Seize the grey

Interest in progeny sired by Arrogate at yearling sales in 2022 is high because his current crop of yearlings represents the last from this superpower, who remains until this day, the richest racehorse in the world with earnings of $17,422,600.

Not only will D. Wayne Lukas train this colt, who inherited his father’s gray coloring and was acquired at the Saratoga sale, the Hall of Famer is so bullish on Arrogate’s progeny, he plucked another offspring out of the auction for one of his clients, Hip No. 76, a filly.

Arrogate, a son of Unbridled’s Song, sadly lost his life in 2020 to illness while he was standing stud at Juddmonte Farms. Just 7 years old, he only had the opportunity to sire three crops, which has made his limited progeny much sought after in the sales’ ring.

Arrogate has done very well with his first runners to reach the racetrack and has a Grade 1 winner from his initial crop on his resume in 2022 Kentucky Oaks winner, Secret Oath, who is trained by Lukas. A winner as a 2-year-old, Secret Oath continued to blossom this year and has already won three races. In addition to the Kentucky Oaks, where she defeated 13 rivals, including betting favorite Nest, the runner-up who finished two lengths behind Secret Oath, she is also Grade 1-placed against males with her third-place finish in the Arkansas Derby.

As a racehorse, the Bob Baffert-trained Arrogate was certainly a bright light, as evidenced by the many accolades that were bestowed upon him:

• Eclipse Award, American champion 3-year-old male (2016)
• Eclipse Award finalist, American Horse of the Year (2016, 2017)
• Eclipse Award finalist, American champion older male (2017)
• Kentucky-bred Horse of the Year (2016)
• Kentucky-bred champion 3-year-old male (2016)

He did not race as a 2-year-old, but when he arrived on the scene as a sophomore, Arrogate wasted little time in announcing himself by embarking on a seven-race win streak that included a breathtaking 13 1/2-length victory in the 2016 Grade 1 Travers in which he defeated 12 rivals, including future Horse of the Year Gun Runner as well as that year’s Belmont Stakes winner, Creator. Next up, he won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic, defeating the 2014 Kentucky Derby winner, California Chrome. Early in his 4-year-old campaign, Arrogate further beefed up his earnings by winning two of the richest races in the world, the Pegasus World Cup Invitational and Dubai World Cup.

This colt also has a very attractive pedigree on his female side. Dam Smart Shopping, a winner who also was stakes-placed, has produced a half-sister to this colt, Shoppingforpharoah, a winner and stakes-placed performer. Second dam Shop Again was a stakes winner as well as a terrific producer with Grade 1 winner Power Broker, an earner of nearly $900,000, among her progeny.