Saratoga Hotlist - August 23

Today’s New York Hot List races to watch – Sunday, August 23, 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.

2^nd race – (2) Victory Boulevard (B) was in tight quarters inside on a day when the rail was not the place to be and finished fourth. Now trainer Mike Maker adds blinkers and drops him down a notch in the claiming ranks. (3) Wicksters Dream was claimed from Kelly Breen out of a victory in a $40,000 N2L race at Saratoga that got a very high speed figure. New trainer Jeremiah Englehart puts him in for $32,000 as he tries for a third win in a row. (5) Mr. Shortandsimple makes a drop down from allowance races into the claiming ranks where he won both of his races. He won his only race at six furlongs. (7) Scoring ships to the Spa from Kentucky for Tom Amoss. He had a series of seconds after showing speed at Oaklawn Park.

4^th race – (7) False Alarm (B) was very rank while under heavy restraint, steadied repeatedly, and had no chance to run well on that day when he was also heavily bet. He gets a rider change back to Reylu Gutierrez who had success with him in similar NY-bred turf maiden claimers. (2) No Salt ran second in his first try in a maiden claimer after getting jostled around. Bill Mott sends right back in the same kind of race. (6) Broadway Joe may have found a softer spot in this field that looks rather weak. He has speed figures that make him a contender with this bunch. (4) Supply Sider was in the same race as the second choice where he ran fourth.

6^th race – (5) Silent Empress (B) was bet down to 4-1 in her debut for Christophe Clement. Down the stretch she was unable to find any running room while appearing to be full of run. Clement brings her back with Joel Rosario in the saddle in a similar NY-bred maiden claiming turf sprint. (1) Towering Gaze has the best speed figures in the field from maiden special weights and she now drops into the claiming ranks for the first time. (2) High School Crush his had a lot of tries at this level but did run the best race of her career last time when she missed the win by a neck. (6) Mia Bea Star will return to the turf for David Donk whose barn is heating up.

8^th race – (3) Rushing Fall has 10 wins in 13 starts and won her two starts this year for Chad Brown. This is no soft spot as the Diana (G1) drew a very talented field of six. (5) Sistercharlie won six straight races including the Diana in 2018 and 2019. She was third in the Breeders’ Cup and in her 2020 debut which was unexpected for the Brown superstar. (6) Mean Mary is riding a four race winning streak. The Graham Motion filly does her best racing on the front end as she showed most recently in the New York Handicap (G2). (4) Starship Jubilee is the fourth choice which shows how tough this field is really. She is the winner of six out of her last seven starts but only one of them was a Grade 1 and that came almost a year ago.

Best bets: Silent Empress (6^th); Rushing Fall (8^th). Best value: Victory Boulevard (2^nd); False Alarm (4^th).