ELMONT, N.Y. – Javier Castellano didn’t expect to be on the early lead aboard Up the Ante in Monday’s $100,000 Manila Stakes at Belmont Park. But the way the race unfolded, he was certainly glad he was there. After making the front through easy fractions, Up the Ante cruised to a front-running, 3 1/2-length victory over 2-5 favorite Raging Bull in the Manila. It was 3 1/4 lengths back to Westerland in third.  It was the first stakes win for Up the Ante, a son of Smart Strike owned and bred by Castleton Lyons and trained by Christophe Clement. It was the first defeat for Raging Bull, who was kept in abeyance while last early under Joel Rosario before rallying for a non-threatening second. Castellano felt that the pace could either be dictated by Hangman or Sea Foam, the latter also trained by Clement. Neither one of those horses was aggressively ridden and Up the Ante found himself 1 1/2 lengths in front after running an opening quarter in 24.31 seconds and a half-mile in 48.79. He opened up a 3 1/2-length lead after six furlongs in 1:12.66 and maintained that advantage to the wire, while covering a mile in 1:35.42. Up the Ante returned $13 as the 5-1 second choice. “I didn’t expect to be on the lead but he broke sharp out of the gate, he put me in the spot he wanted to be, and I didn’t want to take away anything that came easy,” Castellano said. “I just let him dictate the pace and took it from there.” Clement said he told Castellano to be wherever he felt comfortable, but noted when he saw the early fractions, “I had a big smile on my face.” While those who hammered Raging Bull to 2-5 might have lamented the late move by Rosario, Clement felt his horse finished equally as well as the favorite. “They all say Joel gave the other horse too much to do, but Up the Ante really quickened too,” Clement said. “He didn’t win by a neck.” The top two finishers could meet again in the Grade 2, $200,000 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 3.