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.

2^nd race [Alw 50000s, 7F] – (2) Princess Becca gets blinkers on after running second at this level in her last pair of starts. (7) Roman Goddess had four third-place finishers in starter allowances and a recent second in a $35,000 claimer. (3) She’s Cool returns from an August layoff and five top three finishes in a row. (4) Five to Two hit the board in her last six starts with the past two in NY-bred allowances.

4^th race [NY, OC 45k/N2X, 7F] – (1) Cruise to Catalina (A) was an impressive winner of the NY-bred first-level allowance by seven lengths in her third career start. (8) Speightful Lily (B) tossed her head at the break, bore out to go nine wide, and comes back from a July layoff. (3) Maggy’s Palace won the first-level allowance at Aqueduct in June and then tried a pair of state-bred stakes. (7) True Empress had two wins at Finger Lakes this summer along with a third at Saratoga at today’s level.

7^th race [NY, Md Sp Wt, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (7) Saratoga Snow (B) made a big improvement on the turf and finished second in her second career start. (10) National Archive made her debut at 7-2 and rallied from behind to get fourth. (8) Leonora’s Secret will make her first start as a $320,000 yearling purchase. (9) Vino Samara is a daughter of successful young stallion Vino Rosso and shows a couple of turf workouts.

9^th race [NY, Alw 80000 N1X, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (12) Island Fox (A) got stymied on the rail in traffic after getting into contention. (10) Red Burgundy has two starts in 2024 with a second in an allowance last time and a stakes appearance in her first start of the year. (1) Bobby M’s Girl won a maiden special weight last month after a second and a third. (5) Midnight Concerto is a deep closer with a pair of third-place finishes in allowances and just missed the win by a length.

Best bets: Princess Becca (2^nd); Cruise to Catalina (4^th). Best value: Saratoga Snow (7^th); Island Fox (9^th).