King Zachary rallies to upset win in Churchill's Matt Winn Stakes

Surprisingly, heavy favorite Ax Man faded to a defeat Saturday in the Grade 3, $100,000 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs.

He also did not lead the race, as he needed to contest the lead with former closer Tiz Mischief. In the end, King Zachary defeated the short field of five other horses, which also included Kentucky Derby runner Combatant and Pat Day Mile (G3) winner Funny Duck.

King Zachary is trained by Dale Romans and owned by Thomas F. Conway.

When the gates opened, Ax Man broke well, but Tiz Mischief emerged quickly, too, and prevented the 1-2 favorite from dropping into an easy lead.

King Zachary followed along the rail in third, while Funny Duck chased in fourth and Combatant raced in fifth. Home Base trailed the field.

The opening fractions were 24.55 and 48.08 for the 1 1/16-mile race.

Around the far turn, it was clear Ax Man was not going to last. Tiz Mischief began to fade on the inside as well. King Zachary took advantage of the situation and began his rally on the outside.

In the stretch run, Tiz Mischief offered a little more run, but King Zachary opened up and began to draw clear. Tiz Mischief held second and Ax Man faded to third.

Robby Albarado, rider of King Zachary, said, "When Corey went to the lead with Tiz Mischief I just settled and sat right off the pace."

"It worked perfectly.”

Ax Man's jockey Mike Smith sounded perplexed after the race. His behavior in the post parade was not up to normal standard.

“I’ve never seen him act like that. He was so bad," Smith explained. "We couldn’t even get the ear-things out of his ears. I don’t know how he got to the gate in one piece, and then he got in there he went to tearing them up. He was kicking at the gate with both back legs."

"He stopped for a second when they kicked (the starting gate), then he kicked again and I got completely left.”

Trainer Bob Baffert offered, “He was just never comfortable in there. Mike said he was a handful all the way around."

Previously, King Zachary finished a non-threatening sixth in the Wood Memorial (G2) at Aqueduct. He then won an optional claimer just after the Kentucky Derby.

King Zachary paid $26.60 to win, $10 to place and $4.40 to show.