Belmont Park Hotlist - October 1

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

3^rd race [NY, Md Sp Wt, 6F] – (6) Laochi (B) broke slowly after getting bumped at the start and rallied to finish second well ahead of the show horse while behind a very good Pletcher debut runner who won by almost seven lengths. (2) Caragate (B) had an awkward start after losing her footing coming out of the gate and then had to race very wide. (1) Twist Just Right was sent off at 4-1 in her debut for Jorge Abreu, set the pace, and finished second in her first start. (4) Captainsdaughter is the most experienced horse in the field and she moves back to the dirt which seems to be her best surface.

4^th race [Clm 16000 N2L, 6 ½ F] – (7) Cazilda Fortytales will take a drop in claiming price after running second and third in her last two races for the Noda barn and now Irad Ortiz. (8) Hollywood Gina was claimed from a third at Saratoga at this level by Linda Rice. (5) Cause to Dream was claimed two races back for $16,000 and has some back class to rely on. (6) Miss Alex broke her maiden at Belmont Park for a $30,000 tag, so ideally this is the right level for her.

5^th race [Alw 50000s, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (4) Linny Kate (B) clipped heels, stumbled, and got far behind in her most recent start. She had to race wide but was able to finish fourth and was claimed away from Chad Brown for $40,000. (3) Exotic West finished third, beaten by just a head, in her first try on the turf which came in a similar starter allowance. (2) Ocean Air was the winner of a N2L condition last time and was claimed from Christophe Clement by Bruce Brown. She has past races at today’s level with top three finishes. (6) Sweet Franny Lu set the pace and finished second after breaking a bit slowly and then having to race wide.

9^th race [NY, Md Sp Wt, 7F TURF] – (8) Citizen K returned from almost a year off, made his debut on the grass, and ran second. He was beaten by just a length and earned the top speed figure in this field. (7) Yarrow came back from a six-month layoff, set the pace, and finished third for Clement in what was his second career start. (5) War Smoke had two solid starts at Saratoga in turf sprints, so he will be stretching out a bit in this spot. (11) Suit of Armor also had two promising starts at the Spa while sprinting, this one for Brad Cox.

Best bets:  Cazilda Fortytales (4^th); Citizen K (9^th). Best value: Laochi (3^rd); Linny Kate (5^th).