Meah going out on her own as trainer this fall

CYPRESS, Calif. – Anna Meah, an exercise rider and assistant trainer for Art Sherman and Richard Baltas for the last five years, plans to begin training this fall.

Meah and her husband, bloodstock agent David Meah, are hoping to establish a stable of 20 horses at Santa Anita following the Del Mar summer meeting.

“This has been our plan for the last three years,” Anna Meah said. “Now is the time to do it.

“We are aiming for Nov. 1 to be set up and on the track. We’ve got a foundation of clients. We expect to increase the numbers, maybe by the spring.”

Anna Meah, 25, has worked for Baltas for the last year. She was part of Sherman’s team when the stable’s star was California Chrome, the Horse of the Year in 2014 and 2016. Anna Meah occasionally worked California Chrome. She directed the stable’s operations at times when Sherman and his son Alan, an assistant trainer, traveled to Dubai.

Anna Meah said she delayed launching a stable to work for Baltas, who finished tied for fourth at the Santa Anita spring-summer meeting with 16 wins.

“I wanted to have more experience in a different barn,” she said.

David Meah, 35, has worked for trainer Doug O’Neill and has been more active in bloodstock in recent years, focusing on the European market.