Trainer Todd Pletcher (Sandiva): " “She just needed a little freshening. She had a solid campaign and she seemed like she was just a touch off form and we knew that she loves Gulfstream. We kind of intentionally freshened her up with these races in mind.”

“She is versatile enough that 7 1/2 is probably a tick short than ideal, but she showed enough quality that she almost got there, but I think, obviously, that race helped her out today.”

“She is booked [to be bred] to Mshawish this year, so we’ll get with team Al Shaqab to see if she will have one more run [in the Suwannee River Feb. 11] or go on to be bred.”

Jockey Javier Castellano (Sandiva): “She’s a very straightforward classy horse who improves every year. She never gets lazy. She does her own thing and enjoys herself. Todd [Pletcher] has done a phenomenal job bringing her back every single year. I liked the way she did it today. I had a perfect trip. It set up good because there was a lot of speed in the race. I was more patient today because I had her too close a little bit [before a second-place finish in the Dec. 17 South Beach]. I think that’s the reason she got beat. Today, patience paid off.”