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Extremely sad news and my sympathies and condolences go to his family & friends.
Rest in peace Sir Henry Cecil.
My last Picture of Sir Henry taken on a Wet 2000gns day.A legend on the Racecourse and a Trainer who I put my utmost confidence in,
Oh So Sharps
triple Crown and
Slip Anchors
Derby my 2 highlights of a glittering career,Charles St George once called a colt of his
Henry the Lion
I wonder where he got the idea from.My all time favourite trainer,a unique trainer and a Trainer you always felt was placing his horses to try and win.RIP Sir Henry.
[attachment=0:jjgl9dn3]72vek2.jpg[/attachment:jjgl9dn3]
There is absolutely nothing that I can say to sum up how much I admired the man. Racing has lost an irreplaceable treasure.
Gone but never forgotten.
My sincerest best wishes to his familyUpsetting to hear of the death of one of my sporting hero’s.
How wonderful it was that he got the chance to train the greatest horse I have ever seen and guide that unique exuberant talent throughout a wonderful 3 year career.
Sad he wont get the chance to train Frankel’s babies but I’m sure he died a very proud man looking back on what he achieved.
His name has been such a towering presence throughout the duration of my lifelong interest in the sport that it is hard to imagine racing without Sir Henry Cecil.
RIP Sir Henry, we’ll never forget you.
Sir Henry Cecil a name linked with Royal Ascot, well Royal Ascot will be here next week, but sadly not Henry.
He trained many great horse, some would argue that Frankel was his best.
May he now REST IN PEACE.
Very, very sad news. He always struck me as very modest and amiable and I think most racing fans thought the same. I saw him in the parade ring at Newbury in May last year when Frankel ran in the Lockinge still as dapper as ever and with his trademark cigarette to hand. I’m so pleased Frankel gave him such a wonderful end to his extraordinary training career and life. His other great passion in life after racehorses was his rose garden and I’m sure there will be plenty of those at his funeral.
About a year ago I contacted David Austin Roses to ask if they would consider naming a new rose after Sir Henry.
I have spoken to them twice about this, and although I was told that there weren’t many new roses coming out each year, the suggestion would be put forward for consideration. I’ve heard nothing from them since, but I’ll have another go at them now.Nothing is here for tears.Sir Henry was a humble and unassuming person.The soul of modesty.He died like he lived.To pass away before Ascot was what he would have wanted. People will share memories at his beloved track and grieve his loss.We shall not look upon his likes again.May he rest in peace.
Sad news,though Frankel couldn’t have given Sir Henry a happier final couple of years of life.
RIP.
I think the tributes in this thread sum up the man perfectly.
A perfect gentleman in the truest sense of the word, he took the, deserved, plaudits with humility and took the knock-backs with dignity.
There won’t be another trainer like him, especially in the training of fillies, although his greatest horse was, of course, a colt.
How fitting a tribute it would be, if the offspring of Frankle and Midday were to be a colt, that he be named Sir Henry.
Blighted by ill health in his latter years I cannot help but think Frankel gave him the extra incentive to fight on the last couple of years.
At last he is now at peace, RIP an true gentleman.
Surprised Tom Queally has ridden at Salisbury today and Lingfield tonight
I strongly suspect Sir Henry would not have expected anything else.
What can I say that has not already been said? Words cannot do justice to the emptiness I feel. Racing died for me yesterday. My grandfather first took me to Newmarket in 1976 when I was just 5 years old. It was the first of hundreds of such trips. Granddad was a big fan of Henry and he pointed him out to me. From that moment until now he has been my hero. There has not been a single day since when I have not at some point thought about him and his horses. The first thing I do in the morning is look through websites to check on his runners and the last thing I do at night is ponder on how they got on. He was a huge part of my childhood, my teens, my early adult life and my middle age. What happens now? How do you fill that hole?
I feel extremely selfish but this feels like such a personal loss. It is hard to explain to my family and friends. They don’t quite get it. It is therefore very comforting to read these tributes from my other family, the family that is the racing one. I am amazed that so many people seem to feel as strongly as I do. I thought it was just me!
