The Dubai World Cup meeting celebrates its’ historic 25th anniversary on March 27, 2021, with six Group 1 races and three Group 2s, including one of the world’s premier races -its namesake feature-the $12million Dubai World Cup sponsored by Emirates Airline.
Over the next three weeks we will pay tribute to each of the previous Dubai World Cup winners. We rewind back to 1996, and the very first winner of the Dubai World Cup race – worth $4 million at the time, won in thrilling fashion by America’s Cigar.
They say first impressions count for everything and if that adage rings true then Cigar provided the perfect beginning to the Dubai World Cup. It was essential that the inaugural Dubai World Cup attracted the best from around the world and first and foremost on the list was Cigar, the phenomenon from America who was in the middle of a sequence of races that included a runaway victory in the previous year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic. From Europe came that continent’s champion Halling and from Oceania came the best from that part of the world in Danewin. However, all of the other continents combined, held no match for the American challenge.
Cigar sat behind the leaders in the early part of the race, stalking L’Carriere and Tamayaz, however from halfway Cigar stepped up the tempo, jockey Jerry Bailey making his move approaching the home turn. As Cigar straightened in front it appeared a repeat of the Breeders’ Cup Classic was in store for those at Nad Al Sheba. However, emerging from the back was Soul Of The Matter who began to cut into Cigar’s lead. At the 200m it appeared Cigar was in trouble however he dug deeper and found extra reserves that only champions possess and he eventually defied Soul Of The Matter to beat that horse by a half-length.
It was the first of a quartet of Dubai World Cup successes for Cigar’s rider Jerry Bailey, who was to later prove successful on Singspiel (1997), Captain Steve (2001) and Godolphin’s Street Cry (2002). The Dubai World Cup was the 14th win in Cigar’s magnificent sequence stretching from October 1994 through until August 1996 when he was beaten in the Pacific Classic by Dare and Go. Cigar’s presence and his gallant defeat of Soul Of The Matter and a host of international stars provided the ideal launching pad for the latest addition to global racing’s calendar. Cigar would retire at the end of the year following his third behind Alphabet Soup in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Woodbine. The racing superstar passed on in 2014 at the age of 24.
Dubai Racing Club Press Release
Photo: Cigar winning Dubai World Cup, (Dubai Racing Club)
