ELMONT, N.Y. - Junior Alvarado knew he wasn’t riding the favorite in Friday’s $100,000 Bertram F. Bongard Stakes at Belmont Park, but he liked his chances anyway aboard Hold the Salsa in the seven-furlong race for New York-bred 2-year-olds. After all, Hold the Salsa was the only member of the six-horse field that had a prior victory at Belmont Park. Alvarado’s confidence proved warranted as Hold the Salsa rallied three wide in the stretch to win the Bongard by 1 3/4 lengths over Lookin for Trouble. It was a half-length back to Brooklyn Strong in third. Half Right, the pacesetter, finished fourth, followed by Eagle Orb, the 4-5 favorite, and Windy Nations. Thin White Duke, winner of the Funny Cide Stakes at Saratoga, scratched out of the Bongard to run in Tuesday’s Aspirant Stakes at Finger Lakes. Hold the Salsa, owned, bred and trained by Richard Lugovich, won his debut at Belmont Park in July at odds of 26-1, upsetting Thin White Duke, who was the 8-5 favorite. :: Enhance your handicapping with DRF’s Belmont Clocker Report Lugovich got a bit ambitious running Hold the Salsa in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special, where he finished last of nine behind Jackie’s Warrior. Back with New York-breds in the Funny Cide Stakes in August, Hold the Salsa finished fifth, beaten 4 1/2 lengths. Alvarado rode him for the first time that day and didn’t think it was a bad race. “He only got beat four lengths, he could never catch up with that track,” Alvarado said. “He’s a big guy, he needs a little more ground. Belmont suits him perfectly, for his body and the way he runs. I wasn’t the favorite, but I was looking forward to riding him here today.” Alvarado was planning to sit three or four lengths off the pace, but the pace wasn’t swift as Half Right ran an opening quarter in 23.93 seconds and a half-mile in 47.43 while being stalked by Lookin for Trouble. It looked like Hold the Salsa was making an early move, but Alvarado said it was the other horses slowing down that made it look that way. "It might have looked like I was the one making the move but I wasn’t moving forward, I wasn’t going backward,” said Alvarado, who won four races on Friday's 10-race card. “When I caught up to them they kind of realized I was getting close to them and they started picking it up again, then it set up the perfect race for my horse. When I turned for home I was riding him but I knew a little past the sixteenth pole I had that little extra and when I asked him he gave it to me.” Hold the Salsa, a son of Hold Me Back, covered the seven furlongs in 1:25.54 and returned $19.20 to win. Lugovich watched the race from Maryland, where he is based at the Fair Hill training center. “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 told the New York Racing Association publicity department. “The Fair Hill surface that he works at is a lot slower than it is at Belmont. . . . We got a beautiful ride from Junior.” Though Lugovich believes Hold the Salsa will ultimately thrive on turf, he will look to run him in the $150,000 Sleepy Hollow Stakes going a mile on dirt here on Oct. 24.