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.

1^st race [NY, Md Sp Wt, 6 ½ F] – (1) Fabulous Fox gets Lasix as a new 3-year-old following two starts last year with a third and then a second. The first start was on the turf and then he set the pace last month. (3) Hannah Good will ship up from Maryland to debut for Brittany Russell along with two horse that iare entered in the stakes races. (4) Thirteen Red Flags debuted against open company for a $50,000 tag and got to second but faded to fourth. (5) City Blocks improved in her second start finishing a half-length behind the winner.

3^rd race [Jerome, 1 mi] – (4) El Grande O is the leading money winner in the field and one of two stakes winners. Last seen at the end of October he won a NY-bred stakes race going the one-turn mile on the Aqueduct track. In two open company stakes races he was second in the Skidmore at Saratoga and then sixth in the Champagne (G1). He has tactical speed which should be ideal for this one turn mile. (1) Drum Roll Please is the one coming from the barn of Brad Cox which is very good at spreading out their 3-year-olds in these early Derby points races. He was third in the Remsen (G2) going longer a month ago. (2) Khanate is an interesting horse from the Pletcher barn and Calumet Farm. He was a 10-length winner of a restricted by sales price, maiden special weight at Keeneland and then was sixth in an allowance where the third-place horse came back to win the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn last weekend. (5) Regalo is the late runner that could get a fast and contentious pace to set up his closing move.

6^th race [NY, Md Sp Wt, 6 ½ F] – (5) Flip’s Dream (B) got bumped and pinched back at the start and rallied from last. (1) Friday I’m in Love came back from a four-month layoff to run evenly to get third. (2) Captain Party has been off since June and changes barns after earning top speed figures from four starts on the grass. (4) Scherzando has a bunch of second and third place finishes.

8^th race [Ladies, 1 1/8 mi] – (2) Evidencias (C) was bet down from 6-1 to 7-2 in his first American start on the start and finished second behind a horse that came back to win again. (6) Saddle Up Jessie has 4 wins from her last 6 starts and joins the other Russell horses on the van from Laurel. She won the Carousel after winning a second-level allowance. (5) Comparative got a career best speed figure in her return from a six-month layoff. (4) She’s Mo Bubbly also got a top figure after her allowance victory at Aqueduct last time.

Best bets: Fabulous Fox (1^st); El Grande O (3^rd). Best value: Flip’s Dream (6^th); Evidencias (8^th).

Saturday Pick 3 Special --
The Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 covers races 1-3 which includes the Jerome  à 1, 3 with 1, 2, 3, 5 with 1, 2, 4, 5 = $32.