Ron, PLEASE POST TO "ARTICLES." I'm not a lover of Knighthoods. They are just a popularity poll of celebrities, instead of what they should be- a very special award for a select few special individuals. However, given that they do exist in their current format, I'm delighted that Henry Cecil has been knighted in the Honours List. In recognition of this, I am posting an Article which I previously submitted on BBC 606. Apologies to those who have seen it already, but I hope you feel it is worth repeating: When Henry Cecil took over Warren Place, Newmarket, from Noel Murless in 1976, many pundits must have felt he was walking where ‘angels fear to tread.’ Noel Murless had left Beckhampton to train there in 1952 and, during a glittering career- when mostly associated with Lester Piggott as his stable jockey- he sent out 19 Classic winners. However, Henry had served his time with the best- as assistant trainer from 1964-68 to Sir Cecil Boyd-Rochfort at Freemason’s Lodge. Furthermore, success at Group level was not new to Henry, having sent out Wolver Hollow to win The Eclipse in his first year of training (1969), and 21 group winners prior to moving to Warren Place- including 2000 Guineas winner, Bolkonski, and Irish 1000 Guineas winner, Cloonagh. Yet few could have anticipated the phenomenal success which was to follow. In a glittering career spanning over three decades, he has saddled 369 Group winners, including 35 Classics- both at home and abroad. His most prolific period, winners wise, was from 1978-93 when he averaged around 100 winners per year and a strike rate of about 30%. The zenith was in 1987….. The 180 races he won in Britain that year included 24 Pattern races, four of them Group 1 - Reference Point's Derby, King George and St Leger, and Paean's Ascot Gold Cup. He also won three races abroad, all of them Group 1 - Indian Skimmer's Prix Saint-Alary and Prix de Diane, and Orban's Premio Roma. The nadir in his career- and undoubtedly his life- came in the nineties… In 1995 he lost 40 horses from his string when Sheikh Mohammed sacked him as his trainer; he was divorced from his wife; he contracted stomach cancer; and he suffered the death of his twin brother, David. From that point on, most people felt that Henry would never recover professionally, and that his private life and revelations would cause him to fade into obscurity. How wrong he has proved them to be! Despite relatively lean periods for the earlier part of this century, Henry, supported admirably by both Khaled Abdullah and the Niarchos family, has shown great determination to climb back to the very top of the tree. It’s ironic that Midday won her third successive Group One when she won The Prix Vermeille recently . Perhaps that’s how Henry Cecil sees his career… merely at its mid-point with much, much more magic to come. Yet I’m sure if you asked him, he’d smile that laconic, Mona Lisa smile and acknowledge that Warren Place has a magic all of its own. To view the Henry Cecil Website and all his winners, staff, etc… www.henrycecil.com/
Tamerlo: Good day to you. A fine article, well-worth repeating. I'm not one for knighthoods either, but since we've got 'em, then one just had to be given to Henry Cecil. Why on earth did it take so long?
To add to the above hopefully Frankel will put in another stellar performance on Tuesday to show, once more, that Sir Henry is looking after, potentially, the finest horse on the planet.
Thanks for bringing back some good memorys Tamerlo.The fighting spirit shown by the man is worthy of a knighthood.I feel Sir Henry Cooper RIP would also approve.
Thoroughly deserved, and, as others have suggested, why so long coming? I hope we get the priviledge of seeing the great man and the horses under his care for many seasons to come.
Knighthoods are often too freely handed out but Sir Henry's is much deserved. Racing has been under-recognised in the honours list over the years. An obvious knighthood omission was Fred Winter but there are others as well - if Lester had paid his taxes he would surely have been made a knight by now. It's great news and another fillip for the sport.
