Dawson, Richard Cecil (1865–1955), trainer and breeder of racehorses, was born 27 November 1865 in the Curragh, Co. Kildare, the son of Richard Cuming Dawson, who also trained and bred racehorses, and Eleanor Dawson (née Waters). He was educated at the Santry School and Trinity College, Dublin. After graduating in 1886 he went to work for the noted trainer Henry Eyre Linde at Eyrefield Lodge in the Curragh. He also began to own and train horses of his own at his stables in Cloghran, Co. Dublin. He achieved his first win in 1888 at Waterford, but his first notable victory came in 1896, when he won the Galway Plate with Castle Warden.
In 1897 Linde died, and when Dawson's attempt to buy Eyrefield Lodge failed he decided to leave Ireland for Whatcombe, Newbury, Berkshire, though he retained his stables at Cloghran, Co. Dublin. His first major success in Britain was to win the 1898 Aintree Grand National with Drogheda, a horse he had bought with G. C. Adams and had brought with him from Ireland. Having won the Grand National, he turned his attention to flat racing and gained notable successes in the Solicitors and Stewards Cup in 1902. By the start of the war in 1914 he had moved to Newmarket, where he began a successful partnership with the newspaper magnate and racehorse owner Sir Edward Hulton; Dawson was champion trainer in 1916 when he won both the unofficial Derby and Oaks at Epsom with Finfinella. After falling out with Hulton over money he returned to Whatcombe in 1919, and in 1920 became the Aga Khan's first trainer in England. The Aga Khan had a string of top horses: his Diophon won the Two Thousand Guineas, Salmon Trout the St Leger, and Blenheim the Derby, and Dawson was named champion trainer in 1924 and 1929. Dawson also won the Derby and the St Leger with Trigo for W. Barnett and the Oaks with Brownhylda for Vicomte de Fontarce during this period.
Dawson was still very active in Ireland, winning eight Irish classic races – three Irish Derbys, two Irish Oaks, and three Irish St Legers. Blandford, who was the greatest sire of the period, was owned by Dawson and was stabled in Cloghran, Co. Dublin, until the economic war forced the removal of many of Ireland's finest horses to Britain to escape the planned imposition of a 40 per cent duty on the importation of Irish livestock into Britain. In 1931 he parted company with the Aga Khan after a disagreement over jockeys and thereafter played a less prominent role in British racing. He retired in 1945. Although he was one of the greatest trainers of his generation, some thought his training methods were too severe.
He married Grace Davies Gilbert, with whom he had three children. He died 15 September 1955 at Whatcombe.