John Messara s Arrowfield Stud has acquired a majority interest in the breeding rights to Animal Kingdom, the 2011 Kentucky Derby winner and Champion 3YO Male, who will begin his stud career in Australia next September and likely shuttle to the Northern Hemisphere beginning in 2014. More

Ebony Flyer, who beat Horse of the Year Igugu in the Classic Cape Fillies Guineas, will enter quarantine next week in Cape Town and be shipped in May to Ireland for a Southern Hemisphere date next fall at Coolmore Stud with the world's leading sire Galileo.More

Team Valor International today honored a New York Times story on the role of veterinarians in the use of drugs in horse racing as the first winner of the Stan Bergstein Writing Award. More

From Brian Zipse of Horse Racing Nation: With more than seven times as many votes as his nearest competition, it is clear that Animal Kingdom has captured the imagination of more race fans than anyone else in training. More

Summer Soiree wrapped up her racing career by passing the $500,000 plateau and adding to her Grade 1 credentials with a third-place finish in the Matriarch Stakes on November 25 at Hollywood Park. More

Mike Curry of America s Best Racing writes that "crazy as it might sound, Animal Kingdom might be even better now than when he streaked past the finish line under the Twin Spires in the Kentucky Derby. Much better, in fact." ... More

Trainer Graham Motion developed a daring plan that almost landed his charge Animal Kingdom an historic victory in the Breeders' Cup Mile in the colt's first start in 259 days. Team Valor International CEO Barry Irwin termed the second-place finish to probable Horse of the Year Wise Dan "a great feat of horsemanship." ... More

From Mike Curry of America's Best Racing comes the following: Jumping into the sport of horse racing as an owner is a thrilling venture they don t call the Kentucky Derby (G1) the most exciting two minutes in sports for nothing but owning a race horse can be a daunting proposition. Partnerships are a fantastic way to enjoy the thrill of racehorse ownership ... More

Team Valor International has issued a final automatic nomination for the inaugural Stanley Bergstein Writing Award to Bunny Hinzman for her blog entry The Lasix Debate from October 26. ... More

From Tom Pedulla of America's Best Racing comes the following: Of all the horses entered in the Breeders Cup World Championships on Monday, none was more improbable than Breeders Cup Mile (G1)-bound Animal Kingdom. ... More

Team Valor International heavy accent on the last world is set to fire four big shots around the racing world in the 11-day period between October 27 and November 6. Each of the stars competing namely Animal Kingdom, Triple Threat, First Cornerstone and Brigantin is as live as live can be. ... More

Barry Irwin bought only one colt at the National Yearling Sale in South Africa three years ago and today he became Team Valor, Anant and Vanashree Singh, Gaynor Rupert and partners latest Graded stakes winner, when 9 to 1 Changingoftheguard took over at the furlong grounds, opened a lead and kept finding more to record a neck victory over previously once-beaten Champion colt King of Pain to win the Grade 3 Matchem Stakes. ... More

Animal Kingdom will return in the $2-million Breeders Cup Mile on the turf at Santa Anita Park on November 3 with a chance to become the first Kentucky Derby winner to go on to Breeders Cup glory since Unbridled in 1990. ... More

Team Valor International has issued an automatic nomination to a team of New York Times writers for the inaugural Stanley Bergstein Writing Award, recognizing their September 22 piece on the role of veterinarians in the widespread use of drugs in horse racing. ... More

Animal Kingdom looked smooth and controlled. He could have gone faster, but didn t need to. Graham Motion called the work part of a plan without aiming for a specific race, though the goal looms. ... More

As Andrew Oliver has convinced Barry Irwin to conclude First Cornerstone s juvenile campaign with the October 27 renewal of the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy over a mile, he has chosen the September 30 running of the Group 2 Beresford Stakes going a mile instead of the 7-furlong National Stakes this weekend. ... More

David Grening of Daily Racing Form reports that champion Animal Kingdom could be ready to return to the races by late October or early November. ... More

First Cornerstone scored a Group 2 victory and flashed an abundance of promise for the future in winning Sunday's Futurity Stakes at The Curragh, four days after Team Valor International purchased the Irish-bred son of Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Hurricane Run. ... More

