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Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS
I hear ya - but I never really understood why almost everyone seems to most associate Cigar with the toughness and consistentcy traits instead of Skip Away... considering they were both from about the same time period.
I always thought Skip Away was clear cut the toughest and most consistant SOB of the 90's.
Skip Away was stakes placed four times at age 2 - twice just missing in Graded Stakes races.
At age 3, he won the Blue Grass by 6 lengths in his final Ky Derby prep, the eventual Preakness winner finished 2nd. The eventual Belmont winner finished 3rd.
He ran in all 3 triple crown races .. as well as the Ohio Derby, Haskell, Travers, and Woodbine Million, before defeating the older Cigar in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
At age 4, he made 11 starts - 10 times running a Beyer of 112 or better - 9 times running a 115 or better and capped off the season with a 6 length Breeders Cup Classic win.
At age 5, he won 7 of his 9 starts - 5 of which at the Grade 1 level. Carried as much as 131 pounds and raced in all the different major regions of the country.
Cigar was extremely tough and consistant ... but it lasted a little less than 2 years... and he certainly didn't see anything like the brilliant level of competition Skip Away had to put up with throughout his entire career.
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Yep, Skip Away was another great tough one. I was a big admirer of both, but a bigger fan of Cigar.
I made the pilgrimage to NY to see that JCGC with Cigar and Skip Away. My almost 3-yr-old son had become a fan of Skip Away from watching Thoroughbred Digest with me for the previous 6 months. We got some good photos of my son at the walking ring with Skip Away and Cigar in the background.
Skip Away did beat Cigar by a nose that day, but maybe the 5 lb weight break had something to do with it!
--Dunbar