REMEMBERING… SIR HENRY CECIL

[dropcap]L[/dropcap]egendry trainer, the master of Warren Place, 10 times Champion Trainer, winner of 25 British Classics, with a record 75 victories at Royal Ascot and the mastermind of the Frankel’s stupendous career, passed away on 11th June at the age of 70, after a long battle with cancer. Born Henry Richard Amherst Cecil in Aberdeen on 11th January, 1943, Cecil’s father, an officer in the Parachute Regiment, died six weeks before his birth. He grew up at Freemason Lodge in Newmarket, the home of his stepfather, Cecil Boyd-Rochfort, who was Champion Trainer on five occasions. Cecil began his training career in 1969 winning his first Classic in 1973 when Cloonagh bred by his half-brother Arthur Boyd-Rochfort, won the Irish 1000 Guineas. His first British Classic success was with Bolkonski in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket. He won the same race a year later with Wollow. Both winners were ridden by Frankie Dettori’s father, Gianfranco. In 1976 he won the Trainer’s Championship for the first time and in the same year he purchased Warren Place Stables from his retiring father-in-law, Noel Murless. His training feat with fillies’ was commendable having won six 1000 Guineas and eight Oaks. Among them was Oh So Sharp, the filly who won the Triple Crown in 1985. She was one of the four St. Leger winners for Cecil. He won the Derby on the same number of occasions. Between 1976-1993 he won the Championship ten times setting a record of 180 winners in 1987 which was later broken by Richard Hannon in 1993. Those were perhaps the golden years for Cecil, for soon after, his career went into a downward spiral from the 1990’s with the loss of longstanding owner’s, Louis Freedman, Jim Joel and Lord Howard de Walden. In 1995, Sheikh Mohammed too, removed 40 horses from his stables after a disagreement, although the friendship continued. Between 2000-2006 Cecil failed to train a Group 1 winner, in fact, in 2005 he saddled just a dozen winners overall with the number of horses in his care shrinking from 200 to 50. Parts of Warren Place were also rented out to other trainers. It was in 2006 that he was diagnosed with stomach cancer, a sickness that he fought hard against for many years. In 2007 he won a Group 1 race, the Oaks, with Light Shift and that victory helped him gradually build his stable back to its former status, with the crowning moment of his achievements being the incredible success of superstar Frankel, who ran in the colours of Khalid Abdulla, who remained loyal during the fallow years. It almost seemed possible that it was the fabulous Frankel that kept Sir Henry Cecil alive for the last couple of years. One of England’s greatest trainers wasn’t going to give up while England’s greatest racehorse occupied a stall at Warren Place. Recent news is that 76-year-old owner-breeder Khalid Abdullah will be cutting back on his vast Thoroughbred holdings. Frankel will remain an apotheosis of the careers of both Cecil and Abdullah and it is easy to understand why Cecil did finally succumb to cancer and Abdullah decide to cut back after Frankel’s retirement. What more could either of them do in racing that could top this one?
Sir Henry Cecil is survived by his wife, Lady Jane Cecil, his two children from his first marriage, Katie and Noel, and his son Jake from his second marriage. Lady Cecil has been granted a temporary license by the British Horseracing Authority. Cecil’s final and most glorious moments in racing came with Frankel in the colours of Khalid Abdullah, “It is with immense sadness that we have learnt that Henry Cecil has lost his long battle with cancer. He has been a long standing friend and a wonderful trainer for Juddmonte and beyond.”
In recent years, Tom Queally was his first jockey and was astride Frankel in all his victories, “Every other trainer aspires to be like him, and no other trainer will come close. He really excelled with Frankel. He made all the right calls and the right choices for him. Racing has lost a real gem.”
Like Cecil, Sir Michael Stoute has been Champion Trainer 10 times, and he paid the ultimate tribute by describing him as the best trainer the UK has ever had. “I do not believe this country has ever produced a better trainer than Henry. I know there has never been one so loved. His toughness and courage had to be seen to be believed as he continued to supervise the training of his horses. He was some man!”
American Steve Cauthen enjoyed six highly successful years as stable jockey, with many Classic triumphs and the Triple Crown success with the filly Oh So Sharp in 1985. “It’s a great loss to the sport and to everyone who knew him. He was such a great guy – different, special, a genius and we had six great years together. He had a great sense of humour. He was a super intelligent guy and really knew how to place his horses. The way he trained was great and the way he placed them was fantastic. He was a special trainer.” An emotional Pat Eddery remembered his time riding for the master of Warren Place said, “He was a great trainer, a genius and I was very fortunate to have ridden for him. It’s really sad. He was never overpowering, in fact, quite an easy person to get along with. He went through some bad times, came back and did it again.”
Six-time Champion jockey Kieren Fallon, another of the elite band of Cecil stable jockeys said, “He was a legend. My first year with him, I was Champion Jockey. I had a great rapport with him and he will be sadly missed. We won the Derby with Oath, the Guineas with Sleepytime, we had a lot of great success. We will not see another like him.”
Trainer Harry Dunlop was Cecil’s godson and spent three years at Warren Place. “It’s a massive loss for racing as a whole. We saw last year and the year before, how incredible he was as a trainer, with Frankel. He was an incredible trainer of a very good horse. The planning and patience he had with his two-year-olds were his strengths. I was there when things weren’t going well, so it was amazing to see how he turned things around to become one of the most successful yards all over again. Not many can do that.”