Moore aims to join National legends Arthur Moore is already regarded as one of Irish racing's true greats. He sits there proudly with his father, the late Dan Moore, alongside other successful father and son combinations like Tom and Jim Dreaper and Paddy and Willie Mullins. Moore joined an elite list, which his father is also on, in 1996, when he trained the Irish National winner Feathered Gale having ridden King's Sprite to victory in 1971. None gave him as much pleasure as a day last April, though, when Organisedconfusion, ridden by his niece from another Irish racing dynasty, Nina Carberry, powered to victory on Easter Monday. There is one omission on his record, though. He has never won the biggest race of them all, the John Smith's Grand National. His father managed it with dual Gold Cup winner L'Escargot in 1975 and while he was seen as a party pooper for beating Red Rum at Aintree, the picture of Dan Moore placing his trilby hat between L'Escargot's ears is one of the most vivid of Grand National memories. Victory with Organisedconfusion would mean so much more to Moore because he trains the horse for Alan Dunlop, the second owner to enter his yard when he began training over 30 years ago, and he also bred him in a partnership with a lifelong friend. "It's nice to have bred him, it's always nice to train those you've bred and it's even better when they are half-decent," said Moore. "I had the mare (Histologie) in training, the owners sent her to the sales and although she didn't show a lot I thought she had a nice pedigree and she'd be nice to breed from and would hopefully breed a nice horse some day. "I bought her at the sales with a pal of mine, Tim Murray. "It's also nice that the owners, Mr and Mrs Dunlop, who have been with me since very early on - they were my second owners - won a big race. This is probably the best horse they've had with me. We had a good mare for them who won an Irish Lincoln, but this will be the best." The win in the Irish National shocked a few who doubted his stamina having never previously raced over two-mile-five-furlongs under Rules, but Moore was never really worried, and sees the four and a half miles at Liverpool as no barrier, either. "On pedigree there is every reason he should stay as Laveron (sire) won a French Champion Hurdle over three miles. "It was a great day last spring. He was on a lovely weight as he just sneaked into the race, and it was just one of those days that everything just went right." While statistics will show the last seven-year-old to win was Bogskar in 1940, Moore's argument is that not very many have tried. He also feels he does not lack in the experience department, having started out over fences as young as four. "He'd been running over fences as a four-year-old and won his beginners' chase in the February as a five-year-old so really he has as much experience as a horse that might be a year or two older," Moore went on. "He'd also been around Fairyhouse a couple of times, we made sure that he was familiar with the place. "The fact he's only seven now, and no seven-year-old has won it since before the war, has to be a slight concern, but having said that I doubt that many seven-year-olds have run in the race. "He certainly would have better credentials than most seven-year-olds. For instance, a lot won't qualify under the new rules of having to have been placed over three miles before they run. "All being well Nina will ride him again. She was on him for his prep over two miles the last day. It was a satisfactory run, nothing more. "The main thing was to get a clear round over fences and we achieved that as he fell in the big race at Leopardstown over Christmas. It was as good as we could hope for. "He's already shown plenty of pace over hurdles this season and that race enabled us to freshen him up nicely for Aintree." Were Carberry to become the first woman to win the great race, even level-headed Moore might allow himself to get carried away.
