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
American Pharoah people around the horse. In the runup to the Belmont, Baffert chose to work the horse at Churchill Downs, and transport him late to Belmont Park without a timed workout at the New York track. While several prominent trainers questioned his decision, Baffert said it was more important to keep American Pharoah "happy" on a track he liked, having used a similar strategy with his 2001 Belmont Stakes winner, Point Given. Rival trainers Kiaran McLaughlin and D. Wayne Lukas backed Baffert's strategy; the former said, "I don't think it matters for American Pharoah. He could probably run down a street