Click here for a replay of the race and the post-race interview with winning connections.

Ethan West (trainer of Runaway Storm)

“(The finish was) very nerve-wracking. It was exciting. I wasn’t sure if we had it or not. Everybody kept telling us that we had it, but until they posted No. 6 I wasn’t going to believe it. I was very confident in the horse, actually, even though he was longer odds. He’s been training down here for a few weeks now and had three very solid works going into it. After his turf work last week I called the owner, Dr. (Robert) Hunt and said, ‘He’s ready. He’s ready to run.’”

Colby Hernandez (winning rider)

“He dug in. When the horse on the outside (odds-on favorite Talk of the Nation) ran up to me, he wasn’t going to let the horse pass. He just dug in. He was jumping away down the lane. Yes, (I knew I had it) in the last three yards. He wasn’t going to let that horse pass. Just kept digging in and found more. I want to thank (trainer) Ethan (West) and his team for giving me the opportunity.”

Jose Ortiz (rider of runner-up Talk of the Nation)

“Honestly, it was a good trip. Got my move outside, around the quarter pole. My horse gave me a great run. In the stretch, just a little unlucky, but he ran a pretty good race. I was trying to keep him away from trouble, but not a big traffic problem. When I wanted to go, I was clear, so no excuses.”

Rodolphe Brisset (trainer of third-place finisher Santorini)

“It was a really good effort. Gotta give credit to Alex (Achard); he rode him to perfection. We know the horse has speed on the (past performances); it looked like a lot of the horses have speed. So I told him, ‘You gotta break forward and see what you do.’ It looks like nobody really went (to the lead), so he went for it. In the backside, he was a little bit more keen than what you want. If you look at it, (Achard) was trying to get him a bit wider to get him to relax a little bit and that might’ve cost us a little bit of ground. All around you cannot be disappointed.”  

Alex Achard (rider of third-place finisher Santorini)

“My horse broke pretty good from the gate. He was a little bit more forward and we had to deal with that, but that's fine. He settled down pretty good. And turning for home, he's trying hard. The horse was really game.”