Thoroughbred trainers across the globe differ in many aspects: methods, philosophy, and clientele, to name a few. But there is one thing they all have in common: possessing a horse to train.
Or, as it turns out, most of them possess a horse to train. In 2015, when he was granted his license, Matt Shirer was the exception to the rule.
After spending about three years as an assistant to Kenny McPeek, Shirer decided it was time to go out on his own. He admits now that the ideal way to do it, for anyone, would be to get an owner to connect with that would give him a handful of horses to get started. Instead, he showed up for his trainer's test with an empty barn.
"I remember going in and taking the trainer's test and Barbara Borden, one of the stewards, said, 'How many horses do you have?' and I said 'I don't have anything.' She said, 'How are you going to train horses if you don't have any horses?'" Shirer recalled.
What Shirer did have was an owner willing to let Shirer start claiming horses and, for the first few years, that was how Shirer got his operation off the ground.
"I just started claiming from then on," Shirer said. "I'd say the first couple years, I only had two, three, four horses. Probably five, six years ago, there was a point where I was grooming horses myself. I was just doing everything myself."
A lot has changed in the decade since training a barn of zero. Now, Shirer is a multiple graded stakes-placed trainer with a barn of 20 horses at America's most famous track, Churchill Downs, and he has already clinched 2026 as a fourth straight season with his horses earning over a million dollars in purses.
But the claiming game is where he got started, and it's where, Nov. 14 at his home track, he will have the opportunity to earn his biggest win yet when he saddles three horses in the Claiming Crown.
"It's a fairly big stage for these horses to perform on," Shirer said. "If your horses run well, owners will see that. It's a great opportunity."
Being a Thoroughbred trainer was not the career path a young Shirer would have expected but, as it turns out, it's the one that fits him perfectly. Always interested in animals and knowing he did not want a standard office job, Shirer enrolled at Ohio Wesleyan University as an animal science major. At that point, his experience with racing was a gradually growing interest in watching the big events on television, but an opportunity soon popped up to begin hotwalking horses during the summer at nearby Thistledown.
When Shirer graduated, he still was not sure exactly what he wanted to do, so he decided to stay put on the racetrack and see where things led.
"Because I had that summer hotwalking job, I just decided I'll do that for a bit and see where that takes me," Shirer said. "If any other job opportunities come up, I'll look into it."
As time went on, Shirer began to fall into a rhythm that he rather enjoyed and, as he worked his way up, he realized the business was worth sticking around for. Wanting to get his foot in the door at the higher levels, Shirer contacted McPeek and eventually found himself as an assistant at one of Kentucky's top stables.
As he got deeper into the profession, the job of a trainer showed more and more to be the perfect fit. The temptation of a steady, consistent 9-5 Monday-Friday schedule may appeal to some, but the long, constant hours of life in the horse business were more Shirer's style.
"Once you get into horse racing and training, I don't even think about the hours we put in," Shirer said. "Obviously, it's a lot, but I'm fine with that. I like the freedom, being my own boss; being a trainer, running your own business. It's worked out very well."
A key for Shirer's business has been keeping his operation based at Churchill Downs for most of the year, and at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas during the winter. Although the competition is steep at both tracks with top operations boasting much larger numbers of horses to train, the high purses make every time Shirer hits a profitable one.
"The purse structure here at Churchill and Oaklawn helps your earnings. I tend to just kind of stick to those types of tracks," Shirer said. "It can be difficult to compete, I think you just have to pay attention and really know your horses, know where to run your horses, beating some of the bigger barns is definitely difficult, but its doable."
Getting to know his horses has brought him to the doorstep of the Claiming Crown with three horses this year, after only two total starters in the event prior. The one coming in hottest is Talkin in Cursive, a 5-year-old Speightster mare entered in the $100,000 Empress over 6 furlongs for fillies and mares who have started for a claiming price of $16,000 or less in 2025-26.
Talkin in Cursive started at that $16,000 level in 2025, but was last claimed by owner Jim Nelson for $32,000 in February at Oaklawn Park. She remained at Oaklawn with trainer Scott Young through the end of the meet before Nelson moved her in May to Shirer's Churchill Downs barn. The filly proved quirky to train, and it took Shirer two starts to figure her out.
He finally did ahead of her third start in the barn, a $25,000 claiming race July 17 at Ellis Park where she won by 1 1/2 lengths and went unclaimed. Nelson and Shirer immediately knew they had a filly worth keeping for the Claiming Crown and didn't risk her for her next two starts. She won them both, starter allowances at Churchill Downs and Keeneland, respectively, entering Saturday on a three-race win streak.
Buckhead Racing's Five o' Somewhere has been a longer-tenured member of the barn, having been claimed in a 26-way shake (a random draw) for $25,000 at Churchill Downs 12 months ago. Eligible for the $100,000 Rapid Transit over 7 furlongs, also for horses who have started for a $16,000 tag or lower in 2025-26, Shirer immediately put this race on the radar and has worked to it ever since.
The 5-year-old Munnings gelding raced through the winter and fall before being sent for a summer break to freshen him up for the Claiming Crown. He returned to prep in a starter allowance Oct. 21 at Keeneland and, despite Shirer feeling like he was a few works short, ran a solid third beaten only 1 1/2 lengths.
"He's a really classy horse, really fast horse. I was really happy to win the shake that day," Shirer said. "He actually ran a way bigger race than I thought he would (in the Oct. 21 race at Keeneland), so we were really happy with that, and he's put in two really nice works since then. I think he'll be pretty tough in that race."
While those two runners were pointed at the Claiming Crown for months, the opposite is true for Light the Way, who is entered in the $175,000 Emerald over 1 1/16 miles on turf for horses who have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less in 2025-26.
Shirer claimed the 6-year-old Justify gelding for $25,000 out of his most recent start Oct. 9 at Keeneland. The Claiming Crown was not in mind when he claimed him, but Shirer told owners Four Corners Racing, Cory Moelis Racing, and Jeremy Sussman that it might be worth a shot.
Shirer believes that, as a son of Justify out of a Malibu Moon mare, the horse could have some potential on grass. He only has started once on turf, much earlier in his career and at a sprint. His back class has left him with nearly half a million in earnings, so why not take the chance since he's eligible?
"It's just kind of a shot in the dark; we'll see what happens," Shirer said. "I think he'll like turf; it just depends on if he likes running against tough horses like that. Those are some classy horses in that race. I don't think the surface will matter; it just depends on whether or not he can handle that kind of competition."
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