#Old Vic

A life described as'the true stuff of legends' was remembered as some of the biggest names of British racing rubbed shoulders with ordinary punters at Sir Henry Cecil's memorial service at Ely Cathedral. That such an eclectic congregation of just over 1000 joined with Cecil's family to pay tribute to a horseracing great was hugely appropriate. No…

Sorrow enveloped Warren Place stables in Newmarket on Tuesday after Sir Henry Cecil finally lost his long battle with cancer at the age of 70. But it was matched by a determination from his staff to deliver a winning tribute to their beloved boss at next week's Royal Ascot. They were told that Cecil had died at a private Cambridge hospital after…

BLOODSTOCK agent and ace talent spotter Tom Malone spent £5200 at the Tattersalls Ireland Ascot Summer Sale six years ago on the five-year-old Coole Cody, who had earlier won a point-to-point at Kildorrery by 20 lengths from one other finisher. He could hardly have envisaged that his cheap purchase, bred by Timmy Considine, would go on to win four…

BRED by Tony Slattery at his Milltown Britton Stud, the eight-year-old Noah And The Ark (Vinnie Roe) earned blacktype last weekend in some style, running out a nine-length winner of the Grade 1 Lonesome Glory Hurdle at Aqueduct. This success followed a 16-month layoff, and the Todd McKenna owned and trained Noah And The Ark took the honours at the…

Bloodstock expert Nancy Sexton ranks the stallions who have left the most indelible mark in the last 100 years. Today: the top five Nearctic - Natalma (Native Dancer) Stood: Windfields Farm, Canada; Windfields Farm, Maryland, USA Northern Dancer was a game changer as far as the industry was concerned, and not just in North America but Europe as…