How to bet the 2025 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs

A stellar field has entered Sunday’s $400,000 Matt Winn (G3) at Churchill Downs. Five of the seven entrants are alumni from the 2025 Kentucky Derby (G1).

Whereas the Kentucky Derby took place over 1 1/4 miles, the Matt Winn is only 1 1/16 miles. The shorter distance should suit #6 Coal Battle (9-2), the fourth choice on the morning line, but our top choice to prevail.

Matt Winn Stakes wagers

• $18 to win on #6 Coal Battle
• $6 Exacta: 6 with 5,7 ($12)
• $1.50 Trifecta: 6 with 5,7 with 3,5,7 ($6)
  Total: $36

Coal Battle is bred for speed, and he starred in short routes on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. He won the one-mile Remington Springboard Mile, 1 1/16-mile Smarty Jones S., and 1 1/16-mile Rebel (G2) in succession while employing a wide variety of running styles. Along the way, he beat future stakes winners like Sandman, Speed King, and Kale’s Angel.

Coal Battle hasn’t fared as well over longer trips. In the 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby (G1), he stayed too close to a blazing pace before weakening to finish third against stretch-running Sandman. Then in the Kentucky Derby, Coal Battle rated in midfield, passed a few horses, and flattened out to finish 11th.

Cutting back to 1 1/16 miles should help Coal Battle rebound. He can settle behind #1 Gaming (5-1) and #7 East Avenue (4-1), the only obvious speed horses in the field, and then pounce to victory under new jockey Corey Lanerie, who has gone 2-for-3 (67%) teaming up with trainer Lonnie Briley over the last two months.

Underneath Coal Battle in exacta and trifecta tickets, we’ll emphasize #5 Burnham Square (7-2) and #7 East Avenue (4-1). They were separated by a nose when finishing 1-2 in the Blue Grass (G1), and then they came home a few lengths apart when sixth and eighth in the Kentucky Derby. Burnham Square is perhaps the better horse, but he’s a deep closer, and there isn’t a ton of pace in the Matt Winn field. That could lend an edge to East Avenue, who is formidable when able to secure an uncontested lead.

We’ll round out our trifecta with #3 Chunk of Gold (6-1), runner-up in the Louisiana Derby (G2) and ninth in the Kentucky Derby. He enters off a bullet half-mile workout at Turfway Park, and the fact that he’s shown a bit more tactical speed than deep-closing Kentucky Derby fourth-place finisher #2 Final Gambit (5-2) should give Chunk of Gold a fair chance to crack the Matt Winn top three.

Good luck!