Racing Hall of Famer Cigar Dead at 24

Racing Hall of Famer Cigar Dead at 24

By Frank Angst, October 8, 2014 10:25 AM

 

Each April 18, Maryland's Country Life Farm puts out a sign wishing Cigar a happy birthday, and fans stop by for photos and leave cards and gifts at the farm where the Racing Hall of Famer was born.

Today, fans have told the Fallston, Md., farm they plan to leave notes and gifts in tribute to Cigar.

Cigar died at age 24 Oct. 7, in Lexington. Country Life Farm broodmare manager Christy Holden said the Kentucky Horse Park called with the news the morning of Oct. 8. Details about Cigar's passing are still being gathered, but Kentucky Horse Park officials said he'd undergone surgery on a bothersome neck Oct. 7 and during his recovery things went south at about 6:30 p.m.

"I think it mystified everybody," said Country Life Farm co-owner Mike Pons.

Cigar had resided at the Kentucky Horse Park Hall of Champions since 1999.

A homebred for Allen Paulson and trained by Bill Mott, with Jerry Bailey as his regular rider, Cigar retired as the richest Thoroughbred in United States racing history with $9,999,815 in earnings. Curlin   is the only U.S.-based horse to pass that mark.

Cigar's 16-race win streak from 1994-96 included victories in the Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) and Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I). In all, the son of Palace Music—Solar Slew, by Seattle Slew, won 15 stakes including 11 grade I/group I scores.

Cigar earned Horse of the Year honors in 1995 and 1996, and was named champion older horse each of those years.

"He was definitely one of a kind. It sort of launched us onto the national map just being named with him," Holden said. "We didn't have a big part in his racing career but we gave him a start in life. Having him here his first few months was a big deal."

Mike Pons said, "It was like a meteorite landed here.

"It's really cool to have a little piece of one of the greatest horses of all time. It's a huge thing. That was really a fun ride to see him win 16 in a row and go to Dubai and win the first Dubai World Cup. All the things he did generated so much positive energy, publicity, and attention for horse racing. He was like a big magnet. We could use one like him today."

In Cigar's 1995 Breeders' Cup Classic win at Belmont Park, he edged L'Carriere by 2 1/2 lengths. Five months after that win, he would take the Dubai World Cup by a half-length over Soul of the Matter.

Cigar won 18 of 32 career stars and placed second or third in nine other efforts. He twice won the Woodward Stakes (gr. I) at Belmont Park, the Donn Handicap (gr. I) at Gulfstream Park, and the Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs. 

His win streak came to an end when he finished second to Dare and Go in the 1996 Pacific Classic Stakes (gr. I) at Del Mar. Cigar would close out his career with a third-place finish that season in the Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) at Woodbine. Cigar's 15 stakes wins came at eight different tracks.

Cigar stood at Ashford Stud in 1997 but because of fertility issues, he failed as a stallion and did not sire a single starter. He moved to the Kentucky Horse Park in 1999.