2011

ONE of the most popular and successful figures to have graced the turf gained his due reward last week when Henry Cecil was knighted in the Queen’s birthday honours list. The maser of Warren Place, who has trained 25 classic winners over 42 years, becomes Sir Henry for services to racing.

Many will feel the award is overdue, not merely because of Cecil’s superb record but also because he has fought back from setbacks in both her public and personal life. Strictly speaking, that should not be relevant, though the way he has battled stomach cancer, deflecting enquiries in his own inimitably diffident way, has earned him many admirers unfamiliar with the form book.

Sir Henry Cecil has never looked much like a racehorse trainer – more the debonair owner of a chic Parisian nightclub perhaps – but he has all the family connections. He took over at Warren Place from his father-in-law, Sir Noel Murless, in 1986, while his stepfather was Sir Cecil Charles Boyd-Rochfort who trained not only for the Queen, but also for her father, King George VI.

Henry’s own career took off immediately and he won the Eclipse with Wolver Hollow in 1969, soon after taking over from Sir Cecil at Freemason Lodge. Bolkonski became the first of many classic winners when landing the 2000 Guineas in 1975.

Asked whether the knighthood would change him, he replied: “No, I shall be the same boring Henry.” Few will agree with that. He would not know how to be boring if he studied hard every day from now until the end.

[Born on January 11th, 1943 in Aberdeen, Scotland, Henry Richard Amherst Cecil died on June 11th, 2013 aged 70. His haul of British classic successes included the 2000 Guineas three times, the 1000 Guineas six times, eight Oaks, and four wins each in the Derby and the St Leger. He was champion trainer on 10 occasions, in 1976, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990 and 1993]

Cheers to a new Irish Derby sponsor

1986

WITH £250,000 spent on the facelift, racegoers will be in for a pleasant shock at the Curragh next Saturday, It is the first Irish Derby sponsored by the American brewing giant Anheuser Busch, through its brand Budweiser.

Well used to sport sponsorship, Budweiser is certainly getting involved in a big way. A company construction team has arrived from the United States to erect entertainment and press centres across the road at the back of the stands. A mammoth 2,000 tickets have been purchased for guests, prompting the Curragh to introduce a 5,000 all-ticket (£15) limit for the reserved enclosure.

To date, Budweiser is imported into the country, but this will be the only lager-type beer available to racegoers on Saturday. A link has already been forged with Guinness, and the St James’s Gate company will be brewing the beer for the American concern in the autumn.

With a minimum £450,000 guaranteed value, the Budweiser Irish Derby will, for the next few months, have the title of the richest race even run in Europe, but no doubt the Arc will leapfrog this one.

The enthusiastic executive believe they can put up the attendance from around the current 20,000 mark to well over the 50,000 level in the next five years. This would justify a further significant cash injection, but the basic aim is to place the race in the number one slot in the European racing calendar.

Even more than their physical presence at a leading sporting fixture, Budweiser believes that nationwide television involvement at peak viewing time is all-important. Therefore, you will notice the brand name around the touchline boards at the World Cup, and it will be emblazoned on the ring floor in next Monday’s Barry McGuigan fight from Las Vegas.

Even with the guaranteed £450,000, the turnout for next Saturday’s race is a disappointment, and reflects the current popularity of spring and summer campaigns with a rest in midsummer.

[Eleven runners went to post for the Budweiser Irish Derby, and the first prize of £300,000 went to His Highness the Aga Khan’s homebred Shahrastani, trained by Michael Stoute and ridden by Walter Swinburn. The colt was completing the Derby double, having beaten Dancing Brave at Epsom.

The son of Nijinsky won by eight lengths at the Curragh from the Henry Cecil-trained Bonhomie (Pat Eddery), while Guy Harwood’s Bakharoff (Greville Starkey) was third. Steve Cauthen on Henry Cecil’s main hope, Mashkour, completed a British rout in fourth]

Princess Grace’s search for an Irish pony

1961

“I WOULD like to buy a pony for my daughter Caroline, and it seems to me that you would be the best person to find one for me,” said Princess Grace of Monaco to Mr David Hyde, manager of the Irish National Stud, as she admired some £2 million worth of horseflesh in his care during the royal visit to the stud last Sunday.

The Rainier’s visit to Tully was one of the highlights of their time in Dublin. They were accompanied by Mr and Mrs Frank Aiken and by Lord and Lady Killanin, and were met on their arrival by Mr Jim Frost of Cratloe, Limerick, who is chairman of the Irish National Stud.

They strolled through the world famous Japanese Gardens and then came back to the new, semi-enclosed show paddock, where they sat in the sunshine, admiring and taking photographs of the four champion sires, Panaslipper, Eudaemon, Preciptic and Vimy.

When the royal visitors commented on the 900 gilded horseshoes twinkling from the arena walls, Mr Hyde explained that they were the shoes of famous winners which were bred in the stud. “Look,” he said. “This is one of our most recent additions and it belonged to Nicholas Silver, winner of this year’s Grand National, whose dam, Rays Of Montrose, was among the mares we have just seen.”

Having spent an hour and a half in the grounds and watching the horses, the party adjourned for a magnificent cold lunch prepared for the occasion by chef Bill Marshall of the Central Hotel in Dublin.

[Vimy stood for the 1961 season at the Irish National Stud for a fee of 300gns. He defeated Acropolis, Phil Drake and Zarathustra when he won the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and he was beaten a short head in the French Derby. He went to stud in 1956.

Panaslipper retired to stud in 1957 as the winner of the Irish Derby. He was runner-up to Phil Drake in the Derby at Epsom, having been a leading two-year-old. His fee was 250gns.

Both Eudaemon and Preciptic stood for 148gns in 1961. As with all the stallions, their fee was based on a live foal. Eudaemon won the Gimcrack and Champagne Stakes and his first crop raced in 1961. Preciptic was an established sire, his progeny having won over £125,000. As a racehorse he won 15 races.

In 1960, the yearling average for the four sires were as follows; Preciptic (1,367gns), Eudaemon (1,168gns), Panaslipper (1,113gns) and Vimy (849gns)]