Breeders’ Cup, Dubai World Cup Winner Arrogate Dies At Age 7

Arrogate — who was the richest North American racehorse in history with wins in races including the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the Pegasus World Cup and the Dubai World Cup — died Tuesday at age 7, Juddmonte Farms announced.


“It is with great sadness that Juddmonte confirms that Arrogate was euthanized this morning, after a battle to save him that began last week. It is still unclear what the illness was and a post-mortem is currently being carried out,” Juddmonte Farms said in a statement announcing the stallion’s death.


“Arrogate had a very successful breeding season this year until last week when his breeding was suspended due to an initial suspected sore neck. Later in the week, he fell to the ground in his stall and efforts to get him back up proved unsuccessful,” Juddmonte Farms said in the statement.


He was subsequently taken to the Hagyard Clinic, where all available tests were done, and was “still unable to stand after four exhausting days for him,” according to Juddmonte Farms.

“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 Farms said. Garrett O’Rourke, general manager of Juddmonte USA, said they will “never forget the ride Arrogate took us on.”

He noted that Arrogate’s wins in the Travers and Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2016 and the Pegasus World Cup and Dubai World Cup in 2017 “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.

Arrogate had a seven-race win streak between June 2016 and March 2017, and was victorious in seven of his 11 career starts, netting more than $17.4 million in earnings. He won the Eclipse Award for champion 3-year-old colt in 2016.

“We hope that the heartbreak of losing him so young can be soothed by proudly watching the achievement of his runners,” O’Rourke said.

Douglas Erskine Crum, CEO of the Juddmonte Group, called Arrogate “one of the success stories of the decade on the racetrack.”

“Arrogate has bred three crops at stud, had his first yearlings to present to sales this year and his physical and personality traits are passing very strongly to his offspring,” Juddmonte’s CEO said.