Freshened Ny Traffic a major player in Matt Winn Stakes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Saffie Joseph Jr. has always wanted to run a 3-year-old at Churchill Downs in May. The 33-year-old trainer won’t get to do it in the Kentucky Derby – not yet, anyway – but he’ll try to move forward on the Derby trail Saturday when sending out Ny Traffic in the Matt Winn Stakes.

“The race fits for us, schedule-wise,” Joseph said this week by phone from Florida. “We’d like to run him in one more prep after this and hopefully pick up some more Derby points along the way.”

Ny Traffic, with Paco Lopez riding from post 6, is among a field of 12 3-year-olds set to clash in the Grade 3, $150,000 Matt Winn. The Winn marks the resumption of the qualifying-points schedule toward the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby with 85 points on offer (50-20-10-5).

Although based at Gulfstream Park, Ny Traffic ran himself into the Derby discussion with two races at Fair Grounds, finishing third in a division of the Feb. 15 Risen Star and second at 26-1 in the March 21 Louisiana Derby. The gray colt has breezed four times at Gulfstream since then.

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“We gave him a little freshening after the Louisiana Derby and he’s come back really well,” said Joseph, whose lone prior start at Churchill came with an unplaced runner at the 2011 fall meet. “I don’t know if I have him fully cranked for this, but I do think he’ll give a good account of himself.”

A speedy New York-bred by Cross Traffic, Ny Traffic figures among the core of favorites in the 1 1/16-mile Winn, along with Maxfield, Major Fed, and Pneumatic. Maxfield, with Jose Ortiz riding from post 10, will be making his first start in more than seven months.

From the rail, this is the lineup for the 23rd Winn, which goes at 5:44 p.m. Eastern as the 10th of 11 races: Mystic Guide, Pneumatic, Informative, Celtic Striker, Flag Jack, Ny Traffic, Necker Island, Crypto Cash, Shake Some Action, Maxfield, Attachment Rate, and Major Fed.

Two colts initially considered for the Winn were not entered. Max Player is staying in New York, with trainer Linda Rice eyeing a possible run in the rescheduled Belmont Stakes on June 20, while Mr. Big News will wait for a future qualifier after upsetting the Oaklawn Stakes at 46-1 last month.

Mr. Big News “backed off his feed a little after we sent him up from New Orleans, and I don’t want to run if he’s not 110 percent,” trainer Bret Calhoun said. “We’ll regroup and look for another spot.”

The Winn is the highlight of a terrific Saturday card that kicks off the stakes schedule at the 26-day spring meet. Four other $100,000 stakes, all newly created amid the coronavirus reshuffle, also are on tap as the other legs in an all-stakes pick five wager – the Shawnee (race 7), for older fillies and mares; the Tepin (race 8), for 3-year-old fillies on turf; the Blame (race 9), for older horses going a one-turn mile; and the War Chant (race 11), for 3-year-olds on turf.

Possible thundershowers and a high of 82 are in the Saturday forecast. Only essential personnel are being permitted racetrack entry as the coronavirus crisis drags on.