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.

2^nd race [OC 62k/N1X, 6F] – (4) Toxic Gray won his last two starts going from a maiden special weight to a starter allowance with a pair of stalking trips. (2) Looms Boldly made four starts in NY-bred company with two wins and a pair of other top three finishers. One of his victories was in a stakes race. (1) Warman Road made his first start of the year with a maiden win that made a big jump in speed figures over his one race as a 2-year-old. (5) Heldish set the pace in a Laurel Park allowance and finished fourth.

3^rd race [Danger’s Hour, 1 mi TURF] – (5) Celestial City will make his 2023 debut having won the Hill Prince (G2) last year as a 3-year-old. (3) Big Everest will return from a Winter break after winning the Artie Schiller at Aqueduct in November. He is the winner of 4 out of his last 5 starts. (1) Anaconda made two starts this year in a Grade 3 in California and a sprint at Turfway Park on the Tapeta. Last year he was second in the Turf Sprint Championship at the Big A. (6) Koolhaus will make his first start on the turf after two starts at Turfway this year with an allowance win.

4^th race [Clm 14000 N3L, 1 mi] – (8) Hang Tight gets blinkers on after dropping down to today’s level and running third. (4) Life and Light moved from the Tapeta to the dirt and closed well to win at the N2L condition. (2) Sight Unseen was claimed last time after running third in his first start at the $14,000 N3L level. (6) Patrick the Great was a front-end winner of the N2L condition in his last race for Linda Rice.

8^th race [Alw 50000s, 6F] – (6) Built to Last was claimed for $40,000 last time after getting bet down from 4-1 to 2-1 to be the favorite and finished a close second after pressing the pace. (1) Win for Gold set the pace and finished second in a starter allowance last time. (7) Zeebar was an open length winner of his debut in February and then stepped up to run third in a starter allowance in his second start. (5) Necromancer was a winner in his first start of the year in a $40,000 claimer N2L condition with a closing move.

Best bets: Toxic Gray (2^nd); Celestial City (3^rd). Best value: Hang Tight (4^th); Built to Last (8^th).

Saturday Pick 3 Special --
The Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 covers races 2-4 and includes the Danger’s Hour  à 1, 2, 4 with 3, 5 with 2, 4, 6, 8 = $24.