[1] He was the son of Silas Veitch, a jockey and trainer who began his career as an exercise boy with the powerful Joseph E. Seagram stable in his native Canada and who would become a successful steeplechase trainer in the United States.
In 1939 he moved to flat racing when he was employed as a trainer with Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney in Kentucky.
In 1958 he left his position with C. V. Whitney and began employment with George D. Widener Jr. where he trained What a Treat, and many other notable horses.
He trained 5 champions in all: First Flight in 1946, Phalanx in 1947, Counterpoint in 1951, Career Boy in 1956, and What a Treat in 1965.
Sylvester Veitch died at the age of 85 at the Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, Long Island, New York in February 1996 after a brief illness.