Banned Quinn faces ruin

Mick Quinn's racing career is in tatters after he was banned from training for two-and-a-half years.

An allegation that the former footballer had neglected three horses in his care last winter was upheld at a Jockey Club disciplinary hearing yesterday.

The suspension was welcomed by the RSPCA, which had passed on the case after a complaint from a member of the public that Winsome George, Arab Gold and Zola were emaciated and suffering from rain scald to their coats in a paddock close to Quinn's Wantage stable in Oxfordshire.

Jockey Club spokesman John Maxse said: 'It is a severe penalty and Mick Quinn has seven days in which to lodge an appeal. The disciplinary committee regarded this as a very serious case and that it was not acceptable for an individual, trained and licensed to look after horses, to have allowed the condition of the three horses to have deteriorated to such a degree.'

Liverpool-born Quinn, 39, was close to tears as he left the hearing at Jockey Club headquarters in Portman Square. He refused to comment but it is understood that he will appeal against the ban, which will keep him out of the sport until January 2004.

Quinn made the transition to racing after a 16-year soccer career as a striker. He scored 228 goals for eight clubs. He learned his craft over two years assisting Mick Channon, the England forward now one of the country's top trainers.

Quinn, who has 18 horses listed in his care, has trained 37 winners. As the ban does not take effect until a week today, he has runners at both Newmarket and Southwell today.