He is perhaps most remembered for his extraordinary feat of training the first five finishers in the 1983 Cheltenham Gold Cup,who were Bregawn 1st, Captain John 2nd, Wayward Lad 3rd, Silver Buck 4th, and Ashley House 5th.
Having been educated at Rossall School, Dickinson was an amateur champion rider before becoming a professional jockey for 10 years.
[1] Two of his formative years were spent under the tutelage of Vincent O'Brien, the legendary Irish trainer who was master of Ballydoyle, the training center in County Tipperary.
[1] In order: Bregawn, Captain John, Wayward Lad, Silver Buck, and Ashley House.
[2] On 13 November 2007, Michael Dickinson announced that he would not apply for a trainer's licence in 2008, in order to devote his time to his business of synthetic racetrack surfacing known as Tapeta Footings.