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.

5^th race [Alw 50000s, 1 1/8 mi] – (7) Brave Bear (B) broke through the gate and moves back to nine-furlongs where he is a past winner. (3) Turn and Count crossed the finish line first but was disqualified to third for the $50,000 tag. (5) Curvino was claimed in October for $50,000 after a win at Churchill Downs by Linda Rice. (1) Blown Cover was a winner on the turf in November and then missed by a neck in his return to the main track.

7^th race [Clm 10000, 1 mi] – (8) He’s Got This (B) rallied for second well clear of the rest on a speed favoring track at the beginning of January. (11) Bar Fourteen was a winner for $10,000 two races back and then tried for $25,000. (3) Aleah Aleah was a winner at Parx last time when she shipped there from New York. (10) Skylander was a winner for $12,500 in October and since then was fifth for $32,000 and third for $16,000.

9^th race [OC 50k/N1X, 1 1/8 mi] – (10) Land d’Oro won through the NY-bred allowance conditions and moved into open company where he was third last month. (1) Chillax returns from a November layoff as a new gelding with a third-place allowance finish at Churchill. (2) Neon Bordeaux won his last three races in a row with a pair of $30,000 claimers and a starter allowance. (9) Waitlist was second in an allowance at Aqueduct going the nine-furlong distance.

10^th race [Withers, 1 1/8 mi] - (3) Ottinho (A)broke his maiden in his second try at Aqueduct last month with a front-end trip where he had to battle down the stretch to win by a head. The half-brother of Gun Runner is proven at the challenging nine-furlong distance. (5) Mailata won his last three races at Parx Racing and ships up to New York for a trainer that knows how to win stakes at the Aqueduct winter meeting including two prior runnings of the Withers. The Pennsylvania-bred is a two-time stakes winner. (7) Fourth and One is a New York-bred who finished in the top three in all four of his starts including two state-bred stakes. (2) Schoolyardsuperman stretched out to a mile, broke his maiden by almost six-lengths, and Manny Franco stays on board.

Best bets: Land d’Oro (9^th); Ottinho (10^th). Best Value:  Brave Bear (5^th); He’s Got This (7^th).