Aqueduct Hotlist - April 16

Today’s NY Hot List races to watch – Saturday, April 16, 2022 at Aqueduct
By Matt Shifman and Bob Ehalt

Hot List Key:
 A: A preferred horse to watch                                 B: Secondary horse to watch
*C: Went down 2 or more betting notches and finished 1st through 3rd
*D: Went down 2 or more betting notches and finished 4^th or worst
* - 4 or more betting notches if 11-1 or more.

1^st race [Md Sp Wt, 7F] – (1) Proven Hope (B) caught a sloppy track in his debut, got shuffled back, and made a strong wide middle move. (5) Jester’s Song ran well in his first two starts finishing second and then third at Aqueduct for the Bond barn. (3) Digitize will make his debut for Chad Brown. The $240,000 yearling purchase has been training in New York for this start. (2) Higher Quality made his first start 14 months ago for Chad Brown when he was third at Gulfstream Park. He returns as a new gelding.

4^th race [Plenty Of Grace, 1 mi TURF] – (6) Technical Analysis had the winter off since finishing first twice and third in graded stakes for Chad Brown. (5) Flower Point was last seen in November when she won the Forever Together at Aqueduct in November for Shug McGaughey. (3) Plum Ali started her career with 3 wins as a 2-year-old and like the others won a turf stake before taking the winter off. (1) Alms won her first four races for Michael Stidham and Godolphin. Her last three starts were in graded stakes at Gulfstream including a second in the Pegasus Turf for Fillies and Mares.

7^th race [NY, Md Sp Wt, 7F] – (3) Modern Midas (A) stumbled in his second start ending up in last where he took heavy kickback but still was able to rally to get fourth. (7) Eminency ran second in 3 out of 4 career starts at distances ranging from 6 furlongs to a mile. (8) Flowing River showed improved speed in his second start and finished third. (6) Got the Gold has a late running style against this field that appears to have a lot of early speed.

10^th race [NY, OC45k/N2X, 6F] – (4) Prince of Pharoahs (A) had a short layoff and returned to get squeezed back at the start on that day when kickback was very heavy. He was still able to make up ground to get fourth. (2) Saint Selby came back from a nine-month layoff to win the first-level allowance for NY-breds. He ran three times with two wins and a second by a head. (9) River Dog moves to the barn of Kelly Breen following a layoff from October when he was third at this level. He won his first two starts including a state-bred stake. (8) Bustin Timberlake has a pair of thirds since a layoff but made a big jump in speed figures last month. Blinkers go on.

Best bets: Proven Hope (1^st); Technical Analysis (4^th). Best value: Modern Midas (7^th); Prince of Pharoahs (10^th).

Saturday Pick 3 Special --
The Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 covers races 4-6 and starts with the Plenty Of Grace  à 1, 3, 5, 6 with 8 with 1, 3, 5, 7 = $16.