by Frank Angst

National Racing Hall of Fame trainer Sidney Watters Jr., who conditioned 1970 champion two-year-old male Hoist the Flag and 1983 champion three-year-old male Slew o’ Gold, died on February 14. He was 90.

Henry W. Jenkins and Sons Funeral Home of Monkton, Maryland, where Watters’s farm was located, is handling arrangements.

The Steeplechase Committee of the Hall of Fame selected Watters for induction in 2005. Watters led or shared the lead in national steeplechase wins six times from 1948 through ’71, finishing as the leading trainer by earnings three times.

By the 1970s, Watters had established himself as a leading trainer in flat racing as well. Hoist the Flag won three of four starts in ‘70, including a victory in the Cowdin Stakes, to secure champion honors.

Slew o’ Gold finished second in the 1983 Belmont (G1) and Travers (G1) Stakes, but secured champion three-year-old male honors with wins in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), Woodward Stakes (G1), and a division of the Wood Memorial Stakes (G1).

Watters campaigned Hoist the Flag for owners Mr. and Mrs. Stephen C. Clark Jr. For the Clarks, he also developed Love Sign, who won the Beldame Stakes (G1) in ‘80 and ’81, as well as steeplechase champions Amber Diver (‘63) and Shadow Brook (’71).

Born in Baltimore in 1917, Watters followed his father and uncle, both amateur steeplechase riders in their youth, into the sport. He won about 50 races between ‘35 and ‘41 before turning to training for Richard Mellon. After flying some 40 missions as a gunner on a B-24 during World War II, Watters resumed training on a full-time basis, again for Mellon.

His flat horses also included ‘83 Meadowlands Cup (G1) winner Slewpy and Quick Call, who won the Forego Handicap (G2) in ‘88 and ‘89. Watters retired from training in ‘99.

Frank Angst is a Thoroughbred Times senior writer