In an effort to get more newcomers to Team Valor International involved in racing abroad, company CEO Barry Irwin has reached back in the stable's marketing playbook, just as it did with subsequent Graded Stakes winners Pluck and Sailor's Cap, to present an opportunity for fresh racing partners to join a racing syndicate with special terms and conditions. Orderofthephoenix was an impressive maiden winner at Dundalk last month ... More

Green Up looked to have an insurmountable task for her comeback facing Frank's Rockette Sunday in a one-corner elongated sprint at Aqueduct for the $135,000 Pumpkin Pie Stakes, but the pile of late money bet on the Team Valor International filly was a sign of confidence from unexpected quarters and presaged a positive yet unexpected result. ... More

Pummeling the wickets as though losing was completely out of the question, horseplayers hammered down Romagna Mia from 6-to-1 to the solid 2-to-1 choice at post time. In a lone North American outing the Englishborn, Italian-developed and Frenchraced import had finished third in the Grade 1 Beverly D Stakes at Colonial Downs behind Fev Rover and Gina Romantica. Those horses won Grade 1 races at Woodbine and Keeneland in their next start, imbuing the form with a high patina of success. ... More

McLovin, already a beloved equine simply by virtue of his comical name, endeared himself to the crowd of National Hunt aficionados on Saturday at a major day of hurdle and steeplechase racing at Fair Hills in New Jersey and before he cooled out and hopped on the van back to Keeneland he had managed to create his own fan club. It did not hurt that during his signature victory in the day's only Flat race, the $100,000 John Forbes Stakes over 2 miles, he jumped a road and a pathway a few times en route to his grass course triumph, teasing those in attendance that he himself may someday want to return to the home of jump races in the United States to try his luck over the barriers. ... More

Just Great never had a straw in her path on debut when she trotted up the easiest kind of winner by nearly 14 lengths at Delaware Park. But on Wednesday, back at the same stand, racing for twice the purse in a $100,000 non-black-type stakes, things were markedly different for the Great Notion juvenile filly. She was victorious, remaining unbeaten in 2 starts as the earner of $90,000, but had much more to overcome on this outing ... More

Go Athletico last Sunday at The Curragh caught the soft ground he likes, got the waiting trip he needs and began from the most favorable side of the course from an advantageous draw. And the 5-year-old gelding responded with what likely was the best effort of his 30-race career when winning the Group 3 Renaissance Stakes over six furlongs. ... More

Team Valor International and Gary Barber's Elysian Field finished a strong second Sunday at Woodbine in Canada's most important race, the $1-million King's Plate, as "The Other Barber" turned in a tour de force performance on the front end to lead a one-two finish for the Hollywood movie mogul and trainer Mark Casse. Elysian Field continues to develop and improve. ... More

Elysian Field, perfectly piloted by Sahin Civaci, emphatically answered the question of whether she could be effective around two turns over a route of ground yesterday at Woodbine, when she hog-tied 13 rival sophomore fillies at the top of the home stretch and powered to a dominating 2 -length victory in the Woodbine Oaks. Such was the impression made by the Team Valor International and Gary Barber-owned filly that her connections likely will supplement her to the August 20 renewal of the King s Plate. ... More

Setting a new Timeform Topper of 114, Go Athletico easily took the Listed Midsummer Sprint at Cork. It was his first start in Ireland, first start for trainer Ado McGuinness, and also his debut for Team Valor International. This is the horse who defeated subsequent Group 1 winner Sealiway at two in the Group 3 Prix La Rochette. ... More

On the evening before the Kentucky Derby, the Virginia Thoroughbred Breeders Association handed out their annual awards for the horses considered to be the best representatives of the state s breeding program. Horse of the Year honors went to Team Valor International s classy sophomore filly Green Up. ... More

Elysian Field came good yesterday fourth time out and first time up in her homeland of Canada. Dropped in trip from a pair of 2-turn Gulfstream Park races to a sprint for the first time since she was a good runner-up on debut sprinting at Saratoga on the grass, she not only displayed plenty of talent, but a lot of moxie, as she rated kindly inside along the fence, had the agility to split horses and the raw talent to draw off down the lane to score easily by 3 1/4 lengths at Woodbine over the Tapeta surface. ... More

