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 [Md 40000, 6F] – (4) Piccolo Diavolo (A) ships back up from Parx Racing again after finishing second in his debut well ahead of the rest of the nine-horse field. (6) Game Misconduct will get Lasix in his first start as a 3-year-old after showing some improvement in speed figures. (5) Rock Star Boy made a pair of starts in the summer including a debut second at Belmont Park at 4-1. (2) First Trumpet has a pair of thirds and drops into the claiming ranks for the first time.

5^th race [NY, Alw 72000 N1X, 6 ½ F] – (3) Little Linzee (B) in her second start after a layoff had to check in the turn but still got the lead and finished second. (6) Queens Over Threes moves back to this state-bred allowance level where she was second in November and then tried open company. (7) Harlan’s Bond comes back in two weeks after a third from a late run. (1) Dashing Della broke last, had the lead at the stretch call, but faded to sixth.

6^th race [Clm 25000, 6F] – (3) Air Show (A) has two wins for a $20,000 tag at Aqueduct in the fall and then was fourth last time in a starter allowance where he got blocked behind horses, steadied, and gained late. (5) Chuck Willis got claimed from an open-length victory for $16,000 and is projected to be on the lead once again. (1) Cajun Casanova was claimed from three races in a row and ran last time for a $32,000 tag. (8) Big Engine has run well in his last three starts with two wins and a second.

8^th race [Alw 50000s, 1 1/8 mi] – (7) Gut Feeling (D) will try the starter allowance again after getting bet down from 8-1 to 5-1 with two claiming wins recently for $25,000. (9) Apollo Rising won his last two races that came after a three-month layoff in claimers. (3) Seeking Unity was claimed for $50,000 in Kentucky by Linda Rice in November which is a move that has worked well for her. (1) Masterwork was third in a starter allowance last time after setting the pace at the nine-furlong distance.

Best bets: Piccolo Diavolo (1^st); Little Linzee (5^th). Best Value: Air Show (6^th); Gut Feeling (8^th).