Matt is a graduate of the Equine Science and Business program at the University of Limerick. Matt grew up on a farm in East Galway, Ireland and has always had a love of raising young stock. He came to Kentucky on work experience over 20 years ago. He gained early experience at top Kentucky farms like Glennwood Farm, Dromoland Farm, and Taylor Made Farm. His mentors include: Gerry O’Meara, Gerry Dilger and Frank Taylor. He worked at the Farm Manager/General Manager level in Kentucky for 15 years. He helped John Sykes found Woodford Thoroughbreds in 2007, and was promoted to Vice President in 2015. In 2018, he became Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Candy Meadows Farm. Under Matt’s leadership, Woodford Thoroughbreds became a perennial leading consignor. They were a top ten breeder by North American race earnings in both 2018 and 2019.