Razor takes Matt Winn as favorite

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - One week after the Kentucky Derby, Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith once again found himself celebrating a stakes victory at Churchill Downs. Smith, who rode Giacomo to a Derby upset, won the $109,700 Matt Winn Stakes aboard favored Razor on Saturday.

In contrast to the ride aboard the late-running Giacomo in the Derby, Smith and Razor controlled the race from the start. Razor shot to the lead in the six-furlong Matt Winn, opening up a commanding advantage with fast fractions of 21.70 and 44.71 seconds over a drying-out track listed as good. It had been sloppy earlier on the card.

With Smith keeping his mount several paths off the rail - seemingly in the best part of the track - Razor had no trouble turning back his opponents in the stretch, winning by four lengths over Crimson Stag, who had chased him from the start. Sir Laff a Lot finished 3o1/4 lengths back in third.

Around the Cape and Semaphore Man were scratched.

Razor ($4.20), a 3-year-old son of Concorde's Tune, raced six furlongs in a quick 1:09.48, winning for the fourth time in eight starts for owner Satish Sanan of Padua Stables.

In winning the Matt Winn, Razor returned to the form he displayed at Oaklawn this winter, when he won the Dixieland Stakes and finished second to Afleet Alex in the Mountain Valley Stakes. In his start preceding the Matt Winn, he had been a distant third behind More Smoke in the Lafayette at Keeneland.

Razor seemed more comfortable Saturday at Churchill Downs, where he had won his maiden last fall. Steve Asmussen, who trains Razor, earned his second Matt Winn victory in the race's four-year history. He won the 2003 Matt Winn with Posse.