If Tom George graduates to the jumping elite this winter, he will think back three years, to a chance conversation with a fellow trainer. But for the stark advice of Peter Bowen, George's picturesque South Cotswold yard might not now be on the brink of a serious breakthrough, an impression that will crystallise if Tartak wins the Old Roan Chase tomorrow.

It takes a brave trainer to shed horses, risking owners and income. That, however, was the path George selected when his fortunes seemed in decline. “We had 50 winners one season and I thought that was a big achievement,” George recalled. “But all it brought was badly handicapped horses and a few people wanting to jump on the bandwagon. The next few years were a struggle.

“I had a long chat with Peter Bowen at a racecourse one day and he told me what I should do. He knew from his own experience that there is no future in moderate horses, so I started moving them on.

“It was an enormous gamble and some of our old owners didn't agree with the philosophy, so we lost them. For a time, I went down to 20 horses but we got rid of all the things we weren't happy with and started rebuilding on the basis of quality.”

George, 42, has been training 16 years at his family home in Slad but believes that the present crop is his best yet. “We still only have 60 boxes but I'm not filling them with poor horses. We've a lot of young horses coming through this year and the hope is that Tartak and Nacarat are good enough to go to the top.”

Both were bought from France, which has replaced the less conventional Poland as George's source of choice. Nacarat, who left a profound impression when winning the Racing Post Chase, misses Aintree in favour of the Haldon Gold Cup next month but Tartak will return to the scene of his emphatic grade two win at the Grand National meeting.

Prior to that, Tartak had been badly hampered in the Arkle Chase at Cheltenham but George found a silver lining. “Everything went wrong but it meant he had an easy race and that helped at Aintree. He's improved enormously since, both physically and mentally - he used to be a very excitable type.

“I may be shooting at stars but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he progressed enough to join Nacarat in the King George on Boxing Day. I know it's a shot in the dark but the trip should be fine and I have a lot of faith in him.”

George plans two runs for Nacarat before his Christmas target. “I want to get a race into him at Exeter, just to blow the cobwebs away, and he'll then go for the Betfair Chase at Haydock.

“He used to be a horse that needed to go right-handed but he doesn't show that in his work any more. Maybe he hasn't got so many aches and pains these days. The old Haydock would not have suited him, either, but it's a tight track now and should be fine.”

George will include Zanir and Kilbeggan Blade in his Aintree party tomorrow and all will be ridden by his new stable jockey, Sam Thomas. “I didn't want to retain a jockey until I felt the yard merited a grade one rider,” he said significantly.

The Old Roan, switched from Sunday after the loss of BBC coverage, is again the opening race in jumping's Order of Merit. Among the field will be Tidal Bay, seeking to put a disappointing season behind him, and Knowhere, who won the race last year.

Knowhere is trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, whose string has soared to 120 after his returning assistant, Carl Llewellyn, brought two dozen horses with him from Lambourn. Among them is Roll Along, for whom there are grand plans. “He's in at Down Royal in a fortnight but if Denman goes for the Hennessy we'll get in with a light weight and I'm inclined to wait for that,” Twiston-Davies said yesterday.