The American rode Cigar to victory at Nad Al-Sheba in what was the worlds’s richest race in 1996 DUBAI: Jerry Bailey felt like he had struck Olympic gold when he won the inaugural Dubai World Cup on Cigar. The American horse had been wooed to compete in the new race as Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, ruler of Dubai and vice president of the UAE, attracted talent befitting what was then the world’s richest race at $4 million. Cigar, with Hall of Fame jockey Bailey on board, did not disappoint as he thrilled the hordes gathered at Nad Al-Sheba with a historic victory for owner Allen Paulson and trainer Bill Mott. It will be the 25th anniversary of the race on Saturday and Bailey, 63, recalled: “That first year, we didn’t know what to expect. It was almost like going to the moon. “We didn’t know what the conditions were going to be like, halfway around the world, in the desert.” Bailey admits that he hadn’t even heard of Dubai at the time, something he feels sheepish about. “The previous fall, Sheikh Mohammed’s representatives came over and had dinner with the Paulsons, and it was a full-court press trying to get Cigar to come over,” he said. “So when Mr Paulson and Mr Mott decided to go, I was going along for the ride. Cigar was the best horse I’d ever ridden and I was going to follow him anywhere.” On the day of the big race, Cigar edged Soul of the Matter by half a length. “To the eyes of people watching, he looked beaten in the middle of the stretch,” said Bailey. “But I could see Cigar idling, waiting for competition and then feel his engine starting to move again. I was never worried. “It kind of was the Olympics for me. Going over there and competing against the best of so many other countries, that Sheikh Mohammed had gathered for that night, was incredible. “The silks of the Paulsons were red, white and blue too so it kinda made me feel like an Olympian.”