Spendthrift Farm shuttler Warrior’s Reward has sired three juvenile winners in the last week and is on track to better the stats from his first two crops in the USA.

His 2yo filly Warrioress scored an all-the-way victory at Santa Anita on Thursday to make it 13 individual winners of $481,980.  The Spendthrift-bred youngster added her name to recent maiden winners Hoponthebusgus (Belmont) and Warrior’s Club (Churchill Downs).

Warrior’s Reward sired 13 winners of $643,474 first-up in 2014 and followed up with 15 winners of $689,688 last year.

Warrior’s Club (2c Warrior’s Reward – Thirty Eighth St. by Citidancer) broke through in black-type with a hollow victory in the Spendthrift Stallion Stakes (1400m) under the Twin Spires.

Jumping straight to the front in his stakes debut, the progressive colt pulled away in the straight to win by next to three lengths from Cool Arrow (Into Mischief) and Lawton (Archarcharch).  The race was restricted to the progeny of Spendthrift stallions.

“I’ve been so blessed with good horses and this one is just an overachiever,” Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said.  “We didn’t give a lot for this horse but that doesn’t mean a thing.  When they can run, they can run and he’s getting better all the time.”

The Spendthrift Stallion Stakes was created to reward owners and breeders with $150,000 going to the owners of the placed horses, the other $150,000 is divided among the breeders of placed horses, with the winning breeder, John O’Meara, earning $60,000.

Warrior’s Club is from a winning half-sister to the dam of Aqueduct stakes winners Storied Lady (Bay Ridge Stakes) & Love Abroad (Itaka Stakes).

“The coach gave me a lot of confidence in the paddock,” jockey Miguel Mena admitted.  “He said the horse will come out rocking.  Turning for home, I asked him to run and he really just put them away.”

Spendthrift’s champion mare Beholder has been retired in the wake of her historic win in the Group 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita on Friday.

Trained by Richard Mandella, Beholder went out on top in a race for the ages over the previously unbeaten Songbird.  She is the first horse ever to win at Group 1 level at ages 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

The daughter of former Australian shuttler Henny Hughes (USA) bows out with 18 wins from 26 starts for earnings over $6.15 million.  Spendthrift owner B. Wayne Hughes has elected to breed her to Uncle Mo.

WARRIOR’S CLUB