 Dunwoody will partner professional dancer Lilia Kopylova |
Richard Dunwoody, horse racing's first 'runner' in the Strictly Come Dancing Stakes, is an intriguing contender, never to be under-estimated. Those bookies offering odds as long as 25-1 (on publication of the line-up) that the three-time champion jump jockey will win BBC One's Saturday night ratings winner could be pirouetting on thin ice. The 45-year-old, forced out of the saddle by a shoulder injury 10 years ago having won 1699 races (then a record), is amongst the most dogged and single-minded racing figures - let alone the most successful - ever. Indeed, an autobiography, published after a halt was called on his glittering career - featuring Grand National and Cheltenham Gold Cup wins and victories on Desert Orchid - received the title 'Obsessed'. Not being first-past-the-post simply wouldn't do for the Ulster-born jockey, whose long-running duel for the 1993/4 championship with Adrian Maguire left him the title winner, but emotionally drained and obliged to seek advice from a psychologist. And since hanging up his boots and whip, Dunwoody has re-invented himself as an adventurer, trekking for seven weeks in 2008 to reach the South Pole.  | 606: DEBATE |
This year, he went without any serious sleep for over a month, walking the same mile in Newmarket 1000 times in 1000 consecutive hours. Through both ventures, he raised many thousands of pounds for charity. Here is a contender who could not begin to contemplate being thrown out before the final, and who quite likely left the programme launch for a quick practice. Amongst the usual assortment of soap actors and TV personalities, sport is strongly represented in the latest run of the Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly-presented show, starting on 18 September. The former jockey is joined by unbeaten champion boxer Joe Calzaghe, cricket's Phil Tufnell, tennis star Martina Hingis and long jumper Jade Johnson. Professional dancer Lilia Kopylova, who famously survived the judges' brickbats to win the third series of 'Strictly' with cricketer Darren Gough, will be Dunwoody's invaluable partner. Bizarrely, in my opinion, Calzaghe's and Tufnell's odds are miles shorter than those attached to Dunwoody. But to my mind, his almost frightening determination, his retained fitness and his renowned nimbleness means that this is yet another big race in which Dunwoody won't be far away as the finishing line looms. What's more, he will be giving the racing industry - at the moment a touch beleaguered compared to its rivals - a priceless prime-time boost. Follow Cornelius Lysaght at twitter.com/5liveracing.
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