Aqueduct Hotlist - March 25

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Thursday, March 25, 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 [Clm 25000 N3L, 7F] – (6) Ok Honey (A) raced wide on an inside favoring track and now drops into a N3L condition in her second start since getting taken from an open $25,000 claimer. (4) Madera was a front running five-length winner of a N2L race last time for Rudy Rodriguez who is dominated the Aqueduct winter meeting with a 21% winning rate. (3) Stunning Munnings was third and second in her last two starts at this level following a three-month layoff. (2) Tuff Bird was also a clear-cut winner at the N2L condition while racing on the lead.

5^th race [Clm 40000 N2L, 6F] – (4) Apex Predator (D) was bet down from 7-1 to 9-2 when he broke his maiden for a $25,000 tag against NY-breds. (8) Beaver Creek was a maiden winner for $30,000 against open company and has since run twice in starter allowances. The blinkers come off after trying them last time with no improvement. (7) Victory Built was claimed last time when he came up a head short of a win in a $25,000 N2L race. He gets blinkers on for new trainer Arriaga. (6) Him She Kisses will make his first appearance in a restricted N2L claimer since breaking his maiden for $40,000. This will be his second start for Linda Rice since moving from the barn of Gary Contessa.

6^th race [OC50k/SAL50k, 6F] – (2) Betsy Blue (B) notched a maiden win for $25,000 against state-breds after she broke slowly, got rushed up the inside, angled out three-wide, and won by three. (4) Dramatic Twist rallied from off the pace in her second start to win a NY-bred maiden special weight also by three-lengths. (6) Overdressed stalked the pace and won a $20,000 open claimer and was taken from Michael Maker by Wayne Potts who wins with 26% of his new horses. (1) Shesadirtydancer beat the Hot List horse two races back when she won a $40,000 maiden claimer. Subsequently, she caught a muddy track at this new level.

8^th race [NY, Md 25000, 7f] – (4) Whats in It for Me (B) got off to a bad start ending up last of 10, had to rally six-wide, and finished third. (2) Cape Cod Gem pressed the pace while racing wide and faded to finish fifth. (5) Patty O’Marc will make his second career start for Linda Rice and drops down from a $40,000 race. Typically, Rice is not a trainer that wins with firsters. (8) Flippin Fun ships up to New York from Tampa Bay Downs and switches from Derek Ryan to Wayne Potts to make his first appearance against state-breds.

Best bets:  Betsy Blue (6^th); Whats in It for Me (8^th). Best value:  Ok Honey (3^rd); Apex Predator (5^th).