Gypsy's Warning, third on Saturday as the favorite in the Grade Woolavington at Greyville race course, has run her last race in South Africa, announced Barry Irwin, principal of Team Valor International.

"Our horses in South Africa are bought with the express purpose in mind of exporting them to the United States, which is where we are based and where our racing partners live," Irwin explained. "We race them enough in South Africa to develop them and like to send them to America before they are over raced. We like them to arrive as fresh as possible so that they can continue their careers in the U. S. A.

"Ormond Ferraris, who has developed Gypsy's Warning for us, and I talked about the Woolavington being her last race a few weeks ago. Mr. Ferraris doesn't like to run 3-year-old fillies in the July and I don't like squeezing the lemon dry."

Gypsy's Warning will be trucked along with her stablemate Sweet Theresa to Cape Town this coming week to be prepared for a flight to Europe, then on to the United States, where both will continue with their racing careers.

The Team Valor International colorbearer Gypsy's Warning was raced to the top Merit Rating of her generation this season prior to the Woolavington of 105, having won the Grade 1 SA Fillies Classic as her most impressive credential at 3.

"She was good enough to win the three races that comprise the fillies triple crown in Gauteng," Irwin said, "but I didn't want to put that much pressure on her by running her too much, so we took a different route, winning a Graded event against older fillies and mares, taking the middle jewel in the SA Fillies Classic, and skipping the Oaks, which she had at her mercy.

"I insisted that we skip the Oaks and give the filly a break between the SA Fillies Classic and wait for the Woolavington. If South African racing was the goal we had in mind for this filly, I am certain that she could have established a fuller resume. But we have a different agenda."

Irwin said he was proud of the filly's effort on Saturday, given her outside draw and wide trip. "Visually, she looked a beaten filly when Zirconeum came to challenge her," Irwin said, "but astute observers realized that the draw was her undoing. But, hey...that's horse racing! Somebody's got to be in the outside stall."