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 [NY, Alw 81000 N1X, 1 1/8 mi] – (5) King’s Leap was third in the Albany Stakes for NY-breds at Saratoga which came between a pair of Finger Lakes allowance wins. (2) Toga Dan was third earlier in the month in an Aqueduct allowance like this one. (3) Senegal faced a couple of strong allowance fields in his last two races and has speed figures that make him a contender. (1) Solo Empire had a pair of seconds in open-company claimers going the nine-furlong distance.

2^nd race [The Tempted, 1 mi] – (1) Spa Prospector was third in the Adirondack (G3) at Saratoga and ships back north for Tom Amoss. (4) Secane was an open length debut winner in August at Gulfstream Park at 2-1 for Saffie Joseph. (3) Shilling broke her maiden in her second try for Kenny McPeek at the Big A two weeks ago. (2) Believable recovered quickly from a stumble start against a large field in her first start which was in New York for Pletcher and Repole. She was an $800,000 Saratoga yearling purchase.

7^th race [Alw 50000s, 7F] – (8) Adrian was second in her last two races in starter allowances and cuts back from a mile. (3) Geez Eloise has been off since July when she had a win and a second in Saratoga starter allowances. (2) Hey Cookie was taken for $50,000 from an optional-claiming starter allowance victory and then did not appreciate a muddy track last month. (5) Tower Twenty Two was claimed for $30,000 at Monmouth Park when she had the lead and finished third and then set the pace at Aqueduct before finishing fourth in her first start for Jamie Ness.

8^th race [The Pumpkin Pie, 7F] – (5) Nic’s Style returns from a March layoff after having won 7 out of 8 starts with four stakes wins including the Hurricane Bertie (G3) at Gulfstream. She won both times at seven furlongs. (8) Weigh the Risks was an impressive allowance winner at Saratoga for Chad Brown following a layoff from a second in the Heavenly Prize at Aqueduct in February. (7) Alani is a stakes winner on the Mid-Atlantic circuit. (2) Scalable is a past graded stakes winner that also won the Interborough in January. She came from that race in September to try the Gallant Bloom (G2) for Repole and Pletcher.

Best bets: King’s Leap (1^st); Nic’s Style (8^th). Best value: Spa Prospector (2^nd); Adrian (7^th).