When Barry Irwin looks into the future, he sees distant shores. The founder and CEO of Team Valor International said one of the industry's oldest and most successful partnerships is phasing out its stable in the United States and will focus on racing in Europe. ... More

Team Valor s Technician (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) posted victories at each of the lower stakes levels this term, in tandem with tackling increasing trips in his five latest starts, and went postward for Sunday s G1 Prix Royal-Oak at ParisLongchamp returning off a win over the Bois de Boulogne venue s same 15 1/2-furlong trip in the Oct. 5 G2 Prix Chaudenay on Arc weekend. Encountering much softer ground than ever before here, he maintained his perfect record at the track and the in-form streak of Pierre-Charles Boudot with a hard-fought 1 1/4-length tally from last year s G1 Prix du Cadran hero Call the Wind. ... More

Technician dug in bravely to repel the challenge of hardy stayer Call The Wind to strike at Group 1 level for the first time in the Prix Royal-Oak at Longchamp for Martyn Meade. The 3-year-old colt continued his progression and travelled well into the 1m 7 f contest to secure an authoritative length-and-a-quarter success at odds of 11-4 under Pierre-Charles Boudot. ... More

On what must go down as one of the best days of racing experienced by Barry Irwin s syndications since 1987, Oleksandra rose to the occasion with a truly magnificent victory Friday at Keeneland to not only become a Graded stakes winner but to reach a milestone as the 100th such winner for the stable." ... More

Pivotal Connection ran the race of her life coming back from a 9-month hiatus to finish second last month going a too-short mile when earning a career-topping 89 Beyer speed figure at Belmont Park. That effort, plus stretching out to a more suitable mile and a quarter, made her attractive to bettors who made her the even-money favorite." ... More

With ground conditions and a stamina test to suit, Team Valor's TECHNICIAN (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) suggested he could be a leading stayer in the making when winning Saturday's G2 Qatar Prix Chaudenay at Paris-Longchamp. "Today, the ground made the difference--he was more relaxed and displayed his acceleration." ... More

Team Valor's retired Brazilian Sprint Champion High Hours, sent just a couple weeks ago to a North Carolina farm to be re-homed, has landed the best gig since Annie was adopted by Daddy Warbucks. Highly decorated American equestrian Tad Coffin fell for him yesterday at the Winter Haven Farm. ... More

If $600,000 Fasig-Tipton Florida graduate and TDN Rising Star Gouverneur Morris runaway debut win in the Saratoga slop Sept. 2 was any indication, Team Valor International s Barry Irwin may have a difficult time staying away from the 2-year-old in training sales for such a long time again. So what lured Irwin back to the ring? ... More

After a dazzling debut at Saratoga Race Course, the next step for Team Valor International and WinStar Farm's Gouverneur Morris will come Oct. 5 around two turns in the $500,000 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) at Keeneland. A 2-year-old son of first-year sire Constitution, Gouverneur Morris had an eye-opening nine-length victory in his Sept. 2 career debut at the Spa for trainer Todd Pletcher, covering 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:04.29 on a sloppy track as a 3-5 favorite. ... More

Team Valor International and Earle Mack s Spanish Mission dueled with 38-1 longshot Pedro Cara in deep stretch and gained supremacy in the final jumps to win the inaugural running of Saturday s $1 million Jockey Club Derby Invitational, the final jewel of the Turf Trinity for sophomores, at Belmont Park. ... More

"The cleverly named Gouverneur Morris, picked up for $600,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Florida March sales of Two-Year-Olds in training, ran to billing as the 3-to-5 favorite to earned TDN Rising Star status in his Saratoga debut on closing day at the Spa track. The grey colt was handridden down the lane by John Velazquez en route to a powerful nine-length decision." ... More

Sunday saw Silence Please make it two from two when taking the Irish EBF Premier Nursery at Cork in the colours of new owners Team Valor International and Gary Barber. US connections purchased the filly privately after her winning debut over seven furlongs in July and she remained in the care of Jessica Harrington, who kept her at the same trip for her second start. ... More

"Loveisthehigherlaw is now two from two after turning over odds-on favourite Blenheim Palace in the Killarney Racegoers Club Race. Victorious in the silks of Charles O'Callaghan 104-days back, Paddy Twomey's Kodiac filly now goes for the powerhouse American operation Team Valor International." ... More

Team Valor's home-bred filly Oleksandra (Aus) coasted home easily in the Smart N Fancy Stakes at Saratoga, a 5 1/2 turf event in which she lacked only a fifth of a second of breaking the newly established course record. Reunited with Joel Rosario, the jockey who rode her sire Animal Kingdom to victory in the Dubai World Cup, Oleksandra was calm and confident at the rear of the pack in the early stages of the race. ... More

Team Valor International is one Group/Graded stakes victory away from an impressive milestone of 100 individual Graded wins. Technician, the grey son of Mastercraftsman, registered win number 99 in that category for the evergreen internationally-focused stable. The Guardian newspaper recaps the gutsy effort. ... More

Staying was the order of the day in Thursday s G3 Bahrain Trophy and Earle Mack and Team Valor LLC s Spanish Mission (Noble Mission {GB}) had no deficit in that regard as he powered to an emphatic success in course-record time for the 13 furlongs. A furlong from home, the bay met the rising ground with relish to register a four-length verdict over that rival and string out the field. ... More

