Easterby looking for Hoof It to follow in the footsteps of legend Lochnager

There is a brief silence until Dilys Sigsworth, the trainer’s head lass, who looks after the strapping horse, interjects and says: “He’s a bit like you Mick – he’s very, very impatient.”

“Aye, he’s that all right,” says Easterby, who recently turned 80. “I never work him at full speed on the gallops. He gets too wound up. Save him for the racecourse.”

That racecourse is York, a long canter from Easterby’s Sheriff Hutton stables and which hosts four days of unmissable Flat action this week – including the first Saturday running of the Betfred Ebor, Europe’s richest Flat handicap and, arguably, the most famous.

Hoof It’s target is Friday’s Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes – a Grade One sprint which the handler last won 35 years ago with the brilliant Lochnager.

By his own admission, he never thought that he would train another horse comparable to the 600 guineas bargain that won Royal Ascot’s King’s Stand Stakes and Newmarket’s July Cup before prevailing at York in 1976.

But Easterby says that he always has been “a dealer at heart” and this 14,000 guineas buy from Doncaster Sales is testament to his lifelong knack of spotting a good horse.

“He was an outstanding individual. That’s why we got him. It’s no good spending fortunes on Classic-bred racehorses if their confirmation is poor,” explained the trainer. “He was a bit on the big side but he’s really come into himself. He’s only four – he’ll be even better next year.

“I still own half of him, you know. Lee and Chubby have the other shares. I got to know them through Lord Daresbury, whose family are great supporters here. Lee’s a wonderful person. Quite agreeable. Leaves you to get on with the job. He’s offered to give me some golf lessons, Lee Westwood has. I might take him up on it – I’d be quite good.”

This is Easterby, who joined the training ranks 60 years ago, warming to his theme – trenchant opinions about a horse’s scope interrupted by quips about people involved in racing.

It is why he is so popular; his humour combined with his youthful vigour as he prepares for not just the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival, but the social ‘craic’ after racing.

“It’s not just the racing. I love York,” says Easterby. “The Mount Royal Hotel. Have a jolly. Have a sing-song. Put this in. Joe Moore, an owner, has just opened The Loop Bar & Grill by the Barbican Centre. Whether Hoof It wins or loses, anyone having a meal there this week can have a drink on me. I’m serious – racing is good for the city.

“Mind, they’re all talking about Hoof It. We’ll see. Is he as good as Lochnager? Lochnager was unbeatable. So laid-back. Ask me after the Nunthorpe.”

One look at the formbook explains why Hoof It, this imposing bay gelding, is favourite for the Nunthorpe, one of Europe’s top sprints, ahead of Kevin Ryan’s galloping grey Bapak Chinta.

A two-time York winner this season, this slowly-maturing horse – fourth on his racecourse debut at Southwell in June 2009 – outshone a 28-runner field, and also defied top weight of 10 stone, to win the Stewards’ Cup at Glorious Goodwood from an unfavourable draw.

Easterby attributes this to the tactical brilliance of jockey Kieren Fallon: “He’s brilliant. He’s gifted. He rides as the race is ridden. If you have to give a jockey instructions, it’s a waste of time putting them up. They should do their homework before the start.

“Edward Hide rode for me for 25 years. He was a genius on Lochnager and Mrs McCardy (winner of the 19777 1000 Guineas). Fallon’s like him.”

Yet Easterby’s explanation of jockeyship, en route in his car to Hoof It’s stable, deflects attention away from his own input – and that of his son David, his assistant trainer.

Hoof It is standing still in a converted straw-lined barn that is 11 yards long and six yards wide. Why? “He gets claustophobic,” says Easterby.

He is already jig-jogging as Paddy Aspell, a Flat and National Hunt jockey, prepares to get the leg-up for the very first time on the bay gelding, who has already amassed £161,231 in career earnings.

Easterby explains that they have had to work overtime to help the horse overcome his aversion to starting stalls, but he is a different animal when stablemate Blue Spinnaker emerges. He is almost calm. “He’s like a very highly-strung human – you have to be so careful.”

It also explains, says the trainer, Hoof It’s fondness of York – it’s not too far from the horse’s home comforts that are clear to see.

On a clear day, York Minster can be seen on the horizon.

Today, the rain clouds limit the view to the aesthetically-pleasing Sheriff Hutton Castle in the heart of Ryedale as Hoof It powers past Easterby at half-speed.

“I never gallop him. I just keep him happy. I never work him at racing speed – it winds him up too much.”

As he returns to the stable, Eastbery asks Aspell: “Express, isn’t he Paddy?”

“Yes, he is,” says the jockey who rode in the Grand National for the first time in April. “Pure power. Never ridden anything like him. If he gets a trip over hurdles, I’ll go to Catterick to ride him.”

Easterby pretends not to hear. Group One races, rather than minor hurdle contests, will – hopefully – be the horse’s future.

“I like Paddy. Good hands. I didn’t realise how good he was. I hope he switches from the jumps to the Flat. And don’t forget James Sullivan – best apprentice in the country.”

As Hoof It is washed down, the aforementioned Sigsworth is unhappy at the horse’s inability to stand still.

“You’re arrogant. You lose your temper every single minute of the day if you could,” she tells the horse (not the trainer).

But the pride etched across Easterby’s face is clear to see as he contemplates another winning day in the limelight. Hoof It is on top form.

“I’ve always liked the training. At heart I’m a dealer. My family have always been horse dealers. The thing is to pick one up for next to nothing,” he adds. “I’m 80 and I want my son to take over, but he wants to make sure I’m worn out first.

“Perhaps I’ll die on a racehorse and people will say I went on for too long.

“I rode plenty of winners over point-to-point, and then two over hurdles. The second one was Ohmslaw at Sedgefield.

“We were coming home. My father William was sat in the back – and my brother Peter was driving.

“The crowd were waving. I thought they were waving at me. They were waving at my father. We stopped at every pub on the way back and my father took me to one side and said ‘You’ll still be claiming 7lbs when you’re 70’.

“He would have been right. The hardest thing, when you’re young, is taking the weight off. It destroys you.

“Perhaps I’d better take Lee up on his offer of free golf lessons. What do you think?”

But not before winning the Nunthorpe Stakes.