Richard Dunwoody: 'I never stood up to Martin Pipe - I should have done'

Richard Dunwoody has said he resented riding for Martin Pipe and regrets not standing up to the trainer during their time together.

Dunwoody, a three-time champion jockey, was speaking to the Racing Post for a special 'Inside the mind' interview in Sunday's newspaper in which he opens up about the mental torture that accompanied him throughout his storied career.

Yet although both Dunwoody and Pipe were ruthlessly devoted to winning, it soon became apparent that the pair were not a match made in heaven when Dunwoody left his role with David 'The Duke' Nicholson after winning the first of his three champion jockey titles.

He said: "The Duke was absolutely fantastic with me and we had a great relationship. It was a team. When I joined Martin I never felt I was part of a team. In the end, I resented it. I also never stood up to Martin, which I should have done.

"One incident in particular stands out. I wanted to investigate blood analysis as a way of monitoring my health, particularly given all the wasting I was doing, but I didn't have time to go to hospitals or clinics. I thought I might be able to get my blood checked at Martin's laboratory every couple of months when down there, so one morning I had a word about it with the girls in there.

"Martin immediately called me into the office and said if I went in there again I would be out of the yard. That wasn't a great start. I immediately knew where I stood."

However, for all his issues with Pipe, Dunwoody added that he doesn't regret taking the job.

"I can't complain," he said. "Pipey was brilliant to me in the final few weeks of the title fight with Adrian [Maguire] and supported me fantastically well. I got two championships and a Grand National winner while I was working there. In some respects it drove me crazy but I don't regret taking the job."

Read more from Richard Dunwoody in The Big Read, available online for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday or in Sunday's Racing Post newspaper. Click here to sign up.

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The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday