Aqueduct Hotlist - February 6

Today’s NY Hot List races to watch – Saturday, February 6, 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 worst
* - 4 or more betting notches if 11-1 or more.

4^th race – (3) Sneakiness followed a win in a $40,000 N2L claimer with a disqualification aided victory in a starter allowance. He was moved up to first after getting bumped and herded down the stretch. (5) Reed Kan was a front-end winner in an open $40,000 claimer for Mertkan Kantarmaci following a five-month layoff. (1) Vici frequently hits the board, be it on grass or dirt, with 13 place finishes and 9 in the show spot in his career. (6) Happy Farm came back from a long layoff after leaving the barn of Jason Servis and ran poorly for Linda Rice. If he bounces back to better form, he fits well in this spot.

5^th race – (1) Beta (C) ran third when he dropped to this $16,000 N2L level and was bet down from 12-1 to 8-1. He had the lead in the stretch and now cuts back from seven to six furlongs. (3) Him She Kisses returned from a one-year break for Linda Rice in a NY-bred allowance to run seventh. Last year he contended at that level and now tries N2L runners for the first time. (2) Posse Can Disco did not seem to care for the muddy track at Aqueduct on New Year’s Day. Before that, he broke his maiden against state-breds for a $25,000 tag. (4) Principal Dancer will make his third start after a long layoff for the Bond barn.

6^th race – (1) Kikkerland (D) took a lot of betting action in his debut getting pushed down from 8-1 to 7-2 where he finished fourth for trainer Rob Atras who is not a specialist with first-time starters. (6) What’s My Category has strung together a trio of third-place finishes for Carlos Martin who is having a great Aqueduct winter meeting. In his five career starts his speed figures went up every race. (3) Devious Mo was claimed for $40,000 two races back by Rudy Rodriguez and was moved back to a NY-bred maiden special weight. He drops back to that claiming level here and stays in state-bred company. (7) Production Credit tried open company last start with poor results and now gets Lasix for the first time drops back to face NY-breds.

8^th race – The Withers (G3), which drew a field of nine, is the third stop on the New York road to the 2021 Kentucky Derby. There appears to be plenty of early speed in the field as these 3-year-olds will have to go nine furlongs, most for the first time. (3) Capo Kane won his last two starts by a combined 11 lengths while racing on the front end, including the Jerome at Aqueduct by more than six lengths. He will once again ship up from Parx Racing to seek 10 more Derby qualifying points. It will be interesting to see how much pace pressure he will get as these 3-year-olds try to get the distance. (6) Overtook broke his maiden at Aqueduct in his third career start with a closing move for Todd Pletcher. Pletcher kept him in training in New York basically targeting the Withers and the nine-furlong distance for his next start. The $1 million yearling purchase is bred to go long. (5) Risk Taking is very similar in that he was a maiden winner using a late run in his third start for Chad Brown while going long at the Big A. Brown also kept his horse in training at Belmont looking to race again in New York. (9) Eagle Orb was second to the top choice in the Jerome in his first try against open company. He is a stakes winner against state-breds with a place finish behind Brooklyn Strong.

Best bets: Sneakiness (4^th); Capo Kane (8^th). Best value:  Beta (5^th); Kikkerland (6^th).

@NYHotList Saturday Pick 3 Special --
The Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 is on races 4-6 à 3, 5 with 1, 2, 3 with 1, 3, 6, 7 = $24.