Belmont They Said It

"We had a perfect trip and everything went like we planned, we just

couldn't hold it together right there at the end. He ran a mile and half, he ran

hard, he did all the work again on the lead. I'm real happy with him. He put in

a great effort. No excuses. He wants to run all day. He's still learning, he's

still getting it together and he's still improving. I think we have a lot of fun

races in front of us. He'll fly back to Kentucky on Monday, take a little break

and figure out what to do with him."

—trainer

Dale Romans on Belmont S. (G1)

pacesetter and third-place finisher FIRST DUDE (Stephen Got Even)

"I had a perfect trip. In the stretch, he was getting out, just a little

tired. I was very proud of him. I couldn't ask for anything more."

—regular rider

Ramon Dominguez on First Dude's run in the third jewel of the Triple Crown

"We got to cheer turning for home, but he got beat. He got tired at the

end, but he ran a good race."

—trainer

Bob Baffert on his Belmont runner, GAME ON DUDE (Awesome Again), who ran fourth

"Really we were outrun. He didn't handle the track very well today. He

was outrun, plain and simple."

—trainer

Mike Maker on STATELY VICTOR (Ghostzapper), who finished eighth in the Belmont

before being promoted to seventh

"It was a little hot for him today, and the pace was slow. We were in a

good position throughout the race. When I asked him to run, he showed no

interest. He didn't have it today, he didn't fire."

—rider

Jose Lezcano describing Belmont favorite and eventual eighth-placer ICE BOX's

(Pulpit) run

"He lost his front left shoe, but he did scope clean. We were hoping he

would get a better break, and he tends to be fussy in the gate. He didn't get

away clean. He wasn't where we wanted to be early on. I don't know what's next

for him. We're booked on a plane tomorrow, but I'm going to talk to the owners

first and then we'll make a decision."

—trainer Alexis

Barba on 10th-place finisher MAKE MUSIC FOR ME (Bernstein), who was placed ninth