Belmont Park Hotlist - October 16

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Friday, October 16, 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 worse
* - 4 or more betting notches if 11-1 or more.

1^st race – (2) Montauk Daddy (C) got bounced around between horses at the start of his last start which was carded for the turf but run on a good Saratoga main track. He was bet down from 4-1 to 2-1 for Linda Rice on that day and now returns in another first-level allowance on the grass. He seems to be adept on both turf and dirt which is good with rain in the forecast. (3) Maxwell Esquire used up his NY-bred allowance conditions when he won last time out and goes back to face open company with appropriate speed figures and past stakes efforts. (8) Duress was second in a similar allowance last time while earning a high speed figure. (7) Bourbon Currency just missed a win in a starter allowance at Belmont Park two weeks ago.

3^rd race – (1) A Bit o’Irish Sass (B) raced greenly down the stretch of her debut and still managed a fourth-place finish. (5) La Urbana was heavily in her debut at Belmont last month for Steve Asmussen. On that day she set the pace and faded to fifth. Experience counts in these 2-year-old races. (2) Mondeuse made her first start on the grass at Belmont after pressing the pace for trainer David Donk and now moves to the main track. (6) Vacay will make her first start for Todd Pletcher after training at Saratoga since August. She is the third foal from a stakes winning mare whose first two runners both found the winner’s circle.

8^th race – (6) Ten for Ten (B) broke a step slowly in his debut for Shug McGaughey and rallied to finish second ahead of a horse that came back to break his maiden in his next start. Now he gets blinkers on and stretches out to a mile and a sixteenth. (2) Rational Choice was second in his first start at 3-1 for Chad Brown behind a talented winner.  (7) Constitutional Law is a full-brother to the millionaire stakes winner and leading sire Constitution who was also trained by Todd Pletcher. He has been training for his debut at Belmont Park since July. (8) Savoy made his debut for Chad Brown in the same race as the top choice and ran fourth.

9^th race – (8) Windfall Profit (B) got bumped at the start and fell too far behind in a race that had a very slow pace but the McGaughey runner was still able to rally to within a length of the winner.  She’s back on the grass in another first-level allowance. (7) Crystalle will make her second start of a long layoff following her 2-year-old year as a stakes winner. In her return she raced on the rail and swung out in the upper stretch in an allowance race on the turf. (2) Pandamom was second in an allowance on the grass last time out for Christophe Clement. (6) Coilean Bawn is a consistent performer at this level and should be competitive again here.

Best bets:  Montauk Daddy (1^st); A Bit o’Irish Sass (3^rd). Best value:  Ten for Ten (8^th); Windfall Profit (9^th).