It took Nick Gifford only a few days to negotiate the first obstacle of his career when he took over the training licence at Downs Stables in Findon four months ago - training a winner.

Pounsley Mill was Gifford's second runner and, when he won at Fontwell early in May, he cut short what can be an agonising pause before the winner's enclosure is legitimately occupied.

But Gifford is not surprised he has drawn a blank since as he steps up preparations for his first National Hunt season in charge.

Gifford said: "It was satisfying to get that first winner under my belt but I knew there would be very few runners until the autumn."

Nick's father Josh, who handed over the licence after 30 years as a trainer, never approved of 'summer jumping', the extension of the National Hunt season through June and July.

His son does not subscribe to the view, although he knows only a few horses would be suited to either firm or hard going during the summer.

He said: "For economic reasons, I will run horses throughout the year provided the conditions suit the individual."

Since his first winner , he has had less than a dozen runners, and two of those were 400 miles away at Kelso on the Scottish borders.

Gifford said: "We might not have had another winner but Skycab picked up some useful place money finishing third to one of Paul Nicholls' best horses, to whom he was conceding weight."

There have been no runners from the stable since early June but now the Downs Stables team is getting down to work.

Gifford said: "Six horses are doing two canters most mornings up the all-weather gallop and another 12 are going up once.

"Not one of them has worked yet but there will be several ready to run in a month."

Plans will always be dependent on the going, because no trainer will risk racing on firm ground unless it is a horse's preferred going.

Gifford expects to have 40 in training when all the horses are back in the yard after the summer holidays. It is the number his father had 12 months ago.

He said: "Most of dad's owners have stayed put and there are one or two new ones as well. We have several new horses to join the team of old favourites."

Josh Gifford's long-time cricketing friend, George Bird, has put together a syndicate in a horse named Lord Saffron, described as a "fun horse" by the trainer.

Lord Saffron, bought privately in Ireland, has never run and among his several owners are the couple who run the local Findon newsagents.

Gifford said: "Eventually, he will go chasing, but he will start off in NH Flat Races and then go over hurdles."

Of the established Downs Stables inmates, Skycab and Silver Streak, recovered from a fractured pedal-bone which restricted his racing last season, have the Grand National as long-term objectives.

Promising Kopeck and Telimar Prince will be seen in novice chases when the ground comes right.

Mr. Markham, 11, has Fontwell Park's valuable Sussex National as a target at the year's end.

Gifford: "He has never been better. I may run him over the cross-country course at Cheltenham in November."

Perhaps the most exciting horse in the yard, and in terms of cost, the biggest responsibility, is the six-year-old Joly Bey, bought at Doncaster sales in May for a £250,000.

He was the most expensive horse purchased at auction to race under NH rules.

The new owner, whose name was not revealed at the time, turned out to be world champion amateur jockey and Nick Gifford's cousin, David Dunsdon, who turned 21 in July.

Dunsdon said: "It came as a surprise and you would have to call Joly Bey a very exciting birthday present from my parents.

"The horse was trained in France by one of the top provincial handlers, Guillaume Macaire, and I saw him run at Auteuil where he impressed me enormously."

Dunsdon will limit his competitive riding to the major races and to point-to-points next spring because he is about to start a four-year course at Surrey University, Guildford, in international hospitality management .

The plan for Joly Bey, a non-thoroughbred known in France as A.Q.P.S, is to run in the Gran Premio di Merano Forst in Italy on September 28.

Neither David nor Nick will be drawn on long-term plans for Joly Bey, but there is no doubt a tilt at the Grand National would appeal to the young team responsible for Britain's first £250,000 gelding.

Gifford said: "The horse is a superb athlete and a very good jumper. Not only that, he is very straightforward in that he enjoys his work, loves his grub and is temperamentally very laid-back."

Joly Bey is clearly a horse to follow this season.