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

Rob Atras (winning trainer of Neat, who won by a nose)

“He’s getting more mature and he’s gotten better every start. He had beaten arguably some lesser competition and today was a tough test, and he really showed up today. Honestly, I just think (jockey) Reylu (Gutierrez) did a great job (having to back off the lead and then re-rally). He had a tough time going into the first turn with him and obviously causing some havoc on the backside. He got him settled down and relaxed and really finished strong.”

Rey Gutierrez (winning rider)

“He gets out of the gate pretty quickly, and the plan was to keep him forward. But going into the first turn, there was a bit of juggling going on. I really just wanted to settle behind the 1 (Oscar’s World) and he didn’t take the turn too well, so I wanted to take that position and was going to stay on the lead. Down the backside I saw the 8 (Musical Act-IRE) come up and really wanting it, so I settled behind him and gave my horse a breather. 

“Sometimes these 3-year-olds go through the holes and sometimes they don’t. From the three-eighths pole it was all the horse. It was really tight down there but we waited as long as we could and when he saw that little bit of space, I mean, he certainly overcame me. It was all the horse. 

“(Trainer) Rob (Atras) certainly had him ready to go. I think it’s been 10 weeks since he last ran, in the Houston Carnival (winning the Bob Bork Texas Turf Mile Stakes Jan. 27), so it shows the amazing horses that run at (Sam) Houston (Park). Rob really had him ready. He beat some top horses here today.”

On whether he thought he won the photo finish

“No. Javier Castellano (on runner up Cugino) was like, ‘Congrats,’ so that just shows you how Hall of Fame Javier is.”

Javier Castellano (rider of runner-up Cugino)

“Good trip, just got beat. He gave me a good run. He gave a good fight all the way. He’s second best today.”

Cristian Torres (rider of third-place finisher Lagynos)

“He was great. Honestly, I was in the position that I wanted. There was so much going on in the first part of the race. I was glad that I was kind of behind him, and my horse was relaxed. I didn’t want to be too close to everything that was going on in front. I was in the perfect spot, and when I asked him to make the run at the end, he responded really well and finished up nice. I think that he really loved the turf.”