Belmont Park Hotlist - October 10

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Saturday, October 10, 2020 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 worst
* - 4 or more betting notches if 11-1 or more.

4^th race – (4) Jackie’s Warrior (A) is unbeaten in three starts which includes a debut at Churchill Downs, the Saratoga Special (G2), and the Hopeful (G1) where he earned the highest BSF for any 2-year-old this year. Steve Asmussen has kept him in training in New York to prepare for the one-turn mile of the Champagne (G1). (5) Reinvestment Risk will get a rematch with the top choice after he was second in the Hopeful following a dazzling debut for Chad Brown. (6) Midnight Bourbon also comes from the Asmussen barn after racing in Kentucky and running second in the Iroquois (G3). (1) Ambivalent ships to New York after four starts in California for Doug O’Neill including a third in the Best Pal (G2) as a maiden.

5^th race – (2) Cantata (A) won her debut at Saratoga by more than 10 lengths and will now try to give Asmussen wins in both juvenile races as she stretches out the mile of the Frizette (G1). (1) Vequist is from the first crop of Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist and is the winner of the Spinaway (G1) by more than nine lengths as a maiden. She will once again ship up to New York from Parx for trainer Butch Reid. (5) Dayoutoftheoffice won both of her starts with a maiden win at Gulfstream Park in May and then the Schuylerville (G3) at Saratoga by six lengths. (7) Fifth Risk was a first out winner for Todd Pletcher and John Velazquez.

7^th race – (1) Cracker Box Palace (B) was hard to handle in his debut on the turf at Saratoga and had to be checked. Yet, he was still able to finish fourth for trainer Barclay Tagg who does not win with first-timers. (4) Hardison is the only other horse in this maiden special weight field that has run in a race. The Bill Mott runner rallied from far back to finish third with a solid debut speed figure. (7) Connagh’s Quay is a homebred son of Flintshire from Juddmonte and will make his first career start for Chad Brown. (5) Big Everest will make his first start for Christophe Clement and Joel Rosario. Clement wins with 26% of his firsters and is having a great Belmont meeting. He is a son of the great European sire Galileo.

8^th race – (7) Lovely Lucky (D) was bet down from 5-1 to 3-1 in the Glens Falls (G2) at Saratoga where she pressed the pace and finished fourth. Now, she tries the Flower Bowl (G1). (1) Cambier Parc will make her second start of 2020 after a place finish in the Canadian (G2) at Woodbine. Last year, she won five of seven starts including two Grade 1 stakes for Chad Brown. (3) Civil Union is the winner of her last three starts including the Glens Falls for Shug McGaughey. (2) My Sister Nat is the second of three from the barn of Brown and she won the Waya (G3) at the Spa and was second behind Civil Union.

Best bets: Jackie’s Warrior (4^th); Cantata (5^th). Best value:  Cracker Box Palace (7^th); Lovely Lucky (8^th).

@NYHotList Saturday Pick 3 Special --
The Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 is on races 6-8 and ends with the Flower Bowl (G1):  3 with 1, 4, 7 with 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 = $15.