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.

4^th race [NY, Rego Park, 6 ½ F] – (2) Antonio of Venice came back from a brief layoff and won the New York Stallion Series stakes race last month while overcoming heavy traffic problems coming into the stretch. (4) Mischief Joke is stakes placed against NY-breds and was second in an allowance last time. (5) Detective Tom has early speed that he used to run second in the state-bred Notebook in November. (3) Big Prankster broke his maiden last time beating a horse that since has come back to win twice.

6^th race [Md 20000, 1 mi] – (7) Raleigh St. Clair was heavily bet in his second start where he did finish second at this claiming level. (6) Rudy Rudy Rudy was third last time a half-length behind the top choice. (3) Brown as a Biscuit was claimed out of his debut race by Linda Rice where he did very little running as a heavy favorite. (2) Crown That Saint gets blinkers on, first-time Lasix, and drops back down to today’s level.

8^th race [OC 62k/N2X, 1 mi] – (6) Crypto Mama (B) set the pace and finished third. She now cuts back to the preferred one-mile distance and gets blinkers on. (5) Toned Up has a series of excellent finishes at this allowance level and should be used underneath. (8) Portage finished in the top three four times since moving to the Linda Rice barn. (3) Into Happiness cuts back to her preferred one-mile distance where she has three victories.

9^th race [Md Sp Wt, 1 mi] – (7) J D Factor set the pace in his debut and just missed the win by a neck losing to a horse that came back to win his next start. (8) Society Man came back from his debut following a five month layoff and made a big improvement to get third, jumped up in speed figures, and gets Lasix. (3) Eliminate was the favorite in all three starts and ran well and gets blinkers off and first-time Lasix. (5) Sardis had a bad trip in his November debut at 6-1 for Chad Brown.

Best bets: Antonio of Venice (4^th); J D Factor (9^th). Best Value: Raleigh St. Clair (6^th); Crypto Mama (8^th).