Warrior's Club Joins TRF Sanctuary at Chestnut Hall

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation will welcome graded stakes winner Warrior's Club  to the TRF Sanctuary Farm at Chestnut Hall through a $30,000 donation from the Churchill Downs Racing Club, Churchill Downs announced May 13.

Warrior's Club was the first horse for the Churchill Downs Racing Club which was started in 2016 and the son of Warrior's Reward   took the 200 partners involved in his group on a whirlwind ride over the course of four years winning races at marquee tracks across the country with victories at Churchill Downs, Saratoga Race Course, Oaklawn Park, and Keeneland. Trained by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, Warrior's Club amassed earnings of more than $850,000, including a victory in the Commonwealth Stakes (G3) at Keeneland and competed at the sport's highest level, even participating in the TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs in 2018, where he was eighth. 

 "The Churchill Downs Racing Club has been a real thrill and has generated hundreds of new Thoroughbred owners," said Gary Palmisano, Churchill Downs Racing Club director. "Warrior's Club has taken his members and the club on an incredible journey and he deserves, like all Thoroughbreds, to live out his days in a place where people can visit him and he can enjoy his retirement." 

The TRF Sanctuary Farm at Chestnut Hall opened in April 2021 on property purchased by Bill Carstanjen, CEO of Churchill Downs Inc. Located in Prospect, about 30 minutes outside Louisville, the new TRF Sanctuary Farm at Chestnut Hall will be the permanent home of 11 horses from the organization's national herd of 500 retired Thoroughbred racehorses.

These "herd ambassadors" will serve as educators to tell the story of the long life and diverse second careers that await these equine athletes when their racing days are done. Located on nearly 30 acres of historic farmland in Oldham County and featuring a restored farmhouse, Chestnut Hall has been created for the express purpose of connecting Thoroughbred horses to the community.

Starting in mid-May, the farm will be open to the public for tours through Visit Horse Country and will be available as a venue for educational events and fundraisers for nonprofits around the Louisville area.

Through the success of Warrior's Club on the racetrack, the Churchill Downs Racing Club was able to purchase several other horses, all of whom have gone on to second careers and homes after racing, according to Churchill Downs. To date, the club has either claimed back or purchased back all but two horses, both of whom are actively still racing, to ensure safe and happy retirements. 

On behalf of Warrior's Club and the Churchill Downs Racing Club donations also were made to Second Stride, New Vocations, the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, and Thoroughbred Charities of America.