Further Ado bounces back from Derby flop in Matt Winn
Further Ado, a beaten favorite in the Kentucky Derby, returned to form Sunday at Churchill Downs, drawing off to a two-length win over long shot Our Moneyman in the 29th running of the Grade 3, $500,000 Matt Winn Stakes.
Trained by Brad Cox for Tammy and Eric P. Gustavson's Spendthrift Farm, Further Ado (3-5) led a field of eight 3-year-olds home, covering 1 1/16 miles over a fast track in 1:41.26 — the second-fastest Matt Winn, behind the 1:41.12 his sire Gun Runner posted in 2016. The colt had finished 11th as the 5-1 favorite in the May 2 Kentucky Derby.
Irad Ortiz Jr., who rode runner-up Renegade in the Derby, was back aboard Further Ado, having partnered him in five of his first six starts — wins among them in the $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) at 2 and the $1.25 million Blue Grass (G1) in April.
Pavlovian (7-1) sprang to the lead under Luis Sáez and set the pace inside through an opening quarter-mile in 23.69 seconds and a half in 46.69, with Further Ado tracking from the outside. Ortiz sent his colt up to collar the pacesetter past the seven-sixteenths pole, and Further Ado led by the three-eighths and reached three-quarters of a mile in 1:10.62.
Further Ado kicked clear under urging in upper stretch and never looked back, paying $3.38, $2.40 and $2.10.
"We broke well today and I was able to get him into a good position just off the lead," Irad Ortiz said. "He's a classy horse and I just tried to keep his attention through the wire. He was pretty straightforward to ride today and finished up well."
Our Moneyman (14-1), ridden by Axel Concepcion for trainer Bret Calhoun, came out in upper stretch and chased the winner home, returning $8.58 and $4.26.
"We're really proud of how he ran today. He ran a huge effort to be second against a very nice horse," Calhoun said.
Taptastic (9-1), with José Ortiz up for Steve Asmussen, swung six wide and proved best of the rest, 4 1/4 lengths back in third, and paid $3.82 to show.
Second choice Potente (3-1) advanced from last of eight under Florent Geroux and kept on for fourth for Bob Baffert. Corona de Oro (27-1) pressed alongside the winner before faltering to fifth, Stop the Car (13-1) failed to rally in sixth, pacesetter Pavlovian gave way to seventh and Steel Imperium (84-1) finished last.
The victory, worth $300,630, was Further Ado's fourth in eight starts and lifted his earnings to $1,446,958.
A Kentucky-bred colt by Gun Runner out of the Sky Mesa mare Sky Dreamer, Further Ado was bred by John C. Oxley.
The Matt Winn has become a Cox specialty. He won it in 2021 with Fulsome and in 2022 with Cyberknife, a Derby also-ran who rebounded in this race before capturing the Haskell (G1) at Monmouth Park that summer.
"He broke very well today which is something he didn't do quite as well in the Derby. He was able to put himself right into the race and he finished up very well with a big run. We've had this race as a target after the Derby and he came into it training well. We felt like this was a good steppingstone to try something like the (July 18) Haskell (G1) at Monmouth next," Cox said.