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

Luan Machado (winning rider of Chop Chop)

“She was pretty comfortable all the way around. She broke real good and got me in a perfect spot. She’s an old pro. She knows what to do. She knows when to go faster, and she actually did it on her own. I’ve got to congratulate the team – (trainer) Brad (Cox) and everybody else – and thank them for the opportunity.”

Brad Cox (winning trainer)

On how he found which races would best suit Chop Chop

“I guess experimenting a little bit. We nominated her to the race in April here at Keeneland (the 1½ mile Bewitch-G3 Presented by Keeneland Sales, which she won) to see how it came up. We thought she had a shot, so we took a chance and (winning) opened up a lot of new avenues for her. I guess that’s the one thing I’ve learned from her: Sometimes when one’s not really moving forward or you think you’re out of options, try something new, and it worked out; she likes the marathon distances. She’s really good and physical – plenty of scope, plenty of leg. She looks like a mile-and-a-half filly. She’s steps up, very consistent – synthetic, dirt, turf. She’s a very nice filly.”

Adam Beschizza (rider of runner-up Forever After All)

“Good trip. I think they (owners) said they might run her in New York. You’ll be seeing her again.”

Ricardo Santana Jr. (rider of third-place finisher Anatolian)

“It was a clean trip; she ran really good. She was beautiful (nearing the finish), but I just got beat by the two best fillies in the race.” 

Joel Rosario (rider of fifth-place finisher and beaten favorite Neecie Marie)

“Good trip. First time she’s run (at Keeneland). She looked for a second (like) she was going to continue, but they just kind of got away a little bit. Everything was smooth, exactly where she likes to be. She ran her race, but sometimes it’s hard to win all the time. She’s a special horse. I’m very happy the owner and trainer and everybody gave me the opportunity to ride her. Like I said, it's hard to win all the time. We’ll try for the next one.”