The 'unconquerable' Cigar dead at 24

Cigar had been under the care of a team of veterinarians from the Hagyard

Equine Medical Institute and Rood and Riddle. The team of veterinarians and

surgeons had deemed that spinal surgery was the only option to relieve the

pressure and ensure the highest quality of life for the horse.

"Cigar had been suffering from a cervical spine instability for which

conservative medical therapies could no longer halt the disease's progressive

nature," said Dr. Rocky M. Mason, of the Hagyard Equine Medical Institute. "The

decision to seek out a more lasting treatment modality was made. Surgery is

never an easy decision in a 24-year-old horse, but Cigar had proven himself a

regal, classy and determined patient making the decision to proceed an easier

one."

Surgical correction was performed by a team led by Dr. Brett Woodie, of Rood

and Riddle, Dr. Laura Werner, of Hagyard Equine, and Dr. Steve Reed, of Rood and

Riddle who pioneered the special procedure performed.

"Cigar developed a compression of his spinal cord in the lower part of his

neck," Dr. Reed said. "The most severe compression was between cervical vertebra

6 and 7, with additional compression between cervical vertebra 5 and 6. This was

an acquired problem related to arthritis, and bony remodeling in the neck. The

severity of this spinal cord compression became so problematic that all parties

were left with few options, the best one being surgery. This was a significant

surgery involving a prolonged recovery. Unfortunately, during recovery Cigar

suffered a vertebral fracture and passed away."

Bred and campaigned by the late Allen Paulson, and reared by the Seattle Slew

mare Solar Slew, Cigar was originally trained by Alex Hassinger and based in

Southern California. Despite winning on dirt at Hollywood Park in his second

start, in May of his three-year-old season, logic dictated that the son of

Palace Music, a Grade/Group 1 winner in England and the U.S. as well as a

Breeders' Cup Mile runner-up, would pursue a career on turf.

Cigar eventually won one of his seven grass starts for Hassinger and placed

in a pair of Grade 3 events: the Ascot Handicap at Bay Meadows and Volante

Handicap at Santa Anita.

At four, Cigar was relocated to the barn of future Hall of Famer Bill Mott in

New York. After placing just twice in four turf attempts, Mott made what would

ultimately be considered a historic decision to return Cigar to the main track.

On October 28, 1994 at Aqueduct, in a one-mile allowance, Cigar cruised by eight

lengths and a winning streak that would enthrall the sporting world was born.

Cigar concluded 1994 with another emphatic victory over the Big A's one-turn

mile, taking the NYRA Mile (later renamed in honor of Cigar) by seven lengths.

Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey was aboard Cigar that afternoon, and the pair

would never again be separated on the racetrack.

The win streak continued into the winter of 1995 when Cigar captured a 1

1/16-mile allowance at Gulfstream, and then stepped up in class to meet reigning

Horse of the Year Holy Bull in the Donn Handicap. Cigar opened up a two-length

lead on the champion, but the clash between the two future Hall of Famers ended

prematurely as Holy Bull went lame down the backside and was pulled up with a

career-ending injury.

The proverbial torch was passed in the Donn from Holy Bull to Cigar, who went

on to win by 5 1/2 lengths. The wins kept piling up as the season progressed as

Cigar took his show on the road from coast to coast, scoring with relative ease:

the Gulfstream Park Handicap by 7 1/2 lengths, the Oaklawn Handicap by 2 1/2

lengths, the Pimlico Special by 2 1/4 lengths, the Massachusetts Handicap by

four lengths, the Hollywood Gold Cup by 3 1/2 lengths, the Woodward by 2 3/4

lengths, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup by one length.

Virtually assured of an older male and Horse of the Year title by late

October, Cigar's main focus now was attempting to become the first horse since

Spectacular Bid in 1980 to win the latter championship having gone through an

undefeated season. On a cold, blustery day at Belmont Park, Cigar warmed the

hearts of a disappointingly low crowd with a 2 1/2-length victory in the

Breeders' Cup Classic, his ninth victory of the season and his fourth over 1 1/4

miles.

Perhaps most remembered about that Breeders' Cup Classic was the

recently-retired announcer Tom Durkin's pronouncement as Cigar crossed the wire:

"And here he is: The unconquerable, invincible, unbeatable Cigar!"

Cigar's title defense in 1996 kicked off with a second victory in the Donn

Handicap, under 128 pounds. His next start occurred in the inaugural running of

the Dubai World Cup, then worth $4 million and contested at Nad al Sheba.

Overcoming a trip half way across the world, the desert heat, and a deep, tiring

surface, Cigar turned in perhaps his most courageous effort by repelling

American rival Soul of the Matter by a half-length in a time of 2:03 4/5.

Given adequate time to recuperate, Cigar returned to action to take the

Massachusetts Handicap for a second time, under 130 pounds. By this point, with

15 wins in a row, Cigar was clearly a hot commodity, and racetracks across the

country were doing everything possible to entice Team Cigar to bring the great

horse to their track to race.

As it had a generation earlier in the wake of Secretariat's Triple Crown bid,

Arlington Park in Chicago stepped up to the plate by presenting the $1 million

Arlington Citation Challenge, a nationally televised vehicle for Cigar to equal

Citation's modern-day record of 16 wins in a row by a major champion. An odds-on

choice in a field of 10 that also included the leading three-year-old

Unbridled's Song, Cigar did not did disappoint the huge throng with an

off-the-pace victory by 3 1/2 lengths and his second in a row under a 130-pound

impost.

The stage was now set for Cigar to break Citation's record, and the race

chosen by Cigar's connections was the Pacific Classic at Del Mar, a

weight-for-age event which entitled Cigar to carry only 124 pounds. A

then-record Del Mar crowd of more than 44,000, as well as millions on national

television, tuned in to see history in the making.

Unfortunately for the large audience, both on and off track, Cigar's streak

ended in the 1 1/4-mile race. Tracking much closer to the pace than usual

through very fast splits of :45 4/5, 1:09 1/5, and 1:33 3/5, Cigar had little

left to withstand the Richard Mandella-trained Dare and Go, who opened up in the

stretch to win by 3 1/2 lengths while an obviously tired Cigar trudged home

second, seven lengths ahead of third-place Siphon.

Cigar got back on the winning track a month later in the Woodward at Belmont,

taking that nine-furlong test for a second year in a row by four lengths.

However, the champion concluded his career with two more losses, albeit narrow

ones.

In the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Cigar just failed to catch eventual

three-year-old champion and future Hall of Famer Skip Away by a head. Three

weeks later, in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Woodbine, Cigar again couldn't

muster a winning rally after making a five-wide bid, but only fell a neck short

of the California-based Alphabet Soup, with Preakness winner Louis Quatorze

finishing in between them.

Despite setbacks in three of his final four outings, Cigar was again voted

champion older male and Horse of the Year in 1996. During the course of the

season, Cigar surpassed Alysheba as North America's all-time leading money

winner, and at year's end his career ledger stood at 33-19-4-5, $9,999,815. The

earnings mark stood until 2008 when Curlin cracked the $10 million barrier.

Cigar proved infertile soon after entering stud and was pensioned at the

Kentucky Horse Park. He will be buried alongside fellow Hall of Famers Forego,

John Henry, and Alysheba at the Park's Memorial Walk of Champions.

"Cigar was an incredible horse who left an everlasting mark on the racing

world," said Ted Nicholson, interim executive director of the Kentucky Horse

Park. "We are honored that Cigar was able to spend so many years of his life

here at the park where he was visited by so many fans and will always be

remembered."

A public memorial service will be held for Cigar at a future date, yet to be

determined.