Saratoga Hotlist - August 5

Today’s NY Hot List races to watch – Friday, August 5, 2022 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.

6^th race [Md Sp Wt, 5½ F TURF] – (8) Stellar Lady (A) was second in her debut at Saratoga when she raced wide and then beat the rest of the field by more than 10 lengths. (2) Love Tank set the pace and then finished second in her second career start at Belmont. (10) She’ll Never Know was sent off as an odds-on favorite in her debut on the dirt for Tom Amoss at Churchill Downs when she finished fourth. She shows a recent grass workout. (1) Run for Cover will make her debut for Mark Casse with several turf breezes showing.

8^th race [Hall of Fame (G2), 1 mi TURF] – (7) Double Clutch was second behind the Todd Pletcher runner Annapolis in the Manila at Belmont Park last month in just his third start. (6) Ready to Purrform has as a second and a third in mile turf stakes this year for Brad Cox. He got bumped around in the early going in the Manila. (5) Stolen Base did no running in the Belmont Derby (G1) but Mike Maker brings him right back with the cutback in distance. (9) Tiz the Bomb will have to get back to his turf form from last year. His last two starts in Grade 1s were bad so this is his last chance with me.

9^th race [Troy (G3), 5½ F TURF] – (5) Golden Pal in unbeaten in America since his debut race in 2020. His only losses were in major European stakes. He is unbeaten at Saratoga with two stakes wins over the prior two years. (3) Arzak is the top closer in this field that is loaded with speed. Possibly the synthetic is his best surface, but he just missed on the grass last time. (1) Spycraft won both of his races since joining the Joe Sharp barn in May. He will stalk the pace and get to save ground. (2) Yes and Yes won three turf sprints in a row and then tried a mile which was way too long.

10^th race [NY, Md 25000, 7F] – (9) Jet Set Juliet (B) gets excuses after a second in her debut last year for Rudy Rodriguez. She hated the turf in her first start of the year and then stumbled badly at the start of last race and lost all chance. (4) Big Bean Christine ran the best race of her career last time when she missed the win by a neck earlier in the meeting. (6) Wicked Lady gets a pass for the turf race last time and drops out of three dirt starts where she was fourth or better. (3) Regal Rebel has shown lots of early speed in prior maiden special weight starts for Rob Atras.

Best bets:  Stellar Lady (6^th); Golden Pal (9^th). Best value:  Double Clutch (8^th); Jet Set Juliet (10^th).