"Greatest Horse Trainer in History" Henry Cecil Signed FDC Dated 1965 For Sale

Up for sale a RARE! "Greatest Horse Trainer in History" Henry Cecil Hand Signed First Day Cover Dated 1965. 

ES-6219E

Sir

Henry Richard Amherst Cecil 

January 1943 – 11 June 2013) was a British flat racing horse trainer. He was widely regarded as one

of the greatest trainers in history. Cecil was Champion

Trainer 10 times and trained 25 four winners of The Derby, eight winners of The Oaks, six winners of the 1,000 Guineas, three of the 2,000 Guineas and

four winners of the St Leger Stakes. His success in The Oaks and the 1,000 Guineas made

him particularly renowned for his success with fillies. He

was noted for his mastery at Royal Ascot, where he trained 75 winners. Describing

his approach to training, Cecil told The Daily Telegraph:

"I do everything by instinct really, not by the book. I like to think I’ve

got a feeling for and understand my horses, that they tell me what to do

really."

Cecil was knighted for services

to horse racing in the Queen's 2011 Birthday Honours. Cecil

was born on 11 January 1943 in a hospital near Aberdeen, ten minutes ahead of

his twin brother David. His father, Lt. Hon. Henry Kerr Auchmuty Cecil, younger

brother of the 3rd Lord Amherst of Hackney,

had been killed in action with the Parachute

Regiment in North Africa shortly before Cecil was born. His mother, Rohays Cecil, was the daughter of

Major-General Sir James Burnett of Leys,

13th Baronet, owner of Crathes Castle, Aberdeenshire.

When he was still a baby, Cecil's mother married Captain Cecil Boyd-Rochfort,

who was British flat

racing Champion Trainer five times and who trained for, among

others, George VI.

Cecil and his brother were educated at Sunningdale

School and at Canford School, Dorset. He described himself as "very late-maturing and

backward", saying that he was the first boy from his prep school ever to

fail Common Entrance to Eton. After school, the twins went to work at the Earl of

Derby's Woodland Stud in Newmarket, Suffolk, and at

other studs overseas. They completed their education at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester. From 1964 to 1968 Cecil worked as an assistant at

his stepfather's Freemason Lodge stable.

He took out his own licence to train in 1969 and that year had his first winner

with Celestial Cloud at Ripon on 17 May, with Wolver Hollow winning the Eclipse Stakes in July to give Cecil his first Group One success He had his first winner at Royal Ascot the following year when Parthenon won

the Queen Alexandra Stakes. In

his early years Cecil received the support of Lord Howard

de Walden, a noted breeder and owner of racehorses. The

languid, dandyish Cecil, noted for his flair in clothing, went on to remarkable

achievements. In 1973 he tasted his first Classic success in Ireland when

Cloonagh won the Irish 1,000 Guineas and

in 1975 he won his first English Classic with Bolkonski at the 2,000 Guineas. He won

three 1,000 Guineas and a

further 2,000 Guineas before winning his first Epsom Derby in 1985 with Slip Anchor. In 1976 he had taken over the running of Warren Murless, the father

of his first wife, and he turned the stables into what has been called

"the most glamorous yard in Europe", setting it at "the

pinnacle of British racing". In 1999 he won three of the five Classic

races and finished second in the other two. Prince Ahmed

bin Salman, the owner of Oath, one of Cecil's Derby winners, once said: "Winning

Classics is easy. Just buy a horse and send it to Henry Cecil".

Among the jockeys to ride for Cecil, the most notable have been Steve Cauthen, Lester Piggott, Joe Mercer, Kieren Fallon, Pat Eddery and, later, Tom Queally.