I've always found the "who did he beat" or "he didn't beat anybody" arguement very interesting. I am not only talking about Cigar here. If you have a sound horse, pick easy spots, beat mediocre horses, get these visually impressive victories over lower quality horses, and so on -- sure, I can see some credence in the "he didn't beat anybody" claim. However, on the contrary -- if you show up to the big dances, dance after dance, take on all comers (whoever else shows up and you have no control over that), beat them, beat them again, something along these lines -- then the "who did he beat" or "he didn't beat anybody" arguement, in my mind, has very little, perhaps no, credibility.
Now, about Cigar -- without getting into the stats and going through the PP's line by line/race by race -- this horse raced, raced and raced over the course of what? 2 years? I mean, in 95 didn't he race 10 times, and something like 8 G1's? Did he duck anybody in that campaign? You want to say it was a "weak crop" -- well, that's kind of like a weak jab in a fight. I mean you could say it, but how much are we really talking about here.
I remember him when he debuted as a 4yo, which I think was his first start for Bill Mott. That was kind of like a throwout year because they kept him on the turf for his first 3 or 4 starts. He didn't do much. But late in the year, when Mott put him back on the dirt, that's when the fun really started, LOL. I think his next start and last start of the year was the NY Mile and he trounced Devil His Due. Anyway, aside from the walk down memory lane, during his 5yo year, he took on whoever showed up, he himself showed up coast to coast and I don't remember them ducking anyone.
Regardless, he had a tough campaign. That year was no walk in the park. I don't remember any freshners or vacations for him. He raced 9 times going into the BC (and I think every one of them were G1's -- right? I don't remember off the top of my head).
Once again -- he showed up.
What did Tom Durkin say . . . "the incomparable, the invincible, the unbeatable Cigar!!!"
Eric
|