As Ebor Festival looms - looking back to when Sergeant Cecil captured the attention

The smart stayer had won the Northumberland Plate that glorious summer – the Pitmen’s Derby is another heritage handicap – and he felt that he had nothing to lose as he legged up big-race jockey Alan Munro.

No horse had successfully completed the Plate and York double since Pillo in 1911, but that all changed when Munro’s mount started scything through the 20-runner field.

Seventh with two furlongs left in this ‘cavalry charge’, gaps began to open and the horse, with a distinguishing white face, powered home to win by a length from Malton trainer Brian Ellison’s Carte Diamond.

History had been made. Yet this was just the beginning of the Sergeant Cecil story. A subsequent second in the Doncaster Cup, Millman’s stable star then finished best of all to win the 34-runner Cesarewitch at Newmarket.

Another heritage handicap, no horse has ever won the Plate, Ebor and Cesarewitch – the big three staying handicaps – in the same year. “He must have been very well handicapped,” said a self-deprecating Millman.

He went on to even greater heights in 2006, winning York’s Lonsdale Cup and Doncaster Cup (staged on Knavesmire while the South Yorkshire track was redeveloped) and then the Group One Prix du Cadran on Arc weekend.

Bred in Dorset by Don Hazzard, who died last month, and overseen at birth by Arthur Barrow, whose Master Smudge was awarded the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1980 when Tied Cottage was disqualified, he became owned by Terry Cooper, who knew the breeder.

Cooper, who ran an office furniture company, wanted a horse to honour his late father – hence the name Sergeant Cecil rather than a link to the foal’s dam Jadidh or sire King’s Signet.

“My father died when I was nine and my poor mother was left without any money and two children to bring up,” he reflected in the acclaimed book Sergeant Cecil.

“As a result, we couldn’t give dad a headstone, we couldn’t afford it, and although it wasn’t something that worried me greatly when I was young and just skipping through life, as you get older you have more time to reflect on things.

“So when I got this little chap I thought it would be nice to name him after my father as a memorial. Dad served in the Great War in France and in the Second World War in England – he was Sergeant Cecil Edward Cooper.

“He enlisted at Camberwell in the Welsh Fusiliers in October, 1915, and was assigned to the Machine-Gun Corps the following year. He was sent out to France in July, 1916, came back after two months, then went back out again in July, 1917, and served there for a year.

“He finished the war as a corporal – it says in his Army book ‘conduct: exemplary’ – and when the Second World War began he enlisted in the Hampshire Regiment and served in the National Defence Companies, rising to the rank of sergeant.

“So I thought I’d call the horse Sergeant Cecil.”

The decision did not look a serendipitous one during the horse’s first six starts for trainer Seamus Mullins – ‘missing in action’ might have been a polite description of Sergeant Cecil’s first six runs – before the two-year-old was switched to Millman’s stables in Devon.

It was a fortuitous move. In the horse’s first start for Millman, ‘Cecil’ was second in a Chepstow handicap under the late Pat Eddery and the new trainer recognised some potential.

‘Cecil’ had been a late developer. Born on May 2, 1999, he had spent his early days competing against contemporaries who were that bit stronger because they had been born earlier in the year.

“He was a very tough horse. He took a while to come to himself. He was very well trained by Seamus Mullins as a two-year-old and I was lucky to take on a horse ready for the next stage,” Millman told The Yorkshire Post.

“I’ve never had a horse who could take so much work. If you work a horse really hard, they go off their food. He took more work than any horse in the yard and he never ever left any food.”

That strength and condition took time to manifest itself on the racecourse. Yet it was not until May, 2003, that ‘Cecil’ won for the first time, and while he continued to rise up the ranks slowly, it was unclear whether he was good enough to compete in the big handicaps of 2005.

However, Millman, who has 40 horses in his string, credits the arrival of jockey Alan Munro. Victorious in the 1991 Derby aboard Paul Cole’s Generous, he had been plying his trade in the Far East before taking a lengthy sabbatical.

“Cecil was obviously well handicapped going into the three races, but we had a world-class jockey as a regular rider,” he explained. “You don’t realise how much you need racing until it is taken away and that was the same for Alan.

“He rode work one or two mornings a week. It wasn’t just ‘Cecil’. He and I did the fast work with all the two-year-olds. Of the six, five won first time out and the other one was second before finishing next time out. As for ‘Cecil’, he had improved from five to six and Alan was able to get inside his head.”

In many respects, the Ebor was one of the easier races. “In hindsight, Alan had a fair amount of horse under him,” observed Millman who, more recently, won the John Smith’s Cup in 2015 with Master Carpenter.

“It was fantastic, culminating in ‘Cecil’ being named horse of the year, but the best day was undoubtedly the Prix du Cadran (2006) because it was a Group One.” By then, Frankie Dettori was in the saddle after Munro had suffered convulsions on a flight to Deauville.

After a long lay-off, Munro was back when ‘Cecil’ made one final visit to his beloved York in May, 2008 where he was unplaced in the Yorkshire Cup. Past his best, he was retired later that year with 10 wins from 53 starts, and over £825,000 of prize money to his name.

A distinctive chestnut who developed a huge fan following, he more than honoured his proud owner’s late father. He also left Millman with this head-scratcher. “We’re still looking for the next ‘Cecil’,” he adds in hope.

It could be a long wait.

Well worth the trek to Knavesmire

IT was only after Sergeant Cecil won the 2005 Ebor – and justified a 550-mile round trip between Devon and York – that Rod Millman appreciated the prestige of York’s historic handicap.

Proud that his Sergeant Cecil is on a roll of honour that includes Peter Easterby’s dual Champion Hurdle winner Sea Pigeon, his post-race comments spoke volumes.

“This horse has been a real star for us,” beamed Millman. “The Ebor is the one we’ve really wanted to go for. Last year, he had a cough and couldn’t go, and the year before that he wasn’t high enough in the handicap.

“We might be a long way away from York but we know all about this race and we know what a prestigious event it is, so it’s a real thrill.

“This might have been his 33rd race but he’s still improving, we’ve given him time to mature and haven’t over-raced him – although he’s run a lot, he’s always had gaps in between. He’s not had a hard life and he’s repaying us for that now.

“I feel very proud of him. He’s a bit of a character – if the gallop isn’t done just the way he likes then he won’t do anything.

“But he has stacks of ability and it is all falling into place with him. He dropped back a bit in the early stages as Alan (Munro) tried to settle him, but I could see him cutting through the pack on the turn for home.”

It was also vindication for Munro and his decision to return to the saddle 14 years after completing the English and Irish Derby double on Generous at the age of 24. “I guess I was apprehensive about this year and it has been steady at times, but things are just getting better and better now,” he reflected.

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