Belmont Park Hotlist - April 24

Today’s NY Hot List races to watch – Saturday, April 24, 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 worst
* - 4 or more betting notches if 11-1 or more.

6^th race [Md Sp Wt, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (6) Newsworthy was second in his 2021 debut at Tampa Bay Downs in February which was his first turf try for Bill Mott. (7) Caveat Emptor set the pace in his last race at Tampa and finished second while adding blinkers and now takes those blinkers off. (9) Mandatory will make his first turf try after excellent dirt tries at Aqueduct during the winter. American Pharoah progeny have run well on the grass. (8) Shaftesbury has a trio of second-place finishes on the Gulfstream Park grass for Todd Pletcher.

7^th race [OC 100k/N3X, 7F] – (2) American Power is the winner of his last four starts including two stakes at the Big A going seven-furlongs. (3) Mihos returned from a two-month layoff to rally to win the N2X allowance last time at Aqueduct for Jimmy Jerkens. (7) Wicked Trick was a two-length late-running winner of a similar spot in February for Linda Rice and now uses the claiming option to race at this condition. (1) Lookin At Bikinis will return from a November layoff for Chad Brown. He won the first two starts of his career and was fourth in the 2019 Cigar Mile (G1) behind Maximum Security.

8^th race [Elusive Quality, 7F TURF] – (4) Therapist loves the Belmont Park turf and the seven-furlong distance. He won a stake last year at Belmont following a long layoff and won this race back in 2019. (6) Front Run the Fed is 2 for 2 at this distance and was last seen in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in November. This Chad Brown runner missed winning a Grade 3 by a neck before that Breeders’ Cup. (3) Casa Creed has lots of back class for Bill Mott. He is a Grade 2 winner and is Grade 1 placed. (1) Value Proposition was last seen in the Woodbine Mile (G1) in September for Chad Brown. He has three career wins all at a mile or longer on the turf.

9^th race [NY, Md 40000, 6F TURF] – (10) Paynt the Edges (C) flashed early speed in his last start on a muddy track at Aqueduct where he finished third after getting bet down from 8-1 to 5-1. He will make his turf debut and sometimes wet track form translates well to grass racing. (12) Gongheifatchoy (D) was last seen more than a year ago, gets a trainer change, and returns to the turf. (4) Strong Desire was last seen racing at Saratoga in state-bred maiden special weights and now drops in for a tag for the first time as a new gelding. His Saratoga form is good enough to win in here. (8) Ratchet returned to the turf last time at this price but against open company. He set the pace in a very fast race but faded badly. [(13) Me ‘n Sap (C) will be the top choice if he draws into the field based on his third-place finish last time in another very fast turf sprint.]

Best bets: American Power (7^th); Therapist (8^th). Best value:  Newsworthy (6^th); Paynt the Edges (9^th).

Saturday Pick 3 Special --
The Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 on races 6-8 and ends with the Elusive Quality  à 6,7 with 2, 3, 7 with 1, 3, 4, 6 = $24.