“She was not only our first broodmare, but she has been unbelievable to my family and the industry,” Zayat said. “(A) quality, quality mare with a lot of grace and class. … She has always been highly regarded, and her progeny speaks for itself. It’s a sad day, obviously, for Zayat Stables.”

Racing for Cobra Farm, Star of Goshen broke her maiden on debut by 10 lengths as a 3-year-old in 1997. She followed that performance with a six-length allowance score before stepping into stakes company, where she blew away a field of seven other fillies in the La Troienne Stakes at Churchill Downs by 11 lengths.

The daughter of Lord At War next finished second in Churchill’s Edgewood Stakes but was then pulled up in the Hollywood Oaks (G2) six weeks later and did not race again.

Star of Goshen produced 11 foals with five to race, including grade 2-placed Forefathers, who was purchased by Zayat Stables in the 2005 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearlings Sale for $680,000 and now stands in Louisiana.

“I chased her down,” Zayat explained. “I bought her because I had a horse by the name of Forefathers that I’d bought at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga, and he was a runner, and I wanted to know who his dam was. We ended up buying her in foal to Empire Maker . The resulting baby was Pioneerof the Nile, the first horse we ever bred.”

A grade 1 winner at 2 and 3, Pioneerof the Nile finished second in the 2009 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1). He went on to sire Triple Crown winner American Pharoah , whom the Zayats also campaigned.

Star of Goshen’s other progeny that Zayat Stables lists among its broodmares are Lotus of the Nile, a daughter of Fusaichi Pegasus  who made one start, and Mezinka, an unraced filly by Bodemeister  who was the mare’s last foal.