Warlock was bred by George Frederick d'Arcy Lambton (1828-1879), the 2nd Earl of Durham, whose son, the Hon George Lambton, trained such notable horses as Canterbury Pilgrim (ch f 1893 Tristan) and Hyperion (ch c 1930 Gainsborough) for the Earl of Derby.

Later owned by Mr A Nichol and trained by John Scott, his turf career included wins in the St Leger Stakes, the Great Ebor Handicap (twice) and Queen's Plates at York and Lincoln.

"The Druid" thought Warlock "a singularly unfortunate horse. At Epsom, he was suffering from very sore shins. At Newcastle, he bolted in his first race, and fell in the second. At Carlisle, he was pulled up by mistake, after going once round. He was a wonderfully game horse, but somewhat slow, and required a deal of management. John Scott felt certain that, barring Ellington, of whom he had just dread, the St Leger was safe enough for Warlock, whose finest performance, however, was when he beat the redoubtable Fisherman, for the Queen's Plate, at York."

The General Stud Book records his coat colour as brown roan and the peculiarity of his colouring was such that it was said to exhibit more silver hairs than most Birdcatcher descendants. The silver hairs, often called "Birdcatcher ticks," along with the white tail markings suggest that he carried the rabicano gene.

His stud career, while not exceptional, resulted in some useful offspring. He stood the 1859 season at Lord Londesborough's Kirkby Farm (later renamed Stockwell), at Ulleskelfe, near Tadcaster, along with West Australian (b c 1850 Melbourne) and Stockwell (ch c 1849 The Baron), for a fee of 10 guineas.