Sir Henry Richard Amherst Cecil was one of the most popular and greatest racehorse trainers of this, or any other, era.
A phenomenal 10 champion trainer titles and 25 British Classic winners are the tip of the iceberg, with his 75 victories at Royal Ascot not in danger of being eclipsed any time soon.
The names trip off the tongue – Slip Anchor, Reference Point, Oh So Sharp and Indian Skimmer are just four brilliant horses of yesteryear to graduate with distinction from the Cecil academy in Newmarket.
More recently the exploits of Twice Over, Midday and the incomparable Frankel had propelled him back to where he belonged – at the top table.
Cecil was born into racing and frequently claimed he would have been able to do nothing else.
At 21, he started off as assistant to his stepfather, the Royal trainer Cecil Boyd-Rochfort, and took charge on his retirement in 1968.
A year later he celebrated his first major success when Wolver Hollow won the Eclipse at Sandown.
As the years went on, things got even better with his first Classic in 1973 when Cloonagh took out the Irish 1000 Guineas.
Other landmarks include 1987 when he trained a record number of winners (180) and was also the first to break the STG1 million barrier.
Cecil, with his dapper Hermes ties, Gucci loafers and self-deprecating personality was loved far more than Sir Michael Stoute or Aidan O’Brien will ever be.
He had a unique charm missing elsewhere in the sport. Which other top trainer tended to his obscure varieties of peas and roses in his garden with as much care he did his blue-blooded string? Or collected lead soldiers?
And the best thing of all was that he was genuinely surprised at the incredible affection he received.
In the 1980s, when Lester Piggott and then the great American Steve Cauthen rode for him, he could do little wrong in the eyes of the ordinary punter.
But There were some low moments.
In 1999 there was an acrimonious split and subsequent out of court settlement with his then retained jockey Kieren Fallon, as well as a five-year ban and large fine for drink-driving.
With the passing of some of his great old owner-breeders, Cecil spent most of the “noughties” in the doldrums.
The horse numbers dwindled. The media speculated about imminent retirement.
But all of a sudden, in 2006 he was back.
A first Group prize in four years came when the unfurnished Multidimensional won decisively at Deauville. Then in November, a first Group One winner in six as Passage Of Time landed the Criterium de Saint-Cloud.
Cecil’s Group One flag, an heirloom apparently given to an ancestor by Robert the Bruce in 1323, was back flying in Newmarket.
Passage Of Time’s Oaks victory seemed to kick-start a stable renaissance with stablemate Light Shift providing a watershed moment the following year.
Her victory in the Oaks at Epsom prompted scenes of jubilation among the crowds with the reception Cecil received leaving him, and plenty of others too, visibly moved.
That win was to prove just the tip of the iceberg though, with Twice Over developing into a multiple Group One winner, adding two Champion Stakes and an Eclipse to Cecil’s already admirable tally.
However, it was the superstar Frankel who was to provide the most fitting finale to what had been a stellar training career.
Earmarked for greatness from the moment he was named in honour of the late American handler Bobby Frankel, the Galileo colt was in a league of his own.
His runaway 2000 Guineas success was merely the beginning of his legacy and Cecil’s handling of the former tearaway was nothing short of perfect.
With four Group Ones wins as a three-year-old, it briefly looked as though Frankel’s career could be over when he suffered an injury scare early last year.
However, Cecil employed his usual calm and patient approach, nursing the colt back to full fitness to once again annihilate his rivals in the Lockinge at Newbury before a spine-tingling 11-length verdict at Royal Ascot.
Victories in the Sussex Stakes, the Juddmonte International and the Champion Stakes followed, after which he retired to stud with an unblemished 14-race record.
Cecil was also to find personal happiness in his later years, marrying his one-time secretary Jane McKeown in 2008.
He is survived by two children from his first marriage, Katie and Noel, and son Jake from his second marriage.
