Biography
Dilday and Topsails Rien Maker went back-to-back. The 2009 World's Greatest Horseman, held in San Angelo, Texas, produced a new high-water mark in composite scoring as the stallion performed at the peak of his considerable powers. Back-to-back championships are rare in any high-level equestrian competition — they require maintaining peak physical condition in a horse, sustaining the mental sharpness that championship performance demands, and avoiding the inevitable interruptions of injury, illness, and circumstance.
That Dilday and Topsails Rien Maker not only repeated but improved — posting a composite score that stood as a benchmark for years — speaks to the extraordinary quality of both horse and horseman. The stallion's 2009 performance in San Angelo was widely regarded as among the finest ever seen at the WGH level, a combination of athletic precision and natural cattle instinct that defined what the event's ideal champion looks like.
The consecutive titles established Dilday as the most formidable competitor in WGH history to that point. His preparation, his competitive strategy across four events, and his ability to bring Topsails Rien Maker to peak performance on the championship stage two years running placed him in a category of his own — at least until he returned in 2011 to claim a third.