Belmont Park Hotlist - June 12

Today’s NY Hot List races to watch – Saturday, June 12, 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.

2^nd race [Md Sp Wt, 1 mi] – (4) Southern Flag (A) broke slowly, then found traffic turning for home in his debut for Bill Mott. Yet, he still rallied strongly to miss the win by just a neck. (2) Miles D will make his 2021 debut after racing just once last year as a 2-year-old for Chad Brown. He’ll get Lasix for this race after finishing fourth in that race at Belmont Park in October. (6) Absolute Courage gets blinkers on for his third career start. He was fourth and then third as a heavy favorite for Shug McGaughey as an $800,000 purchase. (1) Vindictive will make his first start for Todd Pletcher. The son of Uncle Mo is out of a mare that won $254,000 as a stakes winner and produced the $3 million winner Stopchargingmaria.

4^th race [Md Sp Wt, 1 mi TURF] – (5) Big Everest (A) ran second in his only start last year at Belmont in October for Christophe Clement at odds of 3-1. (7) Realm of Law debuted on the grass last year for Chad Brown and ran third and then was rained off the turf in his second start at Keeneland in April. (1) Deferred Taxes has a pair of seconds in his two career starts this year for Brown, one came at Tampa in January and the other at the Keeneland Spring meeting. (8) Treason will make the first start of his career for Bill Mott. This son of Constitution is out of a stakes-winning mare who has produced three winners from three to start.

7^th race [Alw 92000 N1X, 7F] – (7) Halo City (B) caught a sloppy track, got bumped hard at the break, the rider lost his crop, and he still rallied for third, beaten just a half-length. (2) Love and Love has a pair of strong second-place finishes that earned high speed figures, the first in a NY-bred stake and the other in an open company allowance. (1) Entreat broke his maiden last year in his debut race for Chad Brown at Churchill Downs. (6) Subsidiary was a front-end winner of a starter allowance at Belmont in his first start for the Noda Brothers. Prior races were against much cheaper competition.

9^th race [OC80k/N2X, 6F TURF] – (5) Battle Station (C) has a second and then a win in his two starts of 2021 for Rob Atras where he was bet down from 7-1 to 4-1. (8) Second of July won his first two races last year as a juvenile in a maiden and then the Futurity (G3) for Phil Gleaves. He has been off since a poor showing in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2). (1) Guildsman will run for a tag for the first time with a record that shows mostly stakes racing with a Grade 3 score at Kentucky Downs last year. (12) Duress will make his 2021 debut following an allowance victory at Aqueduct in November before the turf course closed for the year.

Best bets: Southern Flag (2^nd); Battle Station (9^th). Best value:  Big Everest (4^th); Halo City (7^th).

 Saturday Pick 3 Special --
The Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 on races 2-4 includes the Seek Again Stakes  à 4 with ALL with 1, 5, 7 = $24.