Lajoscha did not come into the Altano-Rennen exactly as planned. However, his class prevailed and he won the Listed race with authority for Woehler and jockey Eddie Pedroza in fine style over the 14 furlongs in Berlin. Now Herr Woehler will bring him back in 2 weeks at the same Hoppegarten racecourse for Germany s top race for Stayers, the Group 2 Oleander-Rennen going 2 miles. ... More

Bella Romanza, which had been bought a year ago off a strong synthetic track breeze in Ocala at the OBS sale of unraced juveniles, reverted to that form when dazzling an Easter Sunday throng at Gulfstream Park yesterday to surprise not only most of those in attendance at the Hallandale track, but her connections as well. A rare pleasant surprise, is how trainer Todd Pletcher characterized the 14-to-1 upset fashioned by Bella Romanza in winning her racing bow over 7 furlongs on grass. ... More

Hurricane Dream enjoyed his American debut and took full advantage of a fast pace to not only win by 4 1/2 lengths on Keeneland's opening day, but to run faster by far than any other United States based grass runner around two turns this season. Under Frankie Dettori, Hurricane Dream broke well from the gate, easily recovered when the horse to his left came over on him and he settled into a nice position. ... More

The Charleston, dispatched as the 8 to 1 fourth choice to 9 to 5 favorite Kyalami Girl, overcame the widest of draws on a course that favored inside speed all day long to post a mild upset under a daring and inspired ride from Grant van Niekerk. The Charleston and Kyalami Girl are both trained by Candice Bass-Robinson, who admitted before and after the race that she fancied Gaynor Rupert s filly over the Team Valor stablemate and did not see how The Charleston would be able to beat the favorite, especially from her draw. ... More

Over the course of the 36 years that Barry Irwin has been forming and managing his stable of syndicated racehorses, the winning strike rate has averaged 18 percent, year in and year out. This year the stable maintained that high level of quality with 18 percent wins once again. La Petite Coco won the Group 1 Pretty Polly Stakes and the stable scored its 1000th lifetime piece of black-type. ... More

When Saturday s $300,000 Fall Harvest Stakes was drawn, Team Valor International and Gary Barber s 4 old filly Wakanaka looked to have been dropped in the deep end of the pool, a fact that was noted by Keeneland s morning-line maker, who put her at 12-to-1 for the mile contest on grass that capped the second day of the Breeders Cup weekend in Lexington, Kentucky. By post time, however, the entire complexion of the race had changed. ... More

Trainer Andreas Woehler and jockey Jozef Bojko teamed up to turn Listed winner Silence Please into a European Group winner on Sunday at the beautiful Hoppegarten course east of Berlin. Woehler instructed the Slovakian-born reinsman to take her right to the back in an effort to completely switch off the mare, then make his move when he felt the timing was right for yesterday s 3000 meter Group 3 Preis Silbernes Pferd. Still last at the top of the stretch, she caught the leader Nerium approaching the grandstand then drew off to a five length score in Germany's oldest stakes race. ... More

In what was the final French Group win of his fabled career, retiring Champion jockey Gerald Mosse delivered a brilliant ride to score a first Group win aboard Team Valor Interational and Gary Barber's Facteur Cheval in the Group 3 Prix Perth going a mile on heavy going at Saint-Cloud on Saturday. It was only this summer that Mosse clutched Barry Irwin's hands post-race and boldly told him and trainer Jerome Reynier that the 3-year-old was an absolute "superstar." ... More

In a riding exhibition the likes of which fully illustrate why Irad Ortiz Jr. is among the best riders currently plying their trade in North America, the Puerto Rican-born reinsman gathered up the filly, waited patiently for room and seamlessly maneuvered himself into exactly the position he wanted. The filly by Upstart once again drew clear in the stretch, as she has done all year. Final time of 1:39 3/5 was just two-fifths of a second shy of the Parx track record. ... More

Wakanaka scored in the Grade 2 Dance Smartly Stakes at Woodbine, increasing her lifetime tally to 7 wins and 5 placings in 13 starts. "She brings her A-game everytime as one can see by her skein of Graded placings since arriving in the U.S." The always consistent, dish-faced beauty is a daughter of the Coolmore stallion Power and produced by the Kodiac mare Storyline. ... More

