Trainer Jorge Navarro (Sharp Azteca): “I couldn’t have asked for a better plan. Breaking was slow, they kind of bumped him and I was like, ‘Whoa, what happened?’ When [Blofeld] went with him, that’s what I wanted. I really wanted a horse to go with him, because this horse can get lazy. If you look at the replay in Louisiana, 24 and 49 [seconds], and he got caught on the wire. He needs somebody to go with him. When I saw that, I said ‘All right.’”

“He’s a runner. The way this horse is, he wants to bury you down. If you look him in the eye, he’s going to bury you down. Every jockey that gets on top of him, they tell me the same thing.”

“He’s home. I told [jockey Edgard Zayas], ‘Once you put that head up, wherever you think you’re going to make the move, make it. I don’t want you hand-riding him, I want you to make it. Don’t look back, the wire’s in front of you.’”

“My biggest worry was the gate. I don’t want to sound too confident. It’s horse racing and anything can happen, but once I saw that horse next to him I said, ‘We’re sitting on a big one right now.’ Then when I saw Tommy Macho didn’t kick, I said, ‘Well, they’re in trouble now.’ I never expected he was going to show that kick, but wow.”

“We’ll see how he comes out first, but our plan is Dubai. If everything goes good in Dubai which we expect after this performance, the Met Mile.”

Jockey Edgard Zayas (Sharp Azteca): "It worked out perfect for him. I was a little worried because I didn't really want to go to the lead because he needs a horse to be a target. When he gets the lead he gets kind of lazy. But it set up perfect. When the other horse [Blofeld] went to the lead, it set up well. My horse he's a grinder. He's a one-paced horse and he just doesn't stop. Coming to the turn I hit him twice and he picked it up and after that it was all over."