Saratoga Hotlist - September 4

Today’s NY Hot List races to watch – Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021 at Saratoga – Day 38
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 worst
* - 4 or more betting notches if 11-1 or more.

9^th race [NY, Alw 90000 N1X, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (7) Freedom Machine (B) was very wide throughout the race and had to try and rally into a slow pace, so her last start looks bad. (6) Just Ok Is Not Ok had to steady in the early going and gets a pass back to her maiden score. (1A) Cara’s Dreamer has three good efforts at this level with the last two at Saratoga. (5) Golden Oldie will make her first start in NY-bred company after a $30,000 claiming victory at Monmouth Park last time out.

10^th race [Alw 103000 N1X, 6 ½ F] – (6) Olympiad (A) returns after a year layoff for Bill Mott. This guy was an impressive maiden winner in a noteworthy field that included Caddo River and Greatest Honour. That win put him on a lot of Kentucky Derby lists. (3) Ducale got a big figure in his maiden victory at Saratoga going seven-furlongs for Brad Cox. (9) Crowded Trade returned from a layoff to run third in the Amsterdam (G3) following his run on the Kentucky Derby trail. (1) Tuggle was second in a similar spot after a more than a year layoff for Jeremiah Englehart. He was a debut winner as a 2-year-old.

11^th race [Flower Bowl (G1), 1 3/8 mi TURF] – (3) War Like Goddess is the winner of her last three races all of which were in graded stakes including the Glens Falls (G2) at Saratoga. Julien Leparoux will come north to ride for Bill Mott as he did last time. (1) La SIgnare was third twice and second in her last three races in Grade 1 stakes including the Diana where she did not get an ideal trip. (4) My Sister Nat was second in the Glens Falls last time where she closed to within a head before getting passed by the top choice. (6) Great Island was the winner of the Matchmaker (G3) at Monmouth in her most recent race for Chad Brown.

12^th race [Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), 1 ¼ mi] – (4) Happy Saver won the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) last year as a 3-year-old and will try to win the race again. The Todd Pletcher runner tasted defeat for the first time in the Suburban (G2) which was run on a sloppy track. Thus, it is fair to think that he did not appreciate the wet track even though typically progeny of Super Saver do. (1) Forza Di Oro is the winner of his last three races for Bill Mott with big speed figures in the two most recent. He ended 2020 with a victory in the Discovery (G3) and then came back to win an allowance race at Saratoga in his 2021 debut. This son of Speightstown certainly has the look of a horse that has a chance to run even better. (2) Max Player was the winner of the Suburban over Happy Saver at odds of 11-1. He was the winner of both of his starts on sloppy tracks and clearly was moved up by the wet track. (5) Night Ops is actually the leading money winner in the field based on a series of seven top 3 finishes in stakes races. His last win came in the 2020 Cornhusker (G3) about a year ago.

Best bets:  War Like Goddess (11^th); Happy Saver (12^th). Best value:  Freedom Machine (9^th); Olympiad (10^th).

Saturday Pick 3 Special --
The Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 on races 10 – 12 ends with the Jockey Club GC (G1)  à 1, 3, 6, 9 with 1,3 with 1, 4 = $16.