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 [Md 20000, 6 ½ F] – (6) Millie Jean returns from a year layoff and is back in the barn of George Weaver to drop into a maiden claimer for the first time with a pair of third-place finishes in maiden special weights showing. (4) Bewildered was last seen in August running fifth after having the lead at Monmouth Park and goes in for a tag for the first time. (3) Azteca Stardust had the lead in a $16,000 maiden at Monmouth going a mile and ran third. (1) That’sthefactjack ran against the guys at Aqueduct last time for a $20,000 tag.

2^nd race [NY, OC 45k/N2X, 1 1/8 mi] – (6) Bourbon Chase has two starts following a layoff at this level with a second and a third. (5) Engineer Empire was last seen in December winning the first-level allowance by six-lengths on the front-end. (3) Coinage has been racing against open company, mostly on the turf with a third in a race that came off the grass and was run on a good dirt track. (4) Two’s a Crowd has been shipping to New York from Monmouth Park and won the level one allowance at Saratoga.

3^rd race [NY, Alw 80000 N1X, 1 mi] – (3) Sweet Anniversary is 4 for 4 at Finger Lakes with three wins by more than eight-lengths. Her only loss was at Saratoga in an allowance. (1) Moonlight Weekend and (1A) Chasing Daylight are both win contenders for Rudy Rodriguez. (2) Silent Melody tried the turf in her last two races following a second at Saratoga in a dirt allowance. (7) Nolita will make her third start after a layoff for Bill Mott with a second at Saratoga.

6^th race [Moc 50000, 6 ½ F] – (2) America’s Honor has a pair of third-place finishes at this level and a maiden special weight that was also restricted to horses with a $50,000 sales price. (1A) Western Wolf set the pace and finished fourth in his only start which was at this level. (8) Skyloft debuted three weeks ago and ran second in a turf sprint at the Meadowlands for a $20,000 tag. (11) Wolf Beach has four races at Monmouth, two of them were on the dirt and he was second in both of them.

Best bets: Millie Jean (1^st); Sweet Anniversary (3^rd). Best value: Bourbon Chase (2^nd); America’s Honor (6^th).