Aqueduct Hotlist - January 22

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Friday, January 22, 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.

3^rd race – (5) Brunate will return from an October layoff for the James Bond barn after hitting the board several times against NY-bred $25,000 maiden claimers. (1) Royal Kaz will make his first start against state-breds after two second-place finishes sprinting at Penn National. (2) Have a Heart has used a late rally to contend at this level in the past. (8) Brickyard will make his third start since moving to the barn of Jimmy Jerkens who now has him running on the dirt.

4^th race – (1) Lookbothways was a three-length winner in a N3L claimer from which the place horse came back to win her next start. She will now face a starter allowance field. (7) Blitchton Lady was claimed out of a five-length victory against state-breds for $25,000 by Mertkan Kantarmaci. This trainer has good numbers with new runners and he points his barn to the Aqueduct meetings. (4) Jackie Milton has won her last three races and was claimed from a N3L spot by Linda Rice just a week ago. (5) Pendolino was also claimed out a third-place finish in the same race as Jackie Milton by Eduardo Jones who wins with 25% of his new horses.

5^th race – (9) Bulwark (D) will drop into a N2L claimer for the first time in his second start after a six-month layoff. He was bet down from 17-1 to 11-1 in a NY-bred allowance last start. (4) Four of Swords (D) made his second start after a layoff for Kelly Breen in a similar spot in which he was bet from 29-1 to 23-1 after breaking from the far outside in 13-horse field. He had to race wide and managed to finish fifth. (6) The Big S will drop out of a starter allowance at the Big A and return to a N2L claimer where two races back at Churchill Downs he ran second for a tag of $50,000 and goes for half of that now. (5) Mr. Phil won a maiden special weight last winter at Aqueduct and will now make his third start following a long layoff. His two prior races were in tougher conditions.

7^th race – (2) Targeted Return won a $50,000 maiden claimer for Chad Brown at Churchill and now moves to a starter allowance with first-time Lasix as a 3-year-old. (7) Timed Out was claimed for $40,000 by Rudy Rodriguez out of his last start in October from an eight-length maiden victory at Monmouth Park. (5) Tap the Barrel was last seen in November winning a $40,000 maiden claimer at Aqueduct by 14-lengths at odds of .70-1. (6) Miss Comedian gets Lasix for the first time after running third in a NY-bred allowance against a small but strong field.

Best bets:  Brunate (3^rd); Targeted Return (7^th). Best value:  Lookbothways (4^th); Bulwark (5^th).