Belmont Park Hotlist - October 2

Today’s NY Hot List races to watch – Saturday, October 2, 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 worst
* - 4 or more betting notches if 11-1 or more.

4^th race [Miss Grillo (G2), 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (4) Kinchen (A) broke slowly in her debut for Chad Brown, faced traffic, and had to squeeze through a hole to finish second. (6) McKulick was a first out winner as an odds-on favorite for Chad at Saratoga after having to race wide. (3) Hail To beat the Hot List horse in what was her second career start for Tom Albertrani. She comes from the dam who produced Sadler’s Joy. (5) Philly Eagles won her first start while racing in Great Britain in June and now makes her American debut for Mark Casse.

7^th race [Alw 50000s, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (10) Hoopla (D) was bet down from 8-1 to 6-1 while breaking from the far outside in his first start in a starter allowance since breaking his maiden. (8) Landbiscuit improved in his two races following a layoff for Bill Mott and was third last time after a very wide trip. (1) High Tide will make his first start after being claimed for $35,000 from Mike Maker after two wins in a row. (9) Lord Flintshire has a pair of seconds after rallying from far back both times.

8^th race [Champagne (G1), 1 mi] – (2) My Prankster (A) won his debut by 10 lengths for Todd Pletcher who has won this race 6 times. (3) Jack Christopher (A) won his first start for Chad Brown by almost nine lengths in a performance that was very similar to that of the top listed Hot List horse. (1) Wit was second in the Hopeful (G1) after stumbling badly at the start and was unable to overcome the deficit from the break. (5) Gunite was the upset winner of the Hopeful when he was able to get loose on the lead early on and could not get run down. He got a very good trip while Steve Asmussen was winning so many big races at Saratoga.

11^th race [NY, Md 40000, 6F TURF] – (11) Hot Doctor (B) was blocked in traffic while making his closing move and managed to finish second. (10) Sportini was sent off at 9-2 in his debut in a maiden special weight at Saratoga. Now he gets blinkers on, drops into a claimer, and cuts back in distance. (3) Majestic Sky returns from a July layoff and moves back to turf sprinting where he did his best running a few races ago. (7) Beau Brown has the look of a horse that is moving back to the right spot while going short on the grass for trainer Mark Hennig.

Best bets:  Kinchen (4^th); My Prankster (8^th). Best value:  Hoopla (7^th); Hot Doctor (11^th).

Saturday Pick 3 Special --
The Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 on races 7-9 includes the Champagne (G1) and the Belmont Turf Sprint (G3)  à 8, 10 with 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 with 1, 2 = $20.