Bradley Weisbord has been hired by Barry Irwin as chief operating officer of Team Valor International. Weisbord spent the last two years as business/racing manager for leading owner Ahmed Zayat.
Monday, August 01, 2011
Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner Animal Kingdom had successful surgery to repair a hairline slab fracture, Team Valor International president Barry Irwin said in a statement July 7.
Thursday, July 07, 2011
After examining a second set of X-rays, it was determined that the leg injury suffered by Animal Kingdom was more serious than initially thought and he will not race again this season.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Team Valor International and The Vinery's Pluck, who won last year's Breeder's Cup Juvenile Turf (gr. IIT) at Churchill Downs, will be returned to training June 28.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Making her turf debut, Summer Soiree disposed of pacesetter Salary Drive on the turn for home and romped to victory by 8 1/2 lengths in the $155,000 Boiling Springs Stakes (gr. III) at Monmouth Park June 25.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Aron Wellman, 33, said he has resigned from his position as vice president of Team Valor International.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011Jeff Lowe, a writer for Thoroughbred Times since 2002, has been hired by Team Valor International to handle media-related activities, Team Valor president Barry Irwin said June 11.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
When Randy Bradshaw broke and prepared Animal Kingdom for racing, the Team Valor International homebred colt wasn't the most precocious pupil, but his potential to be a talented runner was apparent.
Monday, June 06, 2011
Animal Kingdom zipped a half-mile in :47.76 on the Belmont Park surface June 6 as the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner showed his readiness for the June 11 Belmont Stakes (gr. I).
Monday, June 06, 2011
Team Valor International's Animal Kingdom arrived at Pimlico Race Course for the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) May 21 and got settled into the stakes barn at the Maryland racetrack.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Some of the partners in Team Valor International's Animal Kingdom have been investors for some time, but nothing prepared them for May 7 when the colt won the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).
Friday, May 20, 2011
Team Valor International's Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner Animal Kingdom galloped 1 1/2 miles over the synthetic Tapeta surface at Fair Hill Training Center near Elkton, Md. the morning of May 17.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011Daveron and Straight Story captured a pair of grade III turf events that highlighted the Kentucky Derby Day card before 11,051 at Belmont Park May 7.
Saturday, May 07, 2011
Barry Irwin had faith in the horse he bred and is being rewarded with a chance to participate in the first leg of the Triple Crown.
Thursday, May 05, 2011
Trainer Graham Motion said the colt worked six furlongs in 1:13 and handled the surface well.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Animal Kingdom took the overland route to a possible start in the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) when he drew off late for a 2 3/4-length win in the $500,000 Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes (gr. III) at Turfway Park March 26
Saturday, March 26, 2011The inaugural Cape Town Premier yearling sale in South Africa generated a gross of R87.9 million ($12,433,600 in U.S. funds) during its two-day run that ended Jan. 28, according to the Racing Post.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Gitano Hernando, who finished sixth as the favorite in the 2010 Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) n the United Arab Emirates, has arrived in Dubai from England to be prepared for the 2011 renewal of the 1 1/4-mile race.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Team Valor International will purchase a barn at Fair Hill Training Center in northeast Maryland and turn all of its horses over to trainer Graham Motion effective immediately.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Team Valor International's Pluck came from last at top of the lane and used a devastating turn of foot to pick off all 11 of his rivals in winning the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (gr. IIT) Nov. 6 at Churchill.
Saturday, November 06, 2010
Slight favorite Pluck used a powerful stretch kick to run down the field in the $243,176 Summer Stakes Presented by TVG (Can-IIIT) Sept. 18 at Woodbine, earning a spot in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (gr. IIT) this fall.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Making her first start in the United States, South African mare Gypsy's Warning caught favored Maram in the final stride to post a 7-1 upset in the $147,000 Eatontown Handicap (gr. IIIT) on the Monmouth Park turf May 31.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Barry Irwin's Team Valor International and Dave Munro's Highfield Stock Farm have privately purchased the 3-year-old filly Chantilly Nayla, who will be trained by Wayne Catalano.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Motovato, winner of the Kenny Noe Jr. Handicap (gr. III) in December, has been purchased by Team Valor International and Gary Barber from the Estate of Edmund Gann.
Friday, March 05, 2010
With a victory in the 2009 Goodwood Stakes (gr. I) already in the books, Gitano Hernando now has a legitimate chance to win the world's richest race, the $10 million Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) March 27 at Meydan Racecourse.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Multiple graded stakes winner Unbridled Belle will race once more and then be retired. She will be bred to top young sire Medaglia d'Oro.
