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.

3^rd race [Clm 40000, 1 mi] – (1) Alternate Reality (B) got jostled at the top of the stretch and gamely battled to get second going a mile. (4) Magnolia Midnight was a front-end winner three races back at Aqueduct for the $40,000 tag. Last time he dropped back to that level but stumbled badly and lost the rider at the start. (5) Midnight Trouble was claimed from 3 out of his last 4 starts. In October he was second for $50,000. (2) Bramito won the first-level allowance with a deep closing move in October and since then tried the second-level allowance three times.

4^th race [Clm 25000 N2L, 1 mi] – (3) Patty Van Twinkle (B) raced three-wide on a speed favoring track, finished second, and got claimed. (7) Enigmatic will drop to the lowest level of her career after showing early speed in a series of starter allowances. She broke her maiden in a $75,000 claimer. (5) Shehanah was second in a $40,000 N2L claimer after having the lead two races back. (6) She’s Cool was claimed for $25,000 two races back where she set the pace, finished second, and then tried a $40,000 race.

5^th race [NY, Md 30000, 1 mi] – (7) Sunset Park was third in her only start which was on the synthetic at Presque Isle in October, changes barns to that of Bruce Levine, and gets blinkers on. (6) Lu’s Redemption had a career best speed figure last time when she was second while racing against the boys at this level. (1A) Lucky and Gorgeous rallied to finish second missing the win by a neck in her first try at the $30,000 level. (3) Freud’s Fancy moved from turf to dirt in her third start, raced between horses after pressing the pace, and finished third.

7^th race [Alw 50000s, 1 mi] – (2) Scat Tu Tap (B) ran into lots of trouble, lost position, finished fourth in a similar spot to today, and comes back in two weeks. (5) Smile Mon moved between starter allowances and claiming races with a pair of wins and a second in the fall at Aqueduct. (6) Blame It On Daddy was a winner last time for a $40,000 N2L condition when he moved from turf back to dirt. (1) Timaeus and (1A) Hours in a Day make a Linda Rice trained entry where both of them are win contenders.

Best bets: Alternate Reality (3^rd); Sunset Park (5^th). Best value: Patty Van Twinkle (4^th); Scat Tu Tap (7^th).