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 [NY, Md Sp Wt, 6F] – (4) Undergrad (A) broke last in her debut and used a late rally to finish fourth as part of a blanket finish. (5) Three Nines Fine had a couple of second-place finishes earlier in the winter that are good enough to win this race. (2) Patience N Grace comes back from a short layoff when he finished just behind the second choice twice. (3) Lady Delilah will cutback in distance and ran second the last time she ran closer to six furlongs.

4^th race [Clm 10000, 6 ½ F] – (3) Book of Wisdom (B) got herded during a rally down the stretch and missed by a neck. Blinkers come off. (5) Best Impression was claimed on Jan. 1 for $10,000 and came back two weeks later to win for $12,500. (6) Miss Lao has a pair of seconds at Aqueduct in her most recent races. (2) Dream On Cara drops back to this lowest level after getting claimed for $10,000 when she finished third three weeks ago.

6^th race [NY, Alw 77000 N1X, 6F] – (3) Merica’s Back (A) broke last, rushed up, got herded and was third in a blanket finish. (4) Fireballin was a debut winner who comes back from a June layoff as a new gelding with a third at this level after having the lead in the stretch. (7) New York Scrappy used a front-end effort to win last time in a $50,000 claimer against open company. (2) Roofer pressed the pace in his last two races, had the lead, and then hit the board.

9^th race [OC 75k/C, 6 ½ F] – (4) Playa Del Mar (A) moved to a dead rail in the stretch run and faded to finish third. (3) House United (C) used a late run to finish second behind a horse that Linda Rice had claimed in Kentucky. (10) Gamebred has two wins and a second in his last four starts while rallying from behind to get a maiden win and a $50K claimer victory. (8) Fiddling Felix won his last two starts in a maiden claimer and then for a $50,000 tag last month.

Best bets: Undergrad (1^st); Book of Wisdom (4^th). Best value:  Merica’s Back (6^th); Playa Del Mar (9^th).