Trainer Terry Mills (left) with Where Or When, groom Karen Jones and jockey Kevin Darley after winning the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in 2002

  Picture: Edward Whitaker  

Epsom trainer Terry Mills dies aged 71

EPSOM trainer Terry Mills died on Wednesday morning at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton. He was 71 and had been suffering from cancer. 

Assistant trainer, Richard Ryan said: "Terry Mills passed away today, peacefully, after fighting a long struggle against cancer. Our deepest sympathy goes out to his wife Beryl and sons Robert and Steven.

"I speak for all the staff at Loretta Lodge in feeling the huge loss of our friend and leader. The yard will continue to be run to the highest standards as per the wishes of Mr Mills. His son Robert is expected to be granted a temporary licence to train shortly."

Mills enjoyed his finest hour when training Where Or When to defeat Hawk Wing in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in 2002 but also enjoyed notable Royal Ascot success with Bobzao in the 1994 Hardwicke Stakes, Mitcham in the 1999 King's Stand Stakes and Norton in the 2002 Royal Hunt Cup.

Terry Mills: Royal Ascot regular

  PICTURE: Martin Lynch  

More recently, Mills trained Resplendent Glory to land the 2005 Sprint Stakes at Sandown and Close To You to dead-heat with Silent Times in the same year's Champagne Stakes at Doncaster.

Many of the Mills-trained horses carried the names of Frank Sinatra songs and films such as South O' The Border, All The Way, Under My Skin, Tender Trap, Funny Valentine, I Have Dreamed, They All Laughedand Singingintherain.

Unsurprisingly Mills was a lifelong fan of Old Blue Eyes and speaking about the naming of his horses, he said: "I suppose you could call me an incurable old romantic, but that's what life is all about - if you can't dream, what can you do."