BREAKING NEWS ... PROMETEO back with another win in France!


Impressive Dundalk Maiden Winner Orderofthephoenix Acquired
Imposing Grey Juvenile Filly Joins Team Valor International
Initiative Designed to Introduce European Racing to Newcomers

November 25, 2023

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 Underlines Her Class in Facile Listed 7-Furlong Triumph
Johnny V. Adjusts to Condition, Delivers Text-Book Riding Lesson

November 5, 2023

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


Romagna Mia Justifies Status as Choice to Win Grade 3 Dowager
Team Valor's European Import Rallies to Win Easily by 3 Lengths

October 22, 2023

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 Finds His Calling Winning Stakes Over 2 Miles on Soft Sod
Animal Kingdom 5yo is Stakes Winner Number 181 for Irwin Syndicate
Set To Make Second Start over 2 Miles in December at Gulfstream

October 21, 2023

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 Gamely Overcomes a Rough Trip to Remain Unbeaten
Juvenile Filly Wins $100,000 Delaware Race, Now Earner of $90,000
Great Notion Daughter Likely to be Stretched Out as a 3-Year-Old

September 27, 2023

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 is Convincing Winner at The Curragh of Group Three
Veteran Gelding Records New Timeform Top of 116 in Sunday Sprint

September 24, 2023

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


Elysian Field Second To Gary Barber Colt In $1-Million King's Plate
Team Valor/Barber Filly Continues Her Remarkable Improvement

August 20, 2023

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 Finishes Strongly to Grab $500,000 Woodbine Oaks
Million-Dollar King s Plate Next on Filly s Agenda on August 20
Casse Filly Hammered Late From 13-to-1 to 5-to-1 in Late Betting

July 23, 2023

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


Go Athletico Exits Comfortable Irish Listed Win Sharp as a Tack
Evergreen 5yo Could Return Next Month in Group 2 Sapphire Dash

June 16, 2023

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


Team Valor's Green Up Named Virginia-Bred Horse of the Year
Upstart Filly Also Named Virginia-Bred Champion 3-Year-Old Filly

May 5, 2023

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 Bet Down to 8-to-5 Favoritism, Scores by 3 1/4 Lengths
Soph Saves Ground Along Fence, Shows Moxie, Splits Rivals to Win
Irwin: "She Ran to Her Looks and Works and Is Set to Improve Now"

May 1, 2023

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 Fires Off the Bench to Take Listed Race Despite Firmer Turf
Black-Type Score Qualifies Him for the 2023 Melbourne Cup

April 30, 2023

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 Dazzles on Debut Winning on Gulfstream Park Sod
Expensive Bernardini Juvenile Buy Comes Good for Todd Pletcher

April 10, 2023

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 Storms Home 4 1/2 Lengths in Front in Bluegrass
Provides Keeneland Opening-Day Folk with Thrill Under Dettori

April 7, 2023

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 Last-to-First Winner of Lucrative Auction Race
Juvenile Miss Has Now Earned 4 Times Her Buy-In Price for Partners
Black-Type Races Loom on the Horizon for Bass-Robinson Trainee

Feb 25, 2023

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


Stable Wraps Up 2022 With Several Notable Milestones Achieved
1000 Pieces of Black-Type Earned by Winning and Placing in Stakes

Dec 30, 2022

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


Wakanaka Wins from Last Place Despite a Moderate Early Pace
Four-Year-Old Filly Banks Largest Domestic Purse of the Season
Italian Import Caps Memorable Day for HOF Trainer William Mott

Nov 04, 2022

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


Silence Please Becomes a Group Stakes Winner for Woehler
Gleneagles Mare Draws Off by 5 Lengths in Berlin Germany
Five-Year-Old Will be Bred and Sold Next Year at Tattersalls

Oct 30, 2022

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


Facteur Cheval Leaves the Best for Last in Group 3 Prix Perth
Benefits from Solid Pace, Enterprising Ride for 1 1/2-Length Score
Gerald Mosse Predicts Gelding will be Group 1 Runner Next Year

Oct 22, 2022

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


Green Up Earns Berth for Grade 1 Cotillion in Huge Prep Score
Stays Unbeaten in 2022; Records 100 Beyer and 109 Equibase Figures

Aug 23, 2022

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 Gets her Day in the Sun at Windy Woodbine
Irish Thousand Guineas Victress Strikes in G2 Dance Smartly
Woodbine Press Dept Sums Up "Ladies of the Lawn" First Leg

July 5, 2022

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 Romps to 5 3/4-Length Victory in Her Black-Type Debut
Paco Lopez is a Passenger in Front-running Tour de Force in Joisey
Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks in Offing for Todd Pletcher's 3YO Protege

July 5, 2022

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 Exudes Raw Power Remaining Unbeaten in Stakes
Sophomore Gelding Wows French Crowd in Effortless Triumph
Irwin: "He's the Most Exciting Horse for Us Since Citidancer in 1990"

July 2, 2022

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


La Petite Coco Captures Group 1 Pretty Polly S. at The Curragh
Filly Beats Top Field in Her 4-Year-Old Debut for Twomey and Lee
Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe Prospect Now Has Won 5 of 6 for Team Valor

June 30, 2022

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 Stuns Cologne Racegoers with Listed Stakes Score
Italian Import Romps by 2 3/4 Lengths Going 2100 Meters in 4YO Bow
Irwin: "He Wants to Follow a Fast Pace on Hard Turf and He Got It"

June 30, 2022

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


Nadette is Now Officially Pointing for the Classic French Oaks
Theo Bachelot Commits to Riding Filly in 2100-Meter Group 1 Race

May 19, 2022

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


Green Up Coasts Home in Hand at Odds of 1-to-2 at Gulfstream
Promising 3-Year-Old Filly Successfully Stretches Out Over Mile

Apr 21, 2022

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 Earns Guineas Trial Berth by Winning Today's Comeback
Outstrip Filly Shows Instant Acceleration Over Polytrack Mile
French One Thousand Guineas on May 15 at Longchamp is Her Goal

Mar 14, 2022

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


The Thoroughbred Daily News names Team Valor's Green Up a "Rising Star"
Upstart Filly Cruises by Nearly Seven Lengths in Stable Debut

Mar 13, 2022

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 Benefits from Million-Dollar Ride to Win U.S. Debut
French 4yo Garners $72,200 from Purse and Santa Anita Incentives
Import Figures to Improve Over Longer Than This One-Mile Route

Feb 19, 2022

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 Earns Black-Type When Second in Jamaica Handicap
Ebony Flyer 4YO Daughter Beaten Three-Quarters of a Length
Homebred Finishes Well, But No Match for Rupert's Course Wizard

Jan 7, 2022

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



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