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Retired trainer Sid Martin dies at 82

Posted: Wednesday, October 05, 2011 11:10 AM

Trainer Sid Martin, a member of the British Columbia Racing Hall of Fame and trainer of the multiple classic-placed stakes winner Diabolo, died on Monday evening at age 82 following a lengthy illness.

Martin is best known as the trainer of multiple Grade 2 winner Diabolo, who finished third in the 1975 Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) and fourth in the Belmont Stakes (G1), for owner Frank McMahon.

Martin, a native of New Brunswick, Canada, moved with his family across the country to Vancouver, British Columbia, at age four. He began his racing career in 1943 as a hot walker at Hastings Race Course, earning $5 a week.

Not long after he started in the business, Martin headed south to ride at the now-defunct Longacres in Washingtone, and in 1947, he became the track’s second leading rider and its leading apprentice jockey. Martin’s riding career came to an abrupt end the next year when a growth spurt forced him to retire due to weight issues.

After four years of working as an exercise rider and jock’s room valet at Hastings, Martin began training for local businessman Chuck Charles. His training career took off in the early 1960s, with a victory in the 1964 British Columbia Futurity by Clockless and the top two finishers in the 1965 Premier’s Stakes, Costa Rica and Fleet Runner.

In the mid 1960s, Martin relocated to Southern California to be the private trainer for Vancouver businessman Colin Campbell. The partnership yielded stakes winners that included Everything Lovely in the Milady Handicap and Vilonor in the Argonaut Stakes.

After finding private training too restricting, he soon went out on his own and it was not long before he started working for McMahon. The association with McMahon was highlighted by Diabolo, who broke the track record for 1 1/8 miles in the 1975 California Derby at Golden Gate Fields prior to his Triple Crown campaign.

Martin returned to Vancouver in 1985 and was inducted into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. He continued to train at Hastings until his retirement in 2009.