Sergeant Cecil (foaled 2 May 1999 – ) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. Sold very cheaply as a foal, he was a slow-maturing stayer who showed unremarkable form in his first four seasons and took fourteen attempts to win his first race. As a six-year-old in 2005 he made rapid improvement and completed a unique treble in handicap races when he won the Northumberland Plate, Ebor Handicap and Cesarewitch Handicap. In the following year he made a successful transition to weight-for-age races, taking the Lonsdale Cup, Doncaster Cup and Prix du Cadran. He was never as good again, but recorded a final major victory in the 2007 Yorkshire Cup. He was an example of a "hold up" horse who typically dropped to the back of the field before coming with a late charge in the closing stages. Background Sergeant Cecil was a chestnut with a white blaze and four white socks horse bred in Dorset by Don Hazzard. When the foal was six months old he was purchased privately by Terry Cooper for £1,000 with a further £400 to be paid if he won two races. Cooper named the horse after his father, Sergeant Cecil Edward Cooper. The colt was gelded and sent into training with Seamus Mullins. The trainer's stable groom Lou Griffin remembered him as "very cheeky, never nasty, but very cocksure, very much the big I am... He was always doing something you’d want to stop him doing". He was the most successful racehorse sired by King's Signet, a sprinter who recorded his biggest win in the Stewards' Cup. Sergeant Cecil's dam Jadidh was a durable mare who contested 66 races and won seven times over hurdles. She was descended from Rockfoil, a half-sister to Rockfel. Racing career Early career Sergeant Cecil ran twice as juvenile in 2001, and showed no racing ability as he finished unplaced in maiden races at Kempton Park Racecourse on 24 September and Bath Racecourse a week later, starting at odds of 100/1 on both occasions. In the following year the gelding failed to make any impression in his first four races, running unplaced in minor staying events. After being transferred to the Devon stable of Rod Millman in late summer he showed some improvement without managing to win a race as he ran second twice and third once in his remaining five starts of the season. In 2003 the gelding made