The first half of the season for high-level 3-year-olds comes to an end Saturday at Saratoga with the Belmont Stakes. The second half begins Sunday at Churchill Downs with the Matt Winn Stakes. The 1 1/16-mile Matt Winn provides a bridge to the Haskell at Monmouth Park and the Jim Dandy at Saratoga, which both lead to the Travers and into autumn. The Winn is a race for unproven horses like Taptastic to join the division’s elite and an opportunity for Derby also-rans who didn’t go to the Belmont, like Further Ado, to march into summer. Recently, Derby horses have gotten the best of things, winning the last four Matt Winns. There’s a reason for that. As recently as 2021, the Matt Winn was a $150,000 race. The purse went up to $400,000 in 2023. Now it’s worth a half-million bucks. It’s not like Further Ado, the even-money morning-line favorite, went off the rails in the Derby. Far from it. The 5-1 favorite, Further Ado stalked the Derby pace from eighth in the early going before improving his position around the far turn – to the detriment of his finish, as it turned out. He gave his connections a brief thrill at the head of the homestretch as a plausible winner before backing up to finish 11th, though not before getting a solid bump from his stablemate, Commandment, who had been roughed up by Ocelli. “It’s pretty simple, isn’t it?” said Brad Cox, who trains Further Ado for Spendthrift Farm. “Anyone close to that pace wasn’t going to finish.” :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Correct. As has been well documented, this Derby fell completely apart. The first three home raced, respectively, 18th, 15th, and 17th at the first call. If the race took much out of Further Ado – more, at least, than one would naturally expect – Cox hasn’t seen it, and it’s certainly not evident in workout video from his solo drill May 30. Further Ado made that 59.80-second five-furlong clocking look easy and galloped out like he’s more than ready for the Matt Winn. Irad Ortiz Jr. rode Further Ado to a tour de force victory in the Blue Grass in April at Keeneland, took off to ride Derby runner-up Renegade, and regains the mount Sunday. Potente, who finished 12th, and Pavlovian, last of 18, also exit the Derby and raced even closer to the early and middle pace than Further Ado. Pavlovian fell victim to a foolish trip, taken five wide with no cover while pushing tempo around the first turn. Potente raced inside, in the second flight, and never came close to contending while performing respectably, and his trainer, Bob Baffert, thought Potente worked too fast in his final Derby breeze. Potente, at his best, finished second in the Santa Anita Derby. Pavlovian was a longshot second in the Louisiana Derby. Five others were entered. Steel Imperium looks impossible. Corona de Oro will be a pace factor, but while better than his 11th in the Preakness, he’s probably not good enough. Stop the Car picked up the pieces of a killing pace to finish third in the Pat Day Mile, and, for now, looks best suited to one-turn miles. Our Moneyman finished third in a Derby Day allowance, but while Taptastic checked in one place behind him, he’s the more interesting horse. Taptastic went favored in a first-level allowance May 2 off a decent but distant third in the Arkansas Derby, just his second start, but lacked stretch spark last out. The colt’s still a bit of a baby, in early stages of development. “He’s been training fantastically. I really like how he’s doing right now,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “It’s the boldest I’ve seen him act. He’s got a lot of talent – he just needs to grow up.” Rapid maturity will be required to beat the Derby horses, especially Further Ado. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.