Big A’s Busanda offers Kentucky Oaks points

By NY Hot List Staff | January 12, 2023

While the main focus of the winter and early spring is the Road to the Kentucky Derby, the Road to the Kentucky Oaks is also a popular fare for horsemen. On Saturday at Aqueduct, 3-year-old fillies will get their chance to earn qualifying points for the distaff version of the Roses of the Roses in the $100,000 Busanda Stakes. A field of five, including two starters from trainer Todd Pletcher, will square off in the 1 1/8-mile test that will award 20-8-6-4-2 Kentucky Oaks points in descending order to the top five finishers.  

Here’s the Hot List picks for the Busanda:

Aqueduct, Saturday, Race 8:

(1) Gambling Girl finished third in the Demoiselle (G2) beaten by just a length after rallying a bit wide on a muddy track. She is the only stakes winner in the field having won a NY-bred stake in September. (3) Affirmative Lady was second in the Demoiselle as a maiden. She had the lead in the stretch and lost by a neck in the end. The top two choices lost to the promising Julia Shining who is a full sister the Malathaat and hold a significant class advantage. (2) Occult broke her maiden in her second start by more than four lengths last month for Chad Brown at odds of 9-2 and may be able to get loose on the lead. (5) Aniston was also an easy maiden winner in her second try by almost five lengths for Todd Pletcher at 3-1.

The rest of the NY Hot List picks and the Special Saturday Pick 3 are available free of charge at this website.