Michael Dickinson (horseman)

Last updated

Michael Dickinson
Occupation Trainer
Born (1950-02-03) 3 February 1950 (age 72)
Yorkshire, England
Career wins378 (as a jockey), 587 (as a trainer)
Major racing wins
As a steeplechase jockey:
RSA Chase (1977)

As a trainer in English steeplechasing:
Mildmay of Flete Handicap Chase (1981)
Mersey Novices' Hurdle (1981)
Cheltenham Gold Cup (1982, 1983)
Hennessy Gold Cup (1982)
King George VI Chase (1980, 1982, 1983)
Peter Marsh Chase (1982, 1983)
Queen Mother Champion Chase
(1982, 1983, 1984)
Sun Alliance Novices' Hurdle (1983)
Blue Square Gold Cup (1983)
Supreme Novices' Hurdle (1984)
Top Novices' Hurdle (1984)

Contents

As a trainer in American flat racing:
Delaware Handicap (1990)
Pennsylvania Governor's Cup Handicap
(1990, 1996)
Mildmay Novices' Chase (1991)
Ashley T. Cole Handicap (1992)
Jersey Derby (1995)
Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap (1998)
Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap (1999)
Ashland Stakes (2001)
Mother Goose Stakes (2001)
Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap (2002)
Stars and Stripes Turf Handicap (2002)
Woodlawn Stakes (2002, 2006)
Cup and Saucer Stakes (2003)
Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash (2003)
Laurel Futurity Stakes (2003)
Sky Classic Stakes (2003)
West Virginia Derby (2003)
Wood Memorial Stakes (2004)
Mazarine Stakes (2006)
Valedictory Stakes (2006)

Breeders' Cup wins:
Breeders' Cup Mile (1996, 1998)
Racing awards
British Champion Amateur Steeplechase Jockey (1970)
British jump racing Champion Trainer
(1982, 1983, 1984)
Honours
British Steeplechasing Hall of Fame (1994)
Significant horses
Wayward Lad, Badsworth Boy, Da Hoss, Tapit

Michael W. Dickinson (born 3 February 1950 in Yorkshire, England) is a retired Champion Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. [1]

Having been educated at Rossall School, Dickinson was an amateur champion rider before becoming a professional jockey for 10 years. His rides included a Classic winner, Boucher. Lester Piggot rode Boucher when it won the 1972 St Leger at Doncaster.

Training career

Dickinson got his trainer's licence in 1980, taking over his parents' stables. He trained at Dunkeswick near Harewood in Yorkshire and was the Champion Trainer of National Hunt racing for three years in England. Two of his formative years were spent under the tutelage of Vincent O'Brien, the legendary Irish trainer who was master of Ballydoyle, the training center in County Tipperary.

Michael Dickinson is perhaps most famous for his extraordinary feat of training the first five in the 1983 Cheltenham Gold Cup. In order: Bregawn, Captain John, Wayward Lad, Silver Buck, and Ashley House. The BBC has an interesting account of Dickinson's Famous Five. He also trained a record 12 winners on Boxing Day in 1982, both of which are in the Guinness Book of World Records. He has three other further world records noted in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Dickinson also briefly trained flat racing horses for Robert Sangster before emigrating to Maryland in the U.S., where he had his first runner on 30 June 1987.

In 1993, he was elected to the British Steeplechasing Hall of Fame and inducted on its opening in 1994.

Dickinson's most acclaimed flat training feat came with Da Hoss. He trained the horse to win the 1996 and 1998 Breeders' Cup Mile despite the horse only having had one race in between, owing to injury.

On 13 November 2007, Michael Dickinson announced that he would not apply for a trainer's licence in 2008, in order to devote his time to his business of synthetic racetrack surfacing known as Tapeta Footings.

Related Research Articles

Horse racing in Great Britain

Horse racing is the second largest spectator sport in Great Britain, and one of the longest established, with a history dating back many centuries. According to a report by the British Horseracing Authority it generates £3.39 billion total direct and indirect expenditure in the British economy, of which £1.05 Billion is from core racing industry expenditure and the major horse racing events such as Royal Ascot and Cheltenham Festival are important dates in the British and international sporting and society calendar.

Sir Charles Francis Noel Murless was a British racehorse trainer.

Vincent O'Brien was an Irish race horse trainer from Churchtown, County Cork, Ireland. In 2003 he was voted the greatest influence in horse racing history in a worldwide poll hosted by the Racing Post. In earlier Racing Post polls he was voted the best ever trainer of national hunt and of flat racehorses. He trained six horses to win the Epsom Derby, won three Grand Nationals in succession and trained the only British Triple Crown winner, Nijinsky, since the Second World War. He was twice British champion trainer in flat racing and also twice in national hunt racing; the only trainer in history to have been champion under both rules. Aidan O'Brien took over the Ballydoyle stables after his retirement.

Tommy J. Smith Australian horse trainer (1916–1998)

Thomas John Smith was a leading trainer of thoroughbred racehorses based in Sydney, New South Wales.

Sea Pigeon (1970–2000) was an American-bred, British-trained racehorse who excelled in both National Hunt and flat racing. In a racing career which lasted from 1972 until 1981 he competed in eighty-five races, and won thirty-seven times. He was best known for his performances in hurdle races when he won the Champion Hurdle on two occasions. He was also one of the best flat stayers of his era winning major handicap races under weights of up to 140 pounds. As a gelding, he was ineligible to compete in the most prestigious flat staying races, such as the Ascot Gold Cup. On his retirement he was described as Britain's "best known horse after Arkle and Red Rum.

