Saratoga Hot List - July 30

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Thursday, July 30, 2020 at Saratoga
                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 – (7) Little Red Frog (C) was bet down from 9-1 to 7-1 in her last start going seven furlongs on the turf at Belmont Park for today’s claiming price of $40,000 for trainer Michael Maker. She will stretch out to a mile and a sixteenth in this spot. (4) Sugar Fix is the winner of her last three starts and five out of 11 in her career. The most recent victory came at Delaware Park last month in a first-level allowance. (3) Lookin Dynamic ran on the turf and finished fourth in her career debut but since then she has run on the dirt including a pre-Covid win for a $50,000 tag at Laurel Park for trainer Michael Trombetta. (5) New Day Dawning was claimed for $50,000 by Joe Sharp after running seventh on the grass at Churchill Downs. She came back to get third in a dirt allowance at Ellis Park. She is now part of Sharp’s Saratoga string.

3^rd race – (6) Vip Nation (B) broke in a tangle in her 2020 debut at Belmont but still managed to get fourth in the highest level NY-bred allowance. Now she is in for a $25,000 tag against open company. (7) Rosebud’s Hope has six career wins using her early speed. Trainer Michael Stidham drops her into a claimer for the first time from a series of allowance races. (2) Foxtail was claimed for $40,000 from her 2020 debut at Churchill by Danny Gargan who in the past won at a gaudy 53% rate with newly claimed horses. (1) Beach Dreaming ran second in a similar race back at Belmont. In that race she had the lead at the stretch call and then finished second.

5^th race – (5) Rinaldi (A) had a poor start after a long layoff in his first start of the year and got quickly into contention to finish second in a second level allowance for NY-breds on the turf similar to today’s race. He is the winner of two state-bred stakes last year, one of them at Saratoga. (10) Ghost Giant needed a race and made his debut last month at Belmont and now he’s back, this time having to run for the $40,000 tag since winning the second-level OC allowance for NY-breds. (8) Graded On a Curve won a first-level allowance against state-breds in his 2020 debut for Chad Brown. (2) Opt was just a neck behind the top choice in what was his first start of the year. He won an allowance at the Spa last summer.

9^th race – (6) Funny Guy (C) had the best performance of his career in his 2020 debut when he rallied from seventh to win the Commentator over the always formidable Mr. Buff. On that day he was bet down from 15-1 to 11-1. (4) Amundson (C) is a past winner of a NY-bred stake who was bet down to be the 3-2 favorite and finished second in an allowance after pressing the early pace. (5) Bankit was third in that race against the top choice. He is a past winner at Saratoga for Steve Asmussen. (9) Celtic Chaos has three wins at Saratoga. He actually won this race last year.

Best bets:  Rinaldi (5^th); Funny Guy (9^th). Best value:  Little Red Frog (1^st); Vip Nation (3^rd).