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.

5^th race [Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), 1 ¼ mi] – (3) Sierra Leone has a stablemate to push the early pace which will give him the right set-up and when that happens he is hard to beat. (4) Mindframe won his last three starts with a pair of Grade 1s and a Grade 2. (2) Highland Falls won the JCGC last yearand was just second in the Whitney (G1). (1) Disarm was third in the Whitney and last year was third in this race.

7^th race [Md Sp Wt, 6F] – (8) Lovely Christina (A) broke slowly in her debut at 5-1 and finished second behind an impressive winner but well clear of the rest of the field. (4) All About You was second in her first start which was two weeks ago at Saratoga. (9) Celebrity Quest will make her first career start for Tom Amoss whose horses are running well this summer. (3) Paige Turner was a $350,000 2-year-old purchase and shows some fast workouts in preparation for her debut.

8^th race [Alw 110000 N1X, 1 mi] – (2) Vettriano (B) pinched back to last at the start of his 2025 debut as a horse that usually races on the lead. (3) Houlton won his last race with a closing move in a starter allowance and is in fine form in his four most recent starts. (6) Protective comes back from a January layoff and changes to the barn of Joe Sharp. He was third in the Peter Pan (G3) and the Wood Memorial (G2) last year. (5) Rocketeer set the pace and finished second going nine-furlongs in an allowance in July.

14^th race [NY, Md 50000, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (7) Blame It On K J (B) bumped very hard at the start of his second start in a race meant for the turf and finished second clear of the others. (3) Lets Fight returns from six-month layoff and drops in for a tag for the first time after three good races. (11) Deemer was third in his only start of the year last month and is in a claimer for the first time. (2) Hello Newman ran his best race when he was third by a neck in his first start for a tag.

Best bets: Sierra Leone (5^th); Lovely Christina (7^th). Best value: Vettriano (8^th); Blame It On K J (14^th).