UofL Equine Industry Program names 33rd Galbreath Award recipient

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Racetrack surface innovator Michael Dickinson has been named the 33rd Galbreath Award recipient.

According to the release, Dickinson has been heavily involved in the horse industry for years. He was once a steeplechase jockey and trainer, a Thoroughbred trainer and recently as an innovator of racetrack surfaces.

Dickinson has developed and refined Tapeta Footings, an all-weather synthetic material that was designed to improve safety for the horse and the rider.

The University of Louisville Equine Industry Program has named Dickinson the 33rd recipient of the John W. Galbreath Award for Outstanding Entrepreneurship in the Equine Industry.

“I am honored and flattered to receive the Galbreath Award,” Dickinson said. “The safety of the horse has always been a long-term goal of mine ever since I was a child when on small ponies I had to keep up with my mother who was on a Grade A International Showjumper. We used to jump post and rail fences, some with ditches and drops, and stone walls. Since then, I’ve always felt very grateful and indebted to all the horses I rode.”

One of Dickinson’s greatest achievements in training was conditioning 1996 Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Da Hoss to a repeat win at Churchill Downs after a two year layoff.

Recipients of the Galbreath Awarded are selected by a committee of faculty from the Forcht Center for Entrepreneurship in the UofL College of Business.