Character ready to go

John Quinn's 10-year-old has not been seen since he won the Kim Muir at last year's Cheltenham Festival.

He was forced to miss last year's National through an 11th-hour setback and a minor injury also saw him miss the Hennessy in November, but he is over his problems now.

"He'll run this weekend, he's fine," said Quinn. "He's had nearly a year off but he's in good order now.

"It has only ever been niggly injuries that have kept him off the track, never anything serious, just pulled muscles and things like that.

"He's got plenty of options for the rest of this season. He'll be in the race at Haydock in February (Blue Square Gold Cup) and he'll have entries at Cheltenham, Aintree, the Irish National and the Whitbread (Bet 365 Gold Cup), you name it.

"The only race we've missed this year with him is the Hennessy. He got cast in his box and needed a week off but he'd have run in nothing else because bottomless ground is no good for him. After the Hennessy we were going to keep him for the spring.

"He was never going to run in the Welsh National or anything like that because he can't go on it so we are not too disappointed."

Epsom trainer Terry Mills died yesterday, aged 71, after a long battle with cancer.

The master of Loretta Lodge first took out a licence in 1993 and was responsible for such star performers as Where Or When, Bobzao and Mitcham.

In a statement, Mills's assistant Richard Ryan said: "Terry Mills passed away peacefully after fighting a long struggle against cancer.

"Our deepest sympathy goes out to his wife Beryl and his two sons, Robert and Stephen.

"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."

Where Or When was a crack miler, winning the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot in 2002, where he had Aidan O'Brien's 1-2 favourite Hawk Wing two lengths back in second.

Kevin Darley, who rode Where Or When to that memorable QEII victory, was saddened to hear the news.

He said: "I was very privileged and honoured to have ridden maybe his biggest and best ever winner. He was an absolute gent to ride for and obviously my thoughts are with his family and friends."