Richard Dunwoody

Thomas Richard Dunwoody MBE (born 18 January 1964 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a retired Northern Irish jockey in National Hunt racing. He was a three-time Champion Jockey, riding 1699 winners in his career. His father was a leading Point to Point rider.

His big race victories include the King George VI Chase twice on the legendary grey Desert Orchid 1989 and 1990, and One Man 1995 and 1996 in the Queen Mother Champion Chase over 2 miles. He also won the 1986 & 1994 Grand Nationals on West Tip and Minnehoma respectively, and the 1988 Cheltenham Gold Cup on Charter Party. His autobiography is called Obsessed which was published after his retirement due to the potential danger of long term damage to his neck. In his autobiography Dunwoody reveals that he experienced a messy divorce with his former wife Carol.

He received the Lester Award for Jump Jockey of the Year on five occasions. He is now a consultant to the trainer Richard Philips. He regularly runs marathons for a spinal charity.

On 19 January 2008 it was reported that he and American explorer Doug Stoup had reached the South Pole following a 48 day trek raising money for charity. Their route followed one which had previously been attempted by Ernest Shackleton and was both the first successful completion of that route as well the first successfully completed new route to the South Pole in ten years. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7197546.stm Former jockey treks to South Pole] - BBC report of the completed trek.]

Richard now runs a betting advisory service called Richard Dunwoody Racing Associates LTD.

References

External links

* [http://www.dunwoody-southpole.com/ The Interchange Shackleton Pole Expedition 2007] . Contains information about Richard Dunwoody.