RIP Sir Henry

Very sad news but not a surprise considering his recent disappearance from the track and gallops without any bulletin suggesting he was having more treatment .

He battled cancer long and hard and it is wonderful that he had such a late Indian summer of his career with Frankel, Midday , Twice over etc

He said last autumn that Frankel had kept him going - it seems that may well have been very true

RIP HRAC
 
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What a loss. I walked past him at York races a few years ago and thought I couldn't at least say hello. The man spent ten minutes with me, I was just a passer by. Complete legend doesn't do him justice.
 
Yes, indeed - lot of courage to have kept going as he did. Certainly a tremendous upheaval lately in the racing world....

Hope there are some serious rose gardens for him now.
 
I was at Epsom 2007 when he "came in from the cold" to win The Oaks.
The reception he got was amazing..
That Frankel was his last great act as a trainer was fitting given the belief Prince Abdullah had in his abilities. He also gave Eddie Ahern his last winner before his ban.
Some man, some trainer. Sir Henry will be missed but at least his suffering is over. RIP
 
Great sadness. Echo suny in rating his training ability but more personally he was the first trainer i really followed. And rightly so
 
clivex said:
Great sadness. Echo suny in rating his training ability but more personally he was the first trainer i really followed. And rightly so
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Same here. I became aware of him the last year that Piggott was the Warren House stable jockey, when I was just a mere schoolgirl, then followed him religiously right through the Cauthen years.

I was lucky enough to meet him a couple of times, a fascinating man with a wicked sense of humour. It's a measure of the regard in which I held him that I forgave him for insulting my dog!
 
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Just reading through his achievements.

Pretty staggering.

8 Oaks.
6 1000 Guineas.
4 Derbys
4 St Legers
3 2000 Guineas

8 Nassau Stakes
7 Sussex Stakes
5 Gold Cups
5 Champion Stakes
5 Coronation Stakes
5 Prince of Wales' Stakes
5 St James' Palace Stakes
5 Queen Anne Stakes
5 Yorkshire Oaks
4 Juddmonte Internationals
4 Eclipse Stakes
3 Lockings Etakes

10 Racing Post Trophies
6 Fillies' Miles
3 Dewhurst Stakes

And a sprinkling of interntional wins. But no Arc.

What a guy!
 
I am so sorry to hear this news.

I first really got into racing in 1976 and I well remember him being interviewed on ITV at the Craven Meeting about Wollow, the Guineas favourite. HRAC was clearly "walking his box" with nerves but he came across as an interesting and likeable character and he's been a colossal part of the game ever since.

He has been associated with some great horses and some top jockeys. The Cecil/Cauthen combination in particular was a marriage made in heaven.

Frankel was clearly his crowning glory and Cecil made a superb job of training him. The horse could have gone the wrong way after the Guineas but he didn't and eventually he was turning out brilliant performances race after race as a matter of routine.

He was a great trainer and, despite displaying some human frailties, a good man. It won't be the same without him.
 
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An unusual man and sublime trainer. A life worth celebrating and finished off with one of the best thoroughbreds you could wish for.
 
Very sad. I know he fought for so long, but he always had an air of indomitable immortality even through his frailness. So I was very sad and shocked this morning.

He was a great trainer and although in very late to the party in my nascent interest in flat racing (NH diehard) he made it all so much more intriguing and human, you wanted him to win, and his handling of Frankel was sublime.

Niki x
 
His handling of Frankel bypassing Derby and Arc as a 4yo says everything.

If You had a top class horse he was the man to send it.

A man able to come back to the top after so many blows and problems.

He had a life to be remembered for long time.
 
Bar the Bull said:
Just reading through his achievements.

Pretty staggering.

8 Oaks.
6 1000 Guineas.
4 Derbys
4 St Legers
3 2000 Guineas

8 Nassau Stakes
7 Sussex Stakes
5 Gold Cups
5 Champion Stakes
5 Coronation Stakes
5 Prince of Wales' Stakes
5 St James' Palace Stakes
5 Queen Anne Stakes
5 Yorkshire Oaks
4 Juddmonte Internationals
4 Eclipse Stakes
3 Lockings Etakes

10 Racing Post Trophies
6 Fillies' Miles
3 Dewhurst Stakes

And a sprinkling of interntional wins. But no Arc.

What a guy!
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and 75 Royal Ascot winners


RIP Sir Henry
 
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edgt said:
I was at Epsom 2007 when he "came in from the cold" to win The Oaks.
The reception he got was amazing..
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I was there too - a great great moment. Most were hoping Passage of Time would do it for him so the mixture of relief and joy when Light Shift came through was something else.

I guess this goes some way to explaining the Juddmonte news.
 
The names Cecil / Cauthen and horses like Diminuendo, High Estate & Be My Chief were the main reasons why I first became hooked on the sport during my late teens.

My love for flat racing has long since been replaced by NH and I've always somehow thought it related to the quiet years of Sir Henry.

In my eyes it is no coincidence that the past couple of years have brought me more pleasure in this code than any since those glory days of the late 80s.

I owe so many happy memories to the great man and am absolutely gutted at his passing but as has been said before, at least the suffering is over and what a fitting memory his latest superstar will have provided for the younger fans, allowing his legendry status to span an even greater era.

RIP Sir and thanks for so many glorious moments
 
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