Barry Irwin answered a wide range of questions on August 21 on the popular Talkin' Horses podcast on the Blood-Horse website, addressing issues in racing to the continuing glow of Animal Kingdom's Kentucky Derby win and what guides him in buying horses for Team Valor International. ... More

Team Valor International founder and CEO Barry Irwin will be the featured speaker at the racetrack chaplaincy's annual White Horse Luncheon on November 1 at Santa Anita Park. ... More

Classic and multiple Grade 1 winner Ebony Flyer remains in training as a 5-year-old, it was revealed today by Barry Irwin, CEO of Team Valor International, who campaigns the Jet Master mare with Gaynor Rupert of Drakenstein Stud and Anant and Vanashree Singh of South Africa. ... More

The Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association tracked Barry Irwin down in England to deliver the great news that Team Valor International has been selected as the organization's Southern Region Owner of the Year. ... More

Ebony Flyer, who ended the 2011-2012 racing season in South Africa that ended on July 31 with Grade 1 victories going 6 furlongs and a mile, was honored this evening in ceremonies at a black-tie affair at Kenilworth race course in Cape Town, South Africa. ... More

Valor Ladies LLC, the brainchild of Megan Jones, launches today with the offering of the juvenile filly Tuttipaesi (pronounced two tee pie A.Z.) which translated from the Italian means "all countries," a name that not only fittingly describes her own international pedigree, but the international outlook of its connections as well. ... More

Team Valor International makes a pledge to potential new customers that it will never phone you without being invited to do so and will never hustle you to join one of our racing partnerships. . ... More

Team Valor International's 3-year-old colt Howe Great won today's Jersey Derby Stakes at Monmouth. It was the third stakes success in 2012 for the syndicated black colt, who was bred by Team Valor's CEO Barry Irwin. Dispatched at prohibitive odds of 2 to 5, Howe Great was ridden with supreme confidence by Joe Bravo. ... More

Barry Irwin called for federal intervention in his testimony on July 12 in Washington D.C. for the U.S. Senate commerce committee's hearing on medication and performance-enhancing drugs in horse racing. ... More

Team Valor's policy is to offer new horses to its loyal customers first, then to other interested parties two days later. Horses on offer generally sell out quickly meaning those trying to get into a Team Valor partnership are usually shut out. But once a year, newcomers get a 48-hour head-start. This year, this lovely half-sister to Pluck has been selected to bring new owners into the stable. ... More

Animal Kingdom resumed galloping on Thursday morning at Fair Hill Training Center in Northern Maryland as he moves toward another comeback this fall, while stablemate Went the Day Well nears his first workout for a summer campaign. ... More

Team Valor International has issued an automatic nomination to New Orleans Times Picayune writer Bob Fortus for the inaugural Stanley Bergstein Writing Award, recognizing his June 14 story on new testing methods that detected the use of a powerful and illegal drug in recent races in Louisiana. ... More

Writer Terry Conway, in his article in a recent edition of the Pennsylvania Equestrian, tabs Barry Irwin as the undisputed leader among syndicators in the horse racing industry. ... More

Barry Irwin s Team Valor International, the perennial leader in stakes wins among North Americans public racing syndicates, continues to pace its peers in terms of stakes wins, stakes winners, Graded stakes wins, Grade 1 stakes wins and individual Graded stakes winners thus far in 2012. ... More

The divide between a true champion and a good horse was numerically illustrated by the length that separated the brilliant Ebony Flyer from her closest opponent in the R500 000 Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint run at Scottsville on Saturday. Justin Snaith s Jet Master overcame the odds in dazzling style to win this prestigious title. ... More

By Jay Privman of Daily Racing Form comes the following: Went the Day Well has been playing catch up since he arrived in this country and was remanded to quarantine for nearly two weeks. He has certainly made up for lost time he nearly gave his connections a second straight victory in the Kentucky Derby on May 5 and he still appears to have plenty of upside ... More

Barry Irwin was there at the start of The Race to Education, which is now celebrating its tenth year of providing college scholarships for the offspring of backstretch and farm workers. Irwin helped to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for The Race for Education, was honored with the Valedictorian Award and was elected to a position as chairman of the board of directors of the Lexington-based non-profit. He has now established a College Scholarship designed specifically to aid an African American student who will work in the equine indutry upon graduation. ... More

