Egerton's grand designs

Both Papillon - courtesy of a last-minute reprieve on travel restrictions by the Irish government - and Mely Moss return this Saturday to the scene of their epic duel. Both are striving to emulate the greatest Aintree hero of them all. Papillon aims to become the first horse since Red Rum in 1974 to win successive Nationals. Mely Moss seeks to become the first since Red Rum in 1977 to trade second one year for first the next.

Williamson is again downplaying his chances - just as he did last year. Once again, Egerton is just intent on getting the job done.

"Each horse and its target is an individual case," Egerton said. "Training is about making the right percentage decision.

"This horse had an operation to improve his breathing over the summer. As horses get older they get more susceptible to trouble in this area and it can come on almost overnight. Right at the beginning of this season, his wind was sounding a bit rough so we took the plunge. Had I waited, it may have deteriorated further, leaving him needing the operation in January and all hopes of the National thrown out the window.

"But then he is a horse who's also got an obstinate leg problem, who was ill last season and tends to break blood vessels. All of that makes training him a very specialised job."

Egerton doesn't believe medication solves a bleeding problem - he prefers to adapt his training method around it. "You keep stress levels to a minimum, dropping speed work out of his preparation as much as possible. If he's stressed, he runs the risk of bleeding and then catching all sorts of other infections. Touch wood, he's very well right now."

The master of Heads Farm Stables has forged a reputation for producing his horses fighting fit after long lay-offs. But then he had plenty of opportunities to hone that skill last season when most of his team was struck down with a stubborn virus. It's to his immense credit that horses such as staying hurdler Teaatral and novice chaser Decoupage - sadly put down due to terminal illness last August - kept his yard in the news.

This term, a combination of wet weather and foot-and-mouth disease has put paid to all possibility of giving Mely Moss a prep race, but no sleep has been lost.

"I know the risks of running a horse in a big race after a long lay-off. The biggest one is other people's opinion," he said.

"They read things into a race that aren't necessarily there - that if such a horse finishes third, he'd have got a lot closer if he'd had a run.

"My assistant Penny Taylor, Norman and I are relaxed about Mely Moss making his seasonal debut in the National again. You can do it with some horses."

Whether the same will prove true of Egerton himself, when he runs in the London Marathon on 22 April in aid of the Countryside Alliance, is another matter.

The 37-year-old handler has shed three stone running and walking his way around Lambourn's lanes each day since he made his bold New Year's resolution when weighing 14st 10lb.

"I'm ashamed of the state I let myself slip into. I haven't given myself much time to get fit," he admitted.

Unlike Mely Moss.