Martin J. "Matt" Winn (June 30, 1861 – October 6, 1949) was a prominent personality in American

thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and Horse industry, industry involving the Horse racing, racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter know ...

history and president of

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States that hosts the annual Kentucky Derby. It opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was prominent in Kentucky for many years. The first ...

racetrack, home to the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...

race that he made famous. In 2017, he was inducted into the

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred horse racing, Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and Horse trainer, trainers. In 1955, the museum ...

as a Pillar of the Turf.

Biography

Matt Winn was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

on June 30, 1861. A businessman, he had been a racing enthusiast since the day his father brought him to see the first running of the Kentucky Derby in 1875. In 1902, Matt Winn was operating as a merchant tailor. He was asked by one of his clients, William E. Applegate, (who, at that time, owned over eighty percent of the New Louisville Jockey Club) to become involved in the reorganization and management of Churchill Downs. Winn came on board as vice president to run the catering operation and summer entertainment and in 1914 he was listed as general manager of the new Louisville Jockey Club. A skilled marketer, in his first year running the racetrack, his promotions for the event saw the business make its first-ever annual profit. A few years later, Winn was involved in changing the wagering from

bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays out bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds In probability theory, odds provide a measure of the probability of a particular outco ...

betting to a

Parimutuel betting Parimutuel betting, or pool betting, is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the ''house-take'', or ''vigorish'', are deducted, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among a ...

system and in 1911 increased business substantially by reducing the wager ticket from $5 to $2. Matt Winn used his understanding of marketing to weave an aura of romance around the Kentucky Derby. In 1915, he convinced the multimillionaire sportsman

Harry Payne Whitney Harry Payne Whitney (April 29, 1872 – October 26, 1930) was an American businessman, thoroughbred horse breeding, horse breeder, and member of the prominent Whitney family. Early years Whitney was born in New York City on April 29, 1872, as ...

to ship his highly rated filly

Regret Regret is the emotion of wishing one had made a different decision in the past, because the consequences of the decision one did make were unfavorable. Regret is related to perceived opportunity. Its intensity varies over time after the decisi ...

from

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

to Louisville to compete in the Derby. Whitney agreed, and Winn's effort paid off with nationwide publicity surrounding the first filly to ever win the Derby. Winn called Regret's victory a turning point, and he worked to create an event of exotic grandeur that women soon flocked to, coming from both fashionable society and the ordinary

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

es. Under Winn, the Kentucky Derby became the preeminent thoroughbred horse race in America and in recognition of his accomplishments, the

Governor of Kentucky The governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Kentucky. Sixty-two men and one woman have served as governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; sinc ...

bestowed on him the

honorary title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

of Kentucky Colonel. In 1937, Winn and the Derby made the cover of the May 10 issue of ''Time'' magazine. In 1944, Colonel Winn collaborated with Frank G. Menke to publish ''Down The Stretch: The Story of Col. Matt J. Winn''. He died in Louisville on October 6, 1949. He is buried in his family plot in St. Louis Cemetery, 1215 Barret Avenue, Louisville. The Matt Winn Stakes for three-year-olds held each May at Churchill Downs was named in his honor.

References

Sources

* ''Horse Racing's Top 100 Moments'', Chapter 19: ''Matt Winn Saves Churchill Downs and the Derby'' by the Staff of Blood Horse Publications (2006)

Eclipse Press Blood-Horse Publications is an American multimedia publishing house focused on horse-related magazines headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. It began in 1916 through its flagship magazine, ''The Blood-Horse''. From 1961 to 2015, Blood-Horse Public ...

March 7, 1934 ''TIME'' magazine article on Matt Winn

Matt Winn biography at the official Churchill Downs Incorporated website

October 7, 1949 ''St. Petersburg Times'' obituary for Matt Winn

External links

Photo of Matt Winn's grave, GPS coordinates: N 38 14 01.2; W 085 43 18.5
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winn, Matt 1861 births 1949 deaths Businesspeople from Kentucky Churchill Downs executives Kentucky Derby Sportspeople from Louisville, Kentucky Burials at St. Louis Cemetery, Louisville

Biography

See also

References

Sources

External links