Barry Irwin expects business as usual
at the new Team Valor International.

The name of the limited liability company will be changed to Team Valor International to reflect a shift in direction that has evolved over the past few years.

Siegel has decided, after 21 years of being a partner in both Team Valor and its predecessor Clover Racing Stable, to devote his energies to Horse Racing Television, where he has worked since 2002. Long considered to be one of the West's premiere public handicappers, Siegel currently serves as an on-air host and analyst for HRTV, a cable and satellite network owned in partnership by Churchill Downs, Inc. and Magna Entertainment.

"I'm incredibly proud of what Barry and I accomplished since 1987," said Siegel. "Together we won 170 stakes races and 21 Grade 1s, but at this stage of my life, I'd prefer to have one full-time job, not two. Barry was kind enough to acquire my interest in Team Valor and there is no doubt the stable will continue to flourish under his leadership."

Barry Irwin said "Jeff and I have been pals and partners since we first met in the press box in 1970," said Irwin. "During that time, the racing game has undergone elemental changes. One reason our stable has prospered is that we have been able to adapt.

"When we started out, we tried to buy horses with a bit of form. That method doesn't work as well now, as the cost of and the competition for horses with the potential to compete at the highest level have increased dramatically. We have learned that our best chance to stock our stable with potential Grade 1 horses has been with a combination of buying yearlings, as well as prospecting and developing horses in foreign countries."

Team Valor has raced 7 stakes winners during the initial half of 2007 and 5 one of them were bought by Barry Irwin as yearlings, including last weekend's Grade 1 Suburban runner-up Fairbanks and next weekend's Grade 1 American Oaks runner Audacious Chloe. Prior to this year, unraced horses made up a much smaller part of the annual group of stakes winners.

"While we plan to increase our buying in foreign countries," Irwin explained, "it will always be with the intent of bringing the horses to race in the United States. We are an international stable, but we live and ultimately want to race in the United States. Last weekend we won a German Group 3 with a filly we plan to run next in the Beverly D, for example and this week our South African import Alexandra Rose will contest the $1-million CashCall Mile."

Team Valor this year will race horses in the United States, Canada, England, France, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Italy and South Africa.

Since Irwin moved the company's headquarters to Kentucky in 1999 and the stable has morphed into an international entity, Team Valor has raced Grade 1/Group 1 winners, Champions or Horses of the Year in England, Ireland, France, Italy, United Arab Emirates, United States, Canada and South Africa.

Among the international Champions and Group 1 winners raced by Team Valor are Irridescence (Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II in Hong Kong, Champion Filly at 3 in South Africa), Ipi Tombe (Dubai Duty Free, Horse of the Year in the United Arab Emirates), Sweet Stream (Prix Vermeille in France, high-weighted mare in England), Torgau (Cartier Racing Award in England, highweighted filly in Ireland) and Becrux (Woodbine Mile in Canada, Champion Colt at 2 in Italy).

Horses in the last year and a half have been acquired by the stable in the United States, England, France, Italy, Germany, Uruguay, Brazil and South Africa.