Work All Week (City Zip), upset winner of the 2014 GI Breeders' Cup Sprint and that year's champion sprinter, died at Old Friends in Georgetown, Kentucky, Monday, Nov. 13. According to Old Friends equine veterinarian Dr. Bryan Waldridge, the 14-year-old suffered a fatal paddock accident. A full necropsy is pending.
Bred in Illinois by Richard and Karen Papiese's Midwest Thoroughbreds, the likeable chestnut was trained throughout his career by the late Roger Brueggemann. During the summer of 2013, Work All Week embarked on an eight-race winning streak that included open-company stakes victories in the Hot Springs S. at Oaklawn and in the Iowa Sprint H. at Prairie Meadows. He was upset in an Illinois-bred stakes in the summer of 2014, but bounced back to validate favoritism in the GIII Phoenix S. at Keeneland ahead of a half-length victory in the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Santa Anita, joining Buck's Boy as the only Breeders' Cup winners bred in the Land of Lincoln. As a 6-year-old in 2015, Work All Week added the Byrd Memorial S. at Mountaineer Park and was third to Runhappy (Super Saver) in defense of his title in the Phoenix.
Over the next five years, Work All Week became a stable pony before the Papieses donated him to Old Friends for his retirement.
“Even though I bet on second place finisher, Secret Circle, in the 2014 Breeders' Cup Sprint, I fell in love with Work All Week and his owners, Richard and Karen Papiese, who supported him and his pal, The Pizza Man, ever since they arrived at Old Friends,” said Old Friends President and Founder Michael Blowen.
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