Cicada for filly sprinters heads Aqueduct card

By NY Hot List Staff | March 17, 2023

While the Kentucky Oaks is the biggest target for 3-year-old filles, those with distance limitations will find Saturday’s Cicada Stakes at Aqueduct more to their liking. Contested at a six-furlong distance, the Cicada will provide distaff sprinters with a useful stepping stone to some of the division’s important stakes like the Test Stakes in the summer.

Here’s the Hot List picks for the Cicada:

The $100,000 Cicada Stakes, Aqueduct, Saturday, Race 9

(1) Tappin Josie , who is 6-1 on the morning line, won her last three races beginning with an optional claimer allowance at Laurel Park from which she was claimed for $50,000 by Horacio DePaz. She won another allowance in Maryland with her usual closing move and then stepped up to win a stakes race at Parx Racing. (2) Hot Little Thing returns from an October layoff when she was last seen going two-turns in a state-bred stake at Hoosier Indianapolis. This filly is a sprinter based on her two front-running victories by a combined 21 lengths. Her regular rider from Indiana has the mount. (3) Downtown Mischief is the even-money favorite based on her wins in only two starts which were at Aqueduct against NY-breds in January and February for Linda Rice. Her allowance win earned the highest speed figure in the field. (4) Fabuously Funny broke her maiden in her second start last month as the favorite.

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