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 worse
* - 4 or more betting notches if 11-1 or more.

3^rd race [NY, OC 45k/N2X, 5 ½ F TURF] – (5) Vacation Dance (B) got jostled in the early going of his second start of this year back to last and then rallied to finish second. Goes in this spot for the claiming option. (3) Bosun was a clear winner last month in the first-level allowance as the favorite and comes right back for Joe Sharp. (6) Russi was finished third in his first start of the year behind the Hot List horse and should move forward. (2) I’m Wide Awake was third in his last two races which were both at Saratoga at this level.

5^th race [Md 100000, 6 ½ F] – (1) Discotheque (B) moved back to the dirt, stumbled at the start, and came back to finish second. (6) Irrelevant debuted at 5-2 in a turf sprint. Blinkers go on after showing some early speed. (5) Solutions showed early speed in his second career start at the June Saratoga meeting which was on the turf going long. (7) Cultivate is a first-time starter for Chad Brown showing a series of steady workouts.

7^th race [Clm 17500 N3L, 1 mi] – (3) Lou (B) stumbled at the start, got pinched back to last, and lost all chance. He was claimed from Linda Rice for $30,000. (1) Baron of Sealand makes a drop in class from NY-bred allowance races where he already was a winner. (5) Funny Uncle was a winner of the N2L race for $50,000 last summer at Saratoga and was claimed. Since then he tried starter allowances and has been off since January for the hot barn of Mike Maker. (8) Mugata was a winner for a $20,000 tag at Churchill Downs in June and was claimed by Steve Asmussen.

8^th race [P. G. Johnson, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (1) Blanchett (B) broke a step slowly in her debut to be last in a nine-horse field and moved up to third for Graham Motion. (2) Time to Dream sat off heels in his first start made a strong closing move to break his maiden by more than two lengths for Repole and Pletcher. (7) Scratch It was a front-end first-out winner going long at the beginning of the month for Brad Cox. (8) Vernon Valley raced twice on the dirt with a win in his first race and then a third in the Astoria for Mark Casse and D J Stable of Nitrogen fame.

Best bets: Vacation Dance (3^rd); Discotheque (5^th). Best value: Lou (7^th); Blanchett (8^th).