Harry Dunlop, 26-year-old younger son of Arundel trainer John Dunlop and his wife Sue, is to join Castle Stables as assistant trainer at the end of the year.

Harry has spent the last three seasons as assistant to Henry Cecil at Newmarket and prior to that was in Lambourn with leading jumping trainer Nicky Henderson.

He said: "I think the time has come to go home and help my father in Sussex.

"One day I hope to train in my own right, but dad is certainly not handing over the reins at the moment or in the foreseeable future.

"Having spent five years with two trainers at the head of their respective leagues, I realise I have more to learn from dad and his team.

"I shall miss Newmarket and my friends there but I must see what the future holds for me in Sussex."

Harry rode out regularly at Castle Stables in his teens but was not involved in the administration and planning for a 170 horse-business. He rode as an amateur with success in point-to-points and under National Hunt rules and is grateful to Henderson for allowing him time off to take rides in races.

He said: "I knew little about jump racing because my background was in a flat yard.

"I learned an awful lot from Nicky in my time in Lambourn.

"But jumping is a different ball game from flat racing and one day I would certainly like to train some hurdlers and chasers, although flat racing would always be a priority."

When asked what is the most significant lesson he has learned from Henry Cecil, he said: "The art of patience. That is Henry's strong point.

"A young horse can be ruined for life for being pushed beyond itself. Horses tell you when they are ready to move on to the next stage and that is where Henry's intuition comes into play."

Harry cites the 1999 Oaks winner, Ramruna, as the perfect example.

"She had only the one race as a two-year-old and then came out to win the Oaks with only two prep races. It was a great piece of training."

At Arundel, Harry will accustom himself to a different routine.

Dunlop senior's horses rarely do any work on grass, using a four-and-a-half furlong woodchip canter and a seven-furlong uphill polytrack as at Lingfield Park, for serious work.

Harry said: "Henry prefers turf for working his horses. He does use the all-weather tracks at Newmarket but on the whole the serious training is eight or ten furlongs on grass.

"It just goes to show that there are as many ways of winning a race as there are trainers."

Although John Dunlop was one of the pioneers of travelling horses all over Europe and has been successful in most countries west of and including Turkey, Harry notes the competition on the Continent has strengthened.

He said: "It has been particuarly noticeable in Germany and Italy.

"It used to be easy to win a Group One race over there with a Group Three horse, but not any more. Travelling abroad is expensive, so you need to be pretty certain of picking up some prize money."

Following John Dunlop's critical surgery last winter, the trainer has been pacing himself. In fact, he looks and is in very good health, but he and his wife are on their second brief holiday in Spain since the season began.

They have left the operation in the charge of Robert Alcock, the consummate horseman who kept the show on the road last winter.

It was fortuitous that an opportunity as private trainer at a North London stable did not work out well and that Dunlop had told Robert: "If it doesn't prove successful, the job is still here for you at Arundel."

Harry Dunlop is conscious of the part played by Alcock while his father was in hospital.

"I can't imagine what would have happened if Robert hadn't been there.

"I really hope he will stay on when I join the team in the winter, because he has been a vital part of the operation and I know I can learn a lot from him as well."

Harry will take a couple of weeks holiday in South Africa before he moves into a bungalow at Castle Stables in December.

He said: "I'm looking forward to a proper holiday. No racing, no horses. Just a fortnight's real break before I begin work at Arundel."

Harry describes himself as the last of the family and it is a poignant fact that it has taken two tragedies to bring him home to Sussex.

In 1986, his oldest brother Tim was fatally injured in a road accident in France. Edward, second of the three boys, was assistant trainer in Newmarket to Alex Scott when the latter was murdered in 1994.

But Edward has been so successful in running the Gainsborough Stables that it would be surprisng for him to move now.

Harry is in the same tradition as his brothers and, although success is likely to be some time ahead, his name is one to remember.