Belmont Park Hotlist - September 30

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Thursday, September 30, 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, 6F TURF] – (2) Escapewithfriends (A) was slow getting in stride and still got second after racing wide when she moved back to sprinting and that was in a maiden special weight. (8) Stella Mars was second or third in three starts at this level for Ray Handal since returning from a layoff. (5) New York Supreme has hit the board in all three of her starts this year and Joel Rosario gets on board. (6) New York Dancer will make her debut for trainer John Terranova who is very good with first-timers. She sports a long work tab in preparation for this race.

3^rd race [Md Sp Wt, 6F] – (4) Happy Medium (B) set the pace and finished third in his debut for Michelle Nevin back in March at Aqueduct in a race that got a good speed figure. (5) Castle Chaos was claimed out of his first start for $75,000 when he pressed the pace and ran second. He is now in the barn of Rob Falcone who has strong stats with his new runners. (6) Askin for a Baskin was second twice, once at Saratoga, earning the top speed figures in this field and then got bumped more than once in his most recent start. (1) Mach One got claimed for $20,000 and then moved up to a maiden special weight at Monmouth Park where once again he was second.

5^th race [NY, OC45k/N2X, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (6) Klickitat (B) had a poor trip for the second race in a row where two back he had traffic problems and then last start had a bad start and had to race wide. Now, he moves back to NY-bred company with form that is a bit muddied up. (9) Ghost Giant has been running consistently good speed figures. Last race, he tried open company after a five-month layoff following three races where he was claimed each time. He is currently in the Rob Atras barn. (7) Regal Speaker comes back from a June layoff following a win in a first-level allowance race for Danny Gargan. (2) Ruse won his last two races at Saratoga and following his maiden score he had an allowance victory.

7^th race [Alw 92000 N1X, 6 ½ F] – (2) Starfront (A) was an impressive debut winner by almost five lengths at Belmont Park almost a year ago at odds of 2-1 that earned a strong speed figure. (4) Violent Point (B) stumbled badly at the start of her most recent race and finished second. She was claimed out of that race by Wayne Potts who is now serving a suspension. (8) Spa Ready came back from an eight-month layoff for Chad Brown to run second in an allowance. She was a debut winner last year and then was fourth in the Tempted. (7) More Moonshine has two career starts on wet tracks at Saratoga which includes a first out maiden win and then a non-effort in an allowance. She comes right back for Bill Mott which makes it OK to give her a pass for that poor effort.

Best bets:  Klickitat (5^th); Starfront (7^th). Best value: Escapewithfriends (2^nd); Happy Medium (3^rd).