HALLANDALE, Fla., Feb. 24 -- Cigar definitely will not run in next weekend's $1 million Santa Anita Handicap but is recovering well from an abscess in his right front foot, trainer Bill Mott said Saturday. The 1995 Horse of the Year walked in his shedrow at Gulfstream Park for more than a half hour Saturday with a bandage on the sore foot.
Mott said he appeared to be more comfortable than when the abscess was cut out on Thursday. 'It now seems that we have gotten all the affected area,' said Mott, who did the job himself. 'His foot was cleaned and trimmed. Following examination of the foot, we are very happy with the way things look.' However, the trainer said Cigar has missed too much training to put his 13-race win streak to the test at Santa Anita in the first leg of the MGM Grand Classic Crown series. His next scheduled engagement is March 27 in the $4 million Dubai World Cup. Gene Kivi, manager of the race book at the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas, removed Cigar from the futures book for the series and dropped the odds on other likely starters in the $2 million bonus series. Helmsman dropped from 30-1 to 18-1 to win all three races; Alphabet Soup was lowered from 40-1 to 30-1. Cigar had been 3-1 to sweep the Santa Anita Handicap, Hollywood Gold Cup and Pacific Classic. Mott said he hopes to get Cigar back to the track to resume training on Wednesday.
