Aqueduct Hotlist - November 20

Today’s NY Hot List races to watch – Saturday, November 20, 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.

5^th race [Md Sp Wt, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (7) Fort Washington (A) broke well in his debut for Shug McGaughey, settled in the back, and rallied wide for third. (3) Dr Brownes Miracle (A) was heavily bet going into his second start but got stuck in traffic on the inside and ran third. (1) Al’s Rocket (B) closed from last to third in his debut for Todd Pletcher. (4) Parquetry ran second in his debut for Barclay Tagg whose horses do better in their second starts.

8^th race [Alw 82000 N1X, 6F TURF] – (2) Kawhi Me a River (B) moved to a stake after breaking his maiden. In the Carle Place he broke slowly and had to rally wide into a slow pace. In this spot he can go back on Lasix. (7) Scuttlebuzz (B) moved to open company after winning through the NY-bred allowances. There he got steadied at the break, was rank under restraint, and had to race very wide. (9) Bustin Shout (B) has been off since January when Andy Serling said, “He ran too well to lose.” That was in an allowance like this. (10) Colton’s Command has three strong finishes at this level for Bill Mott.

9^th race [Red Smith (G2), 1 3/16 mi TURF] – (4) Serve the King exited the key United Nations (G1) to win the restricted John’s Call at Saratoga and then finished second in the Turf Classic (G1) at Belmont Park behind his Chad Brown stablemate Rockemperor. (5) Shamrocket looks like he has returned to his best form when he won the Point of Entry last time out for Todd Pletcher. Jockey Javier Castellano chose to stay on Shamrocket after having ridden three other horses from this field in their last starts. (3) Soldier Rising moved from France to the barn of Christophe Clement and had a pair of seconds, first in the Saratoga Derby and then behind the eventual Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Yibir. In his last start, Soldier Rising was the favorite and frankly ran a disappointing fifth after racing very wide. (7) Channel Cat gets blinkers on after not being able to sustain his early speed in his last three starts. He did win the Man O’War (G1) in May at Belmont on the lead. His speed makes him dangerous especially since most jockeys are reluctant to use their horses early in long distance turf races like this and he could get loose on the lead.

10^th race [NY, Md Sp Wt, 6F] – (10) Thrill of It (D) moves back to the NY-bred ranks after running fourth against open company last time when he was bet down from 7-1 to 7-2 and finished fifth. Blinkers go on now. (1) Catching Cupid ran well to finish second in his debut at Belmont earning a speed figure that tops this field. (9) Cave Man debuted at Parx following fast workouts and finished third. Now, he ships to Aqueduct to face NY-breds with another fast workout to show. (8) Hot Rod Rumble had plenty of early speed in his races for Steve Asmussen and that makes him a threat in this field.

Best bets:  Fort Washington (5^th); Serve the King (9^th). Best value:  Kawhi Me a River (8^th); Thrill of It (10^th).

Saturday Pick 3 Special --
The Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 on races 8-10 à 2, 7, 9 with 3, 4, 5, 7 with 1, 9, 10 = $36.