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.

8^th race [Belmont Oaks (G1), 1 ¼ mi TURF] – (1) Mission of Joy is the winner of 4 out of her last 5 starts including the Regret (G3) at Churchill Downs and the Florida Oaks (G3) for Graham Motion. Her loss came in the Edgewood (G3) when she was third beaten by a length after clipping heels and altering course. (5) Prerequisite won her last two starts which were at Belmont in a maiden and then the Wonder Again (G2) for Chad Brown. (7) Aspray is unbeaten in three starts for Brown with the first two at Tampa Bay Downs and then the Hilltop during Preakness weekend. (6) Be Your Best won her first two starts as a 2-year-old and was second by a neck in the Wonder Again.

9^th race [Alw 95000, 7F TURF] – (9) Famous Gent (D) was bet down from 7-1 to 5-1 and rallied to finish fourth beaten by less than two lengths for the win. (11) Inflation Nation drops out of four stakes races including a pair of seconds in his only two starts of the year and now gets Lasix for the first time. (6) Clubhouse began his career on the turf and eventually broke his maiden on the dirt with Lasix. Now he goes back to the grass and Lasix after two stakes races on the main track at Aqueduct. (8) Appraise was a debut winner for Chad Brown then was second in the Summer (G1). This will be his first start of the year.

10^th race [Belmont Derby (G1), 1 ¼ mi TURF] – (10) Redistricting (A)(C) displayed an explosive turn of foot when he drew off to win his debut at Belmont by almost five lengths after getting bet down to be the 2-1 favorite. Brown brings him back in a tough Grade 1 going ten furlongs when there are easier spots coming at Saratoga. (4) Webslinger is in fine form now with five top three finishes this year and wins in his last two in stakes including the American Turf (G2) at Churchill. (8) Kalik has three wins in a row for Chad including the Pennine Ridge (G2) last month. (6) Silver Knott was third in the Pennine Ridge as the favorite for Charlie Appleby and stayed at Belmont to train for this spot.

11^th race [Victory Ride (G3), 6 ½ F] – (4) Adeliese’s Smile (A) had a bad trip following a four month layoff. She was taken up and raced on the wrong lede in the stretch missing the win by a neck and makes a big step up. (5) Maple Leaf Mel is unbeaten in four career starts with her most recent start in the Miss Preakness (G3) after three wins in the NY-bred races. She earned her best speed figure after that front-end victory over a horse that came back to her next start. (8) Red Carpet Ready has 4 wins from 5 starts including the Eight Belles (G2) on Derby weekend and the Forward Gal (G3) at Gulfstream Park. (1) Interpolate won a stakes race at Aqueduct in February and then was second in the Beaumont (G2) at Keeneland in April.

Best bets: Mission of Joy (8^th); Redistricting (10^th). Best value: Famous Gent (9^th); Adeliese’s Smile (11^th).

Saturday Pick 3 Special --
The Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 covers races 8-10 including the Belmont Oaks (G1) and Belmont Derby (G1) à 1, 5, 7 with 9, 11 with 4, 6, 8, 10 = $24.