Sometimes a cigar, is not just a cigar.

The Australian Jockey Club have been accused of bad taste after running and advert depicting two women toying with a cigar and caressing each other.

Critics say the ad degrades women - which ironically is designed to attract more women aged 18-35 to the races.

Amanda Stevens, managing director of SplashGroup, said to the Herald Sun: "This ad is denigrating to women. Women just don't behave like that at the races. This is a male fantasy."

The ad was created by AdPartners in Sydney whos Marketing Director Steve Reid defended the ad, saying the scenes featuring women caressing each other and a woman playing suggestively with a cigar were only minor elements.

"There is a lot of seduction and romance in the images portrayed. We do like to push it." Reid said.