Warrior's Club retired before a try at Saratoga's Forego
Warrior’s Club, the first horse to run for what has gone on to be a successful venture in the Churchill Downs Racing Club, has retired, it was announced Tuesday.
The 5-year-old son of Warrior’s Reward earned more than $850,000 in 33 starts, which included a graded stakes win in Keeneland’s 2018 Commonwealth (G3). And that served as quite a thrill for the Racing Club members who invested a mere $500 apiece to be involved in the D. Wayne Lukas trainee’s career.
“It’s been an amazing journey and he has given us so many incredible memories,” Gary Palmisano, a Churchill Downs representative who manages the Racing Club, said in a Facebook post. “We are going to ensure that he has every chance to be a terrific sire but also ensure he lives out his life happily and healthily.
“He’s been so good to us, so we will make sure we return the favor to him.”
Palmisano said Warrior's Club sustained a knee chip in his most-recent breeze, adding that the decision to negotiate a stud deal will provide "another educational chapter for the club to experience."
"Every time he runs he has to keep a lot of people happy," Lukas said after Warrior’s Club’s last start. "He carries a heavy load. He's been an absolute perfect club horse if you want to call him that. When we started this, he was one of the initial purchases and we thought we bought a nice inexpensive horse that would give people some enjoyment. Next thing you know, we look up and we have ourselves a really nice horse.
"He's been getting better so we're thrilled that he can not only give them the exposure in racing, which we though was going to be at the lower level, but we're giving them the exposure at the highest level.”
Lukas continues to train for the Churchill Downs Racing Club, which in April announced membership availability in a 2-year-old conditioned by the Hall of Famer. Churchill bills the Racing Club as “low-cost, low-risk glimpse into the life of Thoroughbred ownership,” with more information on the nonprofit available at ChurchillDowns.com/RacingClub.