Lovable Grey Arrogate, the world’s highest prize money-winning horse, has died at age seven.
Veterinarians attempted to save the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Champion after a short battle with illness, however were left with no other choice but to euthanize on Tuesday, US time.
The former Bob Baffert-trained stallion had begun breeding duties this year, but alarm bells rang when he collapsed in his stall last week, where efforts to get him to stand, failed.
The seven-year-old was then transported to the Hagyard Clinic in Kentucky and treated for the last seven days before the decision was ultimately made on Tuesday.
Veterinarians say Arrogate during this time stood unassisted on the fourth day in care, however secondary health issues saw his condition deteriorate.
Juddmonte Farms said the illness remains a mystery and a postmortem will be carried out.
“Unfortunately, Arrogate was still unable to stand after four exhausting days for him,” Juddmonte said in a statement.
“His will to fight, so valuable to him on the racetrack, became a challenge in his care. When serious secondary health issues set in, the decision was made to put him to sleep.”
Arrogate won seven of his 11 starts for his California-based trainer Bob Baffert and collected more than $US17.4 million in prize money.
By the time he was a three-year-old, Arrogate won the Travers and in doing so set a track record that still stands today.
He clocked the race with a time of 1:59.36 for 1¼ miles – the fastest in the races 147-year history.
A win the in the Breeders’ Cup Classic Arrogate be awarded the Eclipse Award as the Champion three-year-old male.
At the beginning of his four-year-old season, Arrogate took out the inaugural 2017 Pegasus World Cup against two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome in another track record at Gulfstream Park.
This was then followed by a win in the Dubai World Cup against a field that included Gun Runner.
Bob Baffert candidly expressed his thoughts on Arrogate’s passing from his Santa Anita stable.
“It takes a lot to make me cry, ” he said.
“But I cried this morning when I heard the news.
“I’ve never had a horse that threw in four magical races in a row that were off the charts. He was just brilliant.”
Arrogate retried after just 11 career starts and was declared the Longines World’s Best Racehorse in 2016 and 2017.
