HELLO PUNTERS:- Over the last two years or so, the resurgence of the Newmarket stable of Henry Cecil has been one of the most pleasing developments in the racing world. This very talented trainer had been one of the leading lights during the eighties and nineties, when he racked up a string of big race successes, Group races and Classic races galore, which incidentally included two Epsom Derby winners, Slip Anchor ('85), and Reference Point ('87).

All of this brought Cecil straight to the top of the tree, with a golden future seeming to be right there in the palms of his talented hands. The vagaries of any sporting career, and a person's hold on success is only tenuous at the best of times, for the dark clouds of trouble and ill-luck began to appear for Cecil over the horizon, bringing first of all domestic problems, and culminating in bouts of serious illness.

All of this of course affected Cecil's capacity to maintain his own established standard, so that in a relatively short time some of his most powerful owners lost heart and took their horses out of his stable, leaving him with but a handful of middle of the road horses. For around four seasons Cecil seemed to be just paddling along at the bottom of the cage, so to speak, until he finally came to terms with himself and sorted things out. The old training verve was soon evident, with the result that the stable began to turn out winners again, proving that the old Cecil magic was still there. Gradually, over a period of time, most of his previous patrons drifted back to the stable fold, so much so that at the present time the Cecil brand of artistry is challenging strongly for all of the top prizes again.

Did you know that it is six years since Henry Cecil trained his last Royal Ascot winner, Burning Sun, in the 2002 Hampton Court Stakes, but with the ammunition he now has at his disposal, he should easily redress the balance at the Royal meeting this week. Two of his main chances should lie with Tranquil Tiger and Twice Over, both of which have been running with the best all season. Good to have you back at the top, Henry!

When speaking of Cecil, the name of Steve Cauthen just has to surface, for he was the jockey that was associated with the unstoppable Cecil bandwagon all those years ago. Cauthen, known in the United States as "The Kid", came to Britain at just eighteen years of age to ride for Cecil, and incidentally won on his very first mount, Marquee Universal, at Salisbury, and then went on to set the racing world alight with his exploits.