Green Up answered a lot of questions last Sunday when scoring a facile 5 3/4-length triumph in the Boiling Springs Stakes at Monmouth Park. She proved she could win around two turns, she proved that she could be just as brilliant in stakes company as she had been when beating up on bums in Florida and she proved that the sky could very well be the limit for her in terms of where her talent can take her. ... More

Facteur Cheval is now 4 for 4, a black-type winner, and a horse that has now made decent rivals look decided moderate in each of his victories. He won by 2 lengths, the same winning margin in all of his races since the 3-year-old Ribchester horse broke his maiden on debut by 5 lengths. When Gerald Mosse swung Facteur Chevel outside to allow the 3-year-old to make his stretch move, many in the Chantilly crowd on Sunday began to applaud the flashy gelding and the intensity of the clapping and whooping increased as he powered to the front, strode clear down the lane and won eased up at the wire with his jockey patting him on the head and neck. ... More

Everything fell into place for La Petite Coco last Sunday at The Curragh racecourse in County Kildare, Ireland and the Ruler of the World filly took full advantage of the opportunity to become a Group 1 winner and provide her super-hot trainer Paddy Twomey with his first career triumph at the highest level in the world of racing. ... More

Mooney Love was last with 600 meters remaining. Panov switched him to the outside in the final quarter-mile and got him rolling right toward the odds-on favorite that looked home free. Mooney Love generated a tremendous closing punch to not only reel in the favorite, but to leave that one in his dust. I didn t need to use the stick or anything, he did it all on his own, Russian-born Panov said. It was a strong effort and very impressive. ... More

Team Valor International and Marco Saviozzi's 3-year-old filly Nadette (Fr) (Outstrip {GB} Ciboulette {Ire}, by Pivotal {GB}) was two places behind subsequent G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches heroine Mangoustine (Fr) when fifth going one mile at Paris-Longchamp in last month's G3 Prix de la Grotte and stepped forward to collect a career high in today's Listed Prix Finlande upped to nine furlongs back at the Bois de Boulogne venue.. ... More

Although she mostly walked out of the gate, the 3-year-old filly was soon into stride and was allowed to move up on her own volition between horses in the initial run down the backstretch through an easy opening quarter-mile of :23 4/5. The second quarter-mile was a different story, as it took less than 23 seconds to accomplish as the half was reached in :46 3/5. Green Up was always moving well in hand. She kept towards the outside around the turn, was allowed to drift wide when sent up at the quarter pole to assume command and was asked to put the race away at the top of the lane. ... More

Nadette displayed instant acceleration in winning her Chantilly comeback today in France and stamped herself as a Miler. There had been considerable discussion over the winter between trainer Romain Le Dren-Doleuze and Barry Irwin about the filly s true trip, as her runs last season did not offer enough evidence about whether she would be best at the Guineas (mile) or Oaks (10f) trips. But today, she answered the debate emphatically by summoning instant acceleration, which is the hallmark of a top Miler. ... More

Alan Carasso at the TDN had the following to say upon watching Green Up mow down her field in a Gulfstream Park maiden sprint: "Sent off a mortal lock at odd of 2-to-5, Team Valor International's Green Up (Upstart) improved off a big-figure debut second for previous connections and galloped her six overmatched rivals into the ground, earning "TDN Rising Star' honors for a 6 3/4 length tour-de-force. ... More

Keyflower won her United States unveiling and 4-year-old debut on Saturday at Santa Anita with authority by three-quarters of a length going a mile under a brilliant bit of reinsmanship from fellow French import Flavien Prat. We got a great ride from a veteran who had the good sense to stay close to the pace, when most riders would have taken back anticipating a fast pace, noted Barry Irwin. ... More

Black Silver, by virtue of her excellent performance when earning black-type for the first time in the Jamaica Handicap last Friday, had her Merit Rating raised 9 points to 89. Black Silver becomes the second runner produced by Team Valor s Champion race mare Ebony Flyer to earn black-type in a stakes race. ... More