Kentucky Horse Park says arena football team failed to pay rent; home games canceled

The Bluegrass Warhorses, an arena football team in its first season at the Kentucky Horse Park, has canceled all of its remaining home games because of money troubles after the departure of the team's general manager.

Horse park spokeswoman Lisa Jackson said the Warhorses organization did not pay for rent or catering for games played at the park's arena Feb. 3 and Feb. 8.

JaQuar Sanders, a co-owner of the team with Eric Taylor, addressed disgruntled fans Thursday on the team's Facebook page.

He said Taylor "has been, to be quite frank, M.I.A. for about three weeks now and is no longer with the Warhorses organization and has also been banned from the CIFL (Continental Indoor Football League) due to lack of communication and integrity."

Sanders said he was now the general manager of the team and would collect information about tickets, sponsorships and games.

The rest of the season's games will be played as away games.

"We are working closely with the CIFL to finish the rest of the season and to re-form the team next year under new ownership and management and will gladly honor your season tickets next season," Sanders said. "If you would like to follow the team this year, we will have complimentary tickets for all of those games."

The league features teams from Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Sanders did not respond to the Herald-Leader's email requests for comment.

Jackson would not divulge what the team had told the horse park about their problems, but he said it is possible the team will play in Lexington again. She said the arena has 5,500 seats and that the team had 250 season ticket holders before the season started this year.

"If they're able to pay, we'll take it from there," she said.

The Warhorses have four more games scheduled through April. The next game is Saturday against the Marion Blue Racers in Marion, Ohio.

This story was originally published March 20, 2014 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Kentucky Horse Park says arena football team failed to pay rent; home games canceled."