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.

3^rd race [Alw 50000s, 6F] – (1) Anileate was second in a starter allowance last month after winning a N2L claimer. (7) Jolly Miss Jill has been off since early December when she was claimed twice most recently by Linda Rice. Her last victory was in a N3L condition at Aqueduct in October. (6) Will Be Famous will also come back from a December layoff when she won a $40,000 N2L easily. (2) Lincolnville Beach was a winner in her first start on dirt with a last to first run at Aqueduct last month in career start number 25.

4^th race [Clm 25000 N2L, 7F] – (6) Voleuse (B) got pinched back and steadied losing all chance to win and drops into a N2L claiming race for the first time. (1) Hypnocurrency (D) came back from a six-month layoff was bet down from a 12-1 to 6-1 and rallied from last to finish fourth and gets blinkers on. (2) Mytown Myrules will make a significant drop in class for Linda Rice. (4) Irish Jackson drops back to this condition where she finished second by a head two races back.

5^th race [Clm 25000 N2L, 6 ½ F] – (3) Red D G P (C) was bet down from 7-1 to 5-1, pressed the pace following a four month layoff, was beaten by only a neck, got claimed for $40,000, and drops down. (7) Dr. Settle’s Dream will drop back down to the N2L condition for the second time and ran third the other time at Saratoga for a $35,000 tag. [(1) Youbetterbejoking / (1A) Screaming Uncle] are an entry for Linda Rice where both of them are contenders to win. (2) Agility has been a frequent top three finisher in New York-bred allowances and stakes and now moves into this open company restricted claimer.

7^th race [Ruthless, 7F] – (3) Tiarella (A) was 9-2 in her debut, had the lead in the stretch, and finished second well ahead of the rest of the field including the third-place finisher that came back to win. She steps up to stakes company still a maiden. (2) Reconcile is a home-bred daughter of War Front that was an impressive first-time out maiden winner on the front end at Aqueduct beating a filly that came back to win her next start. Last month she shipped down to Laurel to finish second in the Xtra Heat Stakes where she set the pace and got bumped around during the stretch drive. (1) Ghalia Princess will ship up to New York from the Fair Grounds for Brad Cox to run in the Ruthless after rallying for a head maiden victory in New Orleans at 6-1 against a large field of 11. Cox is winning at a 33% rate at the Big A winter meeting. She is also entered in the Dixie Belle at Oaklawn Park on Saturday. (4) Halina’s Forte will also head north from her base in Kentucky. She broke her maiden at Churchill Downs in her first start as an odds-on favorite by more than four lengths facing a field of 10. Since then, she ran second in a pair of stakes, first in Kentucky and then at Fair Grounds.

Best bets: Voleuse (4^th); Red D G P (5^th). Best value: Anileate (3^rd); Tiarella (7^th).

Saturday Pick 3 Special --
The Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 covers races 3-5 à 1, 6, 7 with 1, 2, 6 with 1, 3, 7 = $27.