steady progress and recorded his first success at his fourteenth attempt when he took a minor handicap race over one and three quarter miles at Sandown Park on 27 May. In similar events over the same course and distance he ran second on 14 June and then won again on 4 July. He was beaten on his three subsequent starts but showed good form when finishing second in the stayers' race at the Shergar Cup. As a five-year-old Sergeant Cecil continued to show solid, but unremarkable form in handicaps. He was placed in competitive events at Goodwood, Doncaster Racecourse and Haydock Park but his only success came over one and a half miles at Ascot Racecourse on 9 July. 2005: six-year-old season Alan Munro, who was returning to England after several years riding in Hong Kong, took over as Sergeant Cecil's jockey in 2005. The gelding began his season in middle-distance handicaps, finishing unplaced at Epsom in April, running second at Newbury in May and taking third place at Epsom on 4 June. Three weeks later he carried a weight of 120 pounds in the Northumberland Plate over two miles at Newcastle Racecourse and started at odds of 14/1 in a twenty-runner field. He was restrained by Munro in the early stages but began to make rapid progress on the inside rail in the straight. He "weaved" his way through the field, overtook the front-running Tungsten Strike inside the final furlong and won by one and a half lengths. After finishing third in a handicap at Goodwood Racecourse in July, Sergeant Cecil was one of twenty horses to contest the Ebor Handicap over one and three quarter miles at York on 17 August when he carried 124 pounds and started at odds of 11/1. In a repeat of the tactics employed at Newcastle, he came from well of the pace, "squeezed" though a narrow gap in the straight and won by a length from the top weight Carte Diamond. Alan Munro said Munro said: "We had a good run today. It took me a while to get in early but once I did they went a real steady pace and that really helped. He has got a great turn of foot and got there when he needed to". In September Sergeant Cecil was moved up in class for the Group 2 Doncaster Cup and finished second of the seven runners