IF you see a horse of George Moore’s win first time out, you should take note. It’s likely his charge will be very able indeed.

“We have always been of the mind that horses want to improve when they run,” says the Middleham handler about the way he goes about training winners.

“So, if they win first time out, it’s an exception rather than the rule. You have winners first time, of course, but it is nice to think they are going to improve.

“If they do win first time, then you think they are going to get a lot better.”

It’s a policy that clearly works. In a training career which began late in 1984, Moore – widely acknowledged as one of the friendliest men in racing – is getting towards nearly 900 successes.

He continues to find the target. The last jumps season brought 14 victories, while he has four on the Flat already – thanks to the likes of Capable Guest, Petella and Lady Chaparral.

Not bad for a string that numbers 35 at its height.

From Warwick Lodge Stables, just off the main thoroughfare in the historic town, he has gathered a reputation for getting the best out of his yard. He may not have the most horses in the racing town, but his team earn their corn.

“We have been lucky,” added Moore.

“We don’t think about it (the number of winners), we just train what we get. Five or six years ago, we’d only have half a dozen for the Flat. Now we’ll have about 20.

“The last three or four years we’ve started to move more to the Flat. People have sent us Flat horses so that’s what we have had. I think we had seven or eight two-year-olds last year and we broke in 11 this time.

“We’ll have seven or eight two-year-olds to run on the Flat and, hopefully, one or two will be pretty quick enough.

“Jumping is a long-term game and people are keener to have runners quicker. When you buy a jumper, it can take a couple of years before you see the results.

“We’ve got about 35 in. Six or seven of those jumpers are let down already and will have the summer off. I don’t do too much then unless the horses say they want a bit better ground.

“Horses have had a hard campaign over the winter and, if they want soft ground, they want to be resting. They don’t need to be kept in.

“It does make the job easier if you can just keep going, though. We used to shut down nearly in the summer – with just having jumpers – but now it is year-round, all the time.

“That’s great for us. It’s nice to have a good Flat horse and we have been lucky on the Flat.

“We have had a couple of Northumberland Plate victories and, at one point, we also finished third in it three years running.

“In that race, over two miles, you are training them almost exactly the same way as you are training jumpers.”

That way is keeping horses running to form, and mining the talents of your staff – two qualities Moore is quick to acknowledge.

He explains: “What you try to do is get your horse to be at its best level of form and try to keep it there as long as you can.

“You don’t over-gallop them, you don’t overwork them.

“No trainer is any good without great staff.

“My head lad has been with me for 18 years. He came straight from school. My ex-head lad has been with me for 25 years and Tim Hogg learned from him.

“He can do anything and everything. He knows exactly how we do it and what we do.

“He would be able to do my job – almost as good as me – and that’s what you need.

“I still love the job. When things go wrong, that’s when you think ‘why do I bother?’ But when you have winners and things are running well, it’s great.”