The Racing Post books teams descended on Lords
Cricket Ground on Wednesday evening for the annual British Sports Book Awards.
We were thrilled that Brough Scott’s Henry
Cecil: Trainer of Genius picked up best Racing Book.
The book is an absolute masterpiece, and
critically acclaimed as one of the best racing books ever written. I sent Brough an email yesterday which said:
“If HRAC is up there feeding hip
berries to his fillies he will surely have realised by now that you
immortalised him in a way that nothing else ever could.”
If you haven’t
read the book, you simply must – the way Brough writes and the homage he pays
to Henry’s genius, whilst at the same time not shirking some of the disasters
along the way, is pure literary brilliance.
I finished
my email to Brough by saying:
“Incidentally, I still have the
rose petals in a sherry glass in my office that he gave me the first time I
went to WP - although I do not have the courgette he also gave me..!”
I shall
always treasure those memories of spending time with Henry, him showing me proudly
round his beloved rose garden, and being on the reciprocating end of his wit
and kindness. He had such an extraordinary
gift with both people and horses, and when you were with him, you always had
this sense that you were in the presence of someone special.
He was not a flawless man, but he was a great one.
He was not a flawless man, but he was a great one.
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