Visionaire & Alan Garcia winning the King’s Bishop (Bud Morton)

Team Valor has announced that Visionaire, excellent surprise winner of the Kings Bishop, will not be pointed to the Breeders’ Cup this year.

“It has taken us awhile to figure out exactly what this colt is most effective in doing, and he is a terrific one-turn runner at distances just past a sprint,” said Barry Irwin of Team Valor. “We look forward to following a traditional tried-and-true path toward a career as a stallion while shooting for the Jerome (Breeders’ Cup Handicap, gr. II) and (Hill ‘n’ Dale) Cigar Mile (gr. I).

AND…

“Next season, we look forward to racing him in the Carter (gr. I) and Metropolitan Mile (gr. I). This colt possesses the ability to be very explosive on the turn, and we feel he will get even better with age. He is a very exciting prospect and is lightly raced, having run only 10 times.”

Go Barry Irwin… how refreshing is that? I wish Notional’s connections had taken a page out of that play book and kept him at a mile. With early retirement season upon us, it’s nice to count Visionaire as one who will be returning. Thank you Barry Irwin!