Todd Pletcher, trainer of winner Tommy Macho (No. 6), runner-up Madefromlucky (No. 1), and fifth-place finisher First Spark (No. 5): "[Tommy Macho] ran a sneaky good race in the West Virginia Derby. The inside was very dead that day and he got stuck on the rail the whole way. Then I thought he ran an incredible third in the Pennsylvania Derby. He tends to run well fresh and I don't think he minded the off track.

"He's a horse that's continued to train well. He's developed physically into a stronger fall 3-year-old than he was in the spring and you always like to see that. He's trained extremely well coming into this and he's run well fresh. We've kind of been targeting this for a little while. It didn't hurt our feelings when it came up wet, he's got a big wet track pedigree. I thought he worked out a really good trip.

"I think he's continuing to improve. He behaved much more professionally today than he has at times in the past. Sometimes, he can get a little animated in the paddock and around the starting gate [but] he behaved himself pretty well today.

"We felt like Ocean Knight was the horse to beat and was the main pace in the race, and we didn't want to allow him to walk the dog up front. So we felt like Tommy Macho's running style would hopefully, if he broke well, put him in a position to keep some pressure on the favorite. I thought Madefromlucky probably would've appreciated a little better post position than he got. It seemed like he lost some momentum in the far turn and once he found some clearance, he came on again down the lane.

"I actually thought [First Spark] ran pretty well. It was his first time in a stakes. He could've benefited from a little hotter pace up front, but he put in a good middle move, just hung a little bit in the last part. I think he's a horse we might leave here this winter and hopefully develop into a stakes horse."

Javier Castellano, winning jockey aboard Tommy Macho (No. 6): "Beautiful Trip. My only concern was getting a good break out of the gate. Sometimes he misses the break, but today he felt sharp. I give all the credit to Mr. Pletcher. He did all the right things with this horse, schooling him in the mornings and it showed here this afternoon. He broke out of the gate perfect and I knew I had enough horse in the stretch coming home."