Sue Lorimer, assistant to winning trainer Roger Attfield, of Lady Shakespeare (No. 6): “She loves to run. She’s kind of laid back early, but once she gets going she’s all racehorse. She’s been so consistent. John [Velazquez] had ridden her twice before so there wasn’t any need for instructions, just ride it like you see it. Roger will see how she comes out of this race and go from there.”
John Velazquez, winning jockey aboard Lady Shakespeare (No. 6): “She makes you work for it, but she earns it! I just didn't want to be too far out of it with just three horses in front of me. I kind of had to start halfway through the backstretch just to make sure she didn’t stay too far back. At the three-eighths pole I got after her, thinking, ‘Don't drop back now because otherwise we'll never catch up.’ At the quarter pole, I hit her left handed and put her in the clear - it was like an instant reaction, she went right to them. She was so quick, I couldn't believe it. She got to the lead, her ears went up, and she knew what to do."
William Mott, trainer of runner-up Changing Skies (No. 2): “It was a good performance. The winner outran us last time at Keeneland [in the Grade 3 Bewitch], and we were second-best again today. We would have expected to be on the lead, but we were satisfied with our position.”
Channing Hill, jockey aboard runner-up Changing Skies (No. 2): “She really ran her eyeballs out. It was a big race for her.”
NOTE: Both Gozzip Girl, who stumbled at the start, and jockey Ramon Dominguez, who was unseated, walked off the course.
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