Noble Mission provided a memorable victory for the Cecil family by beating Al Kazeem to finish first in the Champion Stakes at Ascot on Saturday.
The horse’s brother Frankel, trained by the late Henry Cecil, ended his exceptional career by winning the same race at Ascot, south-west of London, two years ago.
Cecil, one of the outstanding English trainers of his generation, died a few months later but his widow, Jane Cecil, took over at his Warren Place yard.
Ridden by James Doyle, Noble Mission (7/1) was pushed all the way to the line by Al Kazeem but hung on to win by a neck in the feature race of the fourth Champions Day meeting.
Afterwards, an elated Jane Cecil said: “I was interviewed before the race, which I didn’t really want to do, and I said it would be a fairytale.
“That’s what it feels like to me. We hardly dared to dream. We knew he was in great shape but it was a tough race.
“What makes it so much more special, being Frankel’s brother. A year ago, who would have thought Noble would have been here today winning the Champion Stakes?
“It was nerve-wracking, that last little bit. James rode a brilliant race. I had my head in my hands because I didn’t think he would hang on, but he was so brave.”
– ‘Unbelievable story’ –
Noble Mission, owned as was Frankel by Prince Khaild Abdullah, was cheered to the echo upon returning to the winner’s enclosure and Cecil said: “I know a lot of that was for Henry, it’s so wonderful. You can still feel all the love that everyone has for Henry.”
Teddy Grimthorpe, Abdullah’s racing manager, added: “What a happy day — it’s the emotions of the whole thing — with Jane, and the history of Champions Day with Henry, and the brother of Frankel.
“It’s just an unbelievable story.
“He’s matured mentally and physically. I wanted to actually run in a race in America, but the Prince said ‘No, save him for Champions Day’.”
Cirrus des Aigles (7/4 favourite), a former winner back for a fourth tilt, was only fifth but the fact he won £36,550 ($58,824, 46,105 euros) on Saturday saw him become the record European prizemoney winner.
He went into the stalls just £30,000 adrift of previous record-holder the now retired Gloria De Campeao, who racegoers in Europe would be hard pressed to remember as most of his winnings came from victory in the Dubai World Cup.
Cirrus des Aigles has an impressive record in this race, having won in 2011 before finishing runner-up in 2012 and 2013 to Frankel and Farhh respectively.
Christophe Soumillon, Cirrus des Aigles’ longtime jockey, was not too despondent about the horse’s relatively disappointing performance in this year’s renewal.
“He had a good run but unfortunately I didn’t have any power when I came into the straight,” Soumillion said.
“It was a run for nothing, it just happens sometimes with horses. The ground was not to blame.”