Champion Sprinter Work All Week Retired

Midwest Thoroughbreds' homebred Work All Week, the champion male sprinter of 2014 and winner of last year's Xpressbet Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I), has been retired because of a stress fracture in his right knee.

According to an Oct. 8 release, the injury was found during a routine scan following the 6-year-old City Zip   gelding's third-place finish in the Oct. 2 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes (gr. III) at Keeneland, a race he won last season in track-record time en route to his Breeders' Cup win for trainer Roger Brueggemann.

"Sometimes he gets heat in his ankles, so we were doing a routine check on him," said Midwest principal owner Richard Papiese. "We decided to go ahead and check his knees for no reason except just to be thorough, and we found a stress fracture that likely occurred during the running of the Phoenix. There was no pulse or heat, but there was just enough for us to have to stop on him.

"We are so lucky we decided to check, because it could have set him up for a slab fracture and that could have been catastrophic. To bring him back as a 7-year-old would be a big risk and he's already done so much and given us so many highs that I would not risk his health and happiness. It's not a tragedy and the glass isn't half-empty—it's full because he isn't shattered."

Work All Week, an Illinois-bred out of the Repriced mare Danzig Matilda, retires with a 13-4-1 record from 19 starts and earnings of $1,511,071. The seven-time stakes winner's lone off-the-board finish was his debut going a turf route. 

"You try to keep the highs and lows in perspective," Papiese said. "After all the tears, the good thing is that we still have the horse and he goes out as a reigning Eclipse champion, Breeders' Cup champion, and the best sprinter ever in Illinois—and doesn't go out in an ambulance. You feel bad for the horse because all he wants to do is run and compete, but this is the right thing to do. We will keep him in Roger's barn for now and then possibly make him into a pony. He loves to be at the track."

In addition to his Eclipse Award as outstanding male sprinter, Work All Week is a two-time Illinois Horse of the Year. During his career he broke the 1:10 barrier for six furlongs 11 times, including running 1:09 flat or faster three times and defeating multiple grade I winners in the process. He won over nine different tracks and was ridden to victories by jockeys Florent Geroux, Chris Emigh, Francisco Torres, and Seth Martinez.

"It's not just about the big horses, when it comes to doing what's right," Papiese continued. "We had a claimer named Quinby Pete who didn't warm up right the other day for a race in which he was the 4-5 favorite and (trainer) Jamie Ness and I decided to retire him and give him a new career. You can have a Breeders' Cup champion or a $5,000 claimer—it doesn't matter the type of horse—neither were right and they're both retired so that they can live their lives.

"There are a lot of good people out there trying to do things the right way and looking out for the health of their horses. You can't let a handful of bad people poison that perspective. That's why we get involved with organizations like One Last Race, which focuses on aftercare, rescue, and retirement. We had just signed on and taken photos for them and then, oddly enough, this happened." 

One Last Race provides charitable funding to approved non-profit Thoroughbred rescue, retirement, rehabilitation, retraining, and re-homing organizations.

"Work All Week is part of the family," Papiese concluded. "We're going make sure he stays happy and healthy."