Kentucky Horse Park commissions Cigar Memorial statue

The Kentucky Horse Park has commissioned artist Douwe "Dow"

Blumberg to sculpt a depiction of Thoroughbred champion Cigar to honor the horse

who died October 7, 2014, at age 24.

Due to support of the Cigar Memorial Fund

from all over the world, the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation is able to

commission a statue which will be placed at Cigar's gravesite at the Hall of

Champions.

The Kentucky Horse Park selected Blumberg, in part, because

he is a Kentucky artist and former professional horse trainer. The bronze

sculpture will be a depiction of Cigar's 1995 Breeders' Cup victory and will

include a likeness of jockey Jerry Bailey. The statue is expected to be

completed by October 2015, with a tentative ceremony planned to honor Cigar

during the week leading up to the Breeders' Cup, which is being held at

Keeneland in Lexington, Kentucky, for the first time on October 30-31.

"The selection committee had the tough job of choosing from

excellent proposals from some of the best sculptors in America," said Bill

Cooke, director of the Kentucky Horse Park's International Museum of the Horse.

"We are confident that Douwe Blumberg will create a lasting memorial that will

best capture the spirit and determination of Cigar, the horse we knew and

loved."

In May 1999, Cigar came to the park to live out his

retirement at the Hall of Champions. At retirement, Cigar had a total of 19 wins

out of 33 starts with earnings of $9,999,815, a record at that time. He was

voted champion older male and Horse of the Year in both 1995 and 1996. In August

2002 he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Cigar died following complications from surgery for severe

osteoarthritis in his neck. He was buried near fellow racing champions on the

Memorial Walk of Champions.

"The Horse Park has been a special place for me ever since

the days when I was a professional horse trainer and I am thrilled that this

will be my first large work here," Blumberg said. "Being selected to create

the Cigar Memorial is a wonderfully exciting honor because he was unique. My

goal with this piece is to try to capture and communicate something of his

incomparable power and dynamism. Though I have completed literally hundreds of

equine works, what I intend to do here will make it one of the most

challenging."

Blumberg, originally from Los Angeles, California, now

resides north of Lexington. He has completed more than 200 private and public

commissions and has numerous awards, residencies and shows to his credit. His

works include New York City's new America's Response Monument at ground zero,

the Flight 5191 memorial in Lexington, and other iconic sculptures

across the United States.

Additional contributions are being sought to complete the

sculpture base and landscaping at the Cigar Memorial. Contributions may be sent

to the Cigar Memorial Fund at the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation, 4089 Iron

Works Parkway, Lexington, KY, 40511, or made by phone at 859-255-5727, or online

at

www.khpfoundation.org.

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