Although Cigar was beaten in three of his last four starts, it was still something special every time he went to the track in 1996. Which is why any list of the year's top races needs to be Cigar-heavy, and this collection is no exception:
1. Dubai World Cup. For the first $4-million race, Cigar traveled to the Persian Gulf. On a balmy March evening in a setting out of the "Arabian Nights," Cigar overcame his foot problems to beat a very game Soul Of The Matter by a half-length. At Hollywood Park, where it was 7 a.m., hundreds stood in front of television sets and cheered. "It might not have been his best race, but it showed what courage he has," jockey Jerry Bailey said. Through the stretch, trainer Bill Mott counted to himself the number of training days they had lost. Before Cigar left Gulfstream Park for his 6,000-mile journey, Mott compressed a month of training into less than two weeks.
2. Kentucky Derby. Not since 1959, when Tomy Lee and Bill Shoemaker nosed out Sword Dancer, had there been such a slam-bang finish to a Derby. Trainer Wayne Lukas made his way through the crowd to trackside, thinking he had finished second. Trainer Bob Baffert, who knocked off his wife's hat in their box seat, hoped that his body English had urged his horse to the wire in time. A few minutes after the finish, Grindstone, ridden by Bailey, was declared the winner over Cavonnier and Chris McCarron, giving Lukas an unprecedented sixth straight Triple Crown win. "I must have lost three pounds waiting for that photo," Bailey said.
3. Arlington Citation Challenge. "Cigar For President" read the sign that an 11-year-old girl from Wisconsin held up on July 13, after he had won this $1-million race for his 16th straight win, a streak that matched the achievements of Citation 46 years ago. Jimmy Jones, who trained Citation, was on hand. "I still think Citation was the greatest," Jones said, "but Cigar is a great horse, and I'm stingy with an accolade like that."
4. Pacific Classic. On Aug. 10, before a record Del Mar crowd of 44,181, Cigar's 16-race streak came to a resounding end. Trainer Richard Mandella, who started two of the six horses in the race, sent Siphon out early, and Cigar and Bailey hounded him through an opening half-mile that was run in a blistering :45 4/5. Siphon tired, but Mandella had Dare And Go, ridden by Alex Solis, in position for the stretch run. In a two-horse finish, Dare And Go, at 39-1, won by 3 1/2 lengths. "They double-teamed us," said Allen Paulson, Cigar's owner. "That Mandella's a smart guy."
