Dubai World Cup 1996 memories: Jerry Bailey, jockey of inaugural winner Cigar

Jerry Bailey, the winning jockey riding Cigar, recounts his memories to Geoffrey Riddle of the first running of the Dubai World Cup in 1996.

Jerry Bailey, right, riding Cigar, wins the first Dubai World Cup in 1996 at Nad Al Sheba racecourse. Phil Cole / Allsport / March 27, 1996

Ahead of the 20th running of the Dubai World Cup on Saturday, Geoffrey Riddle gathers the recollections of the men who figured prominently on the night the world's richest horse race was launched.

Cigar broke my heart when he died last year. He was a cool horse and he totally changed how I felt about horses. I became much more emotionally attached to them.

I can’t remember which day it was but as a last piece of work, we worked him at night. That was the only time we worked him at night, and we did it because he was going to run at night and that was the only way we could simulate that.

When I went to the front in the race I could see the quarter pole approaching and I hadn’t asked Cigar at all. I glanced over my shoulder and saw a horse coming. Soul Of the Matter was nowhere around me in the early part of the race, so I knew he had been held up and by the way he ran it must have been him. And he came fast. I asked Cigar but it took him probably 40-50 yards to get in full flight again. He had never taken as long as that to get going.

RELATED

Watching the film afterwards after I got off the horse I can totally understand how people thought on television that Cigar was beaten, but they didn’t know what I felt underneath me.

I felt like I was an Olympian. It was the closest I would get to representing my country. Mr Paulson’s silks were red, white and blue, which helped.

The golden whips they give you are awesome. The following year, however, when I won the World Cup on Singspiel they also gave me a Mercedes, so I gave my whip to Bob Frieze, my agent and manager. The whips are unlike anything else I’ve seen, and in the trophy case my three for wins on Cigar, Captain Steve and Street Cry stand out.

Listen, the Kentucky Derby is the greatest race we have in America, but that moment on Cigar may well be the best moment in my life.

Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE