Somelikeithotbrown wires Mohawk under decisive Castellano ride

ELMONT, N.Y. - Javier Castellano had more free time than he would have liked Saturday at Belmont Park when, after scratches, he had just two mounts on the 11-race New York Showcase Day program.

It did, however, give him more time to figure out how he wanted to ride Somelikeithotbrown in the $150,000 Mohawk Stakes for males on turf. It didn’t take Castellano too long to realize that Somelikeithotbrown does his best running when he’s involved early in the race.

Thus, Castellano was aggressive leaving the starting gate, put Somelikeithotbrown on the lead and the son of Big Brown led the field on a merry chase, winning the Mohawk by 1 1/2 lengths. Therapist rallied to get second, 2 1/2 lengths in front of Cross Border. Dot Matrix, Sanctuary City, and Rinaldi completed the order of finish.

The win was the sixth from 16 starts for Somelikeithotbrown, a son of Big Brown owned by Skychai Racing and David Koenig and trained by Mike Maker. He is a three-time open stakes winner with victories in the Jeff Ruby Steaks and John Battaglia at 3 at Turfway Park and the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch at Saratoga earlier this summer.

When Castellano was doing his homework on Somelikeithotbrown, the colt’s front-running victory in the Baruch had to stand out. Further, Castellano thought he if he sat second behind Rinaldi, the other speed in the race, he would have been second best.

:: Enhance your handicapping with DRF’s Belmont Clocker Report

“I didn’t want to be second best, I want to play the game,” said Castellano, who turned 43 years old on Friday. “I used my best judgment, hopefully it worked and he did it. It worked out great being aggressive and dictate the pace.”

Castellano sent Somelikeithotbrown to the front, a neck in front of Rinaldi after an opening quarter of 23.72 seconds. Somelikeithotbrown extended his lead to 2 1/2 lengths after a half-mile in 47.67. Somelikeithotbrown was in hand and in the clear through six furlongs in 1:11.41, a mile in 1:35.99 and he completed the 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.02 and returned $4.50 as the favorite.

Myhartblongstodady wires Ticonderoga

Myhartblongstodady made the front with relative ease, set pedestrian fractions, then responded when asked by jockey Jose Lezcano and, despite drifting out several paths in the stretch won the $150,000 Ticonderoga Stakes for New York-bred females by three lengths.

War Canoe rallied late to get second by a neck over Niko’s Dream. Wegetsdamunnys, Pecatonica, and Short Pour completed the order of finish.

The win was the fourth straight for Myhartblongstodady, a streak that began last Nov. 23 at Aqueduct when she was trained by Chad Brown. Myharblongstodady, a 5-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy owned and bred by Lawrence Goichman, has won all three of her starts this year for trainer Jorge Abreu.

Myhartblongstodady maintained a one-length margin over Short Pour and Niko’s Dream through fractions of 25.11, 51.05, and 1:14.51. Lezcano asked his mare to run approaching the top of the lane and said he purposely guided her toward the outside because he felt “the inside is too chewed up.”

Myhartblongstodady covered the 1 1/16 miles over a course labeled firm, but one that is certainly loose, in 1:44.66. She returned $4.20 as the favorite.

“At the half-mile pole I had so much horse I let her pick it up a little that way she could get into her stride,” Lezcano said.