Belmont Park: Night Maneuver all the way in Bertram. F. Bongard

Flying Zee Stable had the $100,000 Bertram. F. Bongard surrounded, with Night Maneuver ($4.60) leading the way and proving best of a four-ply entry under Ryan Curatolo.

Night Maneuver battled for the lead with entry-mate The Prize Fighter through moderate fractions of 23.47 and 47.11 seconds, edged away in midstretch, and remained clear from 9-2 second choice Jaw Crusher by 1 1/2 lengths to stay unbeaten in three starts for Carlos Martin. He ran the seven furlongs in 1:23.56 on a fast track and earned $60,000.

“He keeps getting better, he surprises me,” Martin said of Night Maneuver, who was nearly 20-1 when he won first out at Saratoga for a $35,000 tag. “He didn’t show much early on in his training, but the more you do with him, the better he is. Today, he broke running and [Curatolo] let him get out there and didn’t fight him. It seems like he’s push-button. We’ll take him to Aqueduct and look at some better races as long as he keeps improving. I don’t see any reason why he wouldn’t stretch out.”

The Prize Fighter and Western Tryst, both trained by Phil Serpe, finished third and fourth. Goodtime Boy, trained by Martin, was the lone Flying Zee runner to finish off the board, winding up next to last in the field of 13 New York-bred 2-year-olds.

Because of the 1-3-4 finish by the entry, fifth-place finisher Tug of War completed the winning trifecta combination, which paid $307.

Gimma: Bellacourt posts upset after freshening

Bellacourt, idle seven weeks since an off-the-board finish in an overnight stakes at Saratoga, responded favorably to a freshening to upset the $100,000 Joseph A. Gimma Stakes under Corey Nakatani, who celebrated his 41st birthday with his third winner of the afternoon.

Coming off a bullet five-furlong drill last Saturday for Fair Hill-based trainer Jim Lawrence, Bellacourt ($20) broke alertly from the far outside and was well positioned down the backstretch just off pacesetter Undaunted Ella, fought her way to the lead between that rival and Cute Cadet into the stretch, and held off New York Breeders’ Futurity winner Wildcat’s Smile to win the seven-furlong race by a half-length in 1:24.44 on a fast track.

“We ran her back too soon at Saratoga, got the inside draw, and that killed us,” Lawrence said. “We took her home to Fair Hill and turned her out for three weeks. We got her back and jogged a week, and I had time to get a couple breezes in her. We may run her once more and then put her away for the year.”

Wildcat’s Smile was four lengths clear for the runner-up spot. Lenders Way (26-1) was third, and Cute Cadet (53-1) filled out a $29,790 superfecta as Undaunted Ella faded to wind up sixth in the field of 11 New York-bred 2-year-old fillies.