Belmont Park Hotlist - April 23

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Friday, April 23, 2021 at Belmont Park
                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.

2^nd race [NY, Md Sp Wt, 1 TURF] – (4) Big Little Risk (B) debuted last year on the turf in November then came back on the dirt in January when he got off to a slow start, got stuck behind horses while moving up the inside, and still managed to run fourth. (2) Saratoga Flash made his 2021 debut on the grass at Gulfstream Park against open company for Barclay Tagg at odds of 5-1 and ran fourth. (1) B C Glory Days set the pace in all three of his starts which were on the dirt and produced top three finishes for John Terranova. (8) Agent Creed had a rough start in his debut at Gulfstream and gets blinkers on for John Kimmel.

4^th race [NY, Md Sp Wt, 1 TURF] – (6) Bernardino has two strong grass results last year for Phil Serpe who is an underrated turf trainer. (4) Grape Nuts Warrior has European breeding on the top and bottom and makes his debut for Chad Brown. (9) Ocala Dream made his turf debut against open company at Saratoga in his second start when he ran fourth after having to steady at the quarter pole. (7) Multiple Expansion is another debut runner for Chad Brown. He has been training steadily at Belmont Park and gets Irad Ortiz up.

6^th race [OC 80k, N2X, 1 1/4 TURF] – (2) Virginia Joy is a German-bred with a Group 3 victory in that country going 11 furlongs. She will make her American debut for Chad Brown. (3) Capital Structure won two of her first three starts including an allowance at Belmont in October for Brown. She ended her 2020 campaign running fifth in the American Oaks (G3) at Santa Anita. (7) Kissing Frogs had a good winter on the grass at Gulfstream for Bill Mott with a maiden and an allowance win. Last out, she was second in a top allowance as the favorite. (1) Crystalle won an allowance at Gulfstream and followed that with a seventh in the Orchid (G3) for Kimmel.

9^th race [Md 40000, 1 1/16 TURF] – (1) Stand With Mo ships back to New York from Florida for Christophe Clement and drops into the maiden claiming ranks for the first time with two board hitting finishes. (2) Public Information was third last time out at a similar level at Gulfstream in February for Chad Brown who does not like to run on that Florida turf course. (10) Jarreau will make that big drop from maiden special weight competition for the first time for Graham Motion who wins at a 28% clip with that move. (4) Big Easy Empire was last seen in a similar spot at the Fair Grounds where he ran third in his turf debut.

Best bets:  Bernardino (4^th); Virginia Joy (6^th). Best value:  Big Little Risk (2^nd); Stand With Mo (9^th).