When Michael Dickinson won the Breeders' Cup Mile with Da Hoss - the second time - he was hailed as a miracle worker, the "mad genius," as he called himself with a glint in his eye.
Few could argue. Da Hoss won the Breeders' Cup Mile in 1996, and then, off one prep race, won it again in 1998.
Yesterday at Laurel Park, Dickinson, who trains at his farm in Cecil County, won the Grade I Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash with A Huevo, a 7-year-old gelding who had not raced in nearly four years. What will they say about Dickinson now?
Mark Hopkins, owner of A Huevo, became the first to try to put it into words. Speaking in fits and starts in the joyous winner's circle, he said: "They talk about him being the mad genius. If anyone thinks this man isn't the best trainer on the planet ... He's the only person who could have done this."
Hopkins finally got his thoughts together and summed it up this way: "It's mind-boggling what he's gone through with this horse the past four years."
Dickinson nursed A Huevo through numerous injuries while practicing patience and professing confidence in the talented horse. Finally, when Hopkins was ready to give up, Dickinson offered to train A Huevo for free.
Perseverance paid off for the "mad genius" when A Huevo, after bumping horses at the break and settling into last place, roared around the field on the turn and down the stretch. He carried jockey Ramon Dominguez to a 1 3/4 -length victory. A Huevo's time for the six furlongs was 1 minute, 8.90 seconds.
He paid $20.60 to win and would have paid more - much more - had anyone but Dickinson trained him. Bettors back Dickinson when they'd scoff at another trainer. A horse running in a Grade I stakes with a record comparable to A Huevo's ... well, a horse with that record wouldn't be running in a Grade I stakes if it were trained by someone other than Dickinson.
In October 1999, A Huevo won the West Virginia Breeders' Classic at Charles Town in track-record time. He was disqualified for a drug positive involving the banned breathing-aid clenbuterol, a decision Dickinson and Hopkins fought relentlessly. They still contend the horse was not given clenbuterol before the race.
A Huevo came out of the West Virginia race with bone chips in both knees in his front legs and both hocks in his rear legs. He underwent surgery for removal of chips in three legs. Dickinson saved the bone fragments.
"It was like we had a bag of chips," Hopkins said.
