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 Sp Wt, 6F] – (3) Up to the Task was a $525,000 purchase in March who has been working steadily at Saratoga since June for Chad Brown who has unveiled some star-studded 2-year-olds this summer. (6) Beau Valor was a $525,000 yearling purchase from a $7,500 stallion for another trainer winning with firsters. (7) Club Reign was another purchase this spring and sold for $475,000 by a $5,000 stallion. (2) Subjugation has a couple of good starts for Steve Asmussen.

2^nd race [Alw 120000 N1X, 6F] – (6) Sculos Folly is a speedy NY-bred with three stakes wins against state-breds and with six victories is still eligible for an open-company first-level allowance. (5) Anyway won through the NY-bred allowances at Saratoga this summer with the most recent start three weeks ago.  (2) Dr. Kapur gets a pass for his last start which was on a sloppy and sealed track for a trainer who can prompt form reversals. (4) Oil Capital is in good form right now, so a trifecta finish is likely.

3^rd race [NY, Alw 105000 N1X, 6½ F] – (7) Grazie will make her first start of the year after winning her debut race at Saratoga and then had top three finishes in three NY-bred stakes. (8) Liberty’s Secret was a clear maiden winner in July and then came right back to get second in an allowance. (6) K Gun won her first three starts and then was third behind Liberty’s Secret. (4) Central to Success ships up from Parx Racing following a recent allowance win by almost five lengths.

4^th race [OC 100k/N1X, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (5) King’s Remark was a debut winner in April at Aqueduct and then was third in a stakes at Monmouth Park when he was in tight with traffic problems. (7) Instability was also a winner of his first start who then missed by a neck in a stakes race. Most recently he pressed the early pace in an allowance in what is not his preferred running style. (4) Print broke his maiden on the dirt and moved back to the grass where he was fourth in the Hall of Fame (G2) three weeks ago. (8) Alto Blues ran twice at Chantilly in France on a synthetic track where he was a first out winner.

5^th race [NY, Alw 105000 N1X, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (8) Sammy C Note broke his maiden to start 2026 and then missed by a neck in an open-company starter allowance before falling a head shy of a win at this day’s condition. (4) Caroline St. Beat won his first start which was last year at Saratoga and then was second in a NY-bred stakes race. In his only race of 2026, he was a neck shy in a stakes behind a horse who came back to win another stakes. (5) Honoree got his maiden victory in his first race of 2026 and then was third and second in this type of allowance. (9) Sir Oscar moved to the Weaver barn where he broke his maiden and then was third.

6^th race [Md Sp Wt, 6F] – (10) Cruising Again set the pace in her first start on a sloppy track in July at 5-2 and finished fourth. (1) Badittude broke from the far outside in her only race for Todd Pletcher and Repole Stable. (3) Foxiest is a home-bred daughter of Gun Runner and the two-time champion Covfefe whose two runners were winners and one was a stakes winner. (2) Virabhadasana was fourth in a strong maiden race where the winner was ahead by seven lengths for a trainer who is successful with 33% of his second-time starters.

7^th race [OC 100k/N1X, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (5) Shelzawa has a pair of narrow defeats in France before coming to America where she broke her maiden in her second try defeating a filly that won her next start. (7) Code was second in an allowance at Gulfstream Park and third in the Wild Applause at Saratoga. She comes back in three weeks after setting the pace in the Saratoga Oaks (G2). (9) Counterintuitive was last seen breaking her maiden at Keeneland in October and gets first-time Lasix for her 2026 debut. (3) Bella Knows was second in the Chelsey Flowers in November and will make her third start of this year.

8^th race [H. Allen Jerkens (G1), 7F] – (4) Englishman won the Woody Stephens (G1) by almost six lengths with a 115 Beyer Speed Figure which is the highest of any horse this year. (2) Deep Flame won his last two races by a combined margin of almost 13 lengths in a maiden and the Maxfield (G3) at Churchill Downs. (5) Local Knowledge won the Amsterdam (G2) by a head in July. (3) Solitude Dude was second in the Amsterdam.

9^th race [Personal Ensign (G1), 1 1/8 mi] – (2) Fully Subscribed won the Shuvee (G2) with a closing move going the same distance last month. (4) Scottish Lassie had the lead as the favorite and finished second in the Shuvee. (3) Nerazurri has three stakes wins and two of them were at Oaklawn Park this winter. (6) Snowyte was third in the Shuvee but has a chance to get loose on the lead in this field.

10^th race [Lake Placid(G2), 1 mi TURF] – (1) Queen of Hawaii was a Group 3 winner last year at the Curragh, ran in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, and won her only start this year in a Saratoga allowance. (5) Naomis won a Group 2 at Chantilly in France in May and now makes her American debut for Chad Brown. (4) Deep Learning won the Chelsey Flowers in November and then was second in her 2026 debut for Lake George (G3). (3) Flowerhead was third in a pair of stakes at Woodbine this summer.

11^th race [Forego (G1), 7F] – (5) Book’em Danno won this race last year and is a neck away from having seven stakes wins in a row. Last year’s sprint division champion has 5 wins in 6 tries at Saratoga. (2) Hymn was third in the Vanderbilt (G2) after three wins in a row. (1) Tip Top Thomas missed by a neck in his 2026 debut and last year won two mid-major Derbys. (6) Senior Officer has three allowances in a row including last time against Tip Top Thomas.

12^th race [Ballerina (G1),7F] – (7) Ways and Means loves Saratoga where she won 5 out of 6 starts with a second. She has 5 wins in her last 8 races and was last seen winning the Bed O Roses (G2) in June. (8) Maida won both starts this year in the Alma North at Laurel Park and then the Honorable Miss (G2) at the Spa with front-end trips. (2) Kilwin won the Test (G1) at Saratoga last year and came back with a victory in a stakes race at Ellis Park last month. (12) Eclatant is 3 for 3 this year including the Chicago (G2) at Churchill in June and the Madison (G1) at Keeneland in April for Brad Cox.

13^th race [Travers (G1), 1 1/4 mi] – (3) Napoleon Solo finds a field that is not loaded with horses that want to race on the lead which is a big plus for the pace-pressing style of the Preakness winner. Hall of famer John Velazquez gets the mount and he is skilled at controlling races on the front end. (5) Renegade proved in the Kentucky Derby that he can handle the Travers distance and the Jim Dandy (G2) victory was one of his best. (9) Golden Tempo is the horse to beat based on his wins in two of the Triple Crown races. He returns from an almost three-month layoff against an excellent field. (7) Sea Streak impressed with his fast victory in the Curlin. He will have to take a step forward against this group.

14^th race [OC 100k/N1X, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (4) That’s How We Love was an open-length winner of her only race which was at Monmouth at 9-1 in July. (2) Three to G was a maiden winner in Florida and then had a pair of competitive allowances at Keeneland and Aqueduct in the spring. (1) Tax Holiday was a maiden winner in April and then tried the Wonder Again (G2) without Lasix. (9) Killa Sally had two seconds in maidens on the grass and was a recent starter allowance winner in July on the dirt at Saratoga. She has the look of a filly who would benefit from a rainy day.

Saturday Pick 3 Special --
The Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 on races 11–13 is an (all-G1-Pick 3) 5 with 2, 7, 8, 12 with 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 = $24.