When I called for horseracing to find a way to install the United States Anti-Doping Agency as the overseer of drugs in an Op/Ed for The Blood-Horse back in 2004, I did so with some specific goals in mind. My overriding reason, however, was to have an agency that was independent. Now that USADA will be given the job, nobody knows whether the hopes and dreams of those who worked so tirelessly to make USADA's presence a reality will be fully accomplished. One thing that everybody in the sport can be sure of is that special interests will no longer be able to tilt the playing fields or the halls of justice. ... More

True to his name, the TVI colorbearer broke from the 1 hole like, well, a Rocket! He fell into the lead and, with Alexandre Gavilan taking a long hold and virtually standing up in the saddle as though he were riding in a jumps race, Rocket Song set a measured pace and maintained about a half-length advantage up the backstretch and around the curve over the filly favorite Snow. ... More

Victory Kingdom was placing in a Graded-level dash for a third time in her career, having done it twice in Australia, where she had come agonizingly close to winning the Group 2 Kewney Stakes over 7 furlongs when also beaten a neck. Victory Kingdom s dam Victory Party is a half-sister to three of the most impressive horses in the world today; Beholder (multiple Grade 1 winner and 4-time Champion), Into Mischief (Grade 1 winner and Leading Sire) and Mendelssohn (Champion and Grade 1 winner). ... More

Spanish Mission ran out a very impressive winner of the bet365 Doncaster Cup for Andrew Balding. A smart performer for David Simcock last season, he has now won both his races since joining Balding. Still only a four-year-old, the Noble Mission colt arguably had to prove his stamina over two and a quarter miles - and he clearly answered any lingering doubts. ... More

Sunshine Lover, believed to be the first broodmare in the world to produced back-to-back Classic Guineas winners with her first two foals to race, has been retired from breeding this week after she had a stillborn filly by leading South African black-type sire Gimmethegreenlight. She had been booked back to that top son of American/Australian sire legend More Than Ready. ... More

Spanish Mission, the prohibitive favorite, raced behind cover to the final quarter-mile yesterday in the Listed Chester Stakes. Reunited jockey Jamie Spencer squeezed him between horses for a clear run, the colt went to the front on his own. He veered right for a few strides before Spencer let him run for perhaps 70 yards and he won for fun by 3 lengths. ... More

Paddy Twomey, who had selected Bolivar as a yearling at the Arqana October Sale in Deauville and raced him to break his maiden second time out by a stunning 12 lengths, said jockey Wayne Lordan assured him that he always had things under control. "He could have gone to the lead at any stage of the race," Lordan revealed, "but we wanted to educate the colt a bit. Despite carrying 12 pounds more than the runner-up, the colt has at least two more gears I didn t even have to think about using." ... More

Hurricane Dream not only triumphed in his first race since losing his unbeaten status in the Classic Group 1 French Derby when taking the Listed Prix Nureyev on Sunday, he showed that the Derby result was all wrong, as in winning over the weekend he finished ahead of the Derby fourth Dawn Intello. Pierre-Charles Boudot was back aboard the Mikael Mescam trainee, and was bet down to favoritism for the mile-and-a-quarter Prix Nureyev ... More

Fernando Lopes of the Jockey Club Brasileiro reported on today's victory of Team Valor's homebred filly: Octane started first and ended first in the 1,500 meters, soft turf, of the Prova Especial Tirolesa. The race, reserved for 3 year old fillies, honors the first mare to win the Gran Premio Brasil (in 1950) and one of the biggest animals of all time that passed through our tracks and was one of the biggest attractions of the meeting this Sunday, July 26, in the Hippodrome of G vea. ... More

The Black Album left his previous United States form well behind him Wednesday evening in the $75,000 John B. Schuster Memorial Stakes at Indian Grand going a mile and a sixteenth to win drawing away by 1 lengths for his third career black-type victory. ... More

Riding to instructions, top district reinsman Jean-Bernard Eyquem, who rode Almanzor to win the Group 1 French Derby in 2016, steered the filly to perfection. She easily got to the front down the lane, opened up a gap that made it look like she was going to win by 4 or 5 lengths, then geared her down as she approached the winning post. She won by a couple of lengths in the end. ... More

Oleksandra helped the stable reach several milestones in winning the Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes over colts at Belmont ... More

OLEKSANDRA (Aus) (Animal Kingdom) got the best of the boys and secured a spot in the gate at the Breeders Cup with a late-rallying victory in the GI Jaipur S. at Belmont. Trailing the field early, the 9-4 chalk bided her time as Pure Sensation (Zensational) battled Hidden Scroll (Hard Spun) through swift opening splits of :21.33 and :43.52. Swung out three wide, the dark bay picked it up approaching the far turn and charged down the lane, inhaling her competitors ... More

The new and improved version of Moll duly came through as advertised by Paddy Twomey when she cozily won a mid-level handicap at Leopardstown Sunday. Not only was she able to flash as little of her brilliance as possible and still win, but she tried to fool the Official Handicapper in the process. Barry Irwin said I was happy. It was a very clever ride and win. We have ourselves a Group winner in the making by a tremendously successful sire in Camelot. ... More

