'We lost one or two horses - when people hear the word 'cancer' they get scared and they're gone'
Andrew Dietz finds veteran trainer Mick Mullineaux determined to keep on doing the job he loves
Mick Mullineaux doesn't look like a man who has been to hell and back. As he opens the gates of his Cheshire stables on a bright summer morning, there are no visible signs of the horror he has been through.
The trainer with a penchant for big-priced winners was long odds still to be here following his cancer diagnosis just over a year ago. But here he is, back in his old routine and inching back to his old self.
Being among his horses is where Mullineaux is happiest. For 55 years, it's all he has known. The compact and functional Southley Farm has been home for half that time, from where moderate horses have plied their trade alongside the odd rough diamond.
Read the full story
Read award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing, with exclusive news, interviews, columns, investigations, stable tours and subscriber-only emails.
Subscribe to unlock
- Racing Post digital newspaper (worth over £100 per month)
- Award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing
- Expert tips from the likes of Tom Segal and Paul Kealy
- Replays and results analysis from all UK and Irish racecourses
- Form study tools including the Pro Card and Horse Tracker
- Extensive archive of statistics covering horses, trainers, jockeys, owners, pedigree and sales data
Already a subscriber?Log in
Copy- 'I put all my eggs in one basket and I had no-one when I left - I was just riding everywhere and anywhere'
- 'It was the best race I ever rode and I was very proud of it - but Sheikh Hamdan thought it was terrible!'
- Aidan O'Brien: 'The weirdest, strangest, most impossible things can happen in racing and in life'
- James Fanshawe: 'It's easy to go in your shell and grumble that things aren't fair - but you have to remember how well you've done'
- Ralph Beckett: 'That day changed our lives - everything that's happened since has gone back to that'
- 'I put all my eggs in one basket and I had no-one when I left - I was just riding everywhere and anywhere'
- 'It was the best race I ever rode and I was very proud of it - but Sheikh Hamdan thought it was terrible!'
- Aidan O'Brien: 'The weirdest, strangest, most impossible things can happen in racing and in life'
- James Fanshawe: 'It's easy to go in your shell and grumble that things aren't fair - but you have to remember how well you've done'
- Ralph Beckett: 'That day changed our lives - everything that's happened since has gone back to that'