Belmont Park Hotlist - July 4

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Monday, July 4, 2022 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.

3^rd race [Md 40000, 7F] – (3) Suppressor switched from a Midwest barn of Steve Asmussen to that of Rob Atras after 11 tries to break his maiden with five top three finishes. Ownership also changed and the horse has been at Belmont since his last race in April. Atras often improves horses that are new to his barn. (2) Inspiration Point made a big improvement off the claim to finish second last time. (4) Sharpoon dropped into the claiming ranks in his third start and finished third when he was hard held in the early going. (6) Fazaro had the lead and got caught nearing the wire for a $20,000 tag at the seven furlong distance.

5^th race [Clm 16000 N2L, 7F] – (5) Trinity Titoli (C) made her second start following a layoff, dropped into the N2L condition, pressed the pace, had the lead, and finished second when she was bet down from 7-1 to 4-1. (1) Simple Sugar and (2) Game Theory traded second and third-place finishes in their last two starts and are hard to separate. Both like to press the pace. Simple Sugar gets a favorable rider change to Trevor McCarthy. (4) Handle the Truth ran behind the top choice last time and that race may have had a better field.

8^th race [Md Sp Wt, 1 mi] – (1) Demandrespect made her 2022 debut and finished second on a sloppy track for Chad Brown. In all three of her starts she was in fields where the top finishers came back to win their next starts. (5) Precursory gets blinkers on for Bill Mott in her third start after running fourth and then third. (4) Hop Picker was third in her second start for Shug McGaughey while stretching out in distance. (3) Don’t Overlook Me has two starts for Todd Pletcher and made improvement when she got on a dry track last time.

9^th race [Manila, 1 mi TURF] – (5) Boston Tea Party (A) was an impressive three-length winner in his debut for Tony Dutrow who is a trainer that usually does not win with firsters. That means this guy is likely to improve as he stretches out and tries stakes company. (2) Annapolis was second in his 2022 debut in the Penn Mile (G2) that was run on a SOFT turf that was more like a swamp. Last year, he won the Pilgrim (G2) on a FIRM grass course. (3) Ready to Purrform had the lead and was second in his first start of the year in the JW Murphy at Pimlico for Brad Cox. (1) Chanceux has early speed and the mile distance in this one-turn format seems ideal for this Todd Pletcher runner.

Best bets:  Suppressor (3^rd); Trinity Titoli (5^th). Best value:  Demandrespect (8^th); Boston Tea Party (9^th).