount Marcy Vulcans Forge Cold Command who showed noth ¬ ing in the 1952 Derby Mameluke Small Favor and others othersOf Of course this success was not achieved without a thorough grounding in horse ¬ manship Veitchs father Silas Veitch was a successful trainer from the early days of this century through the roaring twen ¬ ties and the boy spent all the time around the barn that his father would allow At 1 17 Syl Veitch decided that he had enough of school and found himself a job at J E Griffiths farm in Maryland There Veitch took care of the mares foals and yearlings and galloped the youngsters youngstersAfter After a few years with Griffith Veitch moved on to a better job at William Zeig lers farm at Middleburg Va Veitch stayed at Mfddleburg for three years as straw boss but still galloped yearlings on occa ¬ sion Though light enough Veiteh never seriously thought of becoming a jockey but he did ride in one steeplechase That was to win a bet from his brother Leo who had needled him into the saddle saddleAbout About this time Jack Skinner and his brother Will urged Syl to join them in partnership with a few steeplechasers Jack became the rider Will was the gen ¬ eral manager and Syl was again straw boss The trio operated rather successfully for two years winning a number of 500 purses which Veitch says had the purchas ¬ ing values of 5000 in these days daysAfter After dissolving the partnership Veitch raced jumpers on his own in Maryland and Virginia mostly at the hunt meetings with Middleburg as home base but in 1938 sold out his stock and was offered the posi ¬ tion of superintendent of the Whitney farm He has been with Whitney ever since
