Paris: The first Group 1 win, Prix du Cadran 2006

The 2006 Prix du Cadran (GROUP 1) in various stages, and Sergeant Cecil after
all photos: Jim Clark

After being held at the back of the pack -in fact many thought Frankie left it too late- Sergeant Cecil starts to arrive on the scene

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Frankie has timed ....

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... his challenge to perfection , and wins "going away" in the end; with The Cecil seemingly still on the bridle

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The winning pair is coming back, towards the packed stands, and an admiring crowd

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Cantering home

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Arc-Day has a special magic about it, undeniable even more so ever since the Group 1 spectacles have been moved to one day, the sunday. The new racing schedule meant that the Stayers would be first, so the day would start with a bang. With a crowd of an estimated 60,000 including about 15,000 frantic japanese Deep-Impact fan´s, the stage was set for greater things, and even though no doubt the japanese fraction will have left Longchamp with something to rue, there was no rueing and no dry eye after the Prix du Cadran was over. Sergeant Cecils fairytale story continued in such wonderful fashion, with England´s darling-jockey Frankie Dettori giving the horse yet another powerfull and clever ride; we held our breath and thought he left it too late, but Frankie knew better; in fact The Cecil seemed to be still on the bridle when crossing the line. Horse and jockey came back for a reception to remember, and even if the Arc itself did not exactly turn out as many will have hoped, the memory of this little golden chestnut will stay with us forever. It was -again- a little piece of racing history for all involved!

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Published: RACINGPOST 02/10/2006 (Sport) Graham Dench reports

Horse Racing: WHAT A HORSE WHAT A STORY!

FRANKIE DETTORI numbers three Arc victories among countless Group 1 wins at Longchamp, but he had never experienced anything like the roar that erupted as Sergeant Cecil began to take off in yesterday's Prix du Cadran.
Sergeant Cecil looked in trouble when pushed along at the back of the field on the home turn, and victory still looked unlikely when he edged into third entering the final furlong, with three lengths or more to make up. But he suddenly took off and, having swept past Le Miracle and Shamdala about 50 yards from the line, was already being eased down as he passed the post with a cosy three-quarters of a length to spare.
It was an extraordinary sight to behold at the end of such a marathon affair, and the scale of the achievement - Sergeant Cecil was former jump jockey Rod Millman's first Group 1 winner - was clearly not lost on the jockey, who milked the situation as he was led back into the winner's enclosure and rewarded the hordes of Brits with the most extravagant of flying dismounts.
Dettori, now three from three on the seven-year-old since regular pilot Alan Munro was stood down, said: "Did you hear the roar out there? I thought it was going to be tight and then he suddenly picked up. It's a great start for the Brits and they were all on. I could hear them all roaring for 'The Sergeant' and it felt like they were all pushing me on. I've never known anything like it, and I think he heard the crowd too. What a horse. What a story."
The story truly is an incredible one, for Sergeant Cecil was bought out of a field for less than £1,000 and did not win until he was four. Munro was plainly the making of him and guided him through an unprecedented hat-trick in the nation's most valuable staying handicaps last year before partnering him in a series of solid efforts in Group company until his recent enforced absence.
Dettori did not forget his colleague, agreeing that Munro "made the horse" and wishing him a speedy recovery, but it was Millman, paying his first visit to Longchamp and saddling only his third runner in a Group 1, who spelled out Munro's part in the story.
"Alan gave the horse the confidence to show his full ability after he'd been partnered by a lot of different jockeys. He soon got the hang of riding him and he rode him brilliantly, and now Frankie's got on him and ridden him brilliantly too. It's such a shame Alan's not here, but if it's up to me he'll be his ride again if he comes back."
Munro, awaiting a review of his condition, will be heartened to hear that owner Terry Cooper echoed Millman's sentiments. Cooper said: "If Alan comes back, of course the ride will be his again."
Result Prix du Cadran
1 Sergeant Cecil Frankie Dettori 2-1f
2 Shamdala Christophe Soumillon 9-1
3 Le Miracle Dominique Boeuf 11-4
Owner Terry Cooper
Trainer Rod Millman
Groom Sue Davey
Breeder D E Hazzard
Distances 3/4 1, 1/2 1

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Published: RACINGPOST 03/10/2006 (Sport) By Tony Elves

