Everyone have a beer for the birthday boy.. Cigar is 21!

[Jasonm921]

How great would it be if they could parade some of these champions right before the Derby. They could have a little segment on tv highlighting them. Of course it depends on the health of each horse but It would be a nice touch imo. Like Old Timers Day.

[garyscpa]

Originally Posted by Track Collector

I was sick too when his winning streak was ended.

Some folks may not know, but I think Cigar was named after an aviation checkpoint and not the item you smoke.

Ok, I'll have a beer and look at an aeronautical chart. I wonder when they used the word cigar in the chart what they were thinking of.

[Robert Goren]

Cigar is proof that sometimes a great horse can overcome bad connections and the breeding gurus aren't always right.

[joanied]

I still hold a grudge against Bailey...he got Cigar beat that day and like so many others...made me sick!
When Cigar won the World Cup...that has to be one of the greatest races ever!

Long live the Champ

[pandy]

To Bailey's credit, he took full blame for Cigar's loss, saying that he rode him too aggressively because he made the mistake of thinking that Cigar was invincible. That loss eats away at him because he knows he had the best horse. Classy thing to say. The interview of Jerry Bailey by Gary Stevens is very good.

[pandy]

Originally Posted by joanied

I still hold a grudge against Bailey...he got Cigar beat that day and like so many others...made me sick!
When Cigar won the World Cup...that has to be one of the greatest races ever!

Long live the Champ

That was a race I've always thought about too, tremendous. Hard to believe that in the last 20 years we've only had two horses race that can be ranked with the greatest horses of all time, Cigar and Zenyatta.

Lasix, in-breeding, illegal drugs, steroids, etc, weakening the breed, what a shame.

[joanied]

yeah, I'll give Bailey credit for that...trouble is, history won't have that under Cigar's name...I saw that interview and ol' Jerry got a litle teary eyed...as did Stevens when he went to visit Point Given, they ran the video on HRTV a while back, and Gary did get tears in his eyes...he told the colt he was sorry he screwed up in the Deby.
I think the jocks all feel sick when they know they've gotten a very good horse beat...like Mike Smith after last years Classic...they do feel deeply about the great ones that they ride...but still, for us, it just makes ya mad

Wouldn't surprise me if we don't send as many horses over to Dubia as we've done in the past...unless they excell on the fake stuff or it's on the grass.

[pandy]

It's too bad the World Cup is on in the morning and doesn't get national coverage on high def tv. Only one race, the BC Classic, can compare to it.

[joanied]

That time difference is a whopper...but it would be kinda cool for part of the card be shown on national TV over here...I think the general public would not only enjoy all the spectcle, but enjoy seeing horses from all over the world...sure wouldn't hurt to televise it...but probably never happen. I really looked foward to it evry year, but since the last two run on the fake stuff, most of the excitment has been lost...even the Classic is more like a turf race now...too lsow and bunched up until the stretch run...for me, the BC Classic is tops!

[PaceAdvantage]

Originally Posted by pandy

That was a race I've always thought about too, tremendous. Hard to believe that in the last 20 years we've only had two horses race that can be ranked with the greatest horses of all time, Cigar and Zenyatta.

Ummmmmmm......I know one who doesn't belong on that list out of those two, and the other is suspect as well in my opinion. Plus you left at least one off your list, although I know you'll disagree with me. Bet you can guess who I'm thinking of....

[keithw84]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

Ummmmmmm......I know one who doesn't belong on that list out of those two, and the other is suspect as well in my opinion. Plus you left at least one off your list, although I know you'll disagree with me. Bet you can guess who I'm thinking of....

At first I thought you meant Holy Bull, but the bolded part made me realize you must mean Rachel.

[keithw84]

It's difficult to say whether Cigar truly is an "all-time great." He certainly was among the top 2 or 3 of the 1990s, but the longer the period of time you try to examine, the higher you have to set the bar for what constitutes greatness.

I tend to think of the "greats" in two categories - the ones who were the best of their generation, and the ones who were truly transcendent... not sure we've had one of the latter since The Bid.

[pandy]

Bloodhorse ranked Cigar 18 in top 100 which seems about right. Before Zenyatta, Cigar was easily the best horse that raced in the last 20 years, no one came close. Rachel was a great 3yo but she won't go down in history with a ranking as high as either Cigar or Zenyatta because of her overall record, which simply wasn't good enough. When they update the list, I would imagine that Rachel will be in the top 100, but in the bottom 50.

Cigar won 16 races in a row, ran some very fast final times, and his 5 year old season was sensational, especially by today's standards.

[Mr_Ed]

I'm more of a Harness Racing individual, but I did go to Arlington Park on Saturday, July 13, 1996 for the Arlington Citation Challenge.

I just pulled the official souvenir program from a box after almost 15 years.

Geez, seems like yesterday.

Happy Birthday, Cigar!

[Some_One]

At least Mott/Paulson had the guts to try and take a east coast horse to win the Pacific Classic, all the Mosses had to do was travel 20 yards to the starting gate from their stall on the backstretch and still were too chicken to do that with Z.