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 [Md 50000, 6 ½ F] – (6) You’re Forever will make that major drop down back to a maiden claimer where she ran second in her debut last year as a 2-year-old. (3) Isn’t She Khozy made her first start in July in a turf sprint and comes back for her second race on the dirt with blinkers on for a barn that is red hot right now. (2) Natural Fact also gets blinkers on following a third-place finish in her first start of the year. (5) Classic Cara returns from a November layoff, goes from turf to dirt, and drops into the claiming ranks for the first time.

3^rd race [Md Sp Wt, 1 mi] – (1) Clare Quilty (B) will make his second start after running second in his debut for Chad Brown as the favorite. (5) Light the Way (C) returns from a December layoff when he was bet down from 8-1 to 6-1, had the lead, and ran third. (3) Egypt had a pair of seconds when last seen at the end of 2023 with the ability to race on the lead or from behind. (6) Pricing Power came back from a long layoff last month to set the pace and run fourth.

4^th race [Clm 40000 N2L, 1 mi] – (1) Reserve Currency will race in a claimer for the first time after racing in a series of allowances since a maiden special weight victory. This will be his third start of the year. (7) Uncle George was second the last time he ran in a N2L condition back in December and then ran in starter allowances. He is projected to get loose on the lead in this spot. (2) Magia Nera ran second in his second start of the year when he dropped into this claiming level. (4) Collect From Ike pressed the pace last time and got the place position.

7^th race [NY, Clm 25000, 6 ½ F] – (6) Mason Mania (C) was bet down from 7-1 to 7-2 against open company, had the lead, and finished second. He got claimed and comes right back, but in a NY-bred race for the same tag. There is plenty of speed to set up a stalking trip. (9) Writer’s Regret rallied from behind to win last month at this same level. (3) Amundson has 11 wins and five of them were at Aqueduct. He will drop down to the lowest level as of late having won through the NY-bred allowance conditions. (4) Six Percent was claimed last time from a similar spot and gets the right set-up for his preferred running style.

Best bets: You’re Forever (1^st); Reserve Currency (4^th). Best value: Clare Quilty (3^rd); Mason Mania (7^th).