Saratoga Hotlist - July 31

Today’s NY Hot List races to watch – Sunday, July 31, 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.

1^st race [NY, Md Sp Wt, 7F] – (2) Truancy (A) finished second in her debut for Barclay Tagg after getting bumped around three times during the race. Tagg rarely wins with firsters. (1) Voleuse moved from turf to dirt and finished second for Christophe Clement after having an awkward start. (3) Eau Claire will move from the grass after three starts for Arnaud Delacour. Last time she had the lead and finished fourth. Now, she will get Lasix for the first time and cutback to a one-turn race. Delacour has very good stats for the surface change. (6) Photon will make her second start for Kelly Breen after a fifth in her debut at odds of 5-1 after some gate trouble.

4^th race [NY, Alw 95000 N1X, 6F] – (6) Daufuskie Island won an open company starter allowance earlier in the month at Belmont in his first start since Charlie Baker claimed her. She won her career debut at Saratoga last summer. (7) Tap’n de Bank broke his maiden in April and came back to miss the allowance win by a neck after having the lead for the hot Brad Cox barn. (5) Street Tsar won his debut by a nose on July 3 for Todd Pletcher. (3) Colormepazzi has three improving speed figures with a second last time at Belmont in a similar spot.

5^th race [OC 62k/N2X, 1 3/8 mi TURF] – (6) Capital Structure (A) was hard to handle early while under heavy restraint and had to steady twice as the even money favorite in her 2022 debut for Chad Brown. (7) Coastana will make her first start of the year and was last seen winning an allowance at Saratoga for Cherie DeVaux. (5) Forever Dreaming will make her first start since moving to barn of Wayne Lukas. (4) Creative Cairo won a similar long-distance turf allowance at Laurel in her second start of the year for Clement.

9^th race [Amsterdam (G2), 6 ½ F] – (7) Corniche will make his first start of the year since moving to the barn of Todd Pletcher with an undefeated record as the Champion 2-year-old of 2021. (2) Gunite won the Hopeful (G1) at Saratoga last summer for Steve Asmussen and won the Maxfield Stakes at Churchill Downs at the beginning of the month. (4) Pappacap was second behind Jack Christopher in his last two starts and second twice behind Corniche last year. (8) My Prankster was second behind Gunite in that Kentucky stake and also runs for Pletcher.

Best bets:  Capital Structure (5^th); Corniche (9^th). Best value:  Truancy (1^st); Daufuskie Island (4^th).