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Unbridled Belle, as expected, made her final start in New York a winning one, drawing off to an easy four-length victory as the prohibitive choice in the $109,000 Turnback the Alarm Handicap (gr. III) at Aqueduct Oct. 31.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Team Valor International announced Oct. 20 that Gitano Hernando, upset winner of the Goodwood Stakes (gr. I) in his North American debut, will not run in the Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) at Santa Anita on Nov. 7.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Europeans got an early start on the Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) this year when British import Gitano Hernando, ridden by Kieren Fallon, upset favored Colonel John in Oak Tree's $350,000 Goodwood Stakes (gr. I) at Santa Anita Oct. 10.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Team Valor International's Captain's Lover made her dirt debut a winning one, as she took over at the quarter-pole and sloshed her way to a seven-length victory in the $200,000 Taylor Made Matchmaker Aug. 2 at Monmouth Park.
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Sailor's Cap overcame a 6 1/2-month layoff to blitz past the odds-on favorite Kip Deville in winning the $103,500 Poker Stakes (gr. IIIT) on a soft turf course at Belmont Park June 14.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Grade I winner Visionaire has been retired from racing after being unable to come back following an injury he likely suffered in his victory in the NetJets King's Bishop Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga.
Thursday, April 23, 2009Hull, a recent late nomination to the Triple Crown, remained undefeated on April 2 with a 7 3/4-length allowance win at Turfway Park. He covered 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:16.21 in his second career race.
Thursday, April 02, 2009Mike de Kock, the internationally renowned trainer of Eagle Mountain, breaks new ground for the Breeders' Cup World Championships when he becomes the first South African to compete in the event. Eagle Mountain runs in the $3 million Emirates Airline Turf (gr. IT) at Santa Anita Oct. 25.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Favored Tasha's Miracle nipped Gorgeous Goose by a nose in Oak Tree's $106,100 Harold C. Ramser Sr. Handicap (gr. IIIT), snapping a seven-race losing streak in game fashion at Santa Anita turf Park Oct. 11.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Fairbanks, who enters off a resounding stakes victory at Saratoga last month, heads a field of seven older horses in the $500,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap (gr. II) Sept. 27, all of them hoping to establish themselves as a Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) contender.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008The $1.5-million Storm Cat filly purchased by Team Valor International at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale has been named Carriage Trade, and she will be trained by Kiaran Mclaughlin, according to Team Valor's Barry Irwin.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Visionaire, winner of the Aug. 23 NetJets King's Bishop Stakes (gr. I), won't be pointed for the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita Park in October because none of the races offers him the opportunity to do "what he does best," according to a recent article on Team Valor International's Web site.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Last coming off the turn, Visionaire circled the field to post an impressive 2 1/4-length win in the $250,000 NetJets King's Bishop Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga Aug. 23.
Saturday, August 23, 2008The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale, a small boutique auction that offers quality horses, got off to what the company's chairman, D.G. Van Clief Jr., termed "a solid start " Aug. 4 in New York.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Racing partnerships continue to attract investors even though the economy is weak.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Perhaps Mark Toothaker of Legacy Bloodstock said it best during the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July select yearling auction: "The bull's-eye is getting smaller on what the marketplace is wanting. It's gone from about the size of a quarter to the size of a dime."
Wednesday, July 16, 2008Barry Irwin, who heads Team Valor International, is changing his strategy for acquiring horses for the racing partnerships his company puts together. And that could be good news for yearling sale consignors.
Thursday, July 10, 2008Kinsella, the $2.2-million sale-topper at last year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling auction, is in training with Todd Pletcher and could make his racing debut late this year.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
When everyone at Colonial Downs was looking for shelter or an umbrella they should have been looking for a Sailor's Cap in the $600,000 Colonial Turf Cup (gr. IIIT).
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Michael Matz didn't expect Visionaire to sizzle in his final work before the Kentucky Derby Presented By Yum! Brands (gr. I), so the trainer was satisfied when the colt breezed a half-mile in :48.40 Monday morning at Churchill Downs.
Monday, April 28, 2008
The 3-year-old picture in New York was about as foggy as the weather conditions at Aqueduct March 8, but Visionaire helped clear things up a bit with a late burst to capture the $250,000 Gotham Stakes (gr. III) by a nose over Texas Wildcatter.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
California attorney Aron Wellman has been named racehorse administrator by Barry Irwin's Kentucky-based Team Valor International.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Team Valor International's Alexandra Rose, under a patient ride by Rafael Bejarano, swept past foes in the stretch to win the Monrovia Handicap (gr. IIIT) at 6 1/2 furlongs on the turf at Santa Anita Park Jan. 1.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
The most expensive yearling sold at public auction so far this year is scheduled to be trained by Todd Pletcher, Team Valor International's Barry Irwin said Aug. 26.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007