North America’s richest racehorse euthanized at age 7 after unexplained illness.

Four-time Grade 1 winner Arrogate, the richest North America-based racehorse in history, was euthanized at age 7 on Tuesday after a rapid and unexplained illness, Juddmonte Farms confirmed.

Arrogate raced only 11 times before being retired in 2017 but was spectacular on some of the world’s biggest stages for trainer Bob Baffert. His fledgling stud career at Juddmonte, which breeds horses in Lexington and around the world, was just beginning to bear fruit before sickness took hold.

Arrogate’s third breeding season was suspended last week when he showed signs of a sore neck, Juddmonte said in a news release. Later in the week, the Eclipse Award winner fell to the ground in his stall and efforts to get him back up proved unsuccessful. He was transported to the Hagyard Clinic in Lexington where all available tests to find a cause were performed, including a spinal tap, X-ray, ultrasound, CT scan and several blood tests.

“Unfortunately, Arrogate was still unable to stand after four exhausting days for him.” Juddmonte said in its release. “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.”

Juddmonte, owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, said a post-mortem examination to explain the illness is underway.

“This is very hard on everyone at Juddmonte, most especially on Steve Dotsey, stallion manager and Jorge Chavarria who cared for Arrogate daily and who had such a great rapport with him,” said Douglas Erskine Crum, CEO of the Juddmonte Group.

Arrogate, a son of Unbridled’s Song, encountered shin problems as a 2-year-old which delayed the start to his 3-year-old campaign in 2016 and he missed the entire Triple Crown season. Arrogate burst on the scene later that year by establishing a track record in his stakes debut in the Travers. He went on to win the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Classic. He added to his massive bankroll by setting another track record in the 2017 Pegasus World Cup and then winning that year’s Dubai World Cup.

“We will never forget the ride Arrogate took us on,” said Garrett O’Rourke, general manager of Juddmonte USA. “Those four amazing races established him as one of the great racehorses of our time, breaking two track records, taking down champion California Chrome in a battle for the ages and then running by Gun Runner in another worldly performance in Dubai. We hope that the heartbreak of losing him so young can be soothed by proudly watching the achievement of his runners.”

How did a lightly raced colt so rapidly place his name amid greats such as California Chrome ($14,752,650 in career earnings), Curlin ($10,501,800) and Cigar ($9,999,815)?

By cashing the big check.

Arrogate banked $670,000 in winning the Travers Stakes at Saratoga as an 11-1 shot. He took home $3.3 million from the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita as the second choice behind California Chrome. Then he beat Chrome again — this time as the favorite — and won $7 million at the first Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream in January 2017. He then claimed the winner’s share of $6 million with his 2017 victory in Dubai.

Arrogate was retired in 2017, after finishing fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, with career earnings of $17,422,600, having won seven of his 11 career races.

Arrogate stood at stud at Juddmonte for a fee of $50,000. His first offspring as a stallion were sold last November.

“His physical and personality traits are passing very strongly to his offspring,” Crum said.

Baffert also weighed in on Arrogate’s death Tuesday.

“It takes a lot to make me cry, but I cried this morning when I heard the news,” Baffert said from his base at Santa Anita in California. “I’ve never had a horse that threw in four magical races in a row that were off the charts. He was just brilliant.”

Baffert has long regarded 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat as the standard bearer for great horses.

“I would’ve thrown Arrogate against that horse,” he said. “I would never say that at the time, it’s sacrilegious, but believe me, he was that kind of horse.”

This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 1:56 PM.