Historic Moment: Holy Bull Comes to a Halt
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This Wednesday, Feb. 11, marks the 20th anniversary of a race that produced a seismic shift in the handicap ranks in 1995, bringing a close to a brilliant racing career while lifting the curtain on another horse's run of historic proportions.
The race was the Donn Handicap (gr. I) at Gulfstream Park. Just weeks after Jimmy Croll's Holy Bull had been named 1994 champion 3-year-old male and Horse of the Year, the gray horse was 3-10 in the Donn and sitting right off the flank of the pacesetter down the backstretch.
On the lead was Cigar, the 4-1 second choice who was riding a three-race winning streak for Allen Paulson and trainer Bill Mott. With Jerry Bailey aboard, Cigar got the half in :46.48 for the nine-furlong test.
Cigar and Holy Bull pulled clear of the rest of the field early on, embroiled in their own little match race.
Mike Smith, Holy Bull's regular rider, told The Blood-Horse: "I had Jerry on the rail, and I was in the catbird's seat. He was on the rail and had to keep pushing, but I had Holy Bull coasting along."
"After we came into the backstretch, I heard a pop, then I heard Mike yell, 'Oh, no,' " Bailey said. "Then I lost him as he pulled up the horse."
The racing world watched in dismay as Holy Bull was eased. Race announcer Tom Durkin was stunned in his description of Holy Bull being pulled up.
Cigar cruised, winning the Donn by 5 1/2 lengths. He would run the table in 1995—a perfect 10-for-10 season—and continue to win 16 consecutive races.
The good news was that after examining Holy Bull there were no broken bones. Holy Bull suffered a severe strain of the superficial flexor tendon, located in the back of his left front leg between the knee and foot.
Holy Bull (Great Above—Sharon Brown, by Al Hattab) stood tallest of all in 1994, winning eight of 10 starts, his lone flop a 12th-place finish as the 2-1 choice in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I). He bounced back off that to win the Metropolitan Handicap (gr. I) over older horses, getting the one-turn mile in 1:33.98, winning the Haskell Invitational Handicap (gr. I) and Travers Stakes (gr. I), and beating older horses again in the Woodward Stakes (gr. I).
Poised for a spectacular run at 4, it all came to a halt on the Gulfstream Park backstretch. However, Holy Bull made his mark as a stallion. After being sent to the Bell family's Jonabell Farm near Lexington, Holy Bull would go on to sire 51 stakes winners. He would get his Derby revenge when his son, Giacomo , won the Run for the Roses in 2005.
Holy Bull entered racing's Hall of Fame in 2001 in his first year of eligibility.
Cigar entered the Hall of Fame the following year, his first season of eligibility as well.
Taking the torch, Cigar was Horse of the Year in 1995 and 1996, earning $9,999,815 in a 33-race career. His win streak would include eight grade I races including the Breeders' Cup Classic and the following year's Donn Handicap. He won the inaugural Dubai World Cup over Soul of the Matter at Nad Al Sheba in March. His streak ended that August in the Pacific Classic (gr. I) when felled by Dare and Go.
Cigar proved to be infertile as a stallion at Ashford Stud and spent his golden years at the Kentucky Horse Park. He died Oct. 7, 2014.
ANGST: Racing Hall of Famer Cigar Dead at 24
Holy Bull was pensioned from stallion duty in 2012 at Darley near Lexington.