The Bluegrass Warhorses were a professional

indoor American football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller a ...

team based in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

. The team joined the

Continental Indoor Football League The Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) was an indoor football league based along the Midwestern United States region that played nine seasons from 2006 to 2014. It began play in April 2006 as the Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLIF ...

(CIFL) in 2014 as an

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

. The Warhorses were the second indoor football team based in Lexington. (The

Kentucky Horsemen The Kentucky Horsemen (known as the Lexington Horsemen from 2003 to 2009) was an indoor American football, indoor football team based in Lexington, Kentucky. The team played its home games at Rupp Arena. The organization began as a 2003 expansion ...

of the

United Indoor Football United Indoor Football (UIF) was an indoor football league in the United States that operated from 2005 to 2008. Ten owners from the National Indoor Football League, including one expansion (the Dayton Warbirds, which never played a game in UIF ...

and

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

were the first.) The owner of the Warhorses is JaQuar Sanders. The Warhorses played their home games at the

Alltech Arena The Alltech Arena is a 5,517-seat multi-purpose arena in Lexington, Kentucky. The facility, named for the title sponsor Alltech, opened on the grounds of the Kentucky Horse Park in July 2009. It was originally constructed for the 2010 FEI World ...

inside of

Kentucky Horse Park Kentucky Horse Park is a working horse farm, international equestrian competition venue, and an educational theme park opened in 1978 in Lexington, Kentucky. It is located off Kentucky State Highway 1973 (Iron Works Pike) and Interstate 75, at Exi ...

but were forced to cancel their last four home games "due to unpaid arena rent and other bills".

Franchise history

2014

The franchise was first announced in May 2013. It announced that the Warhorses would be playing at the

on the grounds of the

. In July, it was announced the Warhorses would be a member of the

. Harry Lewis was introduced in August as the team's first head coach. With former

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

quarterback,

Shane Boyd Shane Boyd (born September 18, 1982) is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football for the Kentucky Wildcats. Boyd has also ...

leading the Warhorses, they fell to the

Northern Kentucky River Monsters The Northern Kentucky River Monsters were a professional indoor football team based in Highland Heights, Kentucky. The River Monsters began play as a charter member of the Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL) for its inaugural 2011 season spen ...

20-36, in what became an internet sensation game, due to

Jared Lorenzen Jared Raymond Lorenzen (February 14, 1981 – July 3, 2019) was an American football quarterback and administrator who played in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons with the New York Giants. He played college football at Kentucky ...

's 320-pound quarterback play. The team fell into financial problems halfway through the season, cancellation of their four remaining home dates, and moving the league to seek new ownership for a possible 2015 season.

Players of note

Final roster

Coaches of note

Head coaches

''Note: Statistics are correct through Week 12 of the

2014 Continental Indoor Football League season The 2014 Continental Indoor Football League season was the Continental Indoor Football League's ninth overall season. The regular season started on Monday February 3, with the Northern Kentucky River Monsters visiting the Bluegrass Warhorses at t ...

.''

Coaching staff

Season-by-season results

References

{{CIFL American football teams in Kentucky Former Continental Indoor Football League teams Sports in Lexington, Kentucky American football teams established in 2013 American football teams disestablished in 2014