Home > Cigar (horse)

A product of Maryland's oldest thoroughbred breeding farm, Cigar was the grandson of The Minstrel who was the son of the greatest sire of the second half of the 20th century, Northern Dancer. Out of the mare Solar Slew, who in turn was a daughter of the 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, Cigar had the credentials to become a great race horse but it took a few years for his greatness to materialize.

Cigar did not race as a two year old and under trainer Alex Hassinger, he made an unsuccessful debut in early 1993 in a six furlong race on a dirt track in California. After gaining his first win a few months later, his trainer switched him to racing on grass but the horse proved mediocre at best. The following year, his owner had Cigar shipped to an east-coast trainer, Bill Mott who gave the horse the first half of the year off, only bringing him back to racing in July. After more disappointing results it was decided to give the horse one more try racing on dirt and on his first time back, Cigar made an astonishing about face, winning easily against quality competition.

For the following year's racing season, Cigar proved to be the best horse in North America, winning all ten major races he entered under jockey Jerry Bailey who capped off the year with an October victory in the $3 million U.S. Breeders' Cup Classic while setting a stakes record of 1:59 2/5 for the 1 1/4 mile distance. That year, Cigar was voted 1995 Champion Older Male and the most prestigious honor of all, Horse of the YearHorse of the Year is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. It has been awarded since 1887 to the horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year is deemed the most outstanding. In 1936, the American Daily Raci.

In 1996, Cigar continued his winning ways including traveling more than 6,000 miles to earn a victory in the inaugural Dubai World CupThe Dubai World Cup is a thoroughbred horse race event held annually since 1996 at the Nad Al Sheba Racecourse, 10 minutes away from the city centre of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The race was the creation of Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, emir of Dubai, in DubaiDubai or Dubayy (in Arabic: ) is both one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates on the Arabian Peninsula, and the main city of the emirate, sometimes called "Dubai City" if necessary to distinguish. The emir of Dubai is H. Sheikh Mak, United Arab EmiratesThe United Arab Emirates is an oil-rich desert country situated in the south-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia, comprising seven emirates: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Qaiwain. Before 1971, they were with a purse of $5 million. During the season, Cigar matched the accomplishment of the great Triple Crown champion CitationCitation ( April 11, 1945 August 8, 1970) was a thoroughbred American horse-racing champion. Owned and bred by Calumet Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, Citation was a bay colt, the son of Bull Lea and the mare, Hydroplane II. Trained by Jimmy Jones, Citation that had stood for almost fifty years by winning his 16th race in a row in the Arlington Citation Challenge. He went on to earn his second straight Champion Older Male and Horse of the Year honors.

Cigar was retired to stud at the end of the 1996 racing season as the richest thoroughbred in history, with earnings of $9,999,815. Ceremonies were held at Madison Square GardenMadison Square Garden has been the name of four arenas in New York City, United States. The first two were located at Madison Square, thus the name. Subsequently a new 20,000-seat Garden was built at 50th Street and 8th Avenue, and the current Garden is s to honor the horse that captured the imagination of racing fans more than any horse since the incomparable SecretariatSecretariat ( March 30, 1970 October 4, 1989) was an American thoroughbred race horse (Sire: Bold Ruler; Dam: Somethingroyal), born at Meadow Farms Stables in Caroline County, Virginia. Trained by Canadian Lucien Laurin and ridden by fellow Canadian jocke. Further accolades came when he was named the Racehorse of the Decade of the 1990s, and in 2002 he was inducted in his first year of eligibility into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of FameThe National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. Each spring, following the tabulation of the final votes, the announcem. In the Blood-Horse magazine ranking of the top 100 thoroughbred champions of the 20th Century, Cigar was ranked #18.

Infertile, today Cigar lives at the Kentucky Horse Park's Hall of Champions in Lexington.