Up for auction a RARE! "Greatest Horse Trainer in History" Henry Cecil Hand Signed First Day Cover Dated 1965. This item is authenticated By Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their certificate of authenticity.

ES-6219E

Sir Henry Richard Amherst Cecil (11 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 domestic Classic winners, comprising 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 Place in Newmarket from Sir Noel 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.