Thoroughbred Racing Fan Association, Inc.
Thoroughbred Racing Fan Association, Inc.
WHAT HORSE STOPPED CIGAR'S WINNING STREAK AT 16 CONSECUTIVE WINS?
11/30/2018
Cigar had an illustrious career that began in 1993. He never raced as a 2-year-old. After breaking his maiden on the dirt, he switched to run his next 10 races on the turf, presumably based on his pedigree. But the experiment failed. After he only won 1 of the 10 that were run on the turf, Cigar switched back to the dirt (October of 1994) and began his 16-win-streak which tied him with Citation for the most number consecutive wins by any Thoroughbred. Many times, he overpowered his competition as was the case when he won the 1995 Breeders’ Cup Classic. In the 1996 Pacific Classic run at Del Mar he got caught-up in a speed duel and relinquished the lead easily to the 39-1 Dare and Go who won the race. Dare and Go (by Alydar) was trained by Richard Mandella and ridden by Alex Solis. That race and win by Dare and Go ended Cigar’s winning streak.
The Cigar (NYRA) Mile was first won in 1988 by Forty Niner. Jerry Bailey, Cigar’s regular pilot, won the race 5 times (1994, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2003).