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 25000, 6F] – (2) Malarchuk (A) finished second behind a talented Todd Pletcher runner in his debut and beat a horse that came back to win its next start. (6) Eliminate ran three in both of his starts for high profile owners as a heavy favorite each time. (3) Speed Runner was 2-1 in his first start at Aqueduct in October when he finished third behind a horse that ran in the Remsen (G3). (1) Reasoned Analysis got bumped and dropped far behind but rallied for fourth in a sprint.

6^th [NY, Md 30000, 6 ½] – (5) Retail Man set the pace and ended up second in his first start at this claiming level and then was overmatched last time when he steeped up to a maiden special weight. (3) Mad Banker has a third and then a second since dropping into the claiming ranks. (2) A Knight’s Courage also benefitted from the drop in class and got a pair of thirds-place finishes. (6) Sahanatien is a son of Mitole that will start his career for a low-profile trainer and has an extensive worktab in preparation.

7^th race [Alw 50000s, 1 mi] – (1) Chasing Daylight and (1A) Bon Adieu form a Rudy Rodriguez entry where both of them are win contenders. (3) Duckphat came back from raced very wide and finished third in a NY-bred allowance. Before that she was second by a nose in a start allowance. (2) Mim was claimed from her last three starts with a pair of seconds and a win. (4) I feel the Need returned from a layoff, dropped in class, won at the N2L condition, and got claimed for $40,000.

9^th race [NY, Md 30000, 6F] – (3) Run Chata win make her first appearance in the claiming ranks after getting bet in her last two starts. (5) Mo Damorninggrouch had a pair of seconds last month after returning from a four month break. (8) Teresa was third at 5-2 odds in her debut at Saratoga and then tried a maiden special weight without much luck. (4) George’s Vice showed speed in her last start back in May and got claimed by Linda Rice who is winning with 28% of her horses.

Best bets: Malarchuk (1^st); Entry (7^th). Best Value: Retail Man (6^th); Run Chata (9^th).