Arrogate made his mark
Travers-winning horse that had magical run in 2016-17 dies at age 7 in Kentucky
Travers Stakeswinning horse that had magical run in 2016-17 dies at age 7 in Kentucky.
Mike Smith remembers the speed of the gray thoroughbred flash named Arrogate. How could he forget?
“When he ran his A-plus race, he felt like a train going downhill,” Smith said Tuesday by phone from California. “He would just keep going faster and faster and faster.”
The Hall of Fame jockey was remembering his swift friend and there was sadness. Arrogate, who ran the fastest time in the history of the Travers Stakes at Saratoga, was euthanized Tuesday at the age of 7. The announcement came from Juddmonte Farms in Lexington, Ky. Juddmonte owned the horse and that is where Arrogate was living as a stallion.
In a statement, Juddmonte said it was unclear what the illness was that felled Arrogate and a postmortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death.
Arrogate burst onto the national stage on Aug. 27, 2016, when trainer Bob Baffert brought him to Saratoga to run in the Grade I Travers Stakes. He had won three of his first four starts in California and the $1.25 million Travers was his first graded stakes race. In
a 13-horse field, one that included the winners of the Preakness (Exaggerator) and Belmont (Creator) Stakes, Arrogate annihilated them all.
Being ridden by Smith for the first time, Arrogate won the 11/4mile race by 131/2 lengths and ran the distance in a time of 1:59.36. The old record, set by General Assembly in 1979, was 2:00.
“He could have went faster,” Smith said.
“Every time he ran, he took my breath away,” Baffert said by phone from his base at Santa Anita Race Track in California. “Once he got rolling (in the Travers), he was really rolling. I remember Jill (his wife) saying to me that he was going too fast (46:84 seconds for the half mile). I said, ‘That is not too fast for him.’ That is what makes horses like him great. They keep running and they don’t get tired.”
The Travers was the start of a powerful four-race winning streak for Arrogate. He then won the $6 million 2016 Breeders’ Cup Classic, the inaugural Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park in Florida (another track record), which was worth $12 million, and the $10 million Dubai World Cup. The Pegasus and Dubai World Cups were run in 2017. The Travers, Breeders’ Cup Classic and Dubai World Cup were all run at 11/4 miles; the Pegasus was 11/8 miles.
“I never saw any horse do what he did in that short a period of time,” Smith said. “He is the fastest horse I ever rode going 11/4 miles.”
Arrogate’s most impressive performance was the Dubai World Cup. He broke slowly and then got squeezed and found himself in last place. Baffert figured there was no way his horse could win. Then he began watching his powerful animal.
“He misses the break completely and was way behind,” Baffert said. “Then, he just galloped around those horses like it was nothing. And he was running against good horses. The performance he had in that race was the greatest performance by any horse
I have ever trained.”
Arrogate finished his career with seven wins in 11 career starts and retired in 2017 with $17,422,600 earnings. He is the all-time leader in earnings for any thoroughbred in North America.
Arrogate was a son of Unbridled’s Song and began his racing career the year after American Pharoah won the 2015 Triple Crown for Baffert. At Juddmonte, Arrogate sired three crops at stud.
“It’s just a crushing blow to horse racing,” Baffert said. “It’s just sad, a very numbing feeling to me. I’m sad that I won’t be able to see him again. People don’t realize how these horses touch your heart. They become members of your family. I feel really bad for the people who were around him and took care of him. There is nothing worse than going to work and seeing an empty stall.”
“I just can’t help but think about all those wonderful races he ran. I know he is up there and will give old Big Red a run for his money,” Smith said with a chuckle, referring to the great Secretariat.