The Horses of My Life [Paperback]

West Tip, Desert Orchid, Charter Party, Very Promising, Kribensis, Waterloo Boy, Highland Bud, Flatterer, Morley Street, Florida Pearl, Doran's Pride, Remittance Man, Rushing Wild, Minnehoma, Flakey Dove, Alderbrook, Sound Man, It's A Snip, Viking Flagship and One Man - all horses that Richard Dunwoody remembers fondly, and which are featured in this book. Though not lavishly illustrated, there are a sufficient number of pictures, some of them in full color, to support the text.

The first chapter is devoted to West Tip, whose career is covered in its entirety, from modest beginnings in Ireland (where he was variously considered too slow and too lame) to his retirement (when he stepped on Des Lynam's foot). In between, we are reminded of the injury that nearly killed him before he raced as well as of the career that followed. The scars remained as a permanent reminder, but West Tip recovered well, winning his debut race less than three months later. He won several races early in his career, but following his victory in the 1986 Grand National, the handicapper revised his assessment and West Tip found it hard to win thereafter. Still, he was a talented horse that established Richard Dunwoody as a jockey.

The next chapter is about Desert Orchid. Richard took up the ride on Desert Orchid late in his career, after Colin Brown (his original jockey) and Simon Sherwood (who took over on Colin's retirement) had both retired. We are reminded of Desert Orchid's achievements with these two jockeys aboard, culminating in his Cheltenham Gold Cup win of 1989 with Simon Sherwood aboard. Richard nevertheless rode Desert Orchid to some good wins. The other horses featured in this book were all good horses, but my favorite among them is One Man, a horse that reminded a lot of people of Desert Orchid and not just because he was a grey.

Richard was forced to retire from riding in 1999 on medical grounds, but hasn't taken the easy option since then, as his subsequent adventures include a expedition to the South Pole that would have been tougher than riding steeplechasers round Cheltenham and Aintree. But that adventure is outside the scope of this book, which will surely bring back many memories for those who remember these horses during their racing days.

Richard Dunwoody is acknowledged by many to be one of the greatest jump jockeys of all time. His own story 'Obsessed' is a good read, but sad because you feel the pain his ambition caused to him and those he knew well. This book is different, here he expresses the joy the special horses in his life gave him and he shows insight into their individual characters.

Well worth a read.

Excellent book for race horse lovers, This was bought as a gift for a friends birthday, he will take great joy in reading this