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Motion to train all Team Valor horses in North America Graham Motion, effective immediately, will train all of Team Valor International's horses based in North America. Barry Irwin's far-flung stable will be housed under one roof in a 40-stall barn that Team Valor is buying at Fair Hill Training Center near Elkton, Maryland. Team Valor and Motion came to a mutual agreement last week prior to the Breeders' Cup, in which Motion saddled the winner of the Filly & Mare Turf (G1) in Shared Account (Pleasantly Perfect) and Team Valor owned the winner of the Juvenile Turf (G2) in Pluck (More Than Ready). Motion will continue to operate his public stable out of his current barn at Fair Hill, but he will be the only trainer Team Valor will employ. "It's a good opportunity for us," Motion said. "Team Valor has some very nice horses." Pluck, who will move from the Todd Pletcher stable, arrives at Fair Hill later in the week and is under serious consideration for the Irish Two Thousand Guineas (Ire-G1) next spring. "I remember when Fourstars Allstar was trained on the East Coast and was sent over to win the Irish Two Thousand Guineas," Irwin said. "I always had in mind to try to duplicate that feat if we ever came up with a proper candidate. I think Pluck could be that horse. I mentioned this to Graham and he shares my enthusiasm for the project." A longtime advocate of European training methods, Irwin said that the main reasons for making the move from various racetracks to one training center are that the opportunity to have one set of eyes on all of his horses on a daily basis appealed to him and the chance to have Motion train the string was exhilarating. "I will miss our current trainers," Irwin said. "I have the highest admiration for them and they have done a super job for the stable. But at this stage of our stable's development, we think we can have a more cohesive business and training environment with all of our horses in one place."
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