Trainer Ben Cecil, trainer of 2002 champion turf female Golden Apples, has died at the age of 56.
Cecil died Nov. 29 after a lengthy battle with cancer.
A native of England, Cecil is the nephew of legendary British horseman Henry Cecil, conditioner of European superstar Frankel . Cecil moved to the United States in the early '90s and worked as an assistant to trainers Gary Jones and Rodney Rash before launching his own stable in 1996. Based primarily in Southern California, Cecil trained the winners of 325 races for earnings of $24.9 million. His stable enjoyed its finest season in 1998, when his runners amassed more than $2 million in earnings.
Widely regarded for his success with turf fillies, Gary Tanaka's Golden Apples was the best runner to come under Cecil's care. Group-placed in Ireland as a 3-year-old, the daughter of Pivotal was sent to Cecil's barn in the summer of 2001 and responded with an electrifying late-running victory in the Del Mar Oaks (G1T). The win was just one of three grade 1s for Golden Apples, who would land the Eclipse Award for champion turf female the following year after capturing the 2002 Yellow Ribbon Stakes (G1T), Beverly D. Stakes (G1T), and Santa Ana Handicap (G2T).
Golden Apples retired in 2003 at the age of 5 with a torn suspensory. The consistent performer posted a final record of 6-6-2 from 16 starts and a bankroll of $1,672,583.
"I'm devastated," Cecil told BloodHorse in 2003. "This was really going to be her year, after her surgery and with the Breeders' Cup being at home at Santa Anita. We had it all planned out. But it was a great ride and I still have her Eclipse Award as a reminder. She really was a great horse and I'm going to miss her tremendously."
Brought under the hammer at the 2003 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, she sold to Shadwell Estate for $3.4 million.
Other top-level scorers trained by Cecil include grade 1 winners Squeak, Donna Viola, and Passinetti as well as graded stakes winners Queenie Belle, Worldly, and Hal's Pal.
Cecil saddled his last winner as recently as Nov. 8, when the Reddam Racing-owned 2-year-old Look Forward triumphed in his debut against maiden special weight company at Del Mar.
"As a trainer, you're learning every day. You learn from your mistakes. Every horse is different," Cecil told writer Steve Schuelein in a 2013 edition of North American Trainer. "The thing is you never stop learning. There is a different challenge every day. That's what makes it fun."
Cecil is survived by his wife Kristy and two children, Francesca and Hugo.
