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 [NY, Md Sp Wt, 6 ½ F] – (3) Man of Mischief (C) was bet down from 6-1 to 4-1 in his debut and finished second. (9) Keepinitreal is a home-bred from one of the most successful New York breeders. (5) Manhattan Twist is a grey son of Liam’s Map purchased by My Racehorse and Reeves Thoroughbreds. (2) Salt Spartan is from the barn of David Donk that is heating up in the past week at Saratoga.

4^th race [Clm 20000, 1 mi] – (2) Classic Mark (B) got cut off at the start, could not get to his preferred spot pressing the pace, and raced outside on a track that was favoring the inside. (7) He’s Got This has been off since May when he got claimed for $40,000 after winning for $32,000 by Mike Maker and leading owner Flying P. (4) Winter’s Ghost has been off since March when he was racing at Tampa Downs in starter allowances and drops in for a tag where last seen was a winner for $25,000. (6) Allaboutthemoney was second in a $16,000 race after a layoff.

7^th race [NY, Rick Violette, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (4) Courtly Banker has hit the board in all 4 starts with a pair of seconds in NY-bred stakes despite still being a maiden. (3) Instamatic won his last two races moving from a maiden to beating winners in an allowance. (2) Fidelightcayut returned to state-bred competition to finish fourth then third in NY-bred stakes. (5) B D Saints has two starts at Saratoga this summer for the hot barn of Mike Maker.

10^th race [Alw 110000 N1X, 5 ½ F TURF] – (10) Risk Threshold (A) cut back to a turf sprint and broke her maiden against a strong field. (3) Parola Sicura (A) was third in the early going chasing a very fast pace while stuck in tight quarters. (4) Strictly Taboo took the winter off and came back in June to break her maiden and win an allowance. (9) Riley Jean won twice at Presque Isle and then was second at Saratoga in an allowance with a career best speed figure.

Best bets: Man of Mischief (1^st); Classic Mark (4^th). Best value: Courtly Banker (7^th); Risk Threshold (10^th).