Da Hoss

NEW KENT COUNTY, Va. -- Da Hoss, whose last pari-mutuel race was a 1996 victory in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Mile, will visit Colonial Downs today to compete in the $30,000 eighth race turf event as part of closing day.Da Hoss, now 6, is a prospect once again for next month's Breeders' Cup.Trainer Michael Dickinson planned to use a grass race this weekend at either The Meadowlands, Belmont Park or Colonial Downs as a prep. With bad weather canceling other weekend turf races, Da Hoss will make his first appearance in two years in today's 1 1/8 -mile allowance race.

NORTH EAST -- The day is gray and the wind is cold, but horse trainer-inventor Michael Dickinson has shorts on and his shoes off as he sprints around a half-mile synthetic surface track at his 200-acre Tapeta Farm. "I have 25 years of data in my feet," Dickinson, 57 and a native of England, said at the end of his run. "I can have people come in here with all kinds of scientific instruments for measurements, but no one knows what the resulting numbers mean. I'll take my feet. "I run on the track most days and train my horses on it the next.

The $200,000-added Baltimore Breeders' Cup, a 1 1/8 -mile Grade III handicap Saturday for 3-year-olds and upward, highlights this week's featured races at Laurel Park.The high weight at 122 pounds is Pyramid Peak, a 4-year-old colt who, after finishing 17th in last year's Kentucky Derby, ran second to Serena's Song in the Haskell Invitational Handicap at Monmouth Park and second to Thunder Gulch in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga.Trained by John T. Ward Jr., Pyramid Peak has earned $500,613 in 11 starts, winning five and finishing second three times.

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.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Michael Dickinson reached for the stars. When he lowered his arm he held the universe.What Dickinson accomplished with Da Hoss yesterday in the Breeders' Cup Mile ranks with the greatest training feats in the sport. Dickinson prepared Da Hoss for the $1 million event with one race in two years. And he didn't really want to run him that time."This has been the most difficult training job of my career," said Dickinson, who trains at his Tapeta Farm near North East in Cecil County.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- The turf course at Belmont Park has flunked the Michael Dickinson "high heel" test.Yesterday, when Dickinson and his assistant, Joan Wakefield, walked the grassy inner strip, Wakefield stopped, changed shoes at about the seven-eighths pole and put on heels.She had gone only a couple of feet when her heels sank so deep, she walked out of her shoes.The result: Dickinson, who bases his stable at the Fair Hill Training Center near Elkton, is likely to scratch his star runner, Da Hoss, from Saturday's Breeders' Cup Mile and run him instead on the dirt in the Sprint.

Michael Dickinson plans a repeat performance.The unorthodox Maryland trainer plans to run Da Hoss once in the next year -- in the 1999 Breeders' Cup on Nov. 6 at Gulfstream Park.In preparing Da Hoss for his victory Saturday in the Breeders' Cup Mile at Churchill Downs, Dickinson raced the 6-year-old gelding just once in the two years since Da Hoss won the Mile in 1996. "He's a bit delicate," Dickinson said. "He can't stand too many races."Da Hoss has a history of physical problems, beginning with an infected foot as a foal and progressing through bone spurs, arthritis, tendon injuries and lameness in a rear leg."

When you combine a fast racehorse with a patient owner, good things can happen. Trainer Dennis Manning can attest to this. His lightly raced Key Lory led every step of the way to take the $100,000 Da Hoss Handicap yesterday at Pimlico. The victory improved Key Lory's turf record to 3-for-3 and increased his earnings to $334,000 for owner Mac Fehsenfeld of New Jersey. Not bad for a 7-year-old with a mere 20 starts. "Only for the patience of Mr. Fehsenfeld is this horse where he is today," said Manning, 52. "It's certainly paid off now."

Preakness runner-up Oliver's Twist got a break yesterday when Da Hoss, the highly regarded second choice in today's $300,000 Ohio Derby in Cleveland, was scratched.Michael Dickinson, who trains the Jersey Derby winner at the Fair Hill Training Center in Cecil County, said some mucus showed up after Da Hoss worked three-eighths of a mile at Fair Hill yesterday."He's not sick. He has no fever," said Dickinson, who decided after the workout to withdraw the Gone West gelding. "But when mucus shows up, he's not likely to run well."

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A recent story in the national racing magazine dubbed Michael Dickinson a "mad genius."Dickinson, the Maryland trainer, took offense. He telephoned the reporter."Please don't call me a mad genius," Dickinson said in his English accent, "just 'mad' will do."Then yesterday, he was spotted on the Churchill Downs' turf course, marching stiffly, kicking one foot forward and then the other, smashing his heels into the grass. He was checking the condition of the turf for the two horses he will saddle Saturday in the Breeders' Cup Mile and the Breeders' Cup Turf.

When you combine a fast racehorse with a patient owner, good things can happen. Trainer Dennis Manning can attest to this. His lightly raced Key Lory led every step of the way to take the $100,000 Da Hoss Handicap yesterday at Pimlico. The victory improved Key Lory's turf record to 3-for-3 and increased his earnings to $334,000 for owner Mac Fehsenfeld of New Jersey. Not bad for a 7-year-old with a mere 20 starts. "Only for the patience of Mr. Fehsenfeld is this horse where he is today," said Manning, 52. "It's certainly paid off now."

