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.

3^rd race [NY, OC 45k/N2X, 6F] – (4) Grannys Connection improved in all three of her starts with a maiden victory against open company at the Big A and then an allowance by a combined 16 lengths. (3) Starship Laoban was first or second in her last three starts against open company away from Aqueduct. Last time against NY-breds she was second in a Stallion Series stakes race. (2) Thinking It Over returns from an October layoff when she was second at this level back then. (6) Happy Sophia was claimed last time for $45,000 by Linda Rice who wins at 27% with her new claims.

5^th race [Alw 82000 N1X, 6F] – (5) Majority Partner has five top two finishes in a row including his last two which came following a layoff. (4) Prisoner won his last two starts in $32,000 open claimers with front-end efforts and is expected to be on the lead again. (3) Joey Freshwater was third in the Jimmy Winkfield after a pair of wins and will face older horses for the first time. (2) Handsome Cat is a consistent type at this level and distance.

6^th race [Clm 25000, 6 ½ F] – (7) Rol Again Dancer (A) returned from a December layoff and finished second for a $32,000 tag after some bad luck when he probably ran the best race. (5) Outlaw Country won a $32,000 claimer last time with a closing trip. (3) Valenzan Day was a promising 2-year-old who was claimed by Linda Rice in December for $50,000. (8) Larz was claimed for $32,000 from his last start by Rice and could get loose on the lead breaking from the outside.

8^th race [NY, Damon Runyon, 6F] – (1) What’s Up Bro was a winner of a NY-bred allowance with a stalking trip that earned the highest speed figure for this field and is likely to get an ideal set-up from a fast pace. (5) D’ont Lose Cruz is one of the speed horses in this field with only first and second-place finishes in sprint races. (3) Andiamo a Firenze moves back to state-bred competition after a pair of starts on the Aqueduct road to the Kentucky Derby and cuts back to sprinting where he won both of his races and has a second in a stake. (2) Looms Boldly ran well in all three of his races hitting the board each time.

Best bets:  Grannys Connection (3^rd); Majority Partner (5^th). Best value:  Rol Again Dancer (6^th); What’s Up Bro (8^th).