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#1
11-13-2007, 04:56 PM
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Talking to Dickinson on the phone was the single most miserable thing I endured in my days as a racing reporter.
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#3
11-13-2007, 05:17 PM
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I had the audacity to ask him questions about what kind of an impact his surface might have on bettors - if he expected one-dimensional speed horses might struggle to reproduce their dirt form - or if turf horses who've struggled on dirt in the past might not struggle on his form of synthetic. Stuff like that. In a hilarious British accent he starts screaming "You're asking the wrong questions!" "This is ENTIRELY about safety!" "everything else is minor!" He's bananas on the telephone. In person he was quite the opposite - and decent to talk to.
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#5
11-13-2007, 05:28 PM
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I never forget the time when Dickinson hired a private investigator to follow H. James Bond shipping horses from I think Payson Park to Gulfstream Park for Breeders Cup in 1999, because he thought Bond was up to no good.
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#6
11-13-2007, 05:34 PM
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When the favorite Cantrel fatally broke down in the first race ever run over a Tapeta surface - Dickinson actually pointed out later that night that the horse "had been training on dirt and not a synthetic" - and "if she had been training on a synthetic you don't know if this would have happened." He's not exactly a man of straight talk - that's for sure.
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#7
11-13-2007, 05:37 PM
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TID, have you noticed the amount of horses who have been eased "but walked off" in the charts in Nor Cal. When did the chart caller start using that phrase, eased, but walked off with such regularity. Fortunately theres only been one horse breakdown in the afternoons, 4 in the mornings.
Yes 6 races for a Dickenson runner is outrageous. Maybe Bond should have been following him around, thats 4 races more than his normal staters average
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#8
11-13-2007, 05:48 PM
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worse is seeing all his babies.....
__________________
 Seek respect, not attention.
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#9
11-13-2007, 05:23 PM
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Dickinson was and probably still is a great trainer. Not many others could do what he did in England, and the main way he did that was by caring for his horses and giving the best treatment possible for them.
His interest in breating a new surface was first and foremost in the interests of the horses welfare, he was one of the first to see that dirt was on a downfall and couldn't be around forever. Sure, he will have made money from it, but why would a man like himself be bothered about making all this money when he is already a very rich man? Maybe the surface hasn't turned out to be as good expected, but there is always time. Like mmsc has said, he is a very nice and generous man. An individual who is inlove with the sport but realises that there is more in life than to be training horses. He has already achieved more than any other trainer can do in a life time. I respect him greatly and i offer him all the best for the future. The people who are saying jump racing is cruel...... you obviously know very little about it to have that opinion. That is all i can and will say on that matter.
__________________
Avatar ~ Nicky Whelan  and now we murderers because we kill time
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#10
11-13-2007, 05:28 PM
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It's the breed that is going downhill. Synthetic surfaces are a bandaid to a sport that is bleeding profusely. Quote:
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#12
11-13-2007, 05:32 PM
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__________________
Avatar ~ Nicky Whelan and now we murderers because we kill time
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#13
11-13-2007, 05:38 PM
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#14
11-13-2007, 05:45 PM
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#15
11-13-2007, 05:51 PM
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In fact, I kindly just gave $100 million back to my city. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311020,00.html
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#16
11-13-2007, 05:57 PM
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#17
11-13-2007, 06:18 PM
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#18
11-13-2007, 05:55 PM
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__________________
Avatar ~ Nicky Whelan and now we murderers because we kill time
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#19
11-20-2007, 07:10 PM
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Making a person who is profiting greatly from synthetic surfaces, as Michael Dickinson is, out to be some kind of saint is beyond ridiculous. It's almost as ridiculous as asserting that dirt has been the cause of injuries in racing, while ignoring the vast array of other reasons, and further suggesting that unproven synthetic surfaces will save horses.
Thank God every racetrack isn't buying this load of bunk.
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#20
11-20-2007, 09:49 PM
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This whole synthetic racing surface argument reminds me of the 70's when Major League Baseball franchises couldn't switch to "astro-turf" fast enough. Grass was out. "Turf" was the future. Less expensive to maintain, better footing when wet for the players, no double headers needed to make up rain-outs and no more "bad hops". After nearly everyone had swithced to turf, suddenly there were problems no one had forseen. Players blowing out knees, turf toe, turf burns and excessive field temps. during July and August day games. Funny how it has come full circle and nearly all teams have went back to grass fields. What's the old saying about the grass is always.........Hell, I always loved double headers at old Crosley Field anyway.
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