Sir Henry Cecil dies

Very sad day for racing.

In my view he was the greatest flat trainer ever and triumphed despite facing so many obstacles during his career.

He had been battling cancer for years and yet carried on churning out big winners and classic winners year after year.

He had a really tough time right in the middle of his career when Sheikh Mohammed decided to take all of his horses and have them trained by the Godolphin operation, which has had minimal success compared with Sir Henry's. This would be like Manchester United having all their squad replaced by Argyle's and no money to buy replacements, and expected to carry on in the Premier League. It took him a couple of years of grafting with less glamorous horses but he proved he could do it and he rose again to having classics and Group 1 winners regularly.

From Wollow which was ridden by Frankie Dettori's father, through to Oh so Sharp and Steve Cauthen, on to Kieran Fallon and Oath, Sir Henry always seemed to have a great eye for very good jockeys and using them before others had noticed them.

It's so fitting that he had Frankel under his care for 3 great racing years. A temperamental superstar that Sir Henry got to know inside out and trained him to be the finest racehorse ever. The highest rated racehorse to have ever raced who finished unbeaten in 14 high class races where he just blew the opposition away.

RIP a true legend and gentleman.

I once had the pleasure of meeting Sir Henry and a nicer man you couldn't wish to meet. Unassuming and modest but with a dry sense of humour.
As a trainer there is/was never anybody better and the racing world will be a poorer place for his passing.
Maybe there is karma for his career to finish with a horse like Frankel was fantastic for him and the racing industry.
The words great and legend are bandied about these days without justification but in the case of Sir Henry Cecil they fit like a crown.
RIP Sir Henry and thank you for all the memories.

Good tribute here:

They're re-naming the Queens Vase at Royal Ascot next Friday The Queens Vase in Tribute to Sir Henry Cecil, as he won the race 8 times. Not sure why they don't just call it the Sir Henry Cecil Queens Vase or something but hey ho.

His wife has been granted a temporary licence to carry on trining and I would imagine that given his illness that he would have a great team still left at Warren Place to carry on, albeit without his expertise.

His wife, Lady Jane Cecil, did saddle two winners yesterday under the new licence and she did say that they have a runner in the Queens Vase, can't remember it's name though, which Sir Henry thought was an ideal candidate after it won it's last race. As he's won the race 8 times he should know what makes a good candidate and it would be great for them to win the race named after him.

or the could call it Queen n Henry's Vase