Belmont Park Hotlist - May 12

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Thursday, May 12, 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 [Alw 50000s, 6F] – (2) Manolito returns from a September layoff when he was very competitive at this level. Trainer has excellent stats with long layoffs. (3) Brilliant Brooks won for $20,000 after a long layoff and was claimed. New trainer De Paz tried an Aqueduct stakes race and now seeks a spot where the horse was successful in the past. (6) Magnificent Chrome was third in a similar spot last month leaving that same stake mentioned above. (5) Jake Rocks has been competitive at this level recently.

4^th race [NY, Md 25000, 6F] – (3) Merger of Equals debuted in a turf maiden special weight where he ran third for a while and now drops down to a much softer spot. (2) Exact Change was third against open company at Aqueduct following a five month layoff. (1) Mrs Bell debuted at this level in March where she set the pace and finished second. Last time, she tried a maiden special weight at Finger Lakes. (4) Lindsay’s Laugh will make her first start for Rudy Rodriguez.

6^th race [NY, Md 25000, 6F] – (2) Crosstown Girl has moved from Laurel Park to the barn of Bill Morey who has good numbers with his new horses. This will be his first start against NY-breds. (1) Draw Off will make his third start off a layoff. Last time he tried the turf after running third at today’s level. (5) Eudaimonia was second at this level last month. (6) Dulce Gigante will debut for Bruce Levine who has been having his first-timers ready to run.

8^th race [NY, Alw 80000 N1X, 7F] – (2) Key Point has two career starts with a debut victory at Saratoga last summer and then a narrow loss in an allowance last month for Chad Brown. (7) Montebello was last seen running in a stake in California for Bob Baffert. He is now in the barn of John Terranova. He won a maiden at Del Mar last summer and then was second in a Saratoga stake for NY-breds. (5) Colormepazzi exits a series of open company starter allowances. Back in the summer he ran second in a state-bred allowance. (6) Win for Gold was a debut winner beating a horse that is now a stakes winner.

Best bets:  Merger of Equals (4^th); Key Point (8^th). Best value:  Manolito (3^rd); Crosstown Girl (6^th).