Blast From The Past: Ebor

"The major handicaps are an integral part of the tradition of British racing, providing magnificent visual and betting entertainment. Anyone doubting the importance of the contribution they make to the sport should have been at Newmarket when Sergeant Cecil won the totesport Cesarewitch. The six other races on the Champions Day programme were all pattern events but the reception accorded to Sergeant Cecil on his return to the winner's enclosure eclipsed that given to any of the other winners on the day."

So began the essay on the Rod Millman-trained Sergeant Cecil in Racehorses of 2005. But why was the then six-year-old's Cesarewitch success so well received? His essay went on to explain...

"Sergeant Cecil carried 9-8 and started 10/1 third favourite in a field of thirty-four for the Cesarewitch and his victory enabled him to complete a treble never achieved before in the same season in the Northumberland Plate, the Ebor and the Cesarewitch, all handicaps with long historical associations. Sergeant Cecil's win and place earnings were £344,245, a seasonal record for a handicapper in Britain and a figure that gave him third place in the table of earnings in Britain, behind only Derby winner Motivator and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Azamour."

The biggest contributor to Sergeant Cecil's impressive prize money haul in 2005 was the £130,000 he earned for winning the Ebor Handicap, the richest race of its type in Europe, and the middle leg of his unprecedented treble. Sergeant Cecil had followed his Northumberland Plate victory with a good third at Glorious Goodwood, but was not all that fancied for the betting highlight at York's then three-day Ebor Festival, starting at 11/1 under Alan Munro. With no three-year-olds in a 20-strong field, there was a shortage of obviously progressive types in the race, and it was Balkan Knight, who had finished one place ahead of Sergeant Cecil at Goodwood, who went off the 9/2 favourite, ahead of the John Smith's Cup runner-up Crow Wood (8/1), the smart Irish raider Orpington (9/1) and the Old Newton Cup winner Zeitgeist.

Soon taking a good hold having been dropped out from a high draw, Sergeant Cecil showed a deal of speed from three-out to get up inside the final furlong, the ride well judged by Munro, who was Sergeant Cecil's regular jockey before a fit on a flight to Deauville the following year put him out of action until the very latter stages of Sergeant Cecil's career. The official winning margin was a length from the 20/1 shot Carte Diamond, who, attempting to concede 9 lb to the winner, put up the weight-carrying performance of the season in a long distance handicap on Timeform ratings.

"The Ebor is the one we've really wanted to go for," explained Millman. "Last year he had a cough and couldn't go, and the year before that he wasn't high enough in the handicap. This is his 33rd race and 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."

Sergeant Cecil's popularity was such at the time that he was awarded the prize for Horse of the Year at the Racehorse Owners' Association's annual dinner in December, polling almost twice as many votes as the runner-up, the outstanding two-mile chaser Moscow Flyer. He continued to improve when stepped up to pattern company the following year, recording victories in the Lonsdale Cup, the Doncaster Cup and the Prix du Cadran. He added the Yorkshire Cup to his tally as an eight-year-old in 2007, but would never return to those heights after a lung infection later that year.