Chad Brown (winning trainer of Ball Dancing)

On rival Filimbi making move around the far turn to challenge Ball Dancing “I could tell (jockey) Javier (Castellano) really didn’t want to move at that point but luckily (with) his great instincts he felt them coming and put (Filimbi) wider than us. He gave the filly a great trip. She’s a wonderful horse to train, steadily improved. What a big win for (co-owners) Mr. (Will) Farish and Mr. (Steve) Mooney. They’re both here, and we’re thrilled.

On whether Ball Dancing will fill the shoes of Brown’s 2014 champion turf female Dayatthespa, now retired

“We’ve been so lucky to have a lineup of them (talented turf fillies). She’s definitely in their category.”

On whether Ball Dancing might race against his other top older turf runner, Stephanie’s Kitten “Maybe down the road. They’re both top class, very even. Last time ‘Stephanie’ had a little better trip than this filly, and this filly came out of the race so better for it – much fitter, sharper. We gave her a chance to get her Grade 1 today and she did it for us. As long as she’s healthy, I have some big races planned for her this year.”

Javier Castellano (winning rider)

“(She) was very impressive. I’ve been watching replays of her last couple of races. She’s kind of European (style) horse: You need to cover up a little bit to save something for the end. It really worked out beautiful here. I had a perfect trip today. It was amazing. Great filly.”

Joel Rosario (rider of runner-up Filimbi)

“I had a good trip. I made a little move and she responded. She was always there for me. The winner was tough to beat. I was trying to follow (Ball Dancing); I was always behind her. I tried to make a little move before she did, but she was the best today.”   Irad Ortiz Jr. (rider of third-place finisher Hard Not to Like)

“I broke good, got her in position beside the horse (Ball Dancing) going to the lead and tried to slow down. She gave me a good run in the end, but the other horse just passed me up in the end.”

Joe Bravo (rider of fourth-place finisher Personal Diary)

“It's really difficult when you ride turf races like that, when they go a slow pace on the front end. The turf course, it seems like when it’s wet it carries (speed) a little bit better. She had to overcome all that and still came running to get beat three-quarters of a length for (third). Nice filly.”