LEXINGTON, Ky. — Barry Irwin's Team Valor will offer a handful of accomplished racemares, consigned by Bluewater Sales, during Monday's Fasig-Tipton November Sale. And in a business where timing and asset appreciation is everything, the operation's Special Wan (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}) (hip 155) comes into the boutique sale just as her connections might hope.Trained by Brendan Walsh, the 5-year-old mare has won four of her six starts in this country and enters the 'Night of the Stars' off victories in the GIII Ladies' Turf Stakes at Kentucky Downs on Aug. 30 ahead of a facile success in the GII Goldikova Stakes on the Breeders' Cup Saturday undercard at Del Mar.“She's amazingly consistent and she's only been off the board once,” Irwin commented. “The thing about this filly right now, she had a work last week that just knocked my socks off (4f in :48 flat over the Turfway Polytrack on Oct. 24). She worked a half behind two other horses and the gallop out was off the charts. We were very bullish (about the Goldikova), almost to the point of being over-confident.”Irwin believes she has the tools to make someone a very nice broodmare, but that she has plenty of racing left in her.“She's very well-balanced, she's correct, medium-sized and she has the most gorgeous eye,” he said. “She's got real character. The smart thing to do for anyone who might buy her is to leave her with Brendan [Walsh] and run her back in the [GI] Matriarch at Del Mar.”While Steven Rocco is partners on Special Wan, Gary Barber is the co-owner of Elysian Field (Hard Spun) (hip 96), secured off a debut second sprinting over the Saratoga turf course and who has evolved into an incredibly versatile racemare.“Elysian Field is a very tough mare, she's never had any soundness issues and of the four, she's the best-looking physical,” Irwin said. “We bought her because of her looks and she's Canadian-bred.”Winner of the Woodbine Oaks and runner-up against the boys in the King's Plate on the synth and the 12-furlong Breeders' Stakes on the grass in 2023, the chestnut made the GIII Maple Leaf Stakes the first graded win of her career last fall and added this year's GIII Seaway Stakes around one turn.“I thought [trainer] Mark [Casse] was a little bit cuckoo when he decided to run her in that sprint (Seaway), but clearly he had a better feel for that than I did. That was a fantastic effort from her that day.”Irwin is as knowledgeable about South African bloodstock as anyone in the Thoroughbred business, and he offers a pair of imports Monday evening.Bless My Stars (SAf) (Gimmethegreenlight {Aus}, by More Than Ready) (hip 196), also raced with Barber, was the champion of her generation as a 3-year-old in 2023, a Grade 1 winner and placed in the very prestigious G1 Durban July Stakes at home pre-import. After racing at a mile and 8 1/2 furlongs in her first two American appearances for Walsh, Bless My Stars returned from a January layoff to be a big second in the GIII Dowager Stakes over a mile and four furlongs at Keeneland last month.“She came back very nicely and we wanted to show that she could still compete before she went through the sale,” Irwin said. “She came to win the race that day, but just couldn't finish it off. There is a race for her at Del Mar someone could race her in and she can be competitive at 10-12 furlongs.”A Grade 2 winner and multiple Grade 1-placed in South Africa, Feather Boa (SAf) (Flower Alley, by Distorted Humor) (hip 97) has also been a model of consistency for Team Valor and Todd Pletcher, most recently running on strongly for third in the GIII Noble Damsel Stakes at Aqueduct.“Feather Boa ran dynamite the other day,” Irwin said. “She's built like a total American horse. A lot of Australians and Japanese have looked at her so far, she's a very powerful mare that can continue and I know Todd would love to have her back.”Irwin acknowledges that the four mares he offers have a bit of age on them, but is confident that he is bringing a top product to market all the same.“They are very versatile and they're very tough,” he said. “As far as the South African horses, I always felt that California horses always outran their pedigrees, which has something to do with how they were raised. People talk about the limestone of Kentucky, which is important, but the ground is very good in California, they have better feed there. In South Africa, I think it's very similar. Same kind of climate and the horses in South Africa are not babied and that's what I like about them.”The Fasig-Tipton November Sale kicks off Monday afternoon at 4 p.m. ET. The entire catalogue may be viewed here.The post Special Wan The Pick Of Team Valor Mares at Fasig-Tipton November appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.