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Hall of Fame Trainer John Veitch Passes Away at 77

John Veitch, a Hall of Famer who trained numerous stars, including Alydar, whose legendary battles with Affirmed were part of one of the sport's greatest rivalries, passed away Tuesday in Lexington, Kentucky. He was 77.

The news of Veitch's passing was first reported by the Blood-Horse.

Veitch's training career ran from 1974 through 2003. According to Equibase, he had 410 career winners and his stable amassed earnings of $20,097,980. He won 76 graded stakes and 93 stakes races overall.

Veitch's best years came as the head trainer for Calumet Farm. For Calumet, he trained three champions, Before Dawn, Davona Dale and Our Mims. But he was best known for being the trainer of Alydar, who finished second behind Affirmed in all three Triple Crown races in 1978.

“At this point, I'm not going to concede anything to Affirmed,” Veitch told the New York Times prior to the 1978 GI Belmont S. “Affirmed is a damn fine race horse. We're looking forward to meeting him again in the Belmont, and I'm confident it will be the most favorable race for Alydar.”

In what many regard as one of the best races ever, Alydar battled Affirmed all the way to the wire in the Belmont, but lost by a head.

Alydar went on to become one of the greatest sires of his generation.

In 1982, Veitch parted ways with Calumet and became the private trainer for Darby Dan Farm. For Darby Dan, he campaigned Proud Truth, the winner of the 1985 GI Breeders' Cup Classic. While with Darby Dan, he also won the GI Florida Derby with Brian's Time and the GI Yellow Ribbon S. and the GII Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup with Plenty of Grace.

The son of Hall of Fame trainer Sylvester Veitch, Veitch was born in Lexington in 1945. After attending Bradley University, where he was a member of the football team, the trainer worked as an assistant to his father and Elliott Burch before going out on his own.

In 1998, Veitch closed his small public stable and took 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.

He stopped training in 2003 and accepted a job as the chief steward for the Kentucky Racing Commission. His tenure as a steward ended in controversy after Life At Ten was allowed to compete in the GI Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic at Churchill Downs even though jockey John Velazquez told a televised audience that he was concerned with the way his mount was warming up. Life At Ten trailed the field throughout as the favorite and was not selected for a post-race test. The KHRC charged Veitch with five administrative violations for not reacting appropriately to Velazquez's comment. Some seven years later, Veitch reached a settlement with the commission and his one-year suspension was removed from his record.

He was elected to the Racing Hall of Fame in 2007.

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Horseshoe Indianapolis Earmarks Over $4.75 Million for 2023 Stakes

Highlighted by the $300,000 GIII Indiana Derby July 8, Horseshoe Indianapolis has finalized a 2023 racing season featuring 38 black-type events worth $4.75 million. Eight stakes worth $1.1 million are slated for the Indiana Derby Day card, including the GIII Indiana Oaks.

“Each year, Indiana Derby Day continues to grow and sets new handle records,” said Vice President and General Manager of Racing Eric Halstrom. “Our racing office staff works very hard to assemble top quality fields for each of these stakes. With all the activities surrounding the event, Indiana Derby Day has become one of Indiana's biggest summer sporting events and attracts some of the nation's top 3-year-olds. It's definitely a day to put on your calendars each July.”

A total of 10 of the stakes will be run on the turf course and another 28 are specifically for Indiana-bred and -sired runners. More than $2.9 million will be dispersed to horses that are part of the Indiana breeding program.

The 123-day racing season at Horseshoe Indianapolis kicks off Apr. 18. Click here for more information.

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Eclipse Award Winning Owner Diana Firestone Passes Away at 91

Diana Firestone, who, along with her husband Bert campaigned a number of champion horses, including 1980 GI Kentucky Derby winner Genuine Risk, passed away peacefully at her home in Florida on Feb. 12. She was 91.

In 1980, the Firestones won an Eclipse Award as the nation's top owners. Bert Firestone passed away in 2021.

“I can't say enough good things about her and Bert and the opportunity they gave me when I shifted from the Midwest to New York,” said Hall of Famer Bill Mott, who was hired by the Firestones to be their private trainer in 1986. “They gave me the opportunity to break into New York and they treated me like family. She was a wonderful person and a very good horse person herself. She was very knowledgeable about racing and breeding. She always conducted herself so well and was a very kind person.”