Horse Racing: Connections eyeing Prix Royal-Oak for Cadran hero Cecil

SERGEANT CECIL may chase more Group 1 glory in France in the Prix Royal-Oak this month after raising the roof at Longchamp on Sunday.
The seven-year-old added another chapter to his amazing story with a magnificent victory in the Prix du Cadran.
In 2005, he made history by becoming the first horse to win the Northumberland Plate, Ebor and Cesarewitch in the same year, and this season he had already landed the Group 2 Lonsdale Cup and Doncaster Cup before his French success.
Trainer Rod Millman was yesterday considering taking his stable star back to Paris for the French St Leger on October 22.
"If he's okay we might go for that," said Millman. "Our first impressions were he's won a Group 1 and we'll rest on that now, but there aren't going to be many races for him next year with him carrying a Group 1 penalty.
"He won't run unless we think he's A1. We'll pay the first instalment of the entry fee on Wednesday, although it will be too soon to say we're definitely going."
Next year's major objective will be the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, in which Sergeant Cecil was fifth behind Yeats in June.
"The Gold Cup is obviously the main target next year, but we might change our pattern a bit," Millman added.
"He's better when he runs regularly and he'd had quite a long break for him before Royal Ascot this season. He'll be another year older and we'll have to make sure he's still good enough but he's not gone backwards yet."
With regular rider Alan Munro sidelined, Frankie Dettori was on board for the last three wins. "He's just a fantastic horse and it's a fairytale story really with what he's done," said Dettori on Racing UK.
"Winning those big handicaps and working his way through the ranks to capture the Cadran is just amazing.
"I made a mistake at York when I grabbed hold of him and he got there too early and just idled in front."
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Published: RACINGPOST 03/10/2006 (Features)

Arc lacked impact but Sergeant Cecil did us proud - This wonderful sport

ALASTAIR DOWN

IT IS perhaps not the greatest of state secrets that, on the whole, I prefer jump racing to the antics of the Flat. But certain occasions - any meeting at York, the view from the stands at Goodwood - weaken my resolve that jumping is king.
The first Sunday in October and the Arc is another heartwarmer because the usually indifferent French turn out in force, bolstered by a serious presence from Britain and Ireland that salts and peppers the day with the seasoning of real atmosphere that French racing lacks for the rest of the year.
One of the consequences of being what my friend Paul Haigh would call a 'television tosspot' is that racegoers routinely come up to you for a chat. On Sunday I was struck by how many were at the Arc for the first time and found it a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Now, this could be a function of how many winners they had backed or how many drinks they had gulleted, but folk from Cornwall to Consett were having a good day and will almost certainly be back for more.
Compare and contrast, as the 'O' Level papers used to say, those who went to Paris with a deep-felt need to see the Japanese champion Deep Impact win the race with those who didn't give a Donald who collected. I have at least two colleagues on the Post for whom the victory of this horse would have offered more thrills and abiding joys than any combination of sex, drugs and rock 'n roll could ever produce.
Well though he ran, Deep Impact failed to do the job, much to the gut-wrenching disappointment of the almost unfeasibly vast army of Japanese supporters on hand. On the whole I agree that 'patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel', but there was something impressive - to the point of being moved - in the sheer numbers of committed Japanese on course two days ago.
We have all seen the footage of guards packing men, women and children on to trains during rush hour in Tokyo - I suspect you could have had a carriage to yourself on Sunday. Sadly, it all went wrong for them, and I can see that in 40 years' time we will read about some heroic fans of Deep Impact being found deep in the woods of the Bois de Boulogne who will need to be told "the race is over".
On reflection, Rail Link's victory was the result we did not need. That is not to belittle the horse, merely to say that we, the body politic of racing, were mostly looking for victory from Deep Impact, Shirocco or Hurricane Run.
It must also be the case that anyone who had ever regularly commuted from Essex, Kent, Surrey or Hertfordshire would rather saw their head off with a rusty blade than back some yoke with the desperate name of Rail Link.
If the Arc result was somehow unsatisfactory for headline writers, the so-called undercard was rich indeed. I carry a bit of a torch for Sergeant Cecil, who along with dual Cambridgeshire winner Baronet is the Flat horse I would most like to own.
AFTER the old trouper had won the Prix du Cadran, owner Terry Cooper and trainer Rod Millman asked me up to share a bottle of champagne or two. Sat round the table were the most down-to-earth bunch of West Country men and women you could ever ask to meet. Most of us involved with a horse as remarkable as the Sergeant would acquire some shocking airs and graces.
Not this lot.
This old bollocks of a stayer has taken them to places undreamed of by even the most fanciful of owners, yet not a moment of that spectacular odyssey has been lost on them. On that journey the racing public has become deeply involved and intertwined with a horse for whom their affection is thumpingly genuine.
The reception he received on Sunday was genuinely moving and even Frankie Dettori, no stranger to moments of magic, understood that he was playing a major role in the most special of productions. Between us all, we made Sergeant Cecil 'Horse Of The Year' in 2005, a wonderful achievement for an animal who some dismissed as a mere handicapper.
Now the mere handicapper is a Group 1 winner, and the nicest thing about it is that neither owner nor trainer think they are in any way more important than they were a year ago.
Success is a wonderful thing. Success that doesn't go to your head is a rarity.

