Belmont Park Hotlist - June 27

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Saturday, June 27, 2020 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.

4^th race – (1) Fierce Lady (C) made her second start after a layoff and bobbled at the start as a filly who usually goes right to the lead. She moved from NY-bred stakes racing to an open first-level allowance which had a strong field and still was bet down to be the 6-5 favorite from 3-1. She chased the leader, who won on the front end, in second and dropped a place in the stretch to finish third. She now makes her first start for Rudy Rodriguez and returns to state-bred racing. (3) Timely Tradition won her last two starts including an open company starter allowance at Oaklawn Park. Her last two speed figures are good enough to win this race. (7) Bertranda is a hard-knocking NY-bred who brings her best race all the time. (8) Mary’s Girl comes back from a February layoff when she had consecutive seconds in similar NY-bred allowance conditions, but now she cuts back from a mile to six-furlongs.

9^th race – (5) Yorkton ran second against two very good horses in Global Campaign and Vekoma while going seven furlongs and now gets a favorable cut back in distance. He’s making his second start for Graham Motion whose barn has been very hot as of late. (8) Firenze Fire makes his second start for Kelly Breen and finds a more suitable spot than the Carter (G1) last time which was on a sloppy track. The pace set-up should suit his stalking move. (1) Diamond King will cut back in distance to this sprint which may be what this John Servis runner will do best. (7) Promises Fulfilled makes his 2020 debut after tangling with top sprinters most of last year. This Dale Romans runner has lots of early speed.

 10^th race – (6) Uni makes her 2020 debut after last being seen winning the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) against the boys. That victory secured the Turf Female Championship for this Chad Brown trainee. Her only loss in the last eight starts was at Saratoga last summer. She has run well off long layoffs before. She has 7 wins in 8 tries at the mile distance. (4) Newspaperofrecord made an impressive return to the races with a four-length victory in the Intercontinental (G3) at Belmont Park just three weeks ago that earned a career best speed figure. Although, all four of her wins came on yielding turf courses. (1) Beau Recall was second in this race last year. This will be her second start of 2020 after falling far behind when she got bothered at the start of the Mint Julep (G3) at Churchill Downs. She has past races that can contend with the Chad Brown runners. (2) Get Stormy seems to have lost the stellar form that she had last year. Out of respect for what some accomplished, she has to be considered if she can run a better race. If not, she could be on her way to a career as a broodmare.

11^th race – (3) Winning Factor (A) had a horse clip his back heels while racing in traffic yet still managed to rally from far back to get third and returns in a similar maiden claimer on the turf. (12) Eagles Palace (B) is usually quick out of the gate but last start lost his footing on the dirt surface. Now, he switches back to turf. (6) Sir Chubby had an uncharacteristic poor start last time, fell far behind, and closed well to finish fourth just behind the top choice. (8) Brice had two starts last year and now makes his 2020 debut. Hopefully, he has matured after bolting in his last race in November. He was second in his debut.

Best bets: Fierce Lady (4^th); Uni (10^th).            Best value:  Yorkton (9^th); Winning Factor (11^th).

@NYHotList Saturday Pick 3 Special --
The Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 covers races 9-11 and includes the True North (G2) and the Just a Game (G1)):  1, 5, 8 with 1, 4, 6 with 3, 6, 12 = $27.