The Jockey Club has launched a new website named OwnerView, aimed at informing racehorse owners and providing newcomers with a reference point to research potential involvement. The site can be accessed at www.ownerview.com. ... More

As tears well with each verse of My Old Kentucky Home at Churchill Downs on Saturday around 6:30 p.m., few in the crowd of 150,000 will feel the emotional weight of the Kentucky Derby quite like the team reliving the great opportunity that took them to the pinnacle of American racing 12 months ago. ... More

Went The Day Well has put 2012 Kentucky Derby winners Barry Irwin and his Team Valor International stable back in the Run for the Roses for a second consecutive season. Incredulous reporters want to know if it is luck or skill, and how Irwin landed upon a New York-bred in England that had the tools to make it into the Kentucky Derby, with what appears to be a fighting chance. ... More

Team Valor partner Jim Gribbins grew up a few furlongs away from Churchill Downs and has his first Kentucky Derby chance with Went the Day Well. ... More

A few times a year, Team Valor International offers an inside look at the twice-weekly private newsletter for its clients. Barry Irwin and Jeff Lowe write the Insiders' Bulletin, which in this issue includes a feature on several partners in Kentucky Derby hopeful Went the Day Well. ... More

Fireworks king Bruce Zoldan was on fire as a soothsayer with his correct entry of 7 stakes wins in the Team Valor first quarter stakes contest for active partners. ... More

Team Valor International has issued an automatic nomination to a team of New York Times writers for the inaugural Stanley Bergstein Writing Award, recognizing a March 25 story that took Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing to task for equine fatalities and doping. ... More

The day went very well for Team Valor International on March 23 as Went the Day Well emulated Animal Kingdom in running away with the Grade 3 Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park and punching a ticket to the Kentucky Derby. ... More

Barry Irwin achieved two career milestones today: Went The Day Well became stakes winner number 125 to be syndicated and managed by the CEO of Kentucky-based Team Valor International and his victory in the $500,000, Grade 3 Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes is Graded stakes win number 150. ... More

Daily Racing Form examines Lucky Chappy as an under-the-radar candidate for the Kentucky Derby. ... More

A nuclear scan has pinpointed the start of a stress fracture in Animal Kingdom s hind end that will not require surgery. . ... More

Team Valor International firmed up plans on Tuesday to send Lucky Chappy to Dubai for the $2-million United Arab Emirates Derby on March 31 at Meydan racecourse. ... More

Team Valor International enjoyed a record season on the racetrack in 2011 but is already well ahead of that pace over the first ten weeks of 2012. ... More

Animal Kingdom will miss his intended start in the Dubai World Cup after developing lameness in his left hind leg over the weekend at Palm Meadows Training Center. . ... More

Howe Great completed a perfect winter at Gulfstream Park on Sunday and solidified his spot among the top 3-year-olds on turf in the United States. In connecting as the heavy favorite in the Grade 3 Palm Beach Stakes for his fourth consecutive win, Team Valor International s home-bred colt cleared a path to a high-profile opportunity on another surface this spring. . ... More

Barry Irwin s Team Valor International, the perennial leader in stakes wins among North Americans public racing syndicates, has stolen a march on the competition and is already 3 wins clear of its nearest rival. Team Valor has already recorded 5 stakes victories, including one today in Kentucky with State of Play. ... More

State of Play continued Team Valor International s hot hand with 3-year-olds at Turfway Park today when he proved a determined winner of the Battaglia Memorial Handicap. Last spring, the Kentucky-based stable won the $500,000 Spiral Stakes with its budding star Animal Kingdom, who used the Grade 3 fixture as a springboard to a victory in the Classic, G1 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. ... More

Went The Day Well ran like the even-money choice he was today at Gulfstream Park, where he broke his maiden second time out on dirt and around two turns for Team Valor International and English resident Mark Ford. Team Valor s Barry Irwin bought a majority interest from Ford last fall after the colt had finished a big second in his racing debut. ... More

Team Valor International has issued an automatic nomination to Ray Paulick for the inaugural Stanley Bergstein Writing Award, recognizing a January 16 story from the Paulick Report that exposed a Pennsylvania scam involving retired racehorses. ... More

