Belmont Park Hotlist - May 31

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Monday, May 31, 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.

1^st race [NY, Md Sp Wt, 6 ½ F] – (6) Devil Boy (A) broke slowly in his debut, was last,  but then rallied for third with a very fast final quarter mile against what turned out to be a strong field with the winner entered in a stake later in the card. (8) Big Bobby (B) actually finished ahead of the top choice in his first career start for Bill Mott. That probably means that he will improve in this second start. (1) Arms an Armor made his first start at Oaklawn Park for Steve Asmussen, obviously against open company. (7) Orb in the Tower started once last year but now returns with a change to the Todd Pletcher barn. In that first race he was bet down to 4-1 for a trainer not known for winning with firsters.

2^nd race [NY, Alw 80000 N1X, 6F TURF] – (2) Kinky Sox (C) rallied at seven furlongs to miss the win by a neck in her return to the grass and was bet down from 16-1 to 9-1. (8) Athena Dancer is more lightly raced than others in this field and that’s a good thing. Last year as a 2-year-old she won her second start and then tried a state-bred stake. This will be her first start of the year. (6) Time Limit has been away 18 months. She was a debut winner and then was second in Grade 3 at Belmont Park for Mike Maker. (3) Little Dutch Girl won her first and only start last year for Christophe Clement. Now she gets Lasix and Jose Ortiz.

7^th race [NY, Mike Lee, 7F] – (6) River Dog (A/C) was the winner of the maiden special weight referenced in the race 1 analysis. He won that race by seven lengths after getting bet down from 8-1 to 9-2. (1) Br. Blute (A) won his debut at Aqueduct in February by almost six lengths and then tried the turf against winners and was second after a troubled traffic trip. (3) Excellent Timing won the NY-bred Damon Runyon in March at Aqueduct and then tried a Grade 2 going a route on the turf at Churchill Downs. (4) Lobsta is an allowance winner and is stakes-placed against state-breds.

9^th race [NY, Critical Eye, 1 mi] – (2) Singular Sensation (C) made her 2021 debut and was third in a NY-bred allowance while getting bet down from 8-1 to 5-1. (5) Eloquent Speaker (D) tried an open company allowance last time and was bet from 8-1 to 9-2. She goes back to state-bred competition where she had won two in a row. (6) Espresso Shot had a career best performance winning the Biogio’s Rose at Aqueduct against NY-breds. (4) Mrs.Orb has been off since winning the La Verdad at the Big A back in January. This mare rarely runs a bad race.

Best bets:  Devil Boy (1^st); River Dog (7^th). Best value: Kinky Sox (2^nd); Singular Sensation (9^th).