Belmont Park Hotlist - May 21

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Friday, May 21, 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 worse
* - 4 or more betting notches if 11-1 or more.

3^rd race [Clm 16000 N2L, 6 1/2F] – (8) Classy Sadie (C) returns from a November layoff at the same level of racing where last seen she was well supported at the windows and ran second. (6) Fine Prospecture won her career debut by more than three lengths last month at Keeneland in a $30,000 maiden claimer for Wesley Ward. This is a spot where she is a likely winner and also would probably get claimed. A jockey with no mounts is named which makes me wonder if she will really ship up from Kentucky. (2) Remoane was claimed two races ago and came back to set the pace and finish second for new trainer Jeremiah Englehart. Jose Ortiz now gets on board. (4) Honey Money tried the turf for the first time and that did not work out. Now she drops out of NY-bred allowance efforts and goes back to the main track. [(7) Magicallydelicious will become fourth choice if #6 does not run.]

4^th race [Alw 50000s, 6F TURF] – (10) Montauk Daddy returned to the turf at the beginning of the month and set a very fast pace and finished fourth. Trainer Rob Atras brings him right back and Kendrick Carmouche gets back on board. (2) Bourbon Currency was last seen on the grass at Gulfstream Park in February while second by a neck going a mile. He has past wins while sprinting on the turf. (5) Scocciatore ran third in his 2021 debut last month in a $40,000 N2L claimer. (9) Me ‘n Sap has a third and then a maiden victory since switching to the turf for David Donk.

7^th race [NY, Md Sp Wt, 1 mi] – (3) Raffinity (C) had one race last year at Saratoga and the returned to the track last month in a $40,000 maiden claimer where she was bet down from 8-1 to 4-1 and rallied late to finish second on a sloppy track with blinkers on and first-time Lasix. (8) Highway Queen ran second in her only start last summer where she was well bet. Now, Irad Ortiz gets on board as the daughter of Super Saver stretches out in distance. (6) Sweet Franny Lu was second last start after improving in all three of her races. She is likely to get a dry track for the first time in here. (2) A Bit o’ Irish Sass ran third in her 2021 debut after also finishing in the show spot back in October.

8^th race [Alw 92000 N1X, 6F TURF] – (7) Ahead of Plan won two out of three turf sprints before the grass courses closed in New York last year. He had one last start on the dirt in 2020, but this is a turf horse who returns for Chad Brown. (8) Shiraz was second in his 2021 debut in a second-level allowance for NY-breds and now Mike Maker brings him back in two weeks against open company. (4) Yes and Yes was third just a neck out of the top spot in his first start of the year in a N3L claimer for $50,000 in what was a very fast race. (1) By George gets moved to the grass by Christophe Clement after winning his debut on the dirt in December. His two subsequent starts on the dirt in a Grade 3 and an allowance were poor.

Best bets:  Montauk Daddy (4^th); Ahead of Plan (8^th). Best value: Classy Sadie (3^rd); Raffinity (7^th).