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.

1^st race [Md Sp Wt, 7F] – (1) Relevate tried the grass to no avail last time but set the pace in her debut and was third in October going a mile. (3) Formaggio was second in her first start of the year a month ago when she had to steady after getting to the lead. (6) Endless Kiss was claimed for $30,000 from her first race in October and then tried the grass without much luck. (2) Waveless is a first-time starter for Repole Stable and Todd Pletcher.

2^nd race [Md Sp Wt, 1 mi] – (1) Salvation has two starts this year including her best a month ago where she finished second with a career best speed figure that tops this field. (3) Time to Win finished in the top three in all three of his races as a heavy favorite each time for Chad Brown. Blinkers come off and leading rider Flavien Prat gets back on board. (2) Roger Roger changes from the barn of Chad to that of Amelia Green. (4) Love’m Or Liam hit the board in all three of his starts and just came back from an eight-month layoff to finish behind the top two in this write-up.

3^rd race [Clm 30000 N2L, 6F] – (4) Shadow Surge (A) was fractious and broke through the gate. He had to steady when reluctant on the inside and then had to go nine wide. (7) Spirit Dragon has hit the board in all three starts including a third last month after a four-month break. (3) Dark Vector has run well in N2L conditioned races and was claimed twice recently for $17,500. (6) Pandemic Hero has early speed and drops into a N2L claiming race for the first time.

5^th race [NY, Md Sp Wt, 6F] – (1) Three Nines Fine returned from a five-month layoff, moved from turf to dirt, set the pace, and finished second in her fifth career start. (2) Rare Society went from the grass to the main track last month, finished third in what was her best race to date, and gets blinkers on now. (7) Forever to Go comes back from a May layoff and shows a couple of second-place finishes earlier in the year. (5) Red Velvet Cake was a heavy favorite in both races and was second in her debut by a nose after pressing the pace and getting the lead.

Best bets: Relevate (1^st); Shadow Surge (3^rd). Best value:  Salvation (2^nd); Three Nines Fine (5^th).