Nick Luck: 'I said then I could die a happy man. And weeks later I nearly did'

Nick Luck is at home. In a normal year he might not have been. Had last year turned out differently, he might not be anywhere.

If awards are a reliable guide, Luck is the pre-eminent racing broadcaster of his generation. Right now, he is a man holding an infant miniature schnauzer. On seven occasions Luck has been named number one at the Horserace Writers and Photographers Awards. For the last five days he and wife Laura have been mopping up both number ones and number twos.

The guilty party is a small but exquisitely bred hound called Mack. His real name, Buffingham Sea Breeze, is unlikely to be shouted when he goes for walkies in the handsome streets of Teddington, the south-west London suburb that is also home to the Lucks' three daughters, ten-year-old Clemmie, Hebe, aged eight, and Xanthe, who at two years old had been the newest addition to the household until the puppy came along.