Sir Henry Cecil

Sir Henry Cecil, who has died of stomach cancer aged 70, was a popular and lauded racehorse trainer who dominated racing in the 1980s and 90s. His stables produced some of the best- remembered winners such as Slip Anchor, Reference Point, Oh So Sharp and Indian Skimmer. His achievements include 10 champion trainer titles, 25 British Classic winners and an unequalled 75 victories at Royal Ascot. After a lean and difficult period, in recent years he had found again success with the great Frankel, who many consider the best horse in the world.

Cecil was born Henry Richard Amherst Cecil in Aberdeen. His mother, Rohays, was the daughter of a baronet; his father Henry was a member of the Parachute Regiment and was killed in action in North Africa.

After Henry's death, the family moved from their home, Crathes Castle in Aberdeenshire, to Wickhambrook, near Newmarket, where Rohays met and married the Royal trainer Cecil Boyd-Rochfort. In the early 1960s, when Henry was 21, he started off as assistant to his stepfather and took charge on his retirement in 1968. A year later he was celebrating his first major success as Wolver Hollow gained the Eclipse at Sandown.

As the years went on, things got even better. He recorded a first Classic in 1973 when Cloonagh took the Irish 1000 Guineas, and three years later he was champion trainer for the first time. Other landmarks include 1987 when he trained a record-breaking 180 winners.

By this point, Cecil, with his dapper Hermes ties, Gucci loafers and self-deprecating personality, had become a popular figure who inspired fervent support from the public. He was known for his quirky hobbies (growing obscure varieties of peas and roses and collecting lead soldiers) but he became known for endless patience with temperamental fillies as he waited for them to peak. By the 1980s, when Lester Piggott and the great American Steve Cauthen were riding for him, he could do little wrong in the eyes of the ordinary punter.

Cecil always had distaste for handicaps and was quite outspoken about the way they could encourage cheating, but his runners were always liked because of the honesty in which they were campaigned.

Of course there were low moments. In 1966, he had married Julie Murless, daughter of the trainer Sir Noel Murless, taking over the stables at Warren Place, Newmarket, and for many years they were a formidable team. But when the marriage ended in divorce, the couple ran rival stables and Cecil married Natalie Payne.

Later, Sheikh Mohammed removed all of his horses from Cecil's Warren Place which had a big impact in the long run. Cecil was also banned from driving for five years for drink driving.

Then in 1999 there was the acrimonious split and subsequent out of court settlement with his then retained jockey Kieren Fallon.

Personal issues undoubtedly took their toll, and his twin brother, David, died at the age of 57 in 2000. David, who also had a career as a trainer, was born 10 minutes after his sibling.

With the passing of some of his great old owner-breeders, Cecil spent most of the noughties in the doldrums. The horse numbers dwindled; the media speculated about imminent retirement.

But all of a sudden, in 2006 he was back with 25 British winners. A first Group prize in four years came when the unfurnished Multidimensional won decisively at Deauville. Then in November, a first Group One winner in six as Passage Of Time landed the Criterium de Saint-Cloud.

Cecil's Group One flag, an heirloom apparently given to an ancestor by Robert the Bruce in 1323, was back flying in Newmarket.

Passage Of Time's victory seemed to kickstart a renaissance, with stablemate Light Shift providing a watershed moment the following year.

Her victory in the Oaks at Epsom prompted scenes of jubilation amongst the crowds, with the reception Cecil received leaving him, and plenty of others too, visibly moved.

That win was to prove the tip of the iceberg though, with Twice Over developing into a multiple Group One winner, adding two Champion Stakes and an Eclipse to Cecil's already admirable tally.

Midday then developed into a top-level competitor and despite Cecil's well-known ambivalence to American racing, her Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf victory in 2009 doubtless gave him plenty of pleasure.

However, it was the superstar Frankel who was to provide the most fitting finale to what had been a stellar training career.

Earmarked for greatness from the moment he was named in honour of the late American handler Bobby Frankel, the Galileo colt has hardly disappointed.

His runaway 2000 Guineas success was merely the beginning of his legacy and Cecil's handling of the former tearaway has been perfect.

With four Group Ones wins as a three-year-old, it briefly looked as though Frankel's career could be over when he suffered an injury scare earlier this year.

However, Cecil employed his usual calm and patient approach, nursing the colt back to full fitness to once again annihilate his rivals in the Lockinge at Newbury before a spine-tingling 11-length verdict at Royal Ascot.

Victories in the Sussex Stakes, the Juddmonte International and the Champion Stakes followed, after which he retired to stud with an unblemished 14-race record. The colt will stand as an excellent tribute to Cecil's abilities.

Cecil, who was knighted in 2011, found personal happiness in his later years, marrying his one-time secretary Jane McKeown in 2008.

He is survived by Jane, two children from his first marriage, Katie and Noel, and son Jake from his second marriage.