DICKIE SMALL NA TRAINER ISSUE 32_Jerkins feature.qxd 17/04/2014 22:09 Page 2
DICKIE SMALL
DICKIE SMALL
Celebrating the life of a legend Much has been written about Dickie Small, a lot highlighting his impressive career as a trainer, since his untimely death in April. Dickie trained my horses and I have lots I can say about that, but I want to focus more on Dickie the person, because ultimately, it was his character and personality that made him the legend he is.
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WORDS: TED MUDGE PHOTOS: JiM McCUE/MaRylanD JOCkEy ClUb
FIRST met Dickie in September of 1957 when we were both 11 years old entering the 7th Grade at the Gilman School in Baltimore, Maryland. The class list was of course alphabetized by last name followed by first name and, when called upon, Dickie would have taken a good deal of ribbing from his classmates and me if he hadn’t been about a foot taller than all of us. He remained larger than life to me throughout our long friendship. Neither of us was particularly well behaved, and in those days, students were given demerits and had to report to the gymnasium on Saturday mornings to sort socks, jocks, and t-shirts. Dickie and I sorted a lot of socks, jocks, and t-shirts and ran a lot of laps when the sorting was over, but somehow we always enjoyed it and had a lot of laughs and came back for more. One of his favorite stories from our high school days was the canoe trip we took in the spring of our sophomore year, shooting the rapids in the Potomac River. I don’t think we were in the Potomac more than 15 minutes before we both capsized and watched all our gear floating down the river. We recovered most of it and when we pitched our tents that night I asked Dickie what he brought to eat and he said, “Not much, but I swiped a bottle
of bourbon from my father!” On the third and final day of the canoe trip, we could hear the rapids up ahead and they were really loud. Fortunately, we had the good sense to pull over and take a look – much to our horror, not 50 yards downstream, were the Great Falls of the Potomac!! Dickie was a terrific athlete at Gilman, playing tight end and defensive end on the undefeated football team and starring on defense for an equally good lacrosse team. He went from Gilman to Penn (University of Pennsylvania) where he played lacrosse as a freshman and was elected captain of the team as a sophomore, only to get thrown out before the spring season. Speaking of getting thrown out: Dickie loved to tell the story that, when introducing me to a couple for whom he trained, he told them that I was responsible for getting him through Gilman School; when they asked, “Oh Dickie, did you cheat on him?” he replied, “Oh, no, they threw Teddy out first and I got to stay.” After leaving Penn, Dickie enlisted in the Army and went through training as a Green Beret, doing two tours of duty in Special Ops. He came back and finished his education, working himself through college as a member of the gate crew at Delaware Park. Remarkable
as it may seem, on September 12, 2001, the day after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Buildings, Dickie showed up at the Fort Meade recruiting office and tried to re-enlist. He was disappointed when they told him he was too old, and he tried to talk them out of declining him by telling them how much he could teach young recruits who were headed to Special Ops. I don’t for a second doubt that he was right and they were wrong. Dickie’s training career is well documented, but there were many early successes in addition to those of Broad Brush, Concern, and Valley Crossing – the recently known heroes. He took Festive Mood to the Hollywood Gold Cup, and jockey Herbie Hinosa was his rider. At the press party the night before the race, Herbie spotted Angie Dickinson and gave her a big hug and kiss and explained to Dickie they’d gone to high school in Texas together. Angie introduced Dickie to her then-husband, Burt Bacharach, who sent him a horse; from that time on, Dickie trained for him. I think that was what Dickie was most proud of – that owners stayed with him throughout their career or his, and he was the rare trainer who felt that the obligation to take care of owners was equally as important as taking care of the horse.
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