BANGOR – It’s not often, if ever, anyone can say they gave someone with three-plus decades of success in their chosen field their “big break,” especially when that break comes 35 years into their career.

But that’s what Steve Mahar can say about the opportunity he gave fellow harness racing driver and owner/trainer Don Dickinson Sunday afternoon.

Dickinson, a successful and established driver, trainer and owner who broke into the sport 35 years ago, has competed in several hundred races over his career, but until Sunday, none of those races included trots.

“I didn’t know he hadn’t driven a trotter before until they announced it,” said Mahar, who is unable to drive due to a shoulder injury. “He’s been racing a long time and I just assumed he had.”

Whether you believe in beginner’s luck or not, the fates were certainly not against the 51-year-old “rookie” in Sunday’s second race at Bangor Raceway.

“The horse has a different feel, a trotter does,” said Dickinson. “Stevie told me before the race that this one kind of grabs on some and has made a few breaks, but he said just sit there and hang onto him.

“When he leapt out of there I let him kind of drift out on his own and when a hole started opening up, I took him back and he acted like he wanted to cross so I let him trot on and he kind of dropped in and went. Everything went perfect.”

The 20-to-1 long shot finished the race in 2:04.1 and paid $58.80 on a winning ticket.

It’s not that Dickinson, a native of Debec, New Brunswick, has anything against trotters. He’s more like the harness racing equivalent of a guy who has never driven a car with a manual transmission (five-speed) because he learned on an automatic and always had one to drive.

“The majority of driving I do is my own horses, or my father’s horses and we never had a trotter since I was a kid,” said the 51-year-old Dickinson. “I think that was the main reason.”

The main reason Mahar is out of commission four to five weeks is his involvement in an accident during a race last weekend.

“It was in New Brunswick last Saturday afternoon,” the Saint John, New Brunswick resident said. “A horse fell down and I pole-vaulted over him and broke two bones in my shoulder.”

So for the last week, Mahar has been scrambling to line up drivers for his seven horses.

“After Stevie got hurt, some of the other drivers were down in Scarborough doing Stakes races and I kind of got volunteered or elected to fill in,” Dickinson said with a smile. “I should quit now while I’m ahead, but oh yeah, I’ll do it again if they ask me. It might ruin my record, but I’ll do it anyway.”

Mahar said he has a lot of confidence in Dickinson, who owns six horses.

“Donnie’s a good guy and he drives horses well, so if you tell him how a horse is, he’ll race them that way,” Mahar said. “It’s hard enough to get drivers, but then you try to match drivers with the horses.”

Dickinson – whose son Daniel helps with the timing and photo finish system, and whose daughter Darci is the assistant charter and program director at Bangor Raceway – said driving a trotter takes a different approach and racing style.

“I think you’re more involved in a race with a pacer as far as how much you control the horse,” he explained. “It’s a lot more important to let a trotter hold his rhythm.”

So is this the start of a career switch for Dickinson?

“I don’t know how many people have come up wanting to sell me trotters today,” the affable horseman said with a hearty laugh.