In the original dustsheet. Black cloth binding with gilt title on the spine.

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For more than four decades the elegant, slightly foppish figure of the late trainer Sir Henry Cecil had been adulated by racing fans. He handled countless top horses – his 25 English Classics include four Derby winners – and won dozens of big races around the world. But his story is far from a chronicle of unbroken success. A sharp downturn in his racing fortunes in the late 1990s was accompanied by all manner of personal trials, including well publicised marital problems and then cancer, but the dogged manner in which he has climbed back to the top was rewarded in 2011 by the presence in his Newmarket yard of the wonder horse Frankel. Based on extensive research and interviews with those closest to Cecil, the book is shot through with Brough Scott’s unparalleled inside knowledge of the sport.

Winner of the Horse Racing Book of the Year at the 2014 British Sports Book Awards.

Reviews

• Sir Henry Cecil has been a brilliant trainer of racehorses, a charismatic and complex man. Brough Scott’s achievement has been to explain Cecil’s genius and charisma without shying away from the more complex issues. The result is a wonderfully rounded portrait of one of the most endearing figures in British sport. –David Walsh, chief sports correspondent of the Sunday Times

• This book is a triumph of its genre, and does full credit to both the writer and his complex but so thoroughly engaging subject. It should be required, and enjoyable reading, for both the casual race watcher and the most ardent student of the sport. –Channel 4 Racing

• The story of Henry Cecil’s life is what the whole world of racing has been waiting for. Brough’s book is a masterpiece and does the maestro full justice. –Ian Balding, Derby-winning trainer

• … a classic book about a classic legend. –The Independent

• … a gem of a book … Brough Scott has written a brilliantly sensitive, balanced and authoritative book –Robin Oakley, The Spectator

• Scott’s tour of Cecil’s inner self is as fascinating as it is illuminating –Charlie Brooks, The Daily Telegraph

• Brough Scott, the author, has done an excellent job in capturing this remarkable, but flawed, man. –Country Life magazine

• This is by far the best book on racing I have ever read. It combines a truly extraordinary story one that no novelist would have dared to submit with brilliant writing by an author who is almost as knowledgeable about horses and the turf as his subject. It is a just tribute to a man who deserves to be admired beyond even his achievements. –Stoker Devonshire, The Spectator

• It’s a great story, well told. –Daily Racing Forum

• This is by far the best book on racing I have ever read. It combines a truly extraordinary story, one that no novelist would have dared to submit with brilliant writing by an author who is almost as knowledgeable about horses and the turf as his subject. It is a just tribute to a man who deserves to be admired beyond even his achievements. –Stoker Devonshire, The Spectator

• It’s a great story, well told. –Daily Racing Forum

About the Author – Brough Scott has covered racing for many years, broadcasting for ITV and Channel 4, as well as co-founding the Racing Post. Voted Best Racing Journalist of the Year 2010, he has written numerous books, including Of Horses and Heroes and Galloper Jack.

Sir Henry Richard Amherst Cecil (11 January 1943 – 11 June 2013) was a British flat racing horse trainer. Cecil was very successful, becoming Champion Trainer ten times and training 25 domestic Classic winners. These comprised 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 1000 Guineas and Oaks successes 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.