Richard Dunwoody's Blog by Richard_Dunwoody

As you will probably know, it is Grand National week. On Friday, I went down to Paul Nicholls’ yard in Ditcheat, Somerset, to film a BBC feature on the champion trainer’s preparations for the most famous race in the world. Paul hasn’t had a lot of luck in the National. Forty-two runners over 20 years have yielded one runner-up, Royal Auclair, in 2005, a third with My Will in 2009 and a catalogue of disappointment. On Saturday, he’ll be hoping that one of his four darts – What A Friend, Niche Market, The Tother One or Ornais – will finally hit the target at Aintree. What A Friend – owned in partnership by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and Ged Mason – is the shortest of his quartet in the betting following his excellent fourth to Long Run in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and would have a good chance if the ground continues to dry.

But I was lucky enough to put Niche Market through his paces. With me and the saddle, Niche Market was forced to carry around 13st (probably more) up the steepest gallop in Britain – a 77-metre rise in less than half a mile. The 10-year-old, who was an excellent fifth in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury in November, was made to work very hard to get to the top – particularly over the very stiff middle two-furlongs – before we reached the last furlong, which is a more gentle climb. As soon as he reached that, he was back on the bridle again. The gallop, which is made of wax-sand, is also notable for the fact that at the top of it there is no gate. It must be the only one in the country that has an ending that goes straight out onto a public road. Niche Market is a very clever horse and a bit of a mickey-taker. His ears were going all the time and he loves to know what’s going on around him. But he is also a very classy horse, as underlined by his victory in the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse in 2009. If the ground is not too quick and he takes to the fences and the occasion, I think he and jockey Harry Skelton are going to have a good chance of making the frame.

To highlight how Paul gets his horses fit, BBC viewers can see me put through my paces up that gallop by 2006 Commonwealth decathlon champion Dean Macey. Dean is a very nice guy, one of Britain’s best-loved athletes. After a fantastic career which included narrowly missing out on a medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, he retired in 2008. Like me, he’s never one to shirk a challenge and his first venture after retirement was to take up bobsleighing. Along with former Olympic sprinter Jason Gardner, they attempted to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics. As well as a short career as a bobsleigh athlete, Dean has added a few more strings to his bow. Add entrepreneur, fitness coach, amateur chef, angler and commentator to his increasingly-expanding repertoire. He took part in the BBC’s Masterchef programme, went to Vancouver for the Winter Olympics as a commentator for Eurosport (on the bobsleigh, naturally) and finds time to run master-classes for PE teachers. A keen fisher, he has presented his own programmes on the Discovery Channel and has his own range of angling equipment. Dean keeps himself very fit. He’s also a fantastic athletic conditioning coach – any athlete looking to get an edge should look him up as soon as possible.

He expects the best and knows how to motivate you – as I found out running up Paul’s gallop! The first time we attempted it, the car with the film crew in front of us stalled and we had to have a break. Then after a few more short takes, we’d still not run up the whole gallop properly. Dean and I couldn't have that, so I was sent back to the bottom again and we ran to the top, though ‘ran’ is probably not the right word. It took me 5 mins and 2 seconds to cover the half-mile! He pushed me all the way and to say that it was an intense workout is a bit of an understatement. It’s no wonder Paul always has his horses incredibly fit. You can see the piece during the BBC’s coverage of Aintree, which starts on Thursday.

I was fortunate enough to catch some of London Irish’s 25-12 victory over Wasps on Sunday. While it may not have been the best of games, it was a good result, one that keeps their Aviva Premiership play-off hopes alive. Wing Tom Homer accounted for 20 points as Wasps were made to pay for their ill-discipline. They are not the side they were three or four years ago and continue their slide down the table. That result was much better than the one at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. Arsenal seem intent on handing the title to Manchester United, as their failure to beat Blackburn shows. I’m clinging to the hope that the Gunners will still claim some silverware, but I have to say it is looking increasingly unlikely with each passing week.