Belmont Park Hotlist - October 22

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Friday, October 22, 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.

2^nd race [NY, Md 40000, 7F TURF] – (9) Athenry drops down from a series of good maiden special weight finishes for Michelle Nevin who is placing her horses in winning spots at this Belmont Park Fall Meeting. (3) Perfect Banker gets a pass from that last start on a muddy track and has competitive form in prior races. This will be his third start of this year following a long layoff. (7) Rogue Leader returned from a five-month layoff to finish third at this level for Tom Morley who is also having a great Fall meeting. (11) Tough Workout showed early speed in his two turf races which were sandwiched between a pair of bad performances on wet dirt tracks.

5^th race [NY, Md Sp Wt, 6F] – (9) Asymmetric (B) got off to a slow start in his debut for Chad Brown, needed to find his best stride, and then rallied to finish second behind a Todd Pletcher runner. (5) Devious Banker pressed the pace in his first start and ran third for a low-profile trainer, so he may come with good odds again. (4) Kenner ran against open company at Parx in his last two races for Jamie Ness who is a 28% winning trainer. (6) Curlin’s Wisdom will make his first start for Bill Mott with an extensive work tab going back to July.

8^th race [Alw 92000 N1X, 6F TURF] – (6) Tuscan Queen was third last time in the Christiecat at Belmont and now drops back to this first-level allowance for John Kimmel. (4) Stolen Holiday was a debut winner in Florida last year and has a couple of layoffs for Shug McGaughey. She returned at the beginning of the month to run second in a similar spot. (5) Lilly Simone is in good form right now with consistent finishes that make her a contender. (2) Abuse of Power will make her 2021 debut after racing for Chad Brown last year. Blinkers go on as she ships in from Monmouth Park for a new trainer.

10^th race [NY, Md Sp Wt, 6F] – (3) Bali’s Shade (B) set the pace in his debut for Rudy Rodriguez, raced greenly down the stretch, and finished second. Rudy adds blinkers for the second start. (8) Hot Rod Rumble made a big jump in speed figures as this Steve Asmussen runner had the lead and ended up second. (4) Gimmedamoney ran third in a NY-bred stake at Finger Lakes last time for Michael Maker. (10) Always Charming will make his first career start with some flashy workouts for a trainer who had an extreme longshot winner the other day with rider Jalon Samuel on board.

Best bets:  Athenry (2^nd); Asymmetric (5^th). Best value: Tuscan Queen (8^th); Bali’s Shade (9^th).