Barry Irwin

Over the past week, the TDN has been asking racing personalities with no family involvement in racing what the moment was that got them hooked. Jason Beem, track announcer and podcast host I grew up about five miles from Longacres Race Course in the Seattle suburb of Renton, Washington. My dad was a gambler and loved the playing the horses and started taking me from a very early age. I thought jockeys were the coolest thing ever and my dad has photos of me at age three sitting on the...

Edited Press Release David Ingordo, David Sykes and Jonathan Coyles have been added to the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA)'s Anti-Doping and Medication Control (ADMC) Standing Committee, HISA said in Monday release. A horse owner and bloodstock agent, Ingordo currently heads up Ingordo Bloodstock LLC and manages the Belladonna Racing Partnership among other equine-related roles. Sykes is an Australian-based veterinary consultant with strong ties to international racing and currently serves as the head of anti-doping for the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia and consults for Racing Victoria on the...

Frederic Heyman, a Baltimore-based lawyer, has been named the new President of Team Valor International, the company's CEO Barry Irwin announced Tuesday. Heyman is active in the Mid-Atlantic, having managed the racing and operations of the late Baltimore Orioles' owner Peter Angelos's Marathon Farms. He also sat on the board of Fair Hill training center. Irwin noted that he has no plans to step back or retire. "I plan to spend more time each summer and fall abroad, where we source most of our stock. I want to focus on...

Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl-winning tight end Travis Kelce, along with the Zoldan family, have acquired a significant share of Team Valor International's interest in Gary Barber's Swift Delivery (Not This Time), Team Valor's Barry Irwin announced Tuesday. The Zoldan family have been members of Team Valor's syndicates for nearly four decades, including as partners in 2011 GI Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom. Bruce Zoldan, founder and CEO of Phantom Fireworks, attended this year's Derby along with Ohio native Kelce, who is friends with Zoldan's son, Alex. Irwin said the...

In a massive digital catalogue featuring 2-year-olds, horses of racing age, breeding stock, weanlings, yearlings, and a stallion prospect, the Fasig-Tipton July Digital Sale closed Tuesday evening with 161 horses sold for $4,296,200. The full results are available at Fasig-Tipton's site. "This was our inaugural July Digital Sale and we're thrilled with the results," said Fasig-Tipton's Director of Digital Sales Leif Aaron. "It was a very strong digital sale with record participation from buyers and sellers and a rock-solid 83 percent clearance rate." Graded winner Nadette (Fr) (Outrstrip {GB}) topped...

Group 3 winner Facteur Cheval (Ire) (Ribchester {Ire}) will likely start next in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. on British Champions S. Day at Ascot if the anticipated wet weather holds, Team Valor's Barry Irwin said Sunday. The 4-year-old gelding was most recently third behind Sauterne (Fr) (Kingman {GB}) in the G1 Prix Du Moulin de Longchamp on Sept. 3. "It's the plan and he could run on any type of surface, but he's better with some give in the ground and the wetter the better, like when he...

Regarding T. D. Thornton's Weekly Roundup, I would like to chime in to say that, as opposed to baseball in their juice era, Thoroughbred racing has only begun its purge. Only the tip of the iceberg has been shown so far. Wait until investigations reach the Midwest and the West Coast. The round up of miscreants is going to be very large in terms of numbers of cheaters who will be forced to find something else to do in life besides doping horses and robbing honest horse trainers and owners....

Since its inaugural running in 2017, the Pegasus World Cup Invitational has become one of the marquee events during Gulfstream's Championship Meeting. Its 'Turf' equivalent, which was added in 2019, was won by that season's Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar, and three years later, a division for the fairer set is added to the card, the GIII TAA Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational S. Formerly the Marshua's River S., the 8 1/2-furlong test for older fillies and mares features a pair of Grade I winners--morning...

Several horse racing professionals in the U.S. have given their support to a U.S. House amendment that would ban the transport of American slaughter-bound horses across state lines and over the borders for butchering abroad. Led by U.S. Representatives, Troy Carter (D-LA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), and John Katko (R-NY), the amendment will be offered to the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America (INVEST) Act, H.R.3684, which is slated to be on the House floor in the next few weeks. Last month, the Save...

The Deputy (Ire) (Petardia {GB}), winner of the 2000 GI Santa Anita Derby and second choice in that year's GI Kentucky Derby, was rescued from a kill pen in Texas earlier this month by his old connections, Barry Irwin's Team Valor, Gary Barber and trainer Jenine Sahadi. The 24-year-old, who had stood stud in several states, was reportedly bought cheaply in Iowa and sent to a feedlot north of Dallas, at which point word quickly spread on the internet and made its way to The Deputy's past connections. By utilizing...

The GI Kentucky Derby-bound Helium (Ironicus) wasn't the only 3-year-old colt to impress on the GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby card Mar. 6. Untreated (Nyquist) put on a show earlier that day as well, graduating by a pole for Todd Pletcher at second asking with a flashy, come-from-behind maiden tally in his two-turn debut (video). He earned a very solid 86 Beyer Speed Figure. A well-beaten sixth as the 4-5 favorite behind next out GIII Sam F. Davis S. winner Candy Man Rocket (Candy Ride {Arg}) going six furlongs...

Team Valor International's Oleksandra (Aus) (Animal Kingdom), who came from last to defeat a field of males in Saturday's GI Jaipur S. at Belmont, will not return to trainer Neil Drysdale's Southern California base and will instead remain in New York. The Southern Hemisphere-bred 5-year-old sustained a nick on a lower front limb after eventual runner-up Kanthaka (Jimmy Creed) made contact with her at the break, but is in "good shape" otherwise, according to a release from Team Valor's Barry Irwin. Oleksandra, who became the first Australian-bred Grade I winner...