Belmont Park Hotlist - October 28

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Thursday, October 28, 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.

1^st race [Clm 10000, 6F] – (2) Quality Stones (B) stumbled at the start and then rushed up and engaged in a pace duel. He finished third and got claimed in that August 26 race. New trainer Rob Falcone is excellent off the claim and drops him down for his first start in this barn. (1) No Deal (D) was bet down from 11-1 to 7-1, ran fourth, and now drops out of the $25,000 level. (6) Extra Effort was claimed from his last four starts where he was 4: 1-2-1. Gustavo Rodriguez, Rudy’s brother, is the latest trainer. (5) Gentle Annie moves back to the barn of Gary Sciacca who trains him at the NYRA tracks after a pair of thirds at Finger Lakes.

2^nd race [NY, Md 40000, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (4) Raving (A) walked out of the gate in his debut, got bumped, raced wide, and finished fifth. This second start will be for new trainer Jimmy Jerkens. (9) Tales of Makenna improved in all three races with a pair of seconds and a near victory by a neck with closing moves. (1) Hit the Nail dropped from a maiden special weight to this claiming level and ran third three weeks ago. (7) Saigon faced open company in a maiden special weight at Colonial Downs and finished third behind a return winner.

3^rd race [Clm 32000, 6F] – (1) Spun d’Etat was claimed from her last two starts, most recently for $20,000 when she won by more than six lengths on the front end. In the prior race, she was third at today’s level. (3) Customerexperience has a similar record with two claims and a win recently but hers was for $16,000. She is now in the barn of Gustavo R. while two races back she was with Rudy R. (6) My Roxy Girl was a runaway winner of her last start at Belmont Park for a $25,000 tag with the field’s top speed figure. (2) Shasta Star is yet another one that was claimed twice recently and she lands in the barn of Wayne Potts after a win at Monmouth Park for a $22,000 tag.

9^th race [NY, Md Sp Wt, 1 mi] – (9) B C Glory Days hit the board three times on the dirt at Aqueduct earlier this year and then made three less successful starts on the grass. (7) Blitz to Win has run well at this level in five starts for Barclay Tagg. (8) Umbria is in very good form and moves from turf to dirt for Linda Rice whose barn is very hot right now.  (6) Lucky Brody has past races that fit with this group.

Best bets:  Quality Stones (1^st); Spun d’Etat (3^rd). Best value: Raving (2^nd); B C Glory Days (9^th).