Other major characters included local gambler John Grey (David McCallum) and widow Rachel Ware (Susannah York).
The first series of 13 episodes was given the prime time Sunday night slot on BBC1 which had previously been occupied by another Glaister creation Howards' Way and a horse-racing storyline from that earlier programme provided much of the inspiration for Trainer.
The self-contained story-per-episode format of the first series made way for a more soap-like continuous story, new characters were introduced and storylines focussed more on their intertwined personal lives.
Trainer ran for two series and was the last television project for producer Gerard Glaister, who commissioned Simon May to compose the theme music, following their collaboration on Howards' Way.
Mike Read was commissioned to write lyrics for May's composition, and the resulting song, "More to Life", was performed by Cliff Richard, entering the UK singles chart at No.