I spoke to Sir Henry only a few times but the memory that makes me smile is when I saw him at Newbury races several years ago. His fortunes were just on the way back up and he had a fantastic day saddling first Light Shift then Phoenix Tower to win races. I was standing on the far side of the paddock and he walked past me with a saddle under his arm. I said “well done Henry – great day!” He said “why thank you kind sir. I have a runner in the last as well you know.” I said “yes I know. Will it win as well?” He smiled and said “well we’re not here for the beer you know?!” It was Templestern and it finished second!
I have three outstanding racing memories. The euphoria in the stands after Bosra Sham won the Champion. Hats, newspapers and race cards flew in the air and people cheered with unselfconscious abandon. The tears in the unsaddling enclosure after Light Shift confirmed Henry’s return to the big time. And Frankel. I saw him nine times and the visceral emotion he brought out in me could never possibly be repeated. I took my 2 years old twins to Ascot for his last race. I wanted them to be able to say in 80 years “I was there. I saw him” “Frankel” was one of the first words they learnt to say!
I want to express my sincere condolences to his close family and friends. If I feel this bad I have no idea what they must be going through. But I also want to say thank you to Henry. Thank you dear man for providing me with so many unbelievable memories. Thank you for half a lifetime of pleasure and excitement. Thank you for being such an inspiration to me. I will miss you so much but the memory of you and what you achieved will provide a glow in my heart for the rest of my life.
"this perfect mix of poetry and destruction, this glory of rhythm, power and majesty: the undisputed champion of the world!!!"
As someone who came to racing at the time of his resurgence, I didn’t get to enjoy his peak years. But seeing him in the public eye over the last 4 years or so with Frankel I have such respect for his candour, humility and integrity. Great man.
RIP Sir Henry Cecil
I have to say Joni your post has brought a tear to my eye. I can’t begin to claim to have ‘known’ Sir Henry as his family, friends and staff did, but I have been lucky enough to chat to him a few times and often saw him out and about the town.
I’ve told before how as a young man I spent most of my waking hours at Warren Place, my best friend’s dad working for Sir Henry up until the day he fell off of one of the great man’s horses on Warren Hill and died of a heart attack. Sir Henry had a close bond with all of his staff and he was heart broken by Nobby’s (My friend’s dad.)sudden death.
It was during the early eighties and the Henry Cecil bandwagon was at full tilt with a yard full of top class horses. Unfortunately the recently departed Margeret Thatcher had begun her pruning and jobs were all but impossible to come by for us school leavers. Consequently I spent most of my days when not attending pointless interviews for non existent jobs up at Warren Place with my mate. On several occasions I would be walking up the Moulton Hill and the great man would pull over in his blue Mercedes and offer me a lift to the stables. He always chatted freely and was always interested to hear how Nobby’s family were getting on and what we were up to.
That was Sir Henry, he really was that nice a man. A man of the people. For my part I’ve never ever forgotten his kindness towards a nobody like me, and like Joni he has been a hero of mine ever since.
In later years, once I’d begun working in the building industry I worked on the huge Warren Towers for Sheik Hamdam next door to Sir Henry’s stables. Access was needed through Warren Place for heavy plant and to install services and the building company I worked for engendered a bit of
quid pro quo
by supplying some labour, myself included, to work in Sir Henry’s rose garden. Yet another claim I’m immensely proud to lay claim to.
I have many, many happy memories of time spent up at Warren Place. It was a big part of my life and it just does not seem possible that the maestro of the Newmarket gallops is no longer in residence. Like Joni racing for me will never be the same.
I thank god I made the effort to see Frankel’s last two races and
that one of those cheers ringing out from the grandstand and around the winner’s enclosure was mine. The fact that Sir Henry battled on against almost impossible odds to see his finest charge become the world’s -possibly even history’s- greatest horse is something to brighten the dullness his death has caused all genuine racing fans.RIP Sir Henry.
I’m sure I can’t add much more to what’s already said, but as somebody fighting a similar battle, he was an inspiration and his courage in recent years gave me and many other great strength and determination to keep going too. My thoughts go out to his wife, children and those very close to him.
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