John M. Veitch
Encyclopedia
John M. Veitch is an American
Hall of Fame
Thoroughbred
horse trainer
. The son of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame trainer Sylvester Veitch
, his family has been part of the horse-training business for three generations.
Veitch studied at Bradley University
in Peoria, Illinois
where he played fullback
on the university's football
team.
From the beginning of his training career in 1974 through the end of 2003, Veitch won 410 races out of 2,340 starts and his horses earned $20,097,980. He began as an assistant with his father as well as for trainer Elliott Burch
at Rokeby Stables
before going on his own in 1974. In 1976 he accepted the job as head trainer for Lucille Markey's
Calumet Farm
where he remained until late 1982. He then trained trained horses for John W. Galbreath at Darby Dan Farm
plus for Brian's Time for Jodie and Wally Phillips, Galbreath's sister and brother-in-law. For a time in the early 1980s he additionally handled the training for the stable of Frances A. Genter
. In 1998 he closed his small public stable and took on the job of racing consultant to a member of Saudi Arabia's
royal family. He returned to the United States in April 2000 and trained for Calumet Farm's new owner Henryk deKwiatkowski in 2001.
Before retiring in 2003, he spent 2002 training for John Ed Anthony's
newly formed Shortleaf Stable.
During his career, Veitch trained four champions:
Veitch was also the trainer of Hall of Fame inductee, Alydar
. Famous for his battles with Affirmed
in the 1978 U.S. Triple Crown
races, during his racing career Alydar defeated Affirmed
three times, notably in the 1977 Champagne Stakes and because of disqualification in the 1978 Travers Stakes
. Alydar also won the Flamingo Stakes
, Blue Grass Stakes
, Arlington Classic
, and the Whitney Handicap
by 10 lengths.
In 1985, Veitch's horse Proud Truth
won the Breeders' Cup Classic
.
Veitch Retired from training in 2003. He holds the position of chief state steward of the Kentucky Horseracing Authority. In 2007, he was elected to the United States' Racing Hall of Fame
. MY name is Alexander Veitch and i am john m. Veitch's grandson.. i am very proud of him and i love him cuz hes part of my Veitch family..
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
horse trainer
Horse trainer
In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...
. The son of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame trainer Sylvester Veitch
Sylvester Veitch
Sylvester E. Veitch was a Hall of Fame thoroughbred horse trainer.Veitch began his career in racing as a jockey and trainer in Steeplechase racing. In 1939 he moved to flat racing when he began employment as a trainer with Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney in Kentucky...
, his family has been part of the horse-training business for three generations.
Veitch studied at Bradley University
Bradley University
Bradley University, founded in 1897, is a private, co-educational university located in Peoria, Illinois. It is a small institution with an enrollment of approximately 6,100 undergraduate and postgraduate students and a full-time faculty of approximately 350....
in Peoria, Illinois
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
where he played fullback
Fullback (American football)
A fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...
on the university's football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
team.
From the beginning of his training career in 1974 through the end of 2003, Veitch won 410 races out of 2,340 starts and his horses earned $20,097,980. He began as an assistant with his father as well as for trainer Elliott Burch
J. Elliott Burch
John Elliott Burch was an American National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Four of his horses were inducted in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.-Biography:...
at Rokeby Stables
Rokeby Stables
Rokeby Stables was an American thoroughbred racehorse breeding farm in Upperville, Virginia involved with both steeplechase and flat racing. The operation was established in the late 1940s by Paul Mellon who won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder in 1971 and again in 1986...
before going on his own in 1974. In 1976 he accepted the job as head trainer for Lucille Markey's
Lucille P. Markey
Lucille Parker Wright Markey was an American businesswoman and philanthropist who owned Calumet Farm, the most prestigious Thoroughbred horse farm in the United States....
Calumet Farm
Calumet Farm
Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of Lexington's blue grass country, the finest horse breeding region in...
where he remained until late 1982. He then trained trained horses for John W. Galbreath at Darby Dan Farm
Darby Dan Farm
Darby Dan Farm is a produce, livestock, and thoroughbred horse breeding and training farm founded in 1935 near the Darby Creek in Galloway, Ohio by businessman John W. Galbreath. Named for the creek and for Galbreath's son, Daniel M. Galbreath , it was expanded from an original farm into a 4,000...
plus for Brian's Time for Jodie and Wally Phillips, Galbreath's sister and brother-in-law. For a time in the early 1980s he additionally handled the training for the stable of Frances A. Genter
Frances A. Genter
Frances A. Genter was a major figure in American Thoroughbred horse racing. She is best known as the owner of Unbridled, the 1990 American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse and winner of the 1990 Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic...
. In 1998 he closed his small public stable and took on the job of racing consultant to a member of Saudi Arabia's
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
royal family. He returned to the United States in April 2000 and trained for Calumet Farm's new owner Henryk deKwiatkowski in 2001.
Before retiring in 2003, he spent 2002 training for John Ed Anthony's
Loblolly Stable
Loblolly Stable was a Thoroughbred horse breeding and racing stable in Lake Hamilton, Arkansas owned by businessman John Ed Anthony and his former wife Mary Lynn. The stable's first top runner was Cox's Ridge who won important races in 1977 and 1978 and went on to become an excellent sire...
newly formed Shortleaf Stable.
