Chris McCarron joins Team Valor International

Chris McCarron, the retired Hall of Fame rider, has been hired as part of the executive team of Team Valor International, the international racing syndicate announced late Tuesday.

McCarron, who lives in Lexington, Ky., will focus on promoting Team Valor and its syndicate opportunities as a member of the executive team. The announcement of his hiring came as Team Valor was preparing three of its horses to run at Churchill Downs during Derby week.

Team Valor, which was co-founded by Barry Irwin, buys and syndicates racehorses in a number of racing jurisdictions around the world. The group’s top racehorse in the U.S. has been Animal Kingdom, who won the 2011 Kentucky Derby.

“With his experience in racing, Chris will be an asset in evaluating horses, both horses in our stable already and prospective purchases,” Irwin said. “He is perfectly suited to be the person speaking with the riders before and after a race on our behalf. For recruiting new owners, again he is a terrific communicator and we will look to put on more seminars and events where he can be the main speaker.”

The statement noted that McCarron rode several of Team Valor’s Grade 1 winners, including Golden Ballet and The Deputy, and that Irwin’s relationship with McCarron stretches back to 1978.

“[Team Valor] is one of the most successful syndicate operations in the history of our sport,” McCarron said, in a statement released by Team Valor, “and I hope to add value to the efforts in acquiring and racing some of the finest horses in the world, as well as getting to know its racing partners and helping to introduce newcomers to horse racing.”