Saratoga Hotlist - July 28

Today’s NY Hot List races to watch – Wednesday, July 28, 2021 at Saratoga – Day 10
                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.

3^rd race [New York Stallion Series 150000, 1 mi TURF] – (6) Step Dancer (A) finished second in a Belmont Park turf sprint after breaking from the far outside in a full field. He was an open company stakes winner as a 2-year-old. (4) Ocala Dream has won two races in a row – a state-bred maiden special weight and then another Stallion Series stake for trainer Tom Morley. (8) Barrage will make his first start for Danny Gargan which means a 35% win rate. He was third in that race with the top two horses and gets blinkers on. (7) Gator Bite broke his maiden in his last start at Monmouth Park following a short layoff.

4^th race [Clm 25000 N2L, 7F] – (7) East Wing (B) raced inside of foes and had to check midway through her last start. She gets blinkers on and drops down just a bit. (8) Scott Alaia (C) was bet down from 9-1 to 7-1, broke last, and rallied to get a maiden win for $30,000. (2) Hollywood Gina broke her maiden at Aqueduct in February for a $40,000 tag and then tried a starter allowance last month which was just too tough. The move to this condition is ideal. (3) Alpine Queen returned to the dirt, which to me seems like her best surface, and got her first career win in a $40,000 claimer. She will also cutback in distance to where she ran well in her debut.

5^th race [NY, Md Sp Wt 85000, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (1) Raw Courage (B) had to steady off heels in his second start. Both of his races were meant for the turf and were run on sloppy tracks and now the Jorge Abreu runner will try and get on the grass again. (8) Regal Empire was a $125,000 2-year-old purchase and will make his debut for the team of Mike Maker and Three Diamonds who are off to a great start at Saratoga. (4) Resilient Courage will make the move from dirt to turf for David Donk who is adept at placing and prepping his horses for the turf. (3) Timbuktu has some speedy workouts in preparation for his first start for Brad Cox who also is winning at a high percentage at the Spa.

6^th race [Md Sp Wt 100000, 1 1/8 mi] – (6) Cody’s Wish (B) is a royally bred son of Curlin out of the mare Dance Card. He got shuffled back and ran third in his debut at Belmont on a muddy track that earned a big speed figure. (2) Absolute Courage made a big improvement when running second last time out as he stretched out to a mile. (3) Pipeline gets blinkers on for Chad Brown after facing very tough competition in his first two races. (9) Beatbox raced behind the second choice in what was his first start of the year also for Brown.

Best bets:  Step Dancer (3^rd); Cody’s Wish (6^th). Best value:  East Wing (4^th); Raw Courage (5^th).