Kent Desormeaux celebrated his first Belmont win with Summer Bird (Melissa Wirth/Horsephotos.com)

"Well, we called Kent after the Kentucky Derby (G1) and he was already obligated in the Preakness (G1). So we waited. I talked to Joe Talamo about riding him. We got up here. We talked to a few people. You know, they said, we needed a rider that knows the track. And nothing against Joe, you know, we found us a rider that knows Belmont and, you know, we got the job done."

—trainer Tim Ice on the decision to ride Kent Desormeaux on Belmont S. (G1) hero SUMMER BIRD (Birdstone) in the third jewel of the Triple Crown

"We took it day-to-day. (Summer Bird) was going great all week. Anybody that came up and asked me about him, I said this horse is going the run big. He's a good-feeling horse. He was fresh, you know. He had five weeks in between the Derby and the Belmont and that helped the colt a lot. He's still maturing, and, you know, he proved it today. We did the right thing by skipping the Preakness and waiting on the Belmont and bringing him here early."

—Ice on the days leading up to the Belmont

Summer Bird emulated sire Birdstone in taking the Belmont (Harold Roth/Horsephotos.com)

"I tell you what gave me confidence, I watched this horse gallop a two-minute lick last week. He was going better the second time around than the first time. That's where I had my confidence. It was enjoyable to watch. I thought he was doing very well."

—Desormeaux on his feelings heading into the Belmont

"He was toey, dancing, just that bit of energy that tells you, 'Let me at 'em, let me at 'em, I can't wait to get to them. I want to be a racehorse.' Whereas, the other ones, they all were kind of just here we go again."

—Desormeaux explaining the extra energy Summer Bird had by skipping the Preakness instead of trying all three legs of the Triple Crown

"My emotions are real high right now. We're disappointed, down a little bit, but the colt did run a big race. Calvin rode a good race. It's been a lot of fun. I was a little concerned with the horse when he went to the holding barn today. He was a hair more, a little more amped, more than he had been previous races, you know. Maybe I had him a hair too fresh. Maybe I should have done something different when we got here. But it's hard to say."

—Chip Woolley, who trains Kentucky Derby winner and Belmont third MINE THAT BIRD (Birdstone)

Mine That Bird got the jump on Summer Bird rounding the turn (Lauren Pomeroy/Horsephotos.com)

"I thought I had it won when I got to the quarter-pole. They came back to me pretty quick. When I moved, I was happy. No excuses. He ran his eyeballs out. He took me a little earlier. When I eased him out, the horses in front kind of stopped. He got outrun, no excuses. He had a lot of racetrack in front of him. He ran a good race. I might have let him get up earlier, but I wasn't going to take the race out of him. Turning for home, I thought he was home free. He ran his heart out. Don't take anything away from the little horse."

—jockey Calvin Borel on running third on Mine That Bird

"If you watch (Summer Bird) run in the Derby you'd see why. I thought that was the horse to beat. My little colt ran so hard the last two races, you can't take nothing away from him. Chip did a good job with him, like I said. Coming for home, I thought he was home free. He belted down, ran his little heart out. So, please don't knock him down. He's not a bad horse."

—Borel on why he thought Summer Bird was the horse to beat in the Belmont

The field takes flight in Belmont 141 (Patrick Tyrrell/Horsephotos.com)

"No (excuse) that I can see, it's sort of tough to watch it live. I want to see the replay. I don't know if we got a track that was conducive, but I don't want to make any excuses, I would rather watch the replay first and see what it looks like. You know, when you watch it live up there and a mile and a half, it's pretty hard to find them out there. I thought that horse was live that won it and I thought Dunkirk ran a beautiful race. It wasn't all that surprising, I thought Summer Bird had an excellent chance the way he's been closing and we'll salute the winners and rack 'em up next year."

—conditioner D. Wayne Lukas, trainer of Belmont fifth-place finisher LUV GOV (Ten Most Wanted) and sixth-place FLYING PRIVATE (Fusaichi Pegasus)

"When Summer Bird made that move on the turn, no one was going to catch him."

—jockey Edgar Prado, who tracked the pace aboard MR. HOT STUFF (Tiznow) before finishing eighth

"Brave Victory -- I don't know where, he got stepped on, but he's got a big gash on his knee. He'll be OK. He was moving nice the first time and he might have been a little closer. I'm not making excuses."

—trainer Nick Zito, who saddled BRAVE VICTORY (Lion Heart) and MINER'S ESCAPE (Mineshaft) to respective seventh- and 10th-place runs in the Belmont