Regally bred Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker, an influential stallion who is the grandsire of Triple Crown winner and leading freshman sire American Pharoah, has died at Gainesway Farm in Lexington, Ky. The farm said the stallion died on Saturday, “after a battle with a rare disease that compromised his immune system.” The son of Unbridled was 20. “The passing of Empire Maker will leave a tremendous void not only in the breeding industry as we know it, but in the hearts of all of us who worked with him, every day,” Antony Beck, the chief executive officer of Gainesway, said in a release. ”It was a huge honor and privilege to stand Empire Maker at Gainesway with our partners Don Alberto. He was the epitome of class and quality. I have never been involved with a stallion that possessed a better disposition. His impact on the breed has been significant, particularly producing very sound stock.” Empire Maker was bred by Juddmonte Farm and was out of the operation's Grade 1 winner and blue hen Toussaud. The mare also produced Grade 1 winners Chester House, Chiselling, and Honest Lady, the latter a multiple stakes producer herself, and Grade 2 winner Decarchy. Empire Maker, a millionaire, compiled a record of  4-3-1 from eight starts during his own racing career while being conditioned by the late Hall of Famer Bobby Frankel for Juddmonte. The colt won the Florida Derby by 9 3/4 lengths in his fourth career start, then won the Wood Memorial by a half-length over Funny Cide. Those two Grade 1 triumphs made him the favorite for the Kentucky Derby, but, battling a minor foot problem the week of the race, he finished second by three-quarters of a length to Funny Cide. Empire Maker skipped the Preakness and bounced back to win the Belmont Stakes five weeks later, outdueling Ten Most Wanted by three-quarters of a length on a sloppy track and denying Funny Cide, who finished third, the Triple Crown. Empire Maker retired to Juddmonte in Kentucky for the 2004 season, and was a top 10 freshman sire in 2007, as his daughter Country Star was a multiple Grade 1 winner, and a top 10 second-crop sire in 2008. He led the third-crop sire list in 2009, as his son Pioneerof the Nile won the Santa Anita Derby and finished second in the Kentucky Derby. However, Juddmonte accepted an offer from the Japanese Bloodstock Breeders' Association to sell Empire Maker to stand overseas, beginning with the 2011 season. Empire Maker's stock promptly skyrocketed, as his daughter Royal Delta won three consecutive Eclipse Award championships from 2011 to 2013, with six Grade 1 victories highlighted by two editions of the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic. She was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame last summer. The expatriate stallion then began to establish his own branch of the classic Unbridled sire line, as Pioneerof the Nile's second crop included American Pharoah, who ended the 37-year Triple Crown drought in 2015. Capitalizing on that momentum, Gainesway announced in the fall of 2015 that it had joined together with Don Alberto, a Chilean-based bloodstock powerhouse that has been steadily expanding its influence in the U.S., to purchase Empire Maker and return him to the U.S. to continue his stud career. Empire Maker covered 139 mares in his first season back in Kentucky, according to The Jockey Club’s Report of Mares Bred; the resulting foals were 2 last season, and were led by Grade 1 winner Eight Rings. He bred books of 138, 110, and 126 mares respectively, in his final three seasons at stud.  In addition to the aforementioned runners, Empire Maker's 67 career stakes winners include Grade 1 winners Acoma, Bodemeister, Emollient, Grace Hall, Icon Project, In Lingerie, Last Full Measure, and Mushka; and Saudi Arabian champion It's So You and Saudi Arabian Group 1 winner Teletext. In addition to Pioneerof the Nile, Empire Maker's sons at stud include the dual classic-placed Grade 1 winner Bodemeister, sire of Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming in his first crop. Bodemeister recently headed overseas to stand in Turkey, which has been bullish in the bloodstock market. Meanwhile, Always Dreaming stands in Kentucky, with his first foals arriving now. With Bodemeister’s departure, and the death of Pioneerof the Nile at the young age of 13 last year from a suspected cardiac event, Empire Maker’s only son remaining in Kentucky is second-crop sire Sky Kingdom. Empire Maker’s grandson American Pharoah followed up on his outstanding racing career by finishing as the nation's leading freshman sire of 2019. Pioneerof the Nile's other sons at stud in Kentucky are the useful Grade 2 winner Cairo Prince, who entered stud in 2015; and classic-placed champion Classic Empire and versatile Grade 1 winner Midnight Storm, whose respective first foals are yearlings this year.