Firestone was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1932 and was the granddaughter of Robert Wood Johnson, the founder of the health products manufacturer Johnson & Johnson. She was the daughter of John Seward Johnson, an executive with Johnson & Johnson, and Ruth Dill Johnson, a native of Bermuda.

A lifelong equestrienne, Firestone learned to ride in England with her siblings. While in prep school in Washington, D.C., she rode hunters and jumpers and fox hunted across Virginia's northern landscape. After graduating from Bennett Junior College, Firestone had a renowned equestrian career, representing the United States in horse shows worldwide.

“Horses, with the single exception of my family, have been the most important thing in my life,” Firestone once said.

“She was an amazing mother and an amazing horse woman,” said Firestone's daughter Alison Robitaille. “Pretty much every animal loved her. Whether it was dogs, horses, whatever, when it came to animals she was like a magnet. She gave to me my love of horses and introduced me to them at an early age, which I am very grateful for.”

In recognition of Firestone's commitment to equestrian sports, the American Horse Shows Association awarded her the Walter B. Devereux Trophy for having exemplified the ideal of good sportsmanship through commitment, dedication and service.

The Firestones were perennially among the top owners in the sport in the 70s and 80s and horses running under their familiar green and white silks accounted for 51 graded or group stakes wins.

Teaming up with trainer Leroy Jolley, they landed their first Eclipse Award with Honest Pleasure, the champion 2-year-old of 1971. He was followed by 1977 champion sprinter What a Summer.

But the Firestones will always be best remembered for winning the Derby with Genuine Risk, who, at the time, became only the second filly to win the sport's most prestigious race. She finished second in a controversial running of the GI Preakness S. and was then second in the GI Belmont S. She is the only filly to win or place in all three Triple Crown races. In 1986, Genuine Risk was enshrined in the Racing Hall of Fame.

Two years after Genuine Risk, the Firestones had another Eclipse Award winner. Already a champion in France, April Run (Ire) won an Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding turf mare in 1982. In 1987, the Firestone's Theatrical (Ire) won six Grade I races, including the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, and was named champion turf male. He was the first Breeders' Cup winner and Eclipse champion for Mott.

The Firestones were also active in Europe. In 1981, their Blue Wind (Ire) was named champion 3-year-old filly in both England and Ireland and April Run was named champion 3-year-old filly in France. That same year, Play it Safe (Ire) was named champion 2-year-old filly in France.

The Firestone homebred Winchester became the couple's final top-level victor with four Grade I wins from 2008 to 2011, and they completed the dispersal of their bloodstock in January 2020. The Firestones, who owned both Gulfstream Park and Calder Racecourse from 1989 to 1991, began scaling back their racing ventures in the late 1980s.

Firestone is survived by four children, Robitaille, Lorna Stokes, Christopher Stokes, Cricket MacDonald and three stepsons, Matthew Firestone, Ted Firestone and Greg Firestone. She is also survived by 16 grandchildren.

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Keeneland Moves Date of April Sale

Keeneland will hold its 2023 April Selected Horses of Racing Age Sale this year on Sunday, Apr. 30 beginning at 4 p.m. ET. Entry deadline for the print version of the April Sale catalog is Monday, Apr. 3 and approved supplemental entries will be accepted until the sale.

Keeneland successfully held its April Selected Sale last year on closing day of the Spring Meet, and the sale will return to that position on the calendar in 2024. This year's move to Sunday is a one-time event to avoid conflict with the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale.

The April Selected Sale feeds off the energy and excitement of the Spring Meet and gives horsemen a terrific opportunity to cash in on or buy quality individuals, especially those who run well at Keeneland, as they transition to summer racing,” Keeneland Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy said. “While we feel closing day remains the ideal position for the April Sale, the shift to Sunday this year still allows us to properly showcase these horses before attention moves to Louisville and Kentucky Derby Week. We look forward to resuming the sale's Spring Meet closing-day schedule in 2024 and beyond.”

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