How did you get into racehorse ownership?

I was a racing journalist in Kentucky (The Blood-Horse) and California (Daily Racing Form) and always wanted to race my own horses.

I started out claiming a filly, she won and got blacktype in short order, and we sold her for a profit. I was hooked. That was in the mid-1970s.

(Team Valor International’s website states the current policy. Rather than acting as end-users, Team Valor International nowadays is in the enterprise of not only developing equine talent for the pleasure and satisfaction of its clients, but reselling either all or half of its horses when they reach a certain level of accomplishment. They are now in the horse business, not just the entertainment business.

Barry has also been in the forefront of the campaign within racing to rid the sport in America of the use of drugs.)

What was your best day at the races and why?

My best day at the races came in the spring of 1989 when a reject from Sheikh Mohammed’s English stable named Martial Law won the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap, the same race Seabiscuit famously won.

Being from Los Angeles, that was a huge win for us, as the colt cost very little at Tattersalls. I was so excited - he was more than 50/1 - that my wife had to prop me up on the way to the winner’s circle.

(Barry’s memoirs, Derby Innovator: The Making of Animal Kingdom, includes an account of the lead-up to the Santa Anita Handicap, known as the ‘Big Cap’, with so many doubters, including the majority of the press, about their horse. He was completely engulfed in Big Cap mania by the time the race was run and was “to put it mildly, a complete nervous wreck”.)

What is the biggest drawback about being a racehorse owner?

Trying to keep horses sound.

In your experience, which racecourse in Ireland treats owners the best and why?

Leopardstown was the first Irish track I visited back in the mid-1970s and I have always been partial to it. But all Irish tracks do a fantastic job.

Flat or jumps, which do you prefer?

Flat for me. I have trouble even watching jump races, for fear a horse will fall and hurt itself or its rider.

What qualities do you look for in a trainer?

Honesty.

How do you think the current crisis will impact on racing in general and on ownership in particular?

Obviously watching races in person is the ideal, but we have all learned that watching races on a monitor beats the alternative.

We planned a trip abroad last summer that had to be aborted. There were 26 of us scheduled to go for two and a half weeks. My associate Jessica Berry and I planned to alternate a month each from April through November before the pandemic. We usually have upwards of 15 to 20 visitors go abroad in a normal year.

What significance do your colours hold?

The green is for grass. The red V is for valor, that quality of a horse we prize most which is how our syndicate get its name.

When buying a horse, what do you look for?

I focus on lightly-raced young horses with potential. In order of preference, what I look for is straight-forward movement, rhythmic stride, courage, temperament. I stay away from horses that have wasted movement in their action.

What horses do you currently have in training?

In Ireland at the moment we race listed winners Moll and Silence Please, recent winners La Petite Coco and Maoilin, a promising four-year-old colt named Bolivar, who I suspect is the best of the lot, as well as some unraced juveniles bought for us last year at the yearling sales by Paddy Twomey. He is the first and only trainer I’ve let select horses for me. Usually I do it all myself. Paddy has a great eye for a horse and a keen sense of the market place.

(Paddy Twomey adds: “My first connection with Barry was back in 2017 with a horse named Pillar Mountain who ran in my colours and won at Dundalk. The bloodstock agent Gordian Troeller bought the horse who went on to win in America for Team Valor, trained by Todd Pletcher. That’s how I first got to know Barry.

“I trained Loveisthehigherlaw, who won a maiden at Cork and Barry bought her. She went on to win for him and was group-placed. That was about two years ago.

“Before Covid, Team Valor’s members of the syndicate would come over and visit the yard.

“I’m no great techie but I keep in regular contact regarding the horses.

“We have a very nice set of horses – it should be a good year. Bolivar is ready to run and Moll is going for the Munster Oaks. She has an entry in the Pretty Polly but the Munster Oaks is the first target.

“La Petite Coco was with Andrew Kinirons, has come to me now and won very nicely at Killarney last week. We’re getting to know her.

“We’re very lucky to have them. Barry has an instinct for horses that win.”)

Have you horses to look forward to?

We have a Churchill juvenile colt named Chain Of Destiny with Paddy Twomey who looks nice. La Petite Coco showed good form in winning at Killarney last week.

What advice would you give to someone thinking of becoming a racehorse owner?

As best as possible make certain that you are not under-funded, because horses have a way to make you spend more money on them than one plans for.

If your mate is not a fan of racing, partner with some friends that are, otherwise you will become frustrated when you are unable to share your experiences with them.

I have learned one thing for certain: if a wife is not on board with a horse-owning husband, the husband usually will be unable to buy a horse or enjoy it! Sad but true.

Barry Irwin was in conversation with Olivia Hamilton