Matt Winn Stakes Matt Winn Stakes The Matt Winn Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in mid May or early June at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Open to three-year-old horses, it is contested on dirt and began at a distance of six furlongs. The event currently offers a purse of $100,000 added. In 2009 the distance was set at 7 furlongs. In 2011, it was changed to its current miles. The race was inaugurated in 2002 as the Northern Dancer Stakes. Its name was changed in 2011 to honor Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs's Col. Matt Winn, who served
Crown Royal Cup Series races since 2006. From 2004 until 2006, Crown Royal was the title sponsor of the International Race of Champions. Crown Royal is a sponsor of the Grand American Road Racing Association's Rolex Sports Car Series. In 2010, it also began sponsoring the #60 Daytona Prototype car of Michael Shank Racing in the Rolex Sports Car Series. The brand was a primary sponsor of the Washington International Horse Show for several years in the 1990s and since 1995 has sponsored the Crown Royal American Turf Stakes, a Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Churchill Downs. Crown Royal Crown Royal