HEAD down, Ryan Moore prefers to allow his riding to do the talking – as was the case last month with the balance, coolness and tactical acumen he showed when galvanising leading Epsom Derby fancy Tartan Bearer to victory at York.

The quietly-spoken Moore does not use adjectives to describe his rides.

When asked if he can win his sport's showcase race today, he replies after careful consideration: "Dunno."

Pressed again, Moore is more expansive... just. "Hope so," he mutters before dashing off.

This economy with words is only matched by the imperious Lester Piggott, that most legendary of monosyllabics, who allowed his record-breaking nine Derby triumphs to stand testament to his greatness. Yet punters should not be deterred by this characteristic shyness when 24-year-old Moore mounts the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Tartan Bearer today.

For not only is Moore the most gifted jockey of his generation, an individual whose pre-race planning leaves nothing to chance, but history will also be on the side of this quietest of champions.

Three of the last four winners of the Derby won the totesport Dante Stakes on York's famous Knavesmire before earning their place on Epsom's roll of honour – North Light, Motivator and the Frankie Dettori-inspired Authorized 12 months ago.

Furthermore, 2004 victor North Light was owned by Ballymacoll Stud and trained by Sir Michael Stoute – the very same combination behind Tartan Bearer. In a wide open race today, there is no reason why Tartan Bearer should not join flat racing's greats, according to Yorkshire racing legend George Duffield.

"The Dante is always a good test of a potential Derby horse," says Duffield who won the 1991 renewal of the York showpiece aboard the James Fanshawe-trained Environment Friend.

"It's one mile, two and a half furlongs – longer than some of the trials – and run on a good galloping track at a true pace. If a horse can stay at York, he will have a definite chance at Epsom. It's why trainers so favour York now ahead of the other trials.

"You don't get bad Dante winners. It is such a good race. When I won on Environment Friend, I was convinced I was going to win the Derby.

"It just didn't happen. He ran abysmally – as Generous and Alan Munro galloped away into the distance at Epsom. The Derby was never to be for me, such is life. And then Environment Friend goes and beats the older horses in the Eclipse a couple of weeks later; trust me to be on the one Dante horse that flopped at Epsom."

Yet 61-year-old Duffield, who was born in Stanley, West Yorkshire, and only retired from racing in 2005 when he failed to recover from a serious shoulder injury, is convinced that such misfortune will not befall Moore.

The Derby is a fast-run race where tactics are paramount – the crucial start, a steep uphill climb, the sharp descent around Tattenham Corner and the long straight on ground where the camber gravitates away from the grandstands. Balance is key.

Moore's great hero is the aforementioned Piggott – the first man to complete the Dante/Derby double in 1960 – and a tactician who always believed that horses had to be handily placed by Tattenham Corner if they were to have any chance of winning at Epsom. Then, the race would begin in earnest.

Piggott was also the master at winning the classic in the final strides – his late bursts on Sir Ivor (1968) and The Minstrel (1977) were the rides of a genius who timed his challenge to near perfection.

Yet, when it comes to plotting tactics, Moore's acumen is on a par with the astuteness that led to Piggott being rightly regarded as "the housewives' favourite". He is just as comfortable leading from the front as he is holding a horse up for a late charge.

Take last year's Eclipse Stakes that was run on rain-sodden ground at Sandown. Having walked the course beforehand (unlike his rivals), Moore took the longer route up the stand side and set a searching gallop. His tactics paid off. Notnowcato held on by a whisker to win.

It was the same at Beverley on Wednesday of last week. The jockey found time to walk the course on Beverley Westwood, assess the conditions before switching Corrybrough wide to win with an impressive piece of acceleration.

This race was worth just £6,500. The Vodafone-sponsored Derby has a total prize fund of £1.25m. But the prize money does not matter to Moore. All he wants to do is ride winners – and such attention to detail is why he has become such a firm favourite with punters.

Champion jockey in 2006 before being struck down with a serious arm injury last year that took months to heal, Moore is already this year's leading rider by a comfortable margin. He only trades in winners.

Such dedication explains why he was nicknamed 'The Sponge' by some when he first entered the weighing room. All he did was sit quietly in the corner, and soak up any nuggets of information that he could glean. Typically, he did not speak.

Yet Moore hails from one of the great racing families. His grandfather Charlie was a second-hand car dealer who built a training establishment by Brighton racecourse.

It is now run by Moore's father Gary, a successful National Hunt jockey who then joined the training ranks. And Moore's brother Jamie is a successful jump jockey in his own right, though a considerably more extrovert character than his sibling. The pair's younger brother Joshua is also an emerging amateur of promise.

Ryan Moore seeks the counsel of his father every day. He values his advice and honesty about his riding, whether it be a seller on a wet Wednesday at Ripon or the Derby. Today will be no different.

In one of his more expansive moods, he once told an interviewer: "I just want to ride my horses, win a few races and go home. That's all I'm interested in." He revealed he was "suicidal" if he went three days without a win. Yet Moore's immense work ethic is engrained into his slight eight-stone frame. His cherubic face belies a mental and physical toughness that few riders can now rival, according to Duffield.

"He's very, very quiet. That's what I remember when I first saw him eight or nine years ago," said Duffield who rode more than 2,500 winners before becoming assistant trainer at his wife Ann's thriving yard at Constable Burton near Leyburn.

"He keeps himself to himself. He doesn't say an awful lot. It's difficult to have a conversation with him because he eats, sleeps and drinks racing. He has a very mature head on very young shoulders. I've never known anyone work so hard.

"Yet he has the confidence to back his ability once he's decided the right tactics. That's the difference between good jockeys – and the true greats.

"He may not have won a Classic yet – but he will be a true great, don't worry about it."

Just don't expect Moore to leap from the saddle Dettori-style, or wear a kilt, if Tartan Bearer does win today and confirm the York form book. To him, the Derby will be just another victory in his personal race towards perfection.