George Peddie Thomas Dawson (1853 – 14 June 1913), was a British trainer of racehorses. A member of a highly successful racing family, he trained the winners of ten

British Classic Races The British Classics are five long-standing Group 1 horse races run during the traditional flat racing season. They are restricted to three-year-old horses and traditionally represent the pinnacle of achievement for racehorses against their own ...

in seven seasons between 1888 and 1894.

Background

George Dawson was the son of the Scottish trainer John Dawson who won The Derby with

Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...

in 1876. He was also the nephew of the trainers Thomas Dawson and

Mathew Dawson Mathew Dawson (1820–1898) was a British racehorse trainer. In a career which lasted from 1840 until his death in 1898 he trained the winners of twenty-eight British Classic Races, a figure surpassed by only two other men. He was significan ...

. Despite his background, Dawson did not initially pursue a career in horse racing but went into business and by 1883 was running a successful brewery at

Burton-on-Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The d ...

. In 1884 he moved to

Newmarket, Suffolk Newmarket is a market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. Located (14 miles) west of Bury St Edmunds and (14 miles) northeast of Cambridge. It is considered the birthplace and global centre of thoroughbred hor ...

where he worked for several months as assistant trainer to his uncle Mathew at the latter's Heath House stable. When Mathew Dawson "retired" in 1885, George was invited to take over the stable despite his limited experience.

Training career

George Dawson operated Heath House as a private stable for a consortium of aristocratic owners led by the

Duke of Portland Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

. Dawson was given some credit for introducing modern training methods, preferring shorter, faster gallops to the long, slow pieces of work previously favoured. In 1888, Dawson trained

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

, owned by Portland, to win both the

2000 Guineas The 2000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 metres) and scheduled to take place each year at ...

and The Derby, whilst the Duke's colt

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

was the season's leading two-year-old. Although there was no official championship in 1888, Dawson was the leading British trainer in terms of prize money, and the £77,914 won by horses trained at Heath House set a record which stood for forty-three years. In the following season Donovan gave Dawson a second Derby and also won the

St Leger The St Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a d ...

. The rest of Dawson's classic wins came with four

fillies A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

, all owned by the Duke of Portland. In 1890 Semolina won the

1000 Guineas The 1000 Guineas Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old fillies. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile (1,609 ...

and Memoir took both the Oaks and the St Leger. Mrs Butterwick won the Oaks in 1893 and Amiable took both fillies' classics a year later. Dawson's run of success ended when the lease on Heath House expired in 1898, and Portland moved his horses to the stable of

John Porter John Porter may refer to: Politicians * John Porter (portreeve), 1390–94, Member of Parliament (MP) for Taunton * John Porter (Illinois politician) (1935–2022), Illinois politician, U.S. Representative * John Porter (MP for Bramber) (died 1599 ...

Kingsclere Kingsclere is a large village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. Geography Kingsclere is approximately equidistant ) from the towns of Basingstoke and Newbury on the A339 road. History Kingsclere can trace back its history to a p ...

. Dawson took over his father's Warren House stable in 1900 but was never able to reproduce his earlier success. He died at Warren House on 14 June 1913.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, George 1853 births 1913 deaths British racehorse trainers