How to bet the 2026 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs

The $500,000 Matt Winn (G3) at Churchill Downs is rising in prominence. The purse has quintupled since 2018, and Kentucky Derby (G1) alumni have won the last four editions of the 1 1/16-mile race.

The 2026 Matt Winn is taking place this Sunday. We’ll count on #7 Further Ado, the beaten favorite from this year’s Kentucky Derby, to rebound with a winning performance.

Matt Winn wager

• $5 Trifecta: 7 with 2,3,6 with 2,3,6 ($30)

Further Ado entered the Kentucky Derby off an eye-catching 11-length win in the 1 1/8-mile Blue Grass (G1) at Keeneland. Unfortunately, he endured a troubled trip on the first Saturday in May. After bumping at the start, he dropped farther off the early pace than usual. Then—after making a solid mid-race move into fourth place—he weakened down the homestretch to finish 11th, beaten 7 3/4 lengths.

Further Ado has posted three sharp workouts since the Kentucky Derby, including a bullet five furlongs in :59 3/5. He won the 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) at Churchill Downs last fall and should be tough to beat returning to the same configuration for the Matt Winn. A clean trip might be all Further Ado needs to visit the winner’s circle.

Fellow Kentucky Derby starters #2 Potente and #3 Pavlovian, who finished 12th and 18th in the Run for the Roses, are other logical contenders. Potente boasts a win in the San Felipe (G2) and a second in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) on his record, while Pavlovian won the Sunland Park Derby and was beaten only a head in the Louisiana Derby (G2).

But don’t underestimate #6 Taptastic as a live longshot. True, he faltered in a 1 1/16-mile $125,000 allowance optional claimer on Kentucky Derby day, finishing fourth as a short-priced favorite. But he was attempting to rally from off the pace, which seemed difficult to do in dirt races during the first half or so of the Kentucky Derby Day card.

Taptastic previously finished a promising third in the 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby (G1) behind Renegade, who later ran a close second in the Kentucky Derby. A return to that level of form could put Taptastic right in contention for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, who has won the Matt Winn half-dozen times.

Good luck!