William K. Dickerson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1872
- Harness racing driver
- horse trainer
 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
Nickname | Billy Dick |
| Born | William Kennedy Dickerson 1872 Greensburg, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | May 20, 1948 (aged 75–76) Goshen, New York, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
| Horse racing career | |
| Sport | Harness racing |
| Major racing wins | |
| Walnut Hall Cup (1926) Transylvania Trot (1926, 1929) Horseman Futurity (1928) | |
| Honors | |
| United States Harness Racing Hall of Fame (1959) | |
| Significant horses | |
| Titan Hanover Highland Scott | |
William K. Dickerson (1872 – May 20, 1948), also known as Billy Dick, was an American harness racing driver and horse trainer.
William Kennedy Dickerson was born in Indiana, United States, in 1872.[1]
Tilford Dickerson, his father, was an early horseman in Indiana.[2] William was one of seven sons in his family.[3] The Dickerson family had long been established in the horse business.[4] He and his brother John H. Dickerson both started out during their teenage years.[2] His brother was once affiliated with Hanover Shoe Farms.[5]
Career
W. K. Dickerson began his career with harness racing horses at an early age in Indiana.[6] He left Indiana in the 1890s.
He relocated to Goshen, New York, where he operated a public stable and leased Joe Patchen, establishing him as a leading sire of the period.[1] He was elected as secretary of the Goshen Driving Club in April 1907, serving for many years.
He worked as a trainer and driver for ex-State Senator John McCarthy in 1910.[4]
Arden Homestead Stable
From 1913, he trained the Harriman family stable under Mrs. E. H. Harriman and later worked for her sons, W. Averell Harriman and E. Roland Harriman.[4] He had a long and successful tenure as trainer and driver for the Harriman-owned Arden Homestead Stable.[7] The horses under Dickerson's training had reserved stalls at Good Time Park, where most were conditioned over the mile track. Some were also stabled at the Historic Track,[8] where he served as superintendent of the grounds.
During the 1920s and 1930s, he raced on the Orange County Grand Circuit.[9] He drove Harriman's Peter Maltby to two world record performances in 1925, setting a world half-mile mark for two-year-olds at Endicott and again at Historic Track. He also piloted Guy Ozark to match the three-year-old world record established in 1923.[10] At The Red Mile in Lexington, Kentucky, he captured the 1926 Transylvania Trot with Guy Trogan and also won that year's Walnut Hall Cup with Guy Ozark.[11]
By 1927, he was serving as the secretary-treasurer of the Orange County Driving Park Association, sponsors of the Grand Circuit in Orange County, New York.[12] He was later elected vice president of the park association along with R. W. Hart and Elbridge T. Gerry in 1946.[13]
He topped the Grand Circuit standings in 1928 for the first time, recording 15 wins ahead of Sep Palin.[14] That year, the Indiana reinsman appeared in an endorsement for the Si-Nok Company of Indianapolis.[15]
He was succeeded as the trainer-driver at Arden Homestead by Harry Pownall.[16] He began serving as the general manager of the Arden Homestead Racing Stable and of Goshen's Historic Track.[4] At the 1943 Harrisburg Auction Sale, he picked up Titan Hanover, who later won the 1945 Hambletonian Stakes.
Dickerson remained in his general manager role until he retired in 1946.[1]