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 [Alw 82000 N1X, 6F] – (1) Antonio of Venice (D) was bet down from 6-1 to 7-2 in his second start following a layoff and ran his last two on wet and sealed tracks which are clearly not to his liking. (3) Radio Red returned from a seven month layoff to finish a close second at this level after having the lead. (2) Exploration was a six-length maiden special weight winner with a front-end run. (4) What’s Up Bro returns from a July layoff with plenty of races that could win here including winning through his NY-bred allowance conditions.

3^rd race [NY, Say Florida Sandy, 7F] – (2) Mama’s Gold won his last two starts in an open company allowance and the Empire Classic with speed figures that none of the horses in the field can come close to. (3) Locke and Key won through the NY-bred allowance conditions and then won against open company last month. (4) Doc Sullivan set the pace in the Alex M. Robb for NY-breds and just missed the win by a nose while far ahead of the others. (6) Shipsational has been racing in open-company allowances.

4^th race [Clm 15000, 6 ½ F] – (5) Spiritual Lady drops back to the claiming ranks where last time she was a winner for a $25,000 tag. (8) Trade Secret was claimed from her last two starts and has nine top three finishes in a row. (2) Maggie T won a $25,000 claimer against NY-breds in December. (4) Play Good Pay Good makes a big drop in class. She was a voided claim last time for $32,000 and at the time that was the lowest level in which she had run.

6^th race [NY, Md 30000, 6 ½ F] – (8) Accidental Bid was claimed from his last two races where he finished third and then set the pace but got caught at the wire. (1) Drive Thru and (1A) Solo Flight make a McMahon Thoroughbreds entry where both are win contenders. (9) Cattani was third at this level last time out. (2) Stormy’s Dreaming was second in a similar spot last month.

Best bets:  Mama’s Gold (3^rd); Accidental Bid (6^th). Best Value:  Antonio of Venice (2^nd); Spiritual Lady (4^th).

Saturday Pick 3 Special --
Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 covers races 2-4 and includes the Say Florida Sandy  à 1, 2, 3, 4 with 2 with 2, 4, 5, 8 = $16.