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Arrogate's Legacy Continues With Seize the Grey

The List: An Update and Review of the Top 25 General Sires List Rankings

Arrogate at Juddmonte Farm in 2018

Arrogate at Juddmonte Farm in 2018

Anne M. Eberhardt

One of the greatest gifts of Thoroughbred breeding is how it allows the legacy of great racehorses to live on long after the sire or dam has died.

That's certainly the case for Arrogate, who died way too soon at the age of 7 in 2020. Memories of the 2023 Hall of Famer again came roaring back this weekend when Seize the Grey , from the sire's final crop, became his second classic winner.

Seize the Grey 's front-running victory in the Preakness Stakes (G1) May 18 at Pimlico Race Course provided another reminder of Arrogate's greatness—he earned an Eclipse Award at 3—and what the breed lost with his passing. He leaves us with four crops, and besides his latest classic winner they include top runners such as 2022 Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Secret Oath, 2023 Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Arcangelo , and grade 1 winners Cave Rock, And Tell Me Nolies, and Fun to Dream.

Arrogate's résumé is impeccable. He won the 2016 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), chasing down California Chrome  in the stretch to hit the wire a half-length ahead of his rival. At 4, he added victories in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) and Dubai World Cup (G1). He is the all-time leading North American-based runner by earnings with $17,422,600 banked. 

Arrogate on the outside passes California Chrome on the way to the victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park Nov. 5, 2016 in Arcadia, California.
Photo: Skip Dickstein
Arrogate, outside, passes California Chrome to win the 2016 Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park

Last year, Arrogate was third among third-crop sires and No. 17 overall in North America with $9,820,208 in progeny earnings. 

This year, Arrogate's headliner has been Seize the Grey. Gray or roan, like his father, the Preakness winner was solid in his juvenile campaign. He hit the board in all but his first start as a 2-year-old. As a 3-year-old, Seize the Grey finished third in the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) and seventh in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) before putting things together in the Pat Day Mile Stakes (G2), where he displayed a turn of foot down the stretch on his way to victory. 

In the Preakness he took the lead early and held off the Kentucky Derby (G1) victor, Mystik Dan.

The classic win moves Arrogate upward four places from No. 12 to No. 8 in the rankings by progeny earnings for the year at $5,030,300. Other top runners this year for Arrogate include Tiny Temper, a 4-year-old filly out of Don't Blame Me, who has won both of her starts this year, including the Azeri Stakes (G2); and stakes winner Everland, who was fifth in the Kentucky Oaks. 

TOP SIRES BY PROGENY EARNINGS
May 20 ranking May 6 ranking
1. Into Mischief 1 (--)
2. Mineshaft 2 (--)
3. Gun Runner 3 (--)
4. Quality Road 4 (--)
5. Goldencents 5 (--)
6. Practical Joke 6 (--)
7. Justify 7 (--)
8. Arrogate 12 (+4)
9. Constitution 9 (--)
10. Curlin 8 (-2)
11. Uncle Mo 10 (-1)
12. Munnings 11 (-1)
13. Kantharos 14 (+1)
14. American Pharoah 13 (-1)
15. Street Sense 15 (--)
16. Not This Time 17 (+1)
17. Good Magic 16 (-1)
18. Hard Spun 23 (+5)
19. Frosted 19 (--)
20. Mendelssohn 25 (+5)
21. Twirling Candy 24 (+3)
22. Nyquist 22 (--)
23. Always Dreaming 18 (-5)
24. Dialed In 20 (-4)
25. City of Light 21 (-4)