Madison Meyers is Gaining Momentum: Insights on Building a Business and Training Champions
Written by Sarah Hickner | Photos by Michael Butcher
As the first rays of morning sun crawl across the Virginia countryside, Madison Meyers is already awake. Most of us imagine a graded-stakes-winning Thoroughbred trainer heading straight for the barn, coffee cup in hand, but Meyers starts things a little differently. Like most working moms, her mornings are filled with sleepy kids, mouths to feed, and lunches to make.
When her girls are situated for the morning, Meyers heads to the Middleburg Training Center where her husband, retired champion steeplechase jockey Kieran Norris, and the Ballyerin Racing crew are feeding the young racehorses and getting them ready for a morning at the track.
Raised in the Bluegrass
Meyers grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, a place known for its bluegrass and top-tier racehorses. Her father was a bloodstock agent who helped buy and sell racing stock for clients, and Meyers learned at an early age what to look for in a Thoroughbred. Between her dad’s work and her mom’s backyard barn, Meyers was always on or around horses.
Meyers didn’t immediately gravitate to training racehorses. She attended the University of Louisville’s Equine Business program and spent years on the backs of polo ponies. But the track drew her in. She got a job working for Niall O’Callaghan at HighPointe Training Center just outside of the city. Meyers rode O’Callaghan’s track pony, pulled manes and whatever else was needed around the barn, and eventually started galloping.
While working for veterinarian Foster Northrop on the backside of Churchill Downs, she met trainer Jimmy Baker and shifted to becoming his assistant racing trainer. Meyers met her husband on the track as well. She was in charge of a string of horses and in need of a rider when Norris walked in looking for a gallop job. The rest, as they say, is history.
Building Ballyerin, One Horse at a Time
From the outside, the Ballyerin Racing team might seem like an overnight success, but Meyers has been building her business one horse and client at a time. Meyers and Norris started their racing stable with a couple of their own horses. “I actually had a MagnaWave business,” she shares, and worked “for people at training centers, farms, steeplechase horses, and at Laurel Park. We had a couple horses that we trained on the side.”
Things changed in 2016, when Wayne and Cathy Sweezey approached Meyers with a horse they wanted her to train. From there, the business grew. Owners saw the care, skill, and knowledge the Ballyerin team provided, and horses kept showing up.
Meyers became a go-to trainer for owners looking to get their up-and-coming racehorses Virginia-certified. The Virginia-Certified Residency Program is an incentive system designed to bring young Thoroughbred racehorses foaled in other states to Virginia farms. This supports the local horse racing economy, and has generated an estimated $86.2 million between 2017 and 2023, the Virginia Equine Alliance found in a study.
Meyers and Norris built a business focused on breaking and training young racehorses during the six months the horses were being Virginia-certified. Three full barns at the Middleburg Training Center proved they were a good team in high demand. But Meyers wanted to do more. She wanted to grow her racing string.
In 2018, Meyers ran horses in nine races. By 2021, she increased that number to over 50, including her first big win in the Maryland Million Turf Sprint with a horse named Grateful Bred. 2025 was Meyers’ biggest year yet, with horses starting in 146 races, winning 19 of them, and landing in the top three spots in 32% of the races.
A Graded Stakes Winner
October 10, 2025, was a highlight of Meyers’ career, when Desvio thundered down Keeneland’s final stretch, sweeping past a field of horses just in time to win the Grade 2 Sycamore Stakes. “It was a dream come true,” she said. “To win at Keeneland, the track I grew up coming to, was really special. Plus, they don’t give away races here.”
Desvio started in her barn, like most horses she trains. But Meyers always saw something special in the horse.
“It hasn’t been easy,” she said with a laugh. “He’s a tough one and has bitten everyone in the barn.” Last winter, Desvio was off his form, and Meyers felt like the horse needed some time off and a little reset. She made the hard decision to take him out of training during a season when top horses are gearing up for prime time.
After a couple of weeks relaxing in a field, Meyers sent Desvio to friend and former jockey Rob Massey to work with him. The horse got his spark back and then some.
Momentum — and Uncertainty
Madison Meyers is riding high into 2026. With 60 horses in training across Ballyerin Racing’s three barns in Middleburg and 15 stalls at Laurel Park, it would be easy to assume she’s standing firmly on top of the world. But like everything in racing — and in life — tomorrow is never guaranteed. Rumors about the future of the Middleburg Training Center hang like a dark cloud over what should be bright, open skies.
Last November, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced a proposal to acquire the 149-acre facility. According to its website, “This property is being considered to support the well-being and training of the horses of the Caisson Detachment, part of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard).”
For someone who has built a career around animals that can be undone by something as small as a stomachache or a sudden weather change, Meyers understands better than most how fragile circumstances can be. However, being a mom and horse trainer means she’s a professional at solving problems, overcoming challenges, and soaking up the moment.
For now, Meyers is cherishing every morning that she can rise before the sun, spend time with her kids, and make the short drive to the Middleburg Training Center, where three barns of horses are ready to stretch their legs. ML
Published in the February 2026 issue of Middleburg Life.