Team Valor hires new trainer for operation

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Elkton, MD (Sports Network) - Team Valor International has announced that Rick Mettee will come aboard as its private trainer, replacing Graham Motion, as of May 1.

Team Valor president Barry Irwin said Friday that Mettee takes over the training for the partnership's North American-based racehorses, however, Motion will remain the trainer of recent Dubai World Cup winner Animal Kingdom.

"Rick has experience training horses on synthetic and dirt surfaces in America and in Dubai," Irwin said. "He did exceptional work while winning several Grade 1 races with the Godolphin runners. We are looking forward to renewing our relationship with him.

"Graham Motion trained Team Valor's horses privately from our barn at Fair Hill Training Center as an accommodation to us. But he made it clear that he would continue to train for other owners. We understood this and accepted his conditions.

"However, due to the unique type of operation we run with partnership-owned horses, we feel at this time it would serve our needs better to have one trainer that was exclusive to our stable. Graham agrees. He has offered to continue to train our horses through the month of April until our new trainer has set up his operation."

A native of Maryland, Mettee will oversee Team Valor's horses stabled at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton. He previously trained horses for Barry Irwin's partnerships and worked most recently as an assistant trainer for Godolphin Racing's United States division under Saeed bin Suroor.