Cigar, 1990-2014

[TheFlyingFilly]

I can't help but feel as if I'm in an alternate dimension today. I can't help but believe that Cigar was larger than life, that he wasn't supposed to leave us.

He was everything to me in 1995, when I was 14/15 years old. 1994 was a gut-wrenching year for me. But then along came this impossibly handsome bay horse with white markings and one eye ringed in white. His name was Cigar and he swept me off my feet--here was my salvation!

I had loved horse racing before Cigar but he was the first living legend, the first in-the-flesh champion that captured my heart.

As he passed the day fierce storms ripped through Kentucky and a blood moon lunar eclipse hung in the night sky, Cigar demonstrated that he had drama and style to the end. Run free, big guy--thanks for the memories.