Barry Hills is a retired British thoroughbred horse trainer. He lives in Lambourn, England.

Richard Michael Hannon, known as Richard Hannon Sr. to distinguish him from his son, is a former British horse trainer. He was British flat racing Champion Trainer four times, achieved more than a century of victories in a season 20 times, a double century five times, and turned out 32 Royal Ascot winners. He operated out of Herridge Racing Stables, near Marlborough, Wiltshire, with a smaller yard at Everleigh on the edge of Salisbury Plain. He retired after winning a final trainers' championship at the end of 2013, when the training operation was taken over by his son, Richard Hannon, Jr.

Henry Ryan Price was a British Thoroughbred horse trainer in both flat and National Hunt racing.

Pappa Fourway (1952–1978) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He was one of the outstanding specialist sprinters of the twentieth century and one of the best horses trained in the North of England. After winning four times as a two-year-old in 1954 he was the dominant European sprinter of 1955 when he was undefeated in eight races including the King's Stand Stakes, July Cup and Diadem Stakes. He was retired to stud in the United States where he had modest success as a sire of winners.

Geoff Lewis is a Welsh retired jockey who was born in Talgarth, Breconshire.

Boucher, was an American-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In Ireland he won the Beresford Stakes as a two-year-old in 1971 and went on to win the Nijinsky Stakes and the Desmond Stakes in 1972. In September 1972 he was sent to England where he won the St. Leger Stakes at Doncaster. At the end of the season he was retired to stand as a stallion in Australia, where he had some success as a sire of winners.

Patrick Joseph Prendergast (1910–1980), known as Paddy "Darkie" Prendergast was an Irish trainer of racehorses. He won seventeen Irish classics and became the first Irish trainer to have a major impact on British flat racing. He trained the first Irish winners of the 2000 Guineas and The Oaks and was British champion trainer for three successive seasons.

Fleet, known in the United States as Fleet II, was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare who won the classic 1000 Guineas in 1967. In a racing career lasting from June 1966 until July 1967, the filly contested nine races and won five times. As a two-year-old in 1966, Fleet won two of her three races including the Cheveley Park Stakes and was the highest rated filly of her age in Britain. In the following year she won three races over a distance of one mile including the 1000 Guineas and the Coronation Stakes. When tried over longer distances she finished fourth in The Oaks and Eclipse Stakes. She was retired to stud where she had some success as a broodmare in Britain and the United States.

Rockavon was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire, best known for winning the classic 2000 Guineas in 1961. After winning three races on minor tracks as a two-year-old and being well-beaten on his three-year-old debut Rockavon created a 66/1 upset when winning the 2000 Guineas, becoming the first horse trained in Scotland to win a classic. He subsequently only won one minor race and has been regarded as one of the least distinguished of classic winners. At the end of 1961 he was retired to stud where he made no impact as a sire of winners.

Tom Cannon Sr.

Tom Cannon Sr. was a British flat racing jockey and trainer. He won 13 British classics as a jockey, becoming champion in 1872. As a trainer, he trained classic winners, as well as winners over jumps, including the 1888 Grand National. He was the father of four jockey sons, including the six-times champion, Morny Cannon, and the great-grandfather of eleven-times champion, Lester Piggott.

Gilles de Retz (1953–1969) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire best known for winning the classic 2000 Guineas in 1956. After winning twice from five starts as a two-year-old, the colt disappointed on his three-year-old debut before recording a 50/1 upset victory in the Guineas. Although the feat was not officially recognised at the time, Gilles de Retz's success made Helen Johnson Houghton the first woman to train the winner of a British classic. The colt failed to reproduce his best form in three subsequent efforts in 1956 and won once from four attempts as a four-year-old. He was retired to stud where he had little success as a sire of winners.

William Parker Dutton (1901–1958) was a British jockey and Thoroughbred racehorse trainer.

Captain Charles Frederick Elsey was a British Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. The son and father of successful trainers, Elsey was one of the dominant racing figures in the North of England, for more than thirty years in a career which lasted from 1911 until 1960. He trained the winners of six classics and numerous major handicaps and was the Champion Trainer in 1956.

Ginevra (horse) British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse

Ginevra was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare best known for winning the 1972 Epsom Oaks. After winning two minor races as a two-year-old she improved in 1972 to win the Ladbrokes Oaks Trial before taking the Oaks. She went on to finish third in the Yorkshire Oaks and the St Leger. At the end of the year she was sold to a Japanese breeding syndicate and exported to Japan. Ginevra did not produce any notable offspring, although two of her daughters had some success as broodmares.

Clarissimus was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was highly rated as a juvenile and showed promise by winning the Clearwell Stakes on the second of his two starts. He recorded his biggest when winning the 2000 Guineas on his debut as a three-year-old. Clarissimus went on to finish second in the Newmarket Stakes and a substitute St Leger before winning the Champion Stakes on his final appearance. After his retirement from racing he became a breeding stallion and had considerable influence as a sire of broodmares.

References

  1. Karon, Frances (10 July 2008). "Michael Dickinson - "The Mad Genius"". Trainer Magazine. Retrieved 1 August 2021.