Aqueduct Hotlist - February 5

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Friday, February 5, 2021 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 worse
* - 4 or more betting notches if 11-1 or more.

1^st race – (3) Black Limo (B) stumbled and was bumped hard at the break, dropped to last but still was able to rally to fourth as the 5-2 favorite. This was his first start for trainer Mike Miceli. (4) Yerosilverbiz (D) made his debut for Rob Atras in a $40,000 maiden claimer and was well bet from 10-1 to 6-1. He contended early in the race but faded down the stretch and now is in for a $25,000 tag. (1) Centavo will cut his claiming price in half for his fourth start recently with his form improving for Carlos Martin who is having a good Aqueduct meeting with 27% winners. (2) Tapit’s Flashback gets blinkers on for David Donk after running second in his debut behind a runaway winner when he was clear of the rest of the field.

3^rd race – (6) Beaver Creek drops out of two starter allowances with a third-place finish to make his first appearance in a N2L claimer for a $25,000. Blinkers come back off after an experiment in his last start. He broke his maiden for $30,000 at Churchill Downs while in the barn of Dallas Stewart and now goes for Linda Rice. (5) Spitball was claimed back by Rice for $25,000 last start. After two races on the mud, a dry track would be to his benefit. (1) Colormepazzi drops to the lowest level of his career in this race as Aqueduct winter specialist Chris Englehart looks for the right spot for this guy. (3) Imperio D broke his maiden last time for $25,000 after several close calls. He may not win again here, but is likely to be part of the exotics.

7^th race – (4) Bad Guy was a winner in a N3L claimer against open company for Rudy Rodriguez who moved him from turf to dirt and now he will try a first-level allowance against NY-breds. (8) Prince of Pharoahs has consecutive seconds, both times he set the pace. This will be his third start after a long layoff for Linda Rice. (3) Kaz’s Beach has a pair of thirds at this level at Aqueduct shipping in from Penn National. The last was just two weeks ago. (1) Jack Bo will make his first start against NY-breds in a long time. He has been racing against open company and recently cleared the N3L condition, so he ships up from Laurel to try state-breds. He does have a win and two thirds at Aqueduct.

8^th race – (8) Gringotts (D) was bet down from 22-1 to 13-1 in his last start in a $16,000 N2L claimer where she finished fifth and somebody on Twitter lamented that it was “another bad trip” for Gringotts. (3) Jara will make a big drop down in class from an allowance to make her first start in a N2L for Linda Rice. (4) Imprsstheprofessor drops out of a NY-bred allowance to race in a N2L spot for trainer Phil Serpe. (1) Mebs Web was third and second in her last two tries at this level and figures to be part of the vertical wagers.

Best bets:  Black Limo (1^st); Beaver Creek (3^rd). Best value:  Bad Guy (7^th); Gringotts (8^th).