Chad Brown, winning trainer of Takeover Target (No. 2): "It just wasn't quite his trip in the [Grade 1] Belmont Derby going a mile and quarter. We got a nice cutback in distance today and a little class relief back into a Grade 2, and it did the trick for this horse. He only had one start as a two-year-old and now he finally seems to be maturing, and Irad [Ortiz,Jr.] knows the horse well. He's the only rider that's ridden him and he gave him a great ride today. I'll see if he can get a mile and an eighth in the [Grade 3] Saranac [September 5]. It's a big purse at the end of the meet. I'll have to evaluate it. I think an extra sixteenth [of a mile] would be O.K., but we'll have to just evaluate it."



On fifth-place finisher Startup Nation, sixth-place finisher Winter Springs, and 11th-place finisher Night Prowler:

"Startup Nation, I'm not exactly sure. He was mid-pack, looked like he was getting a decent trip, and just kind of held his place and ran fifth. He's just another one we'll have to evaluate how he comes out of the race and go from there."

"Winter Springs, first start in the country, was far behind a slow pace. He did make a good run through the lane in the center of the track and I watched him galloping out strong. He was running a mile and quarter back home. He'll probably show up next in the Saranac."

"Javier [Castellano] said that during the race [Night Prowler] just didn't feel like the same horse. He just protected him. He seemed to gallop back to me O.K., sound, so we'll just get that evaluated. Obviously, he's much better than that."

Irad Ortiz, Jr., winning rider aboard Takeover Target (No. 2): "I broke out of there and got good position, which is what I wanted to do. I saved all the ground I could and on the last turn I looked to my right and didn't see anybody, and this horse likes to get clear in the stretch. I got out and he took off. He was very good." "It's an amazing feeling [to win at Saratoga]. It's just a month and a half all year and the best jockeys come here. It's exciting. You have a lot of people come every day. We enjoy it."