Bet on the Matt Winn Stakes

Bet on the Matt Winn Stakes

The Matt Winn Stakes is part of Churchill Down’s Spring Meet and the race is typically held in mid-June. Restricted to three-year-olds, the Grade 3 race was inaugurated in 2002 and was originally carded as a sprint and named the Northern Dancer Stakes. The distance, along with the addition of the Grade 3 status and the name of the race, increased to a mile and a sixteenth in 2011 and the race carries a purse of $100,000.

Online Racebook Guide

For horseplayers who want to get the most out of their wager, the best bet is to wager through an online site. There are numerous incentives and rebates as well as the convenience of being able to get in on the action from anywhere with a computer or mobile device.

* REMINDER! – you must be of legal age in your state or province to legally wager on thoroughbred or harness horse racing. Please bet responsibly!

Matt Winn Stakes Betting Odds

After the even-money favorite, Tapiture, delivered in 2014, the race was ripe for a minor upset in 2015. Island Town, at odds of nearly 6-1, denied 1-2 favorite Fame and Power the victory. Longshot Private Prospect at odds of 40-1 filled out the trifecta which paid $521. These wagers could have been worth even more through a racebook like Bovada which offers 3% win-or-lose rebates on all straight wagers and 5% back on exotics.

2016 Matt Winn Stakes Contenders

The field has been set for the 2016 edition of the Matt Winn Stakes and trainer Steve Asmussen will try to add to his already impressive resume in the race with the 3-5 favorite Gun Runner.

The chestnut colt has been freshened since finishing a game third in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and he had scored in two consecutive graded stakes races prior to that performance. In the Run for the Roses, he rated just off of the pace set by Danzing Candy and briefly had the lead at the top of the stretch before Nyquist took over. He has been training steadily since that race.

He will be facing what appears to be an overmatched field including Unbridled Outlaw, second in a recent optional claiming race at Churchill Downs. “Coach” D. Wayne Lukas will be trying to spring an upset with Gray Sky, a $700,000 yearling that is trying to earn his first stakes victory. He has not hit the board since an allowance race at Oaklawn Park in February.

Here is the field for the 2016 Matt Winn Stakes along with morning line odds.

  1. Yo Carm, 20-1
  2. Gun Runner, 3-5
  3. Virtual Machine, 15-1
  4. Cut a Corner, 12-1
  5. Gray Sky, 15-1
  6. Texas Chrome, 5-1
  7. Unbridled Outlaw, 3-1

Did you know? 

No trainer has been more dominant in the brief history of the Matt Winn Stakes than Steve Asmussen. He saddled Posse to win in 2002 and then was back with Razor (2005), Thiskyhasnolimit (2010) and Tapiture (2014). Jockey Rosie Napravnik, prior to her retirement, won the race in 2013 with Code West and with Tapiture in 2014.

The race is named after Colonel Martin “Matt” Winn who served as president and general manager of Churchill Downs from 1902 to 1942. He passed away in 1949 and was regarded as the man who revitalized the Kentucky Derby.

The largest margin of victory in the history of the race came in 2012 when Neck ‘n Neck drew off to win by 7 ¼ lengths over four rivals. The dark bay son of Flower Alley was trained by Ian Wilkes (who won the race in 2009 with Capt. Candyman Can and would saddle Island Town to win in 2015) and ridden by Leandro Goncalves.