Churchill Downs: Posse wins Winn

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Posse got an excellent trip under Corey Lanerie and lived up to favoritism by collaring Bossanova in deep stretch to win the $111,400 Matt Winn Stakes.

Posse returned $4.40 to win after finishing a half-length ahead of Bossanova in the second running of the Winn, a six-furlong race for 3-year-olds. Bossanova, who dueled Cat Genius into defeat following fractions of 21.13 and 43.97 seconds, held second by another 1 1/4 lengths over Coach Jimi Lee, the 5-2 second choice in a field of nine.

The Matt Winn victory marks the second straight in a stakes for Posse, whose previous start was a win in the Grade 3 Lafayette at Keeneland. Posse, a Silver Deputy colt owned by Heiligbrodt Racing Stable and trained by Steve Asmussen, now has won 5 of 11 overall starts for earnings of $369,581.

In front of a crowd of 11,199, Posse held a clear position when sixth down the backstretch before he began picking up rivals without much apparent effort. With a furlong left, Bossanova, ridden by Cornelio Velasquez, was clear, but Posse was able to run him down. Posse finished in 1:09.43.

The track was drying out and rated sloppy after a severe downpour nearly two hours before the Winn.

The 4-1 exacta paid $40.80 and the 4-1-3 trifecta paid $127.