Richard Dunwoody's Blog by Richard_Dunwoody

Most of us know that when it comes to Saturday evening TV entertainment, that Ant and Dec turn viewing figures into a one-horse race. Anthony ‘Ant’ McPartlin and Declan ‘Dec’ Donnelly are used to horsing around when presenting hit shows like I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! and Britain’s Got Talent. And Britain’s favourite duo, recently voted the top Entertainment Presenters at the National Television Awards for a tenth successive year, were at Kempton on Wednesday night to film the second show in their new ITV series Push The Button. So was I. Admittedly, I don’t get on a racecourse that much these days, but I confess that I had one of the most enjoyable days’ racing I’ve had in a long time. Myself and Peter Scudamore spent the day mentoring two lads who had never sat on a horse before, in preparation for a three-furlong race later that evening. They learned an awful lot through the day, and I don’t think I’ve felt such responsibility for a long time.

I have to say that DJ Straun (Scu’s trainee) and my guy, Morris Simpson, did brilliantly. I was nervous for Morris, but he did everything that was asked of him. The horses they were riding were more ‘Wonky Donkey’ than Pegasus, but you can see how the lads did on ITV this Saturday night (7.45pm). Ant and Dec seemed to have a great time and they also revealed that they are going into horse ownership, which you can read all about in my Daily Mirror column on Saturday. Top-flight jockey Eddie Ahern also stayed behind after racing to watch proceedings with us. It was great to catch up with him, and afterwards we went for a beer across the road in the local pub, as I was keen to catch the end of the Arsenal v Barcelona clash. We arrived just in time to see Andrey Arshavin tuck away the second goal in the Gunners’ famous 2-1 triumph over the Catalan club in the UEFA Champions League last 16. What a result! I don’t think we should get too carried away though. Arsenal suffered a 6-3 aggregate reverse against Barcelona in the quarter-finals last season. We can dare to dream a little, however.

It was also good to catch up with Liz Ampairee, my agent, who has been selected to take part in the St Patrick’s Day Derby on March 17 at the Cheltenham Festival, a charity race in aid of Cancer Research. Liz will be watched by 50,000 people (not to mention a lot more watching on TV) – and she is getting herself pretty fit, thanks in part to using my old Equicizer, a wooden riding simulator, which is probably one of the first ever made. He was called ‘Biggy’ by my nephew George who ‘rode’ him a lot when he was very young. Biggy has also been partnered by Hywel Davies, Stan Mellor, AP McCoy, Adrian Maguire and a fair few other jockeys over the years. Using an Equicizer is a great way of keeping fit, as Liz explains in her RacingPost.com blog. She now knows who her ride will be on the big day, but has a big task on her hands before she even faces the likes of Grand National-winning trainer Gordon Elliott and Channel 4 Racing presenter Alice Plunkett on the track. It is not just the weight (that she will have to put on), stamina and strength that will be an issue for Liz. There is the small matter of having to galvanize everyone to digging deep and helping raise a minimum of £5K for Cancer Research. You can help her by logging on to www.justgiving.com/liz-ampairee I know she would greatly appreciate it.

Next week, I am leaving for Afghanistan to catch up with a few friends in Kabul and recce a few more places for the adventure travel company that I work with, Wild Frontiers. As I have mentioned in the blog before, I am leading a four-week trek in the Wakhan Corridor in July and the company has also put together an amazing trip to the country in the autumn visiting Herat, Bamiyan and Mazar. For more details visit www.wildfrontiers.co.uk I am travelling with Charlie Barton, an artist, and a very good one at that, see www.charliebarton.com It is Charlie’s first visit to the city and she is hoping to transfer on to canvas some of the incredible sights around Kabul. I am looking forward to her interpretations of what, for me, is one of the most captivating and absorbing capital cities in the world.