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 [OC 62k/N2X, 6 ½ F] – (3) Proud Foot has a pair of wins and a second in her last three starts moving from a starter allowance through the allowance conditions. (2) Portage tried a stakes race last time but moves back into this type of allowance condition where she was third behind the top choice. (4) Starship Defiant won this type of race by more than five lengths three starts back. (5) Leave No Trace was second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) in 2022.

5^th race [Clm 20000, 1 1/8 mi] – (3) Colloquy drops down to this level at which he was a winner back in April and was claimed by the current connections. (5) Lord Gatling was claimed from an 11 length victory last time for $12,500. Five of his 6 career victories were at Aqueduct. (7) Majestic Frontier ran a big race in his second start following a six month layoff where he had the lead and got beaten by a head with his best speed figure. (1) Phoebe’s Frosty comes back from a year layoff when he won three races in a row on the front-end.

7^th race [NY, East View, 6F] – (4) Bustin Time (B) ran well in his first two starts while racing on the front-end but then was rated last time on short rest and backed out of it badly. (7) Bernietakescharge has a pair of top three finishes in NY-bred stakes races in her last two races. (1) Caldwell Luvs Gold won a state-bred stakes race in her second career start and then raced only in stakes including the Demoiselle (G2). (2) Sweet Brown Sugar won a NY-bred allowance by more than four lengths just two weeks ago.

8^th race [NY, Md 25000, 6F] – (9) Zhen Lou rallied from behind to just miss the win by a neck in this same type of race. (5) Necessaryandproper ran third four times in similar spots. (12) Mangia dropped to this level maiden claimer, pressed the pace, and ran fourth. He had prior speed figures that top this field. (3) War Terminatrix pressed the pace and finished fourth in his debut for a $40,000 tag.

Best bets: Proud Foot (1^st); Colloquy (5^th). Best value: Bustin Time (7^th); Zhen Lou (8^th).