Aqueduct Hotlist - January 21

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Thursday, January 21, 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 – (8) Afleeting Glance returns to the NY-bred ranks for this $25,000 maiden claimer after running second against open company at Aqueduct on New Years Day. She made a prolonged closing move from last and comes back in another mile. (3) Sweet Sneak has races in the fall that would win here. She comes back from a short rest for George Weaver. (4) Mizzys Image did not take to the sloppy Aqueduct track in her last start but prior to that she had a couple of good efforts at this level for David Donk whose barn is heating up as of late. (7) Misty Taste woke up on a muddy track at the Big A for Kelly Breen when she ran third against open company.

4^th race – (8) Sicilia Mike returns from a March layoff and switches to the barn of Wayne Potts. The 7-year-old had a great year in 2020 and was last seen running seventh in the Tom Fool (G3). Now, he’s back against NY-breds and in for a $25,000 for the first time. There appears to be early speed in this field to set up his closing move. (5) Manifest Destiny has two good recent starts with a third and second against open company at Aqueduct and goes back to face state-breds. (7) Runaway Lute has been off since November when he was contesting second-level NY-bred allowances. In the fall he also won an allowance at Delaware Park. (1) Dark Money was claimed out of a similar spot by Tom Morley in December. This guy does his best running at the Big A and cuts back to his best distance of six furlongs.

7^th race – (6) Zaevion has won three races in a row including a starter allowance at Parx and two open claimers at Aqueduct. Mertkan Kantarmaci brings him back in a first-level allowance with three recent speed figures that fit well here. (4) Bustin Shout was third in December in a similar spot on the dirt after a series of turf starts for Bruce Levine. (2) Foolish Ghost has lots of early speed and three wins in his last six starts. Last time, he set the pace and just missed the win in the same race as Bustin Shout. (1) More Graytful followed a win in a NY-bred allowance with a puzzling seventh when he was eager to run early but then got stuck in traffic out wide coming around the turn.

8^th race – (1) Reggae Music Man (B) was well bet at 4-1 in his debut for Pat Kelly and finished second after having to alter his course and go wide at the top of stretch. He’s back in another NY-bred maiden special weight. (5) Big Brown Shoes was also second in his debut which came back in November and now he’s back with Lasix for the first time and hot rider Kendrick Carmouche stays on board. (4) Forty Two Ace ran the best race of his career last month when he finished second with his best speed figure. He, too, gets to run with Lasix as a 3-year-old. (2) Taco Bean will make his debut after a series of speedy workouts. He’s out of a mare who has three winners from three to run.

Best bets:  Afleeting Glance (1^st); Reggae Music Man (8^th). Best value:  Sicilia Mike (4^th); Zaevion (7^th).