Racing: Mills aims to end Epsom's long wait for a local hero

It was post-battle quiet at Epsom racecourse early yesterday morning, just the occasional bird whistling through the sun-filled air as the wait until the 224th Derby, a week on Saturday, continued. Then along came Terry Mills.

The local trainer, the man from Loretta Lodge, is a difficult person to miss, his accent redolent of the estuary, his language a tinge colourful. And he sings as well.

Terry is partial to a bit of Frank Sinatra and had a go yesterday at "Let Me Try Again", also the name of the colt which will carry his favour this year in the Blue Riband. The horse, a 40-1 shot, has more chance of making it.

It was a day to look forward and a day to reminisce for Mills, who will hand over the training licence to his son Robert next season. At 64, he has not missed much out. He has not missed many Derbys either. "It's been a long time," he said. "We used to stand up there, nine years old, on shysters' alley, where you had a bet and hung on to the bookmakers coat in case he ran away. Your arse was hanging out the back of your trousers, but you loved to come to the Derby. My Mum would ask me in the morning if I was going to school, but she knew I wouldn't be. I'd get the cane quite a lot."

Mills went on to do some damage of his own in the businesses of demolition, haulage and waste disposal. Tipping was his game long before he came into racing. And it made him a fortune. Mills would give it all back though if the bay colt which yesterday preceded his lead horse, Dont Worry Bout Me, could cross the line first again ahead of a more populous and talented field in nine days' time.

"This ain't a clear-cut Derby," the trainer said. "It's there for everybody to have a crack at. We've got a squeak because he'll get the trip all day long. We'll definitely finish in the first five and we might just win it. The Derby is everything. You can talk about the Kentucky Derby, the French, the Irish but this is the Derby. This is the one to win."

The premier Classic has not stayed in these parts since 1932, when April The Fifth last won it for Epsom, but Mills is no apologist for the manor. "Why don't the Arabs send some horses here? If they want to win the Derby they should send them here, come to the scene of the crime," he said.

If Let Me Try Again, second to Franklins Gardens in the Lingfield Derby Trial, does the job there will be no more dramatic celebration. Terry Mills, though, promises he will be more sober than after a previous Derby. "I remember when All The Way finished fifth [behind Oath in 1999]," he said. "I jumped over the rail and caught my bits and pieces."

Gerard Butler had his first and thus far only runner in that Derby, in which Compton Admiral finished eighth. His Derby recollections may go back only to The Minstrel and 1977 but he was framed with Mills on the spookily quiet Epsom terrain yesterday. Butler's runner this year, Shield, did little more than some posturing over on the far side yesterday, but his Oxfordshire-based trainer believes they have done all they can.

"Whatever people say, the Derby is always a tough race," Butler said. "Once again it's a competitive race on a tricky track. We've a horse which I think fits into the picture pretty nicely."

Shield won the Sandown Classic Trial, a race which enjoyed a golden age between 1978 and 1986 when five runners from the contest (four of them winners) went on to collect the Derby: namely Shirley Heights, Troy, Henbit, Shergar and Shahrastani. Victory at Esher was enough to satisfy Butler. "There was no reason to run after Sandown," he said. "He showed there he was good enough to run in a Derby. Why go to York or Chester?

"We've been aiming for the Derby for a long, long time. From the first time he ran, on soft ground at Nottingham, he's been a potential candidate. It's all about this race. Everyone wants a competitor in the Derby and then everyone wants to win the Derby."

* Dutch Gold (trained by Clive Brittain)and Kris Kin (Sir Michael Stoute) will both be added to the field for the Derby at a cost of £90,000 at Monday's supplementary stage, it was confirmed yesterday. Kris Kin will be ridden by Kieren Fallon.