LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The sudden death of the wife of the perennial leading jockey at Churchill Downs has thrown the racing community here and beyond into a deep state of grief as its members struggle to come to terms with their loss. Shantel Lanerie, 42, died Friday at Norton Women’s and Children’s Hospital after going into cardiac arrest the previous day. She was married for 21 years to Corey Lanerie, who has been the dominant rider at Churchill since 2012 and has won more than 4,400 races in a career dating to 1991. Their daughter, Brittlyn, 10, is their only child. Shantel was diagnosed with breast cancer over the winter, but the disease was caught early (Stage 1) and was believed to be curable. At the time of her death, she was undergoing periodic chemotherapy treatments to eradicate the cancer. According to a family friend, her death was caused by an infected colon that led to sepsis. After going into cardiac arrest, emergency surgery was performed Thursday to have most of the colon removed, but she never regained consciousness. The sepsis might have been brought on partially by the chemotherapy, which is known to lower the body’s resistance to infection. “The Churchill Downs family is devastated by the sudden passing of Shantel Lanerie,” track president Kevin Flanery said in a media release Friday night. “This is a very sad day.” Friends, acquaintances, horsemen, and racing fans flooded social media with messages of condolence. Typical of their posts was this one on Instagram from Tiffany Bourque, a longtime friend who works in the Churchill racing office. “Heaven gained the strongest, most beautiful angel,” she wrote. “Words can never express how much we all love you.” On May 4, Shantel was one of 144 women who took part in the annual Survivors’ Parade on Kentucky Oaks Day at Churchill. Her story was told on the Big Board throughout the day and was spotlighted in triumphant fashion by numerous media outlets, including Daily Racing Form, due to her prominence in the racing community. Jockeys at Churchill and other North American tracks that day wore pink leg bands that read “Fight With Shantel.” Those bands resurfaced Friday at Churchill as word spread that her life was in peril. Shantel was raised in Cecilia, La., as the daughter of trainer Riley Hebert and his wife, Katie. She and Corey met in his first year of riding at Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, La., in 1991. They were married in April 1997. Before the birth of Brittlyn in 2008, Shantel worked various racetrack jobs, including as a clocker’s assistant, a mutuel clerk, and a photographer’s assistant. In her later years, she and Brittlyn often attended the races and were known to be Corey’s greatest source of support. Shantel’s parents and Corey’s parents were flown by private plane Thursday from Louisiana to be at her side. Several members of the Churchill riding colony, including fellow Louisiana natives Robby Albarado and Brian Hernandez Jr., were with the family at the time of death. Corey Lanerie has been the leading jockey at Churchill for 15 of the last 17 meets, dating to the 2012 spring meet. He also has been the leading jockey at other tracks, including Keeneland and Ellis Park, after having dominated at Louisiana and Texas tracks prior to moving to Kentucky in 2005. Funeral arrangements were pending Saturday. The body was to be transported to Louisiana for a funeral service and burial sometime this coming week. A moment of silence was to be held during the Saturday card at Churchill, and a memorial service at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Louisville, where Brittlyn attends school, was being scheduled for a later date.