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] – (1) Texas Dandelion shipped up to Saratoga from Kentucky where she made two starts including a second-place finish last month. (5) Intraosseus was third in her only race last month at Churchill Downs. (9) Badittude will debut for Todd Pletcher and Repole Stable and was a $425,000 yearling purchase. (6) Help a Girl Out is another Pletcher firster and this one is a home-bred from St. Elias Stable.

2^nd race [NY, Alw 40000s, 1 mi] – (2) A. P. Slingshot (B) rallied from far back in last, had to go eight wide turning for home and finished second. (3) Power of Women was claimed for $25,000 last time after an open-length front-end victory. (8) Successful Agenda was a maiden claiming winner in her second try for a $35,000 tag by more than seven lengths. (7) Timia was a winner in December and then made seven starts in this type of races and finished second or third each time.

9^th race [Vanderbilt (G2), 6F] – (6) Hymn won his last three races in a row building up to what was a career best victory in the DeFrancis at Laurel Park when he won by more than five lengths while coming from off the pace. (1) Damon’s Mound won three times at Gulfstream Park in Florida-bred stakes and has been off since April. (8) Built had four top three finishes in a row including in June in the Bango (G3) at Churchill. (4) Just Beat the Odds was second in a $2 million race in Saudi Arabia and then was third in a Delaware Park stakes.

10^th race [CCA Oaks (G1), 1 1/8 mi] – (5) Measure (A) had to pause in traffic and rallied from sixth to get second in what was her second bad trip in a row this year. (6) Always a Runner won the first three starts of her career and then was second in the Acorn (G1) just a month after winning the Kentucky Oaks (G1). She gets more time between races here. (1) Counting Stars is in the best form of her career with two graded stakes victories in her last four starts. (7) Directive is improving with each race going from a maiden win to an allowance for Chad Brown and Flavien Prat.

Best bets: A. P. Slingshot (2^nd); Hymn (9^th). Best Value: Texas Dandelion (1^st); Measure (10^th).  

Saturday Pick 3 Special --
Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 covers races 9-11 and includes the Vanderbilt and the CCA Oaks 1, 6, 8 with 1, 5, 6, 8 with 6, 7 = $24.