Bob Ehalt // Sun. September 5
Today’s NY Hot List races to watch at Saratoga
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 4th or worse
* – 4 or more betting notches if 11-1 or more.
3rd race [Md 40000, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (11) My Sunny Valentine (B) raced greenly in her debut for John Kimmel, a trainer who is better with second-time runners, and drifted in and out in the stretch. (7) Coalition Building has the top speed figures in this field for Chad Brown. She will either win or get claimed in here or maybe even both. (5) Little Nutter is going to win at this level eventually and might have found the right bunch. (9) Balinese is the new face in the field and that alone makes her worth a serious look. She will make her 2020 debut for new trainer Phil Serpe after racing fourth on the Tapeta at Woodbine twice last year.
5th race [Md 50000, 5 ½ F TURF] – (4) Thegoddessofsnakes (D) will drop into the claiming ranks for the first time after getting bet down from 8-1 to 5-1 the last time when she showed some speed in her first start of the year. (5) Imwaytoocoolforyou was entered twice for the grass and got rained off, each time she set the pace and finshed third. Now she drops into a claimer for the first time. (1) Milestone Payment for Chad Brown and (1A) Party Line Vote for Jorge Abreu are contenders for Klaravich Stable. (8) Thisladyis the Law returns after being claimed by Linda Rice.
7th race [NY, Md Sp Wt 85000, 5 ½F] – (1) Classic Lynne (B/C) got bumped three times in the stretch in her debut for Joe Sharp after getting bet down from 7-1 to 5-1. She finished fourth, beaten by just a length. (2) Classy Edition was a $550,000 purchase a 2-year-old who will make her first start for Todd Pletcher. (7) Laochi will make her first start as the third foal from a dam who was stakes placed and has produced two winners from three to race. (6) Summer Snow is a home-bred out of a mare that won $310,000 on the track and was stakes placed. [If any of the Also Eligibles 11-14 get in the field they will become picks, they appear to have more potential than the rest of the horses that are in the field.]
11th race [Spinaway (G1), 7F] – (7) Dream Lith (A) was an impressive longshot debut winner for Robertino Diodoro who is not known for first-time winners, but there was some buzz for this filly. (9) Sue Ellen Mishkin ran off to beat a group of NY-breds by open lengths in her first career start for Jorge Abreu. (4) Benbang (C) was bet down from 10-1 to 9-2 and won off by more than three lengths in a race meant for the grass. (3) Echo Zulu is the likely race favorite after a huge debut victory that earned a very high speed figure for a juvenile filly.
Best bets: Classic Lynne (7th); Dream Lith (11th). Best value: My Sunny Valentine (3rd); Thegoddessofsnakes (5th).
| No. | Name | Letter/ last race |
Today’s Race | Comments |
| (11) | My Sunny Valentine | B on 8/11 | 3 | She was green in debut, drifted in and out in stretch. |
| (4) | Thegoddessofsnakes | D on 8/18 | 5 | Took late money in her second start. |
| (1) | Classic Lynne | B on 8/12 | 7 | She got bumped three times in the stretch. |
| (4) | Benbang | C on 7/29 | 11 | She won her debut on a sloppy track. |
| (7) | Dream Lith | A on 8/8 | 11 | Beat a good field in debut as a longshot. |
| (9) | Sue Ellen Mishkin | A on 8/13 | 11 | Well bet, open length winner of her first race. |