This time Ocala Dream and Castellano were ready, spring $36 upset in Kingston

ELMONT, N.Y. - Javier Castellano said he learned something when he rode Ocala Dream for the first time in a fourth-place finish in an allowance race in April at Aqueduct. Castellano put those lessons into practice Monday at Belmont Park to engineer a 17-1 upset in the $125,000 Kingston Stakes for New York-breds.

Castellano felt he had Ocala Dream too far off the pace in that allowance. Monday, he kept the horse a little bit closer, gradually got him to the outside and when Castellano asked him to run, Ocala Dream responded to win the Kingston by 2 1/4 lengths.

Sanctuary City, last of eight to the top of the lane, rallied to get second by a head over Therapist. Cross Border was fourth followed by stablemate and odds-on favorite Somelikeithotbrown, Advanced Strategy, City Man, and Step Dancer.

The win was fourth from 11 starts for Ocala Dream, all four coming over the turf course at Belmont.

“I blame myself a little bit last time, I tried to save ground and I leave him a little too far back,” Castellano said. “We had a great inside post today, he broke sharp out of the gate, I let him go to the lead, then covered him a little bit going into the first turn.”

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Castellano said he felt fortunate when Jose Ortiz made an early move to the lead on Somelikeithotbrown, who was outside of Ocala Dream early on.

“I was able to stick him a little bit to the outside and when he moved, he moved quick,” Castellano said. “He go forward and took off and run huge today.”

In addition to the trip at Aqueduct, Tom Morley, the trainer of Ocala Dream, felt he his horse wasn’t totally cranked for that Aqueduct allowance, his first start off a five-month layoff.

“In the paddock he said ‘I made a mistake at Aqueduct and took him too far back,’ “ Morley said. “I said, ‘Well, I ran a horse that was 85 percent fit deliberately at Aqueduct so he’s 100 percent ready now and you know how to ride him.’ ”

Morley said he felt the horse had “seamless preparation” leading into the Kingston, but added, “we still needed a Hall of Fame ride to get the job done and we got one of those.”

Ocala Dream, a 4-year-old son of Effinex owned by Thomas Albrecht, Vincent Fusaro, and James Klein, covered the 1 1/16 miles over firm turf in 1:39.79 and returned $36.40 as the sixth choice in the eight-horse field.

Mike Lee: Rotknee long gone

Rotknee returned to dirt, returned to statebred company and returned to the winner’s circle with a 1 1/2-length, front-running victory in the $125,000 Mike Lee Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-olds.

Rotknee had won a New York-bred maiden race at Saratoga last August. After being sidelined until February, he won an allowance and the Damon Runyon Stakes at Aqueduct during the winter. Trainer Mike Maker tried him in the Animal Kingdom Stakes over Turfway Park’s synthetic surface. He got embroiled in a pace battle and finished seventh of eight.

Monday, Saez decided to utilize Rotknee’s speed and he opened up a 4 1/2-length lead after running a half-mile in 45.21 seconds. Though he tired a tad in the lane, Rotknee had more than enough to hold off an oncoming Best Idea, who finished second by five lengths over Agility. Who Hoo That’s Me finished fourth, followed by Kazmike, Tin Pan Alley, and Rebel Empire. Salute to America and Hot Rod Rumble were scratched.

“When he’s on the lead he feels better,” Saez said. “He run away from everybody, that was the key today. I feel like I’m going pretty fast, but very comfortable.”

Rotknee, a son of Runhappy owned and bred by William Butler, covered the seven furlongs in 1:23.90 and returned $9.60.

Bouwerie: Sterling Silver stays perfect against N.Y.-breds

After two failed attempts in open-company stakes, Sterling Silver was back with New York-breds Monday and dominated the $125,000 Bouwerie Stakes for 3-year-old fillies by 4 1/4 lengths over Captainsdaughter. It was 9 1/4 lengths back to November Rein in third.

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Sitting fourth on the inside under Trevor McCarthy while Adversity and November Rein duked it out on the front end, Sterling Silver tipped three to four wide in the stretch, took over in upper stretch, and cruised to the decisive victory.

Sterling Silver is now 3 for 3 against New York-bred company with two stakes victories. She also won the Franklin Square to kick off her 3-year-old season. After finishing last of five in the Busher Invitational, Sterling Silver ran fifth, beaten 17 1/2 lengths in the Grade 1 Ashland.

Sterling Silver, a daughter of Cupid owned by Mark Anderson and trained by Tom Albertrani, covered the seven furlongs in the Bouwerie in 1:24.41 and returned $8.60 as the second choice.

Yo Cuz, the 4-5 favorite, was sitting a perfect trip third early, but dropped back and was basically eased as she failed to finish in the money for the second straight stakes as an odds-on favorite.