Belmont Park Hotlist - May 9

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Sunday, May 9, 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.

5^th race [Clm 35000 N3L, 1 1/16 TURF] – (5) Lady Fatima drops out of upper level allowance races and stakes to get significant class relief in this N3L spot. She has run well at Belmont in the past. (3) Positive Skew is one of two serious contenders in this race for trainer Carlos Martin along with (4) Mopolka who was a winner when last seen in November at Aqueduct. (1) Micromillion is 2 for 2 at Belmont Park. She gets a pass for her last start when the saddle slipped badly after setting the early pace.

6^th race [NY, Alw 80000 N1X, 7F] – (3) Winners Laugh was a debut winner in March with a front-end effort at Aqueduct that earned a strong speed figure. In a state-bred stake last time he tossed his head at the start and lost all chance. (4) Brilliant Brooks returns to NY-bred competition after a series of board-hitting efforts in open company starter allowances. (9) Schokolade has two career races for Bill Mott, both on sloppy tracks, with a debut win and then a neck loss in the first-level allowance. (11) A longlongtimeago also won first-time out for Jorge Abreu and then tried a stakes race in his second effort.

8^th race [Gold Fever, 6F] – (6) Candy Man Rocket cuts back in distance after his run on the Kentucky Derby trail this spring. A nine-length victory in his last sprint will make him hard to beat in this stake even with his victory in the Sam F. Davis going long for Bill Mott. (1) Beren stumbled badly in the Bay Shore (G3), got rushed up and then came up empty. He had two big wins at Parx prior to the Bay Shore and trainer Butch Reid sends him back to New York for another try. (2) The Wolfman ships up from Laurel following an allowance win back in February. He was a debut winner in November. (3) Roderick won twice as a 2-year-old for Wesley Ward with a third in the Nyquist behind Highly Motivated. He broke his maiden in his first start at Belmont.

9^th race [NY, Md Sp Wt, 6F TURF] – (8) Shamalamadingdong ran second in her career debut for Linda Rice in a race that was rained off the turf and run on a sloppy track. Rice’s horses run better in their second starts and she is adept with turf sprinters. (5) No Payne tried the main track after making her first two starts on the grass and as a result took the winter off waiting for a return to the turf. She ran second in a turf sprint at Aqueduct last year and now gets blinkers on. (6) Kreesa La Wrote similarly tried the dirt after two good starts on the grass in 2020 and now is back on the turf with Lasix for the first time. (1) Runaway Rumour is by Flintshire and debuts for Jorge Abreu who great stats, both percentage and ROI, with his firsters.

Best bets:  Winners Laugh (6^th); Candy Man Rocket (8^th). Best value: Lady Fatima (5^th); Shamalamadingdong (9^th).