LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Michael Dickinson is known as a turf trainer, but bringing his own grass to the Bluegrass State seems extreme even for the eccentric Maryland conditioner.
His horse, Tapit, arrived for tomorrow’s 130th Kentucky Derby on Wednesday and, with him, was several dozen eggs and a few cases of beer. There’s even an air purifier for that dusty stall.
But his own turf? That’s like swapping mint for celery in this town’s famous juleps.
Dickinson dug up organically treated grass from his North East, Md., farm, so Tapit wouldn’t graze on the chemically treated turf around the Churchill Downs backstretch. Local grass might have been good enough for Secretariat, but Dickinson doesn’t skimp on even the smallest of details. Even the beer is imported.
“I want to give the horses a better life,” he said. “In the past, a horse [would] battle really hard and give it his all and the trainer would say ’Well done,’ but the horses don’t get paid and get the same feed whether first or last. There have been times I was really indebted to my horses. I wanted to do everything I could for them.”
Nicknamed the “Mad Genius” — he admits that is half right — Dickinson came to the United States from Britain in 1987 after a failed thoroughbred career. He arrived in this country determined to win the Derby and the Breeders’ Cup. And with Tapit, he could give Maryland its first Derby winner since Spectacular Bid in 1979.
A victory would validate Dickinson’s odd methods.
Dickinson does most of his training at Tapeta Farm. Tapeta is Latin for carpet, and Dickinson certainly rolls out the red one for his horses on the 200 rolling acres near the Chesapeake Bay. The farm is a working experiment in catering to horses, rather than housing them in a locked stall at racetracks. Dickinson created his own type of dirt and grass courses, where he can easily train his stable within hours of Mid-Atlantic tracks.
His horses train on grass fields and are housed in bright white stalls with ceiling fans, skylights and large windows. Dickinson is convinced that a better atmosphere will make a horse happier and healthier.
“If we were locked up in a small room every day, we wouldn’t like it,” Dickinson said. “I like them to have fresh air, grass that they love. Yes, it’s different, but is it really? I want my horses to have a better stall. Most are dark and dingy and pretty primitive. I try to design my stalls like hotel rooms. They’re white, higher ceilings and a room with a view. I want a perfect environment for the horse.”
Tapeta Farm’s serene setting reminds Dickinson of his days as one of England’s top steeplechase riders. He retired and became one of England’s leading trainers. The third-generation horseman once won a world-record 12 races in one day and saddled the top five finishers in the 1983 Cheltenham Gold Cup — the British equivalent of the Derby. Photos of himself with members of the royal family adorn his office as well as a scrapbook that chronicles his British Hall of Fame steeplechase trainer career.
Dickinson, 54, patterned much of his training after Vincent O’Brien, who ruled British steeplechase racing in the 1960s. However, Dickinson’s switch to thoroughbreds quickly failed. He was fired after winning just four races for owner Robert Sangster’s high-powered stable in 1986. Rather than return to steeplechase, Dickinson came to the United States to prove himself once more.
Dickinson quickly was labeled a turf trainer. Certainly, Breeders’ Cup grass victories with Da Hoss in 1996 and ’98 validated the label.
The dirt breakthrough finally came Nov. 15 at Laurel Park when A Huevo won the De Francis Dash after a 31/2-year layoff while Tapit took the Laurel Futurity. Two stakes victories on the dirt in one afternoon proved career-changing.
“We’ve always been famous for long-distance horses on the grass, but never for dirt or sprinting or 2-year-olds,” Dickinson said.
Tapit finished sixth in the Florida Derby on March 13 when post-race examinations showed mucus in his respiratory system and a hoof abscess. Dickinson was hoping the colt would just run well in the Wood Memorial Stakes on April 10 at Aqueduct. Instead, Tapit inhaled the leaders in the stretch to win.
Tapit is now the hot horse in a wide-open Derby with its largest field of 20 since 1984. The gray colt even might benefit from the expected muddy track by running down the leaders at Heartbreak Lane in the 11/4-mile race.
“We don’t know what his best is,” Dickinson said. “There’s no standout. Somebody will have to improve to win the race. We will improve, but will we improve enough?”
Tapit’s biggest hurdle is history. No colt has won the Derby after four career starts since Exterminator (1918). Sunny’s Halo (1983) was the last to win after just two starts as a 3-year-old.
“Some horses are slow learners,” Dickinson said. “This horse has always been a very quick learner. His first race didn’t look like a first race. He beat everything.”
It would be an unconventional victory. Then again, it would be Dickinson’s norm.
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