HALLANDALE, Fla. -- Once again, as the big race approaches, the connections of Lemon Drop Kid look to the sky for salvation.Jinny Vance and Laddie Dance, who own the 3-year-old colt, watched their contender in the Breeders' Cup Classic breeze five furlongs in the mud Sunday at Gulfstream Park. His time, a respectable 1 minute 1/5 of a second, belied the fact that he loathes running in the slop.Vance and Dance own Taylor's Purchase Farm in Sparks. They've moved into their South Florida home for the winter and begun their daily visits to Lemon Drop, as they call him, as he nears the toughest assignment of his 14-race career.

BAL HARBOUR, Fla. -- One week after launching his breeding career at a stud farm in Kentucky, Skip Away was named Horse of the Year for 1998 at the annual Eclipse Awards dinner last night at a posh beach resort just north of Miami Beach.Skip Away was the unanimous choice of the three voting groups despite losing his last two races. His first seven races last year clinched the coveted award. Skip Away won all seven, five of which were Grade I.Owned by Carolyn Hine, a native of Highlandtown, and trained by her husband Sonny, who labored for nearly three decades at Maryland tracks, Skip Away retired in November with earnings of $9,616,360, second only to Cigar's $9,999,815.

Edgar Prado and Michael Dickinson, the Maryland-based jockey and trainer, rank among the finalists for Eclipse Awards, horse racing's highest honor, as announced yesterday by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.In addition, the Dickinson-trainee Da Hoss is a finalist for outstanding turf male, Saluter is a finalist for outstanding steeplechase horse and Coronado's Quest is a finalist for top 3-year-old male.Stuart S. Janney III, who lives in Butler, is the majority owner of Coronado's Quest, and Jack Fisher, who lives in Monkton, is rider and trainer of Saluter.

Michael Dickinson plans a repeat performance.The unorthodox Maryland trainer plans to run Da Hoss once in the next year -- in the 1999 Breeders' Cup on Nov. 6 at Gulfstream Park.In preparing Da Hoss for his victory Saturday in the Breeders' Cup Mile at Churchill Downs, Dickinson raced the 6-year-old gelding just once in the two years since Da Hoss won the Mile in 1996. "He's a bit delicate," Dickinson said. "He can't stand too many races."Da Hoss has a history of physical problems, beginning with an infected foot as a foal and progressing through bone spurs, arthritis, tendon injuries and lameness in a rear leg."

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Michael Dickinson reached for the stars. When he lowered his arm he held the universe.What Dickinson accomplished with Da Hoss yesterday in the Breeders' Cup Mile ranks with the greatest training feats in the sport. Dickinson prepared Da Hoss for the $1 million event with one race in two years. And he didn't really want to run him that time."This has been the most difficult training job of my career," said Dickinson, who trains at his Tapeta Farm near North East in Cecil County.

Omar Klinger and Word O'Ransom have been an unbeatable coupling.Klinger rode Virginia breeder Sam Rogers' filly for the sixth time yesterday in the $36,750 Contrary Rose Stakes at Laurel and the result was their sixth victory, all in front-running fashion.The speedy Word O'Ransom shot to the front immediately and led at every post to complete the six furlongs in 1 minute, 10 seconds and defeat closer I'll Get Along by 7 1/2 lengths."I felt very confident with this filly," said Klinger, whose shortest margin with her has been three lengths.

HALLANDALE, Fla. -- Once again, as the big race approaches, the connections of Lemon Drop Kid look to the sky for salvation.Jinny Vance and Laddie Dance, who own the 3-year-old colt, watched their contender in the Breeders' Cup Classic breeze five furlongs in the mud Sunday at Gulfstream Park. His time, a respectable 1 minute 1/5 of a second, belied the fact that he loathes running in the slop.Vance and Dance own Taylor's Purchase Farm in Sparks. They've moved into their South Florida home for the winter and begun their daily visits to Lemon Drop, as they call him, as he nears the toughest assignment of his 14-race career.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A recent story in the national racing magazine dubbed Michael Dickinson a "mad genius."Dickinson, the Maryland trainer, took offense. He telephoned the reporter."Please don't call me a mad genius," Dickinson said in his English accent, "just 'mad' will do."Then yesterday, he was spotted on the Churchill Downs' turf course, marching stiffly, kicking one foot forward and then the other, smashing his heels into the grass. He was checking the condition of the turf for the two horses he will saddle Saturday in the Breeders' Cup Mile and the Breeders' Cup Turf.

NEW KENT COUNTY, Va. -- Da Hoss, whose last pari-mutuel race was a 1996 victory in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Mile, will visit Colonial Downs today to compete in the $30,000 eighth race turf event as part of closing day.Da Hoss, now 6, is a prospect once again for next month's Breeders' Cup.Trainer Michael Dickinson planned to use a grass race this weekend at either The Meadowlands, Belmont Park or Colonial Downs as a prep. With bad weather canceling other weekend turf races, Da Hoss will make his first appearance in two years in today's 1 1/8 -mile allowance race.