Belmont at Aqueduct Hotlist - September 17

Today’s NY Hot List races to watch – Saturday, September 17, 2022
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.

4^th race [Clm 16000, 1 mi] – (6) Dark Storm (D) was bet down from 6-1 to 7-2 in a similar claimer at Saratoga last month and finished fourth. (8) Its All Relevant was last seen winning a $16,000 claimer at Belmont Park in June. The 9-year-old is a warrior with 16 career wins and nine of them were at Aqueduct and a mile is his best distance. (7) Magnetron has three very good finishes in NY-bred races in his most recent starts including a second at Saratoga for a $25,000 tag. (1) Kumar won for $20,000 at Belmont in June with three wins at Aqueduct in the past.

5^th race [Clm 16000 N2L, 1 mi] – (5) Once a Giant (D) was bet down to be the 5-2 favorite in his last start at Saratoga in a similar N2L and finished fourth. (3) Umbria makes a drop in class and gets Irad Ortiz to ride for Linda Rice. He was in his best form at Aqueduct earlier in the year. (4) Lucky Brody is another one with a very good record at the Big A and those races are clearly good enough to win in this spot. (8) Amedeus Music was second at this level at Saratoga two races back. He broke his maiden at Aqueduct.

9^th race [Alw 105000 N1X, 7F] – (7) Expressman broke his maiden in his debut at Saratoga last month by more than seven lengths earning a 107 Beyer Speed Figure going seven furlongs on the lead for Todd Pletcher as the 9-5 favorite. (3) Dot’s Dollar was a front-end winner at the Spa and was claimed for $50,000 by Michelle Nevin. (4) Prisoner won the first three races of his career and two of them were at Aqueduct by open lengths. (2) Mackillop switches from turf to dirt for Chad Brown which is a 23% winning move. Last month he was second in an allowance at the Spa.

10^th race [Jockey Club Derby (G3), 1 ½ mi TURF] – (3) Nations Pride won the Saratoga Derby (G1) by almost two lengths for top European trainer Charlie Appleby after running second in the Belmont Derby (G1) in his first American start behind Classic Causeway. He stayed to train at Saratoga after his victory in the second leg of the Turf Triple Series. (6) Ardakan will make his first start in America after racing in a pair of Group 1 races in Germany including a third last time. He won a Group 2 stakes in Italy in May. (1) Classic Causeway won the Belmont Derby with an outstanding front-end effort in what was his first start on the grass for trainer Kenny McPeek. In the Saratoga Derby he got to the lead again but was overtaken by Nations Pride and the very talented Annapolis. (4) The Grey Wizard moved to the barn of Graham Motion from the Irish trainer Joseph O’Brien and made a pair of allowance starts with a second at Laurel Park and a fourth at Saratoga.

Best bets: Expressman (9^th); Nations Pride (10^th). Best value: Dark Storm (4^th); Once a Giant (5^th).

Saturday Pick 3 Special --
The Saturday Special $3 Pick 3 covers races 9-11 and includes the Jockey Club Derby  à 7 with 3, 6 with 4, 7, 8, 9 = $24.