Madison Meyers’ barn is having a breakout season * The Racing Biz

In the years since she saddled her first winner in 2016, trainer Madison Meyers has built her Middleburg, Virginia-based operation step by step, win-by-win, from one win to three, to six to eight. But 2025 was even better, a breakout year that brought new milestones, new stars and new attention.

With career highs in both wins (18) and earnings over $940,000, Meyers is enjoying the kind of season that marks a turning point. And nowhere was that more evident than at Keeneland on Oct. 10, when her four-year-old Yoshida gelding Desvio stormed down the track to capture the track’s Grade 2 Sycamore Stakes a mile away on the grass field – delivering the first stakes victory for both horse and trainer.

Desvio went away at 34-1 and paid his relatively few supporters $70.90. Meyers understood the odds, but…

“We wouldn’t have made the trip if we didn’t have any hope,” Meyers continued On to Race Radio October 18. “I wasn’t super surprised by what he did. It was a competitive field and he hadn’t won in a year. I thought he [Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez] on him would make him a little shorter, but that didn’t happen.

Desvio, owned by Nina Bonnie’s Stonelea Stable LLC and Bonnie Rye Stable (the partnership of Robert Bonnie, Nina’s son, and his wife Julie Gomena), had hinted at his abilities earlier this season, finishing third in the Grade 3 Dinner Party Stakes at Pimlico and second in the Colonial Cup. And last year he was stakes winner in the listed, 11 furlong Kent at Delaware Park.

At the Sycamore, under the direction of Hall of Famer John Velazquez, he finally brought it all together.

“At every moment of the race you were happy with where you were. It was the perfect ride for that horse and the perfect ride for that distance,” Meyers said. “When Johnny tipped him off, you knew he was going to come and do something because that’s what he likes to do. It was a thrill.”

With the grass season in the East almost over, there aren’t many options left for Desvio this year. Meyers has nominated him for the Grade 2 Red Smith at Aqueduct on Nov. 2, and she said she might also take a look at the Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup on Nov. 28 at Del Mar.

But there is no rush. She might as well put Desvio away for the winter with an eye on a return in the Grade 2 Elkhorn, a mile-and-a-half turf test at the Keeneland spring meet in April.

Desvio has shown an affinity for the 12-furlong trip and for the Keeneland course. That said, preparing a horse to run such a marathon distance is no small feat.

“You almost want to work your way into it, but it’s quite easy to get fit,” she noted. “He does a lot of work in his morning work to work on his own fitness, and that is useful.”

The Meyers’ partnership with the Bonnie family has been a blessing, and one of their homebreds looks like another one to watch. Sun Above, a son of Optimizer out of Joyful Joyful (by Kitten’s Joy), made a memorable debut at Laurel Park on October 4 when he recovered from a disastrous start to circle the field and win.

“He’s been a very nice, easy-going horse — he’s never given us any reason to think he would behave,” Meyers said with a laugh. “Then on race day he refused the pony, started bronzing, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, what an embarrassing debut.’ So they had the course reset, and when he stood in the gate for almost a second, I thought, ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’

Jockey Wes Hamilton did not panic, however, allowing Sun Above, last after a quarter mile and still seventh with a quarter to go, to find his footing. They came wide for the drive, and Sun Above powered past his rivals to win by 1 ¼ lengths.

“He ran a really nice track and we’re pretty excited about him,” Meyers said. “He’s a homebred second generation of them, which is cool.”

Two-year-old Sun Above could make one more start before the end of the local grass season and then, Meyers hopes, return in the spring ready to go. Similar to her grass-heavy barn, or Desvio, her star.

“We work very hard, and the Bonnies have been at this for a long time,” Meyers said. “I think it’s really cool for all of us to be rewarded for that.”