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 [NY, Md Sp Wt, 6F TURF] – (3) True Legend (B) broke slowly in his debut less than three weeks ago and rallied four wide to just miss by a nose. (7) Chummers moved from dirt to turf in his second race and set the pace before missing the win by a head in August. (1) Story of Rory was on the lead in his first start, finished eighth, and gets a barn change so that this NY-bred can stay in state. (8) Kid Rich will ship from Presque Isle for Kevin Rice who is dangerous when he comes to New York with firsters.

4^th race [Artie Schiller, 1 mi TURF] – (2) Major Dude drops out of three strong graded stakes performances as a past Grade 2 winner. (6) Big Everest was second by a neck in this race last year and won it in 2023. He has 5 wins from 9 starts on the Aqueduct turf. (4) Otago won the Cliffhanger at Monmouth Park in May. (1) Lucky Score ships down from Woodbine for Mark Casse from a pair Grade 2 races.

5^th race [Md 20000, 6F] – (5) Noguchi was claimed last race for $50,000 by Linda Rice and moves from turf to dirt and cuts back to sprinting. (2) How About It changes barns, gets blinkers on, and drops down to this lower tag. (8) Volunteer Fireman moves from turf to dirt, goes into a claimer for the first time, and ships up from Monmouth Park. (4) Shadow Surge returns from a long layoff when he was sent off as the favorite for George Weaver in a maiden special weight at Keeneland.

9^th race [Alw 88000 N1X, 1 mi] – (8) Burning Glory was third in the Holy Bull (G3) on the Kentucky Derby trail and then was off until August when he was second in an allowance like this one. (3) Tuscan Gold was third in the Louisiana Derby (G2) and fourth in the Preakness (G1) before taking a year off. Last month he missed by a nose in a first-level allowance. (5) Filoso was third in the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) as a 2-year-old last year and then was away after the Tampa Derby (G3). He was sixth in an allowance after the layoff. (6) Buttah won the second-level allowance for NY-breds last month at Aqueduct.

Best bets: Major Dude (4^th); Noguchi (5^th). Best Value:  True Legend (3^rd); Burning Glory (9^th).

Saturday Pick 3 Special --
Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 covers races 3-5 and includes the Artie Schiller à 1, 3, 7, 8 with 2, 6 with 2, 4, 5, 8 = $32.