During his career, Veitch trained four champions:
- Our MimsOur MimsOur Mims was a champion Thoroughbred racing mare and broodmare, and yet she came very close to dying abandoned in a field of cattle.-A grand beginning:...
- American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly of 1977. - Davona DaleDavona DaleDavona Dale is an American Hall of Fame Champion Thoroughbred filly racehorse. Owned and bred by Calumet Farm, her sire descends from Nearco and her damsire is Hall of Famer Tim Tam who won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes....
, American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly of 1978, won all the races associated with the old and later versions of the Filly Triple Crown of Thoroughbred RacingTriple Crown of Thoroughbred RacingThe Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
, taking the Kentucky OaksKentucky OaksThe Kentucky Oaks is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers 1⅛ miles at Churchill Downs; the horses carry 121 pounds . The Kentucky Oaks is held on the Friday before the Kentucky Derby each year...
, Black-Eyed Susan StakesBlack-Eyed Susan StakesThe Black-Eyed Susan Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The race is open to three-year-old fillies willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the dirt and currently offers a purse of $250,000...
, Acorn StakesAcorn StakesThe Acorn Stakes is an American Grade I race at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies. It is raced on dirt over a distance of one mile with a current purse of $250,000. It is the first leg of the US Triple Tiara and is followed by the Coaching Club American Oaks...
, Mother Goose StakesMother Goose StakesThe Mother Goose Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Raced on dirt, the Grade I race offers a purse of $250,000. Inaugurated in 1957 at a mile and a sixteenth, it was lengthened to a mile and an eighth in 1959...
, and Coaching Club American OaksCoaching Club American OaksThe Coaching Club American Oaks is a race for thoroughbred three-year old fillies and the second leg of the Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing. Originally run at Belmont Park, the Grade I $250,000 stakes race was moved to Saratoga Race Course in 2010....
. - Before DawnBefore DawnBefore Dawn was an American Champion filly racehorse bred and raced by Lucille Markey's Calumet Farm of Lexington, Kentucky,Trained by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, John Veitch, in 1981 she was voted the American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly. Retired to broodmare duty, Before Dawn was...
- wins include the Spinaway StakesSpinaway StakesThe Spinaway Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Open to two-year-old fillies, it is a Grade I event contested at a distance of seven furlongs on dirt...
, and Matron Stakes. Voted American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly of 1981. - Sunshine ForeverSunshine ForeverSunshine Forever is an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by Darby Dan Farm owner John W. Galbreath who owned his dam, Outward Sunshine, and his damsire, Graustark, Sunshine Forever was sired by Galbreath's 1972 Epsom Derby winner, Roberto.Trained by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame...
won the Washington, D.C. International Stakes and the Turf Classic Invitational Stakes, and was the American Champion Male Turf Horse in 1988.
Veitch was also the trainer of Hall of Fame inductee, Alydar
Alydar
Alydar was a chestnut colt and an American thoroughbred race horse who was most famous for finishing a close second to Affirmed in all three races of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, a feat not achieved before or repeated since.-Racing career:Trained by John M...
. Famous for his battles with Affirmed
Affirmed
Affirmed was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the eleventh and most recent winner of the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing...
in the 1978 U.S. Triple Crown
United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
In the United States, the "Triple Crown" is usually the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, a series of three Thoroughbred horse races for three-year-old horses run in May and early June of each year consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.While Daily Racing Form...
races, during his racing career Alydar defeated Affirmed
Affirmed
Affirmed was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the eleventh and most recent winner of the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing...
three times, notably in the 1977 Champagne Stakes and because of disqualification in the 1978 Travers Stakes
Travers Stakes
The Travers Stakes is an American Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.First held in 1864, it was named for William R. Travers, the president of the old Saratoga Racing Association. His horse, Kentucky, won the first running of the Travers...
. Alydar also won the Flamingo Stakes
Flamingo Stakes
The Flamingo Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held annually in March at the Hialeah Park Race Track in Hialeah, Florida. Run over a distance of nine furlongs, the inaugural race took place in 1926 at the Tampa, Florida racetrack...
, Blue Grass Stakes
Blue Grass Stakes
The Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, currently sponsored by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is an American Grade 1 horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in mid April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky....
, Arlington Classic
Arlington Classic
The Arlington Classic Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-old horses held annually at the end of June at Arlington Park race track near Chicago, Illinois...
, and the Whitney Handicap
Whitney Handicap
The Whitney Handicap is an American Grade 1 handicap race for Thoroughbred racehorses three years of age and older run at a distance of 1⅛ miles. In 2007, the Breeders' Cup Ltd...
by 10 lengths.
In 1985, Veitch's horse Proud Truth
Proud Truth
Proud Truth was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred by Dorothy Galbreath, wife of prominent horseman John W. Galbreath, at their Darby Dan Farm in Lexington, Kentucky....
won the Breeders' Cup Classic
Breeders' Cup Classic
The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3 year olds and older run at a distance of 1¼ miles on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships...
.
Veitch Retired from training in 2003. He holds the position of chief state steward of the Kentucky Horseracing Authority. In 2007, he was elected to the United States' Racing Hall of Fame
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
. MY name is Alexander Veitch and i am john m. Veitch's grandson.. i am very proud of him and i love him cuz hes part of my Veitch family..