Daily Telegraph
Mad plunge on Japanese star goes astray

By Marcus Armytage, (Filed: 02/10/2006)
Yesterday's Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe was meant to be remembered as the three-way contest between Hurricane Run, his stable- companion Shirocco and the Japanese champion Deep Impact for the title 'Heavyweight Champion of the World'. In Japan, where the race was shown live at midnight, it was the moment Japanese racing was to come of age.
Instead it will be remembered, certainly in France, as the day the Japanese came to town with truckloads of yen and bet until France's Tote, the Pari-Mutuel almost seized up. When the gates to the racecourse opened at 11.0am, hundreds of the estimated 6,000 Japanese supporters of Deep Impact headed straight to the PMU kiosks and queued patiently to back Deep Impact. With the French in less of hurry to wager, the Japanese support made their horse 1-10 for the race. He was eventually sent off the 1-2 favourite.
Mike Dillon of Ladbrokes, a man of some experience, said: "That's the most crazy betting race I've ever seen. We were laying 5-2 against in England."
As is so often the case with horses, the race did not go to script and whether the 24-1 winner – the ingloriously named Rail Link, who was trainer Andre Fabre's third-string as far as punters were concerned – is declared the best in Europe at the end of the year remains to be seen.
Deep Impact, a superstar at home, was ridden by Yutake Take, a man who enjoys Paris because he can walk down a street unhindered by fans. The pair usually sit in last place, overtake the field round the outside and then remain impassable. Yesterday, with the threat of a dawdle followed by a sprint in the afternoon sun, he was never out of the first three.
When he hit the front two and a half furlongs out, it looked as if he would be worthy of the hype heaped upon him. But whether it was because of the lack of a recent run, the adapted tactics or the difficulties of acclimatisation, that devastating final kick was lacking and he was passed close home by both Rail Link and the tough filly Pride. It will be scant consolation for the disapointed Japanese but he comfortably beat Hurricane Run (fourth) and Shirocco (last).
Yasuo Ikee, Deep Impact's trainer, put on a brave face. "It was a great performance," he said. "only the result was not the one I expected. I'm totally happy and I'd like to try again."
But while they will have gone back to bed disappointed in Tokyo, it is unlikely they will have been to bed at all in Cullompton, Devon, last night. The Sergeant Cecil story continues according to script.
Plucked from a field beside the A303, Sergeant Cecil was named after owner Terry Cooper's father because they could never afford a headstone for his grave.
Last season, he won the Northumberland Plate, Ebor and Cesarewitch. This season, at the age of seven, he has developed into a top-class stayer, and yesterday, he won the Group One Prix du Cadran under a beautifully timed ride from Frankie Dettori. Trainer Rod Millman joked: "I don't know what I was doing with the horse when he was five."
Dettori set Sergeant Cecil alight – it seemed too late – opposite the 'English' stand and a cheer went up. "I felt the roar was pushing me," said Dettori, who eventually won with something in hand and was then greeted on his return to the winner's enclosure to a cheer that would only have been surpassed yesterday had Deep Impact won the Arc.

Sergeant Cecil earns promotion with Cadran victory
The Times; From Julian Muscat at Longchamp

TO SERGEANT CECIL’s legion of fans, Frankie Dettori must be the patron saint of lost causes. Delirious scenes greeted Dettori and Britain’s most popular horse when they returned from a highly improbable triumph in the Prix du Cadran here yesterday.
Last into the straight, and with Sergeant Cecil marooned behind a wall of horses, Dettori could have been forgiven for easing down his toiling mount. The gaps opened on cue, however, as Sergeant Cecil contrived a withering rally to scythe down Shamdala and Le Miracle. The former handicapper had graduated to exalted company in cicumstances that were scarcely credible.

As a cacophony of noise greeted Dettori’s flying dismount, the jockey was intoxicated by the atmosphere. “What a horse,” Dettori enthused. “Those were the loudest cheers I have ever heard. They started in the stands as I made my move 1½ furlongs out, and they followed me all the way home. It just got louder and louder.”

No less emotional was Sergeant Cecil’s trainer, Rod Millman, who looked on with a growing sense of disbelief. “I just didn’t think it was possible to win from where he was,” Millman said. And the former jumps jockey paid Britain’s visiting hordes the ultimate compliment when he said: “It was like having a winner at the Cheltenham Festival.”

Pride radiated from Millman as he recalled how Sergeant Cecil was bought out of a field by his owner, Terry Cooper, for less than £1,000. “I suppose he will have to do it all again next year,” Millman said of the seven-year-old. “I thought he was struggling in group races this season but, typically, he has bridged the gap.”