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 [Clm 25000 N2L, 6 ½ F] – (2) Two Redheads returned from an eight-month layoff to win a $30,000 maiden claimer by almost seven lengths with a speed figure that tops this field and is her career best. (3) Divine Cross was a maiden special weight winner as a 2-year-old and gets blinkers on as she drops down in claiming price. (1) Bustin Hot pressed the pace at today’s level following a nine-month break in his first start for a new trainer. (5) Irish Jackson beat a return winner in her debut back in April, got claimed for $25,000, and makes her first start since then.

4^th race [Clm 50000, 6 ½ F] – (2) Emerald Forest (C) has nine career victories and took a big drop in odds for 16-1 to 10-1 heading onto another sloppy track at Aqueduct. (4) Life Changer was last seen in June winning an allowance at Belmont Park as part of a consistent career with 13 top three finishes from 16 races. (3) Scilly Cay was claimed last time for $40,000 and is another horse that frequently hits the board. (1) Chewing Gum and (1A) Clem Labine will put one of the two Jacobson-trained entry in the field with a good chance to contend.

6^th race [OC50k/SAL50k, 6 ½ F] – (4) Iridescent was a debut winner in August at Ellis Park in a maiden special weight for Brad Cox that tried the turf and then caught a sloppy track at Churchill Downs. (7) Guanare won a maiden claimer in his first start for the hot barn of Rick Dutrow beating a horse that came back to win. (5) Running Lucky broke his maiden by more than five lengths with a front-end victory three weeks ago and changes trainers. (2) Badlands Ruler also got claimed out of his maiden victory three weeks ago.

8^th race [Alw 90000 N1X, 1 3/16 mi] – (1) Leading Contenders broke his maiden at Monmouth Park this past summer and then ran second in a pair of allowance races for Chad Brown at Saratoga and Keeneland. (2) Bold Victory was claimed from his last three starts with a pair of wins in October and lands in the Rick Dutrow barn. (3) Mistical Curlin rarely runs a bad race with a win in a starter allowance three races back. (8) Macallan came back from an eight-month layoff to finish fourth beaten by just a length against a strong allowance field for Todd Pletcher.

Best bets: Two Redheads (1^st); Emerald Forest (4^th). Best Value: Iridescent (6^th); Leading Contenders (8^th).