Illinois

“We thought Illinois would be a Gold Cup horse next year, and obviously it was the plan Kyprios would come here this year and he would step up next year. The plan was for him to go to the Coronation [Cup] and I was training him as a good mile and a half-horse, and then when Kyprios retired we switched him to this race. We have to be happy with the run and he had a lovely preparation the last day. Maybe if we knew he was coming here straightaway, we might have had him going earlier and maybe lighter. He might go to Goodwood and meet this horse again and I would imagine he will progress again then. He got tired at the two-furlong pole today, like a lot of horses do, and we will see if we can improve him another little bit for this distance. It shows how good Kyprios was as Trawlerman had been second to him a couple of times, I think - Aidan O'Brien, trainer.”

“That was very pleasing, he's a lovely horse. Illinois is a big, fine, strong animal so he will improve for the run. Ryan was very happy with him. He was waiting for someone at the bend to take him there and they didn't so he just had to go. He was just playing around in front at the end there but he's a lovely horse. He's very versatile. We've just been talking to Aidan and you could drop him back in trip for the Coronation Cup or you could step him up to Cup races. He'd do whatever you want for you. You can see what he did last year, he's a proper horse. He's a two-time Group 2 winner and carried the penalty today and did it really well. He's a lovely horse to have, we're lucky - Paul Smith, representing the owners.”

“They are two very good horses and clearly there's nothing between them. Sean gave the winner a very good ride and neither stopped all the way down the straight. We knew the winner had improved a lot since Goodwood and he's a classy horse. Either of them could go to Melbourne, they're two classy stayers but Illinois would have no problem coming back to a mile and a half - Aidan O'Brien, trainer.”

“Illinois stays very well and looked like he was going to lose second, but fought back and that usually suggests that he wants that staying trip, as he showed at Ascot too - Aidan O'Brien, trainer.”

“We felt any of the three could win. Ryan made the decision to ride Illinois, and he had the choice of the King Edward VII Stakes or this race. He's obviously a St Leger-type horse and is going to improve from three to four. He's a bit of a baby mentally still, so he might have a little rest now and maybe go to York on the way to the Leger, something like that. I think he might have a little bit more class than a Cup horse. His sister won the Arc, so he's that type - Aidan O'Brien, trainer.”

“Illinois ran a lovely race and just got a bit tired in the deep ground. He was working lovely, but he's a big horse and we didn't want to over-squeeze him for his first run because we felt the season was going to be long for him. We've often felt with those type of horses that if you over-squeeze them early in the season, it can catch you in the middle of the season so we just had him ready to run and he ran a lovely race. Ryan said he struggled in the ground and he will come forward a lot from it - Aidan O'Brien, trainer.”

“Ryan was very happy with Illinois. He's still a baby and will improve plenty - Aidan O'Brien, trainer.”

“Illinois is a beautiful colt. There's not too many that when you go down past the two and a half, they say point me. I actually got there too soon because I thought he'd take a bit of stoking. He has a lot going for him - pedigree, scope, size, action, wind. He was pretty much a steering job and I'm going to miss these Galileos - Seamie Heffernan, jockey.”