Method in my Madness: 10 years out of the saddle

I learnt one important thing from reading Richard Dunwoody’s latest book — never ask him whether he misses racing.

Method in my Madness charts the former champion jockey’s attempt to ‘get a life’ (in his words) following his enforced retirement through injury.

During the 10 years since that retirement, aged 35, Dunwoody has travelled the world, walked to the South Pole, summitted Mount Aconcagua in Argentina and walked 1,000 miles in 1,000 hours — all in pursuit of the same thrill he achieved riding racehorses.

Method in my Madness charts that journey as he struggles to come to terms with a future without racing — and provides lovely insights into the cheeky ex-jock’s life: “I love racing, I do not love horses.”

And he squares up to critics, the ‘racing people’ who roll their eyees at hearing his latest antics: “To get a life [after racing] I had to take a long hard look at myself. Racing people should do the same.”

• Method in my Madness: 10 years out of the saddle by Richard Dunwoody
• Published by Thomas Brightman (ISBN: 9780956306500)