RICHARD DUNWOODY MBE
Have you ever wondered what it is actually like to line up for the greatest horse race in the world - the Grand National?
Richard Dunwoody can tell you. He broke all the records in his chosen career as the most successful jump jockey in history and now he is in demand as an inspirational business speaker and after dinner speaker.
Success as a Champion Jockey, coupled with knowledge gained from challenges including the Race to the Magnetic North Pole and climbing the highest mountain in the Andes have given him a unique insight in peak performance.
His motivational themes include:
Learning From Mistakes
Overcoming the Fear of Failure
Controlling the Controllable
Breaking the Performance Barrier
The Making of a Champion
Building a High Performance Team
The most successful jockey in English National Hunt Racing, Ulsterman Richard Dunwoody was forced out of the saddle due to injury. Having endured the hazardous world of jump racing, Richard, is revered amongst fellow professionals and rightly so.
During his distinguished career he rode 1,699 winners in Britain and became champion jockey three times, a feat which earned him the MBE in 1993. Game Trust provided his first winner in 1983 at Cheltenham, Yorkshire Edition at Wincanton in 1999 was his
record-breaking 1,679th.
Racing over 10,000 times, his career high points include winning the Grand National on West Tip in 1986 and Minnehoma in 1994 as well as the Gold Cup on Charter Party in 1988. His best season saw him ride 197 winners in 1993/94. Yet, to the racing public, he is best known for his partnership with the hugely popular Desert Orchid.
The pair won seven races, including the King George V1 Chase in 1989 and 1990. He then completed jump racing's Big Treble by landing the Champion Hurdle on Kribensis in 1990, only the fourth jockey since the war to have done so.
A supreme stylist, his peers dubbed Dunwoody The Prince". Dunwoody's successes continued throughout the nineties, including a string of big race wins aboard another popular bold jumping grey, One Man, and early in 1999 he overtook Peter Scudamore's record of
all-time winners.
The Ulsterman's eventual retirement in December 1999 was not planned. An injury to his right arm failed to heal properly and the
three-times champion decided to call it a day before he was forced to.
Former champion jockey and Channel 4 racing pundit John Francome paid Dunwoody the ultimate compliment when he said: "He made bad horses look good and every day he was at his best".
Richard was also voted National Hunt Jockey of the Year by his fellow jockeys in 1990/92/93/94/95 and he was voted Champion of Champions in 2001. He has appeared on many terrestrial, local and satellite television programmes (including 'This is Your Life', Call My Bluff,Ready
Steady Cook, Blankety Blank and Question of Sport).
Since retiring from racing, Richard has focused on sports marketing sponsorship and
management.
Richard is an extremely competent motivational speaker sharing his experiences as a top sportsman in a highly competitive environment with business audiences. He is also a very good after dinner speaker.
COMMENTS:
Woody is not only an ex Champion jockey...but an extremely able after dinner speaker. He is highly recommended - Coral Armistead, Services Support Manager, Flowtech.
Richard was a highly entertaining speaker at our Dealer of the Year Gala Event. I would have no hesitation in recommending him as a highly professional motivational speaker. - Gary Landridge, MD Jaguar UK
Richard made an inspiring presentation to our company...was at ease with the audience and was very open and friendly with members of the company. We would recommend him as an inspirational speaker. - Peter von der Heyde, MD Kinnarps UK Ltd.
Richard was a huge success and warmly received by everybody. There was a sense we were welcoming home a national hero. - Paul Ennis, MD ESB Ireland.