Aqueduct Hotlist - November 25

Today’s NY Hot List races to watch – Friday, November 25, 2022 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 [Md Sp Wt, 1 1/8 mi] – (1) Aniston (B) is a well-bred Todd Pletcher runner who was sent off at 6-1 in his debut but reacted adversely to the kickback. (5) Kayleigh’s Pride was fourth in his first start as the 5-2 favorite after a rough break from the gate for Mark Hennig who it not known as a trainer who wins with firsters. (7) Gifted made his debut in August at Saratoga on the turf going long for Bill Mott in what turned out to be a strong race. (3) Juniper’s Moon was second in his first on the turf during the BAQ meeting for Tony Dutrow at 28-1.

4^th race [NY, Notebook, 6F] – (3) Acoustic Ave has three wins from his first four starts including a debut victory at Saratoga and most recently a pair of wins in NY-bred stakes at Finger Lakes for the Clement barn. (4) D’ont Lose Cruz was second in his first and then won his next race with front running efforts that got strong speed figures. (1) Starquist won his first race for John Kimmel whose barn had a strong BAQ meeting. He then stretched out to a mile and was third in one of those Finger Lakes stakes. (2) Mshindi broke his maiden against open company at Finger Lakes and then was fourth behind the top choice.

7^th race [Comely (G3), 1 1/8 mi] – (4) Kathleen O. did very little wrong in her career winning her first four starts with a pair of Grade 2 victories at Gulfstream Park. She was last seen running fifth in the Kentucky Oaks (G1). (5) Nostalgic made 10 starts including a win in the Gazelle (G3) at Aqueduct in April. She has a few Grade 1 starts in her record and most recently was a neck shy of winning the Turn Back the Alarm (G3) at the Big A earlier in the month. (6) Morning Matcha holds the experience edge on this field with 16 starts from her base at Parx. In September she was second in the Cotillion (G1) with a big late closing move. (2) Sixtythreecaliber ships up to New York from Kentucky for Tom Amoss with wins in her last two starts. In September, she won the Seneca Overnight at Churchill over two of the fillies in this field.

8^th race [Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship, 6F TURF] – (10) Yes and Yes (A) has bad luck in his last three starts including last time when he was roughed up at the break of the Belmont Turf Sprint (G3) when he rallied to get third. (12) Dancing Buck is the winner of 3 out of 4 races including a front-end score in the Belmont Turf Sprint by five lengths that got a 103 Beyer Speed Figure. (6) Thin White Duke won an allowance at Aqueduct with a late rally. He won the Lucky Coin at Saratoga. (5) Nothing Better gets an excellent post-position draw to use his early speed as an advantage over this field where the other speed in on the far outside.

Best bets:  Acoustic Ave (4^th); Kathleen O. (7^th). Best value:  Aniston (1^st); Yes and Yes (8^th).