Personal Grooming Brush for Racing Champion Cigar

Description

Featured 12/09/24 in “Cigar: The Horse Who Made the Earth Move”

This wooden grooming brush has the special distinction of being the personal brush regularly used on racing champion Cigar. The simple oval-shaped brush includes remnants of his hair still embedded within its well-worn bristles. The brush was acquired from the Kentucky Horse Park where Cigar resided in retirement. Bearing Cigar’s name, the brush gives testament to his distinguished stature on the track as a racing superstar and the admiration and respect he commanded thrilling fans and Horse Park visitors until his death in 2014.

Cigar was one of the biggest horse racing stories of the 1990s. From November 1994 through July 1996, in his 4-, 5- and 6-year-old racing seasons, Cigar won a remarkable 16 consecutive races, matching a record set by the great 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation. Cigar’s immense popularity was witnessed coast to coast and even abroad and was propelled by victories in the prestigious NYRA Mile (now known as the Cigar Mile), Oaklawn Handicap, Donn Handicap, Gulfstream Park Handicap, Pimlico Special, Massachusetts Handicap, Hollywood Gold Cup, Woodward Stakes, Jockey Club Gold Cup, Breeders’ Cup Classic, and even the inaugural Dubai World Cup. Cigar retired from racing with an amazing $9,999,815 in total winnings.