Team Valor International rallied at the end of the initial half of the 2019 racing season and after the first day of the second half it had compiled some pretty impressive statistics, advises the stable s record-keeper Kathleen Irwin. In our last 10 starts, we have 5 wins, 2 seconds and 3 thirds 100% in the money, she said. Pretty strong and we actually won some photo finishes for a change. ... More

Axana s brilliance was on full display in the Group 3 Hamburg Stutenmeile facing her elders for the first time when scoring by daylight over a mile at Hamburg run in 1:35 2/5 on ground labeled good. Team Valor's other entrant Madita finished third, beaten a neck for second, after experiencing a rough passage and heads to the Fair Hill barn of trainer Arnaud Delacour on Friday. ... More

The Black Album received a gorgeous ride from turf genius Flavien Prat and the colt responded in kind with a courageous performance to get up in the last step to account for the $100,000 (Canadian funds) one-mile Listed Charlie Barley Stakes on the outer grass course at Woodbine, for owners Team Valor International and Gary Barber. ... More

Oleksandra s rapid development into one of the nation s most promising female grass sprinters was on display this afternoon at Belmont Park, where she ran down a field of males to score in a nw3 race, after a similar event for fillies and mares failed to attract enough entrants earlier in the week. Trainer Neil Drysdale sent her out super sharp to beat males, a gambit he has been doing with incredible regularity for the past 5 decades at North American racetracks. ... More

Three-year-old Animal Kingdom homebred J Beresford Tipton, bet down to even-money off a series of sharp Fair Hill works, surprisingly was dispatched at odds of even-money for his debut Thursday at Delaware Park. The colt s works had been good, but he only popped once from the gate and in his last move he was green and leaning in on a workmate. But the money was smart in the end, as the half-brother to Graded half-million-dollar earner Howe Great proved much the best in scoring by a length after overcoming traffic issues in the lane. ... More

Dismissed at 13 to 1, Gaius showed just like he did in his last start that he is no longer a dead head, sloppy youngster. He has some gas and he wants to use it to a certain extent from the get go. He broke running today. This time, instead of the jock trying to guzzle him into submission, his rider Ronan Thomas let him place himself in the front four, where he raced perfectly positioned for most of the race. The TVI colorbearer had an uneventful trip until rivals jockey began to strategically position their horses for the run into the straight. ... More

Although many of the players are new, Team Valor International is showing remarkable consistency year to year with virtually identical statistics through June 13. At this date last year, TVI had 110 starts,19 wins and 2 stakes winners. This year, the stable has the same 110 starts, 18 wins and 3 stakes winners. It really shows that no matter the cast of characters, Team Valor is able to generate the same stats year in and year out. ... More

Connections of Technician could be forgiven for experiencing deja vu yesterday when the 3-year-old grey colt refrused to enter the starting gate until he was fitted with a blindfold. Any reluctance the son of Mastercraftsman may have had entering the gate disappeared during the running of the Listed Prix Ridgway. In fact, his generosity was his hallmark in a dead-game effort in which he repelled a lengthy challenge from Godolphin/Fabre's favored Battle of Toro. ... More

Pillar Mountain, making his second outing off a layoff, showed a high degree of moxie in coming up a very tight opening along the rail while under severe pressure to score by a nose just now at Belmont Park for trainer Todd Pletcher. He was sent off as the 7-to-5 favorite off a big number last year at Saratoga and an excellent comeback third going shorter at Churchill Downs during the Kentucky Derby Festival. ... More

The stars were in alignment today at Belmont Park for Team Valor International and partners, as when its Australian home-bred Animal Kingdom mare Oleksandra came from last to first to win an exciting race. Oleksandra officially won by a neck and earned $46,750 bringing her earnings in the U.S. to about $112,000. In 5 U.S. starts, she now has 3 wins. ... More

From Racing Post: The Bet365 Classic Trial often produces a smart performer and both Bangkok and Technician emerged from the race with plenty of credit. Bangkok earned most of the plaudits, being cut generally to 12-to-1 for Epsom, but nowhere near enough was made of how unlucky Technician was. ... More

From German Turf Times: This is the time of year when Classic trials are in the spotlight, and Germany is no exception. The Group 3 Schwarzgold-Rennen was won in tremendous style by Team Valor's Axana, trained by Andreas W hler. Axana's performance was certainly the best by a German three-year-old so far this year. ... More

Multiple Graded stakes winner La Sardane, using today s Grade 3 San Simeon at Santa Anita as a prep for Churchill Downs Grade 2 Distaff mile on the Kentucky Derby undercard, was unable to avoid a horse that fell directly in front of her after the field crossed the dirt path. ... More

On one well-timed $600,000 bid from Jessica Berry taking a cue on her cell phone from Barry Irwin, Team Valor was successful in landing the only horse it tried to buy at Wednesday s boutique sale of 2-year-olds in training conducted by Fasig-Tipton Co. at Gulfstream Park. ... More

Team Valor International s 5-year-old First Premio, making his first start in 6 months, roared down the Fair Grounds homestretch to score an emphatic 3 -length triumph while being eased in the final 110 yards to win Saturday s $120,000 Col. E.R. Bradley Stakes going 1 1/16 miles on the grass. ... More

Team Valor is finishing up strongly as the clear leader among North American based public partnerships, based on number of stakes wins globally in the calendar year of 2018. The stable maintains a 3 win margin over the next-nearest syndicate. ... More