Chelsea Durand / NYRA Photo

Hold the Salsa prevails in Bertram F. Bongard

by Ryan Martin

Hold the Salsa prevailed in a stirring stretch battle with a game Lookin for Trouble to score his first stakes victory in Friday's 27th running of the $100,000 Bertram F. Bongard for New York-bred juveniles going seven furlongs over the Belmont Park main track.

The Hold Me Back bay colt, piloted by Junior Alvarado, was at the rear of the field early on but quickly moved up to third into the three-path as Half Right led the field through an opening quarter-mile in 23.93 seconds with Lookin for Trouble pressing in second.

Around the far turn, Hold the Salsa dropped back to fourth with 4-5 favorite Eagle Orb still in search of racing room along the rail in third. Alvarado began asking Hold the Salsa just a couple of strides past the quarter-pole as Half Right maintained a slight advantage through a half-mile in 47.43 seconds. With one furlong left to run, the trio of juveniles were all in with a chance, as Lookin for Trouble put his nose in front with Hold the Salsa unleashing his bid to the outside. 

Hold the Salsa, full of run, established clear command between the sixteenth-pole to the wire and powered home a 1 ¾-length winner in a final time of 1:24.54. Lookin for Trouble finished another half-length ahead of late-closing Brooklyn Strong.

Completing the order of finish were Half Right, Eagle Orb and Windy Nations. Thin White Duke and New York One were scratched.

Trained, owned and bred by Richard Lugovich, Hold the Salsa was an upset winner on debut on July 12 at Belmont Park, where he bested subsequent stakes winner Thin White Duke. He finished off the board in his following two efforts running a respective ninth and fifth in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special on August 7 and the Funny Cide against fellow New York-breds on September 4.

Lugovich said he was anxious to get his horse back to Big Sandy after two off-the-board efforts at the Spa.

"I'm thrilled. I'm jumping up and down," said the Fair Hill Training Center-based Lugovich. "I kind of figured he would like Belmont better. He didn't like the track at Saratoga. He likes the surface at Belmont, I'm sure."

Despite Hold the Salsa's 7-1 price, Lugovich said he was still confident in his horse.

"I was pretty sure he was going to win, to be honest with you, because I know him and I know the horses I work with," Lugovich said. "The Fair Hill surface that he works at is a lot slower than it is at Belmont. The horses don't work as fast because the track is slower."

Alvarado, who piloted Hold the Salsa to his last-out fifth in the Funny Cide, said he was also confident of a good performance.

"I thought he was going to run well here," said Alvarado, who enjoyed a four-win Friday afternoon. "He put in a good run here at Belmont first out. He's a big horse for a 2-year-old and I thought the track would favor him today. He broke good and we tried to stalk three or four lengths behind, but all of a sudden, they started coming back to me and slowed it down a little too much.

"It made it look like I was the one making the move, but I was holding in one rhythm. I wasn't moving forward or going backward, I was just in the same rhythm but the horses in front were slowing down," added Alvarado. "When I caught up to them they realized I was getting closer and they started to pick it up again and it set up a perfect race for my horse. When we turned for home, I was riding him but I knew a little past the three-sixteenths pole I had that little extra and when I asked him, he gave it to me."

Banking $55,000 in victory and returning $17.60 for the win, Hold the Salsa enhanced his lifetime earnings to $91,275 and maintains a record of 4-2-0-0. Hold the Salsa is the second progeny out of the King Cugat mare Northern Mambo.

Live racing resumes on Saturday with a 10-race program featuring five graded stakes events spearheaded by the Grade 1, $250,000 Belmont Derby Invitational, a Breeders' Cup "Win And You're In" event for 3-year-olds going 1 ¼ miles on the inner turf, and the Grade 1, $250,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational for 3-year-olds and upward going 1 ½ miles over the Widener turf. 

The action-packed card also features the Grade 2, $150,000 Kelso for 3-year-olds and up going a one-turn mile over the main track; the Grade 2, $150,000 Pilgrim for 2-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles over the inner turf; and the Grade 2, $150,000 Gallant Bloom for fillies and mares going 6 ½ furlongs over the main track. First post is 12:40 p.m.