IT is the small things that Patrick Holmes appreciates in Middleham. A nod of the head, a simple ‘good morning’ and a rural community that remains steeped in racing.

Malton used to be that way, remembers Holmes, who is settling into the Little Spigot yard in Leyburn after moving his Foulrice Park Racing business from former trainer Peter Beaumont’s stables in Brandsby.

As head lad to Jimmy FitzGerald in his halcyon days in the 1980s – when the likes of Forgive ‘n Forget brought the small Norton Grange holding a Cheltenham Gold Cup and the town to a joyful standstill – Holmes loved the buzz of the Ryedale racing community.

They were amazing days. But Holmes reckons they are now gone.

“I was a long time in Malton,” he explains. “Middleham is nice. It is what Malton probably was 30 years ago. That would be the best way to describe it.

“It still has a big rural farming feel round here, which is nice, whereas Malton has lost that market town feel. It is just a big town now. It doesn’t have that buzz for me – that personal buzz – and that’s what drove the town. I don’t think it has that any more.

“Middleham has a nice warm feeling for me. Everyone has been friendly since we moved here and it is nice when you go out on the gallops and everyone says ‘good morning’.

“People don’t seem to be in quite the same rush.”

Not that any concerns over the current climate of racing in Malton and Norton clouds Holmes’ memories and, although he moved on to Hazlewood to be assistant to Tom Tate before taking on the same role with Beaumont, he learned a lot from the famously savvy handler FitzGerald.

“It was a fantastic time with fantastic horses – both on Flat and jumps. People forget what good Flat horses and stayers he had as well,” he remembers.

“There were Sun Alliance, Arkle, Coral and hurdle winners. Jimmy was the last of a breed – self-made, hard working, industrious, crafty. He was a very successful man and very determined.

“I learned a lot from him. The one thing I enjoyed most of all with him was that he had passion. Even a little race round Sedgefield – he planned it for three weeks. He was going to win at Sedgefield at 3pm on a wet Monday.

“That’s all he did. The times he pulled it off you could see what a thrill it gave him.”

Passion is what Holmes hopes he brings to his new yard, revamped over the winter and formerly a second yard to both Karl Burke and Chris Thornton.

It isn’t hard to spot the Foulrice team. Like their colleagues at Mark Johnston’s Kingsley House yard in the town centre, Holmes’ employees have distinctive jackets emblazoned with the business logo.

Sandwiched between the gallops on High and Low Moor, he is in a perfect position and the 18 thoroughbred inhabitants have been getting used to their new surroundings for about five weeks since the builders left.

Holmes said: “It’s fantastic, a lovely facility. It took considerable time to do it up, considering the weather conditions, the builders braved the elements all winter and eventually managed to get it done.

“But it doesn’t just look good. It’s a facility with a very practical side to it as well.

“This is where sport is in general now. Everyone has their own logo, their own identity, and it is whether that catches on and interests other people.

“The business began at Foulrice Farm with Peter Beaumont. We set off three years ago, just a small concern with Ailsa and Colin Stirling with one or two horses, and we built it up from there.

“It was a quiet project which grew, and everyone felt more comfortable with it, and this was the next stage. We got to the crossroads where we thought ‘do we invest in it, stay as it is or fold it up and leave it at that?’ We have taken that next step to try to make a proper go of it.

“I have worked in racing all my life so I have got the desire to do it. It’s my life. From Colin and Ailsa’s point of view it’s an interest they have always had and they would like to develop that further.

“I have 18 in, with room for more, and if it is really successful there is more space.

“We set off with the Flat in the back of our minds but we have got more Flat horses than jumpers now.

“That’s just how it has turned out.”

New businesses set big targets, have growth plans and development structures to move them on from level to level. As you would expect from a man who has spent his life in the sport, Holmes is wary of tying himself to figures.

For him, the “buzz” is to work with good horses and try to be successful.

“It is just for them all to run well and to perform consistently. Within that, I would hope there are a few winners,” Holmes said when asked of his targets for 2013.

“I am hoping the horses we have, most of them have won for us, can win again and carry it on to the next step. This has been the natural thing to go on to.”