Belmont Park Hotlist - May 1

Today’s NY Hot List races to watch – Saturday, May 1, 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.

4^th race [NY, Md 25000, 6 1/2 F] – (4) Second Fortune (B) moves back to the main track, drops down in class, and cuts back in distance after getting stuck behind a slow pace while racing wide. (3) Dutchmen Forever has three starts this year and all were on muddy tracks. Last time, he had the lead in the stretch but got passed to lose by a neck. He was far ahead on the rest of that field. He gets a rider upgrade here. [(12) Scotto is entered as an MTO on Friday at Belmont. If he ends up in this race then he becomes a serious contender.] (10) Forgotten Mission gets blinkers on as he drops in for a tag for the first time. (6) Majestic Sky made his debut back in February in a race where the second and third finishers came back to win their next starts.

6^th race [Clm 10000, 1 1/16 mi] – (6) Direct Order (D) was bet down from 11-1 to 7-1 even though he was stepping up to run in a starter allowance stake. He was claimed out of his prior two starts in low level claimers. (4) Colonel Juan has not won in the past two years, but he has been running well in much tougher races. (9) Mr. Shortandsimple had the lead and finished second at this level back in February. (7) Frankie Barone was claimed out of a win last time for $8,000 on a muddy track at Aqueduct.

7^th race [NY, Alw 80000 N1X, 7F TURF] – (3) Horn of Plenty (D) finished fourth in a race where the top four were separated by only a length and he was bet down from 9-1 to 5-1. He’ll make his turf debut in here, but trainer Rob Atras certainly wouldn’t mind if it moves off the grass. (9) War Terminator was an easy winner of his debut on a yielding turf course at Aqueduct for Jonathan Thomas. (5) Bad Guy ran second last time against open company in a starter allowance while getting back on the grass. He had trouble at the start and rallied strongly. (10) Swashbuckle will make his 2021 debut with Lasix for the first time. He was a debut winner last year for Christophe Clement.

11^th race [NY, Md 40000, 6F TURF] – (7) Theatrical Dancer (D) was bet down from 6-1 to 7-2 after a couple of months off and now she moves back to the grass for a good turf trainer. (5) Lemon Taffy was second in her debut just two weeks ago for Mike Maker in a race that was meant for the grass. (9) Kiss and Run got checked in her last race at Santa Anita for trainer Rob Falcone Jr. He has already had two winners in New York on the grass with horses that ran for him in California. (11) Freedom Machine will make her first start against NY-breds after racing at Woodbine and Tampa Bay. She will also change to the barn of RIck Schosberg with four seconds and a third in her record.

Best bets: Second Fortune (4^th); Direct Order (6^th). Best value:  Horn of Plenty (7^th); Theatrical Dancer (11^th).

Saturday Pick 3 Special --
The Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 on races 6-8  à 4, 6, 7, 9 with 3, 5, 9, 10 with 6, 9 = $32.