The Valenzuela City Darkhorse is a Filipino professional basketball team based in Valenzuela. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's North Division. The team plays its home games at WES Arena.
The team joined as the Valenzuela Classic in 2018 as one of the league's charter teams and has gone under multiple names, mostly integrating the title sponsor. The team is currently owned by the local government of Valenzuela. The Valenzuela-based franchise also took part in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 and also has a Maharlika Pilipinas Volleyball Association counterpart, the Valenzuela Classy.
The Valenzuela franchise is one of two teams based in the Northern Manila District of Metro Manila, the other team being the Caloocan Batang Kankaloo.
History The Valenzuela Classic were one of the MPBL's ten charter teams, one of six based in Metro Manila, and one of three Valenzuela finished as one of three teams with a 6-3 record, claiming the fourth seed in the playoffs. They beat the Quezon City Capitals in the Quarterfinals before losing to the first-seeded Batangas City Athletics.
In the 2018–19 season, the team went 10-15, failing to make the playoffs as they ranked 10th in the North Division. In the following season, the team ranked at 10th once again with a record of 11-19.
Valenzuela then participated in the 2021 Invitational and failed to make the playoffs, ranking third in Group C after finishing 2-2. In the 2022 season, the team began playing home games at the Bahayang Pag-asa Sports Complex. The team finished 10-11, one game short of a winning record. Despite the losing record, the team still made the playoffs as the sixth seed, but were swept by the San Juan Knights in the First Round.
Home venues Through the history of the Valenzuela franchise, it has only used one venue per season. They first started at the Valenzuela Astrodome from 2018 to 2020, followed by the Bahayang Pag-asa Sports Complex in 2022, and currently the WES Arena since 2023.
Venue Location Capacity 2018 2018–19 2019–20 2022 2023 2024 2025 Valenzuela Astrodome Valenzuela 3,000 Bahayang Pag-asa Sports Complex N/A WES Arena N/A
Personnel
Current roster
Head coaches Valenzuela City Darkhorse head coaches # Name Start End Achievements Ref. 1 2018 2018–2019 — 2 2018–2019 2018–2019 — 3 2018–2019 2018–2019 — 4 2019 2019 — 5 2019 2021 — 6 2022 2022 — 7 2022 2022 — 8 2023 2023 — 9 2023 2023 — 10 2024 2024 — 11 2025 2025 — 12 2026 current —
Notable players
MPBL All-Star Day
All-Star selections Paulo Hubalde – 2019, 2020 Lester Alvarez – 2020 Jaymar Gimpayan – 2022 Carl Bryan Lacap – 2024 JJ Gesalem – 2024
PBA players
Ex-PBA players Val Acuña Chad Alonzo Lester Alvarez Mark Andaya Cyrus Baguio Ronjay Buenafe Alfonzo Gotladera Paulo Hubalde Louie Vigil
Drafted to PBA CJ Payawal – 28th overall, 2024
Season-by-season records Note: Statistics are correct as of the end of the 2026 MPBL season.
League champions Division champions Qualified for playoffs Best regular season record
Season League Division Regular season Playoffs Finish Played Wins Losses Win % GB Round Results Valenzuela Classic 2018 MPBL — 4th 9 6 3 2 Quarterfinals Semifinals won vs. Quezon City, 2–1 lost vs. Batangas City, 0–2 2018–19 Datu Cup MPBL North 10th 25 10 15 13 Did not qualify Val City Carga Backload Solution 2019–20 MPBL North 10th 30 11 19 15 Did not qualify Valenzuela XUR Homes Realty Inc. 2022 MPBL North 6th 21 10 11 11 Division quarterfinals lost vs. San Juan, 1–2 2023 MPBL North 15th 28 3 25 23 Did not qualify Valenzuela Classic 2024 MPBL North 10th 28 14 14 12 Did not qualify Val City Magic 2025 MPBL North 11th 29 7 22 21 Did not qualify Valenzuela City Darkhorse 2026 MPBL North 10th 25 10 15 13 Clinched play-in, did not qualify Regular season record 71 124 2 playoff appearances Playoff record 2 5 0 finals appearances Cumulative record 73 129 0 championships
References