Frank Deford, Bill Nack, Bill Christine and Richard Eng will serve as judges for Team Valor International s inaugural Stanley Bergstein Writing Award. ... More

In a late January wave, Team Valor bunched together 6 wins in 7 days. Barry Irwin s international racing stable was right back at it over President s Day weekend, as reigning Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom led a charge of 4 victories in 6 starts for the Team Valor roster, which has burst out of the gate with a 30 percent win clip over the first 7 weeks of 2012. ... More

Kentucky Derby-winning champion Animal Kingdom, who had not raced since sustaining an injury in the Belmont Stakes last June, returned to action with a stylish display as the 3-5 favorite in Saturday's 5TH race at Gulfstream Park. ... More

The first word out of trainer Graham Motion s mouth after his Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom cruised to an easy win launching his comeback in Saturday s fifth race at Gulfstream Park was exhale. For the rest of us, it was Wow! ... More

There are moments of grace, if we are lucky, in all our lives. Tom Furey s came at the track. The time was May 7, 2011 at Churchill Downs, in Louisville, Ky., aka the Kentucky Derby. Furey, a retired IBM exec, was a 5-percent owner, or partner, in Animal Kingdom, scheduled to race that day. ... More

Animal Kingdom will begin his 4-year-old season much like the launch to his Kentucky Derby triumph last year, as Graham Motion decided this morning to bring Team Valor International s champion back in a turf allowance race at Gulfstream Park on Saturday instead of waiting a week for the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Stakes. ... More

Team Valor International and Richard Santulli have purchased Champion South American miler Brujo de Olleros and will import the once-beaten Wild Event colt on February 20 from Uruguay. ... More

Team Valor International is off to a flying start with its international stable in the month of January, as just this week Barry Irwin s stable of syndicated runners has won races on three different continents, namely North America, Europe and Africa. ... More

Team Valor International s gigantic 4-year-old filly Ebony Flyer erased the memory of her first poor effort last time out in the Grade 1 Queen s Plate by powering to an ultra-impressive victory today in the Grade 1 Majorca Stakes going a mile at Kenilworth race course in Cape Town, South Africa. ... More

Team Valor International s Agra was not exactly a secret as the odds-on 2 to 5 favorite to make the Listed Schweppes Summer Juvenile Stakes her second win from as many outings. However, other than The Snaith Family, few racegoers today at Kenilworth were prepared to witness the utter disdain with which she dispatched her opposition in such effortless style, with a display of speed rarely witnessed by a lightly raced 2-year-old in such promising company. ... More

When home-bred Howe Great crossed under the wire 2 lengths clear of stablemate Lucky Chappy giving Team Valor International a 1-2 finish in Gulfstream Park s $100,000 Kitten s Joy Stakes, he provided his breeder Barry Irwin with his 250th victory in a stakes with a horse he had syndicated since 1987. ... More

Home-bred Howe Great led a 1-2 Team Valor International finish today in the featured Kitten s Joy Stakes, a $100,000 stakes at Gulfstream Park for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on the grass. ... More

Comtesse Dubois, facing older fillies and mares, surged from last to first under veteran reinsman Glen Hatt to win today s Laisserfaire Stakes by a neck going 5 furlongs on turf at Kenilworth race course. Her win marks the 249th stakes victory for the stable. ... More

Animal Kingdom s Kentucky Derby triumph resonated as the deciding factor in the most dramatic category at the 41st Eclipse Awards ceremony on Monday night in Beverly Hills, as the Team Valor International home-bred prevailed as champion 3-year-old male of 2011. ... More

Daily Racing Form updated Animal Kingdom's comeback progress after a half-mile workout on Sunday at Fair Hill Training Center. ... More

Team Valor International and its home-bred Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom are both finalists for Eclipse Awards, the year-end honors for American racing that will be presented on January 16 in Beverly Hills, California. ... More

Team Valor International completed yet another record-breaking season in 2011, smashing the mark for earnings with combined gleanings of $3,978,167. ... More

Team Valor International s Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom had his first workout on the comeback trail for trainer Graham Motion under a bright blue sky on a crisp Saturday morning over the main dirt track at the Fair Hill training center near Elkton, Maryland. Going in company, Animal Kingdom breezed around the far turn on the one-mile oval and was timed in 38 seconds. ... More