World's highest stakes earner Arrogate dies of mystery illness
Arrogate, reportedly the world's highest equine stakes earner, has died from a mystery health issue in the US.
The seven-year-old was euthanised on Tuesday, after falling ill last week, said the champion's owner, Juddmonte Farms.
"They worked tirelessly eliminating all the obvious causes and performing all available tests, including spinal tap evaluation, X-ray, ultrasound, CT scan and many blood tests," said Juddmonte Farms in a statement.
"Unfortunately, Arrogate was still unable to stand after four exhausting days for him. 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."
Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert in California, Arrogate won seven of his 11 starts. He amassed over US$17.4 million (S$20.4 million) in stakes.
WORLD'S BEST RACEHORSE
His notable victories included the 2016 Breeders' Cup Classic, the inaugural 2017 Pegasus World Cup and the 2017 Dubai World Cup.
His win in the Dubai World Cup was breathtaking, coming from a seemingly impossible position to score in sensational style.
He was named the Longines World's Best Racehorse in 2016 and 2017.
He also won the Eclipse Award as the champion three-year-old male horse of 2016.
The son of Unbridled's Song and Bubbler enjoyed a successful start to the breeding season - his third - but was suspended from his stud duties last week.
He suffered a sore neck and later collapsed in his stall. Efforts to get him back to his feet were unsuccessful.
He was sent to the Hagyard Clinic in Kentucky but he was still unable to stand after four days. When serious secondary health issues set in, the decision was made to euthanise him.
Juddmonte Farms, which bought the horse for US$560,000, said the illness remains a mystery and a post-mortem will be carried out.
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