Aqueduct Hotlist - January 15

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Friday, January 15, 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 – (7) Tercero returns to the dirt where he did his better racing for Bill Mott. In addition to two grass starts, he caught sloppy tracks four times in his eight career starts. (1) Me ‘n Sap had the best race of his career at this $40,000 maiden claiming level against NY-breds. Trainer David Donk has two in this field and he is very good at finding the right spot for his horses to win. (3) Black Irish is the other one from the Donk barn and he drops out of the maiden special weight ranks once again to the level where he has run second and third. (8) Have a Heart has caught wet tracks in his last two including a late running third for a $25,000 tag.

2^nd race – (5) Foxtail (B) does her best running on the lead and thus was compromised when she stumbled and got bumped forcing her to race wide throughout the mile. She is back in the OC/NW2 allowance level. (4) Kansas Kis returned from a five-month layoff to win a first-level allowance at Aqueduct that earned the best speed figure of her career. She loves Aqueduct where she missed winning a stake last year by a nose. (1) Jennemily has the lead for half of her last start at a mile and continued to battle to run second at this same level. (2) Stand for the Flag came back from a 10-month break to run fourth in the Go for Wand (G3). That race was her first since leaving the barn of Jason Servis.

4^th race – (6) Commandandcontrol (B) gets Lasix in the first start of her 3-year-old year after running second in her debut in November at Aqueduct. In that race she was well ahead of the rest of the field. (2) Obligatory was bet down to 3-1 in her debut in October for Bill Mott. The daughter of Curlin and Juddmonte home-bred will get added distance in this mile after running fourth against a small but select field. (8) Coal Shaft gets Lasix for her second start and blinkers on while moved from turf to dirt for trainer Danny Gargan whose barn is very hot right now. (7) Lightfoot Miss gets a pass for her experiment on the turf in her most recent start for Mott back in November at the Big A.  In her prior start, she ran second on the dirt.

6^th race – (2) Magnetron (B) missed a win by a neck in his first start in the barn of Rob Atras at this N3L condition for a $14,000 tag after he stumbled at the start and raced wide. He was a late scratch on the track on Saturday in a $14,000 race and now goes for $25,000. (1) Heirloom Kitten drops out of first-level and starter allowances to race in this N3L condition for the first time. She has excellent speed figures in her last five starts that are better than most of this field has ever run. (6) Tri Saint Lorenzo moves back to this restricted claimer after trying a starter allowance following his N2L victory. (5) Road to Meath was second in his last try at the N3L condition which was followed by two starter allowance runs.

Best bets:  Tercero (1^st); Commandandcontrol (4^th). Best value:  Foxtail (2^nd); Magnetron (6^th).