The Prix de Champerret over the distance of the Prix de Jockey Club and at the Chantilly track where that Classic will be contested, represented a real test for Hurricane Dream (Hurricane Cat). Highly valued, his owner had just sold 75% of the colt to Team Valor International. After several easy victories in the West, he faced class horses for the first time. The trainee of Mikael Mescam confirmed the hopes placed in him and he established himself as a truly good horse. ... More

Nathanielhawthorne became Team Valor s first winner over hurdles on Saturday in the Prix de Royan handicap at Compiegne. The 4-year-old started well and found a position running third for the first six of the thirteen hurdles. The David Cottin trainee then moved up to lead the field by a length. At the tenth hurdle Purple Light drew up alongside him and the pair quickened to be three lengths clear of the next horse, Aberwind, who headed the rest of the field. Purple Light stole the lead over the twelfth by 3/4 of a length but Nathanielhawthorne battled back to earn the lead back over the final fence before fending off Purple Light by a neck the entire length of the stretch and across the wire. ... More

Much was made of jockey Shane Foley, trainer Jessica Harrington s contract rider, opting for stable mate One Voice over Team Valor and Gary Barber s Silence Please in their seasonal debuts for Wednesday s Listed Salsabil Stakes at Leopardstown. ... More

In a pleasant surprise to trainer and owners alike, Go Rose "ran in" on her connections to score the first stakes victory of her career at Hannover in the black-type event named the Pferdewetten Cup. Completely blocked at the top of the stretch, jockey Bauyrzhan Murzabayev deftly manuevered the little mare like a go-kart between her opponents without getting stopped anywhere. ... More

Leading French jockey P.C. Boudot walked the dog aboard favored Emoji and triumphed in the easiest fashion possible in Sunday s initial black-type French One Thousand Guineas Trial of the season over a very heavy course at Saint-Cloud. ... More

Heliabel, the second runner to represent the 4-filly yearling partnership formed in October of 2018, made a winning debut yesterday at Lyon s La Soie racecourse in France, when she ran in on trainer Simone Brogi, who admitted he was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. ... More

La Sardane, who spectacularly crashed in a 2-horse fall sprinting down the hill at Santa Anita on March 31 of last year, has been retired from racing by Team Valor International today following a last-place finished in the Grade 2 Buena Vista. It is obvious that she is no longer comfortable enough on that foot she broke last year to put pressure on it in a race, said Team Valor CEO Barry Irwin. It is one thing to train well on it, quite another to exert pressure in a race. ... More

Few jockeys are more proficient in making successful strategy changes during a race than John Velazquez. Gouverneur Morris did his part, racing to a 1 -length victory from Untitled in the allowance event in a time of 1:38.88 for the mile-and-40 yards on the main track, .02 seconds off Jackson's track record. ... More

It looks like Triple Crown hopeful Gouverneur Morris will be returning to the races a little sooner than expected. Though it seemed as if the Grade 1-placed Constitution colt was on track to begin his 3-year-old campaign in the $750,000 South West Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park Feb. 17, he will instead run for trainer Todd Pletcher on Feb 14 at Tampa. ... More

Axana raced only 3 times and did not run after July 1, yet she showed enough in her 3 outings to land atop the German ratings of the Official Handicapper in two categories. The Soldier Hollow filly was rated at 110, making her the Champion 3-year-old regardless of sex and the Co-Champion regardless of age or sex in the Middle Distance category between 8 and 9.5 furlongs. ... More

Technician has been richly rewarded for his tremendous achievements in France last season for his trainer Martyn Meade and owners Team Valor International by being rated at the pinnacle among Stayers to have raced around the globe. Best in four individual stakes races in France and England, the Mastercraftsman grey finished his campaign in a rally, closing out his sophomore campaign with back-to-back triumphs at Longchamp, first against 3-year-olds in the Group 2 Prix Jean Chaudenay and then facing his elders in the Group 1 Prix Royal-Oak. ... More

Nisreen provided the racing partnerships formed by Barry Irwin over the last 33 racing seasons with its 200th black-type earner in a Graded stakes. The strike rate of 31% is one of the fractional-interest partnerships more impressive accomplishments. She came within a whisker of becoming Graded stakes winner number 101 when she finished on the wrong bob yesterday in the $250,000, Grade 2 Cape Verdi Stakes at Meydan in Dubai. ... More

Nisreen ran the race of her life yesterday in her 6-year-old debut, when she did everything right but hit the wire on the wrong head-bob in a gutsy performance in the Group 2 Cape Verdi Stakes at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. Completely disrespected or ignored by racing pundits, bettors and bookies, the super-talented senior citizen showed the international community what her connections had known all along. ... More

Team Valor International as usual enjoyed a successful racing season in 2019. And, as per usual, the stable's success in stakes races mirrored its overall success in all types of racing. Stakes races in theory are harder to navigate because of the higher class levels involved, so for TVI to have the same strike rate in stakes as it does in maiden and allowance races is quite an accomplishment. ... More