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.

3^rd race [Clm 50000 N2L, 6 ½ F] – (6) Ari’s Magic (B) returned from a three-month layoff and finished third but got herded out in the stretch by the second-place finisher. (5) Miles and Miles ran in a pair of starter allowances after breaking his maiden by more than 10-lengths. (4) Fly’n Frisbee broke his maiden for a $20,000 tag in his second start after a very long layoff. (1) Tarpaulin was a debut winner in March as the 5-2 favorite by almost seven-lengths for $30,000 against NY-breds.

4^th race [Clm 17500 N2L, 6F] – (2) Mr. Mendelssohn (B) returns from a February layoff when he raced wide on a track that was favoring the inside paths and the top two finishers were on his inside. (1) Prince of Truth has been off for two months when he finished fourth in a $40,000 claimer. (4) Camm’ Duke has been racing in higher priced claimers with four top three finishes. (3) Strand Road was claimed for $15,000 by Rick Dutrow after pressing the pace and running fourth and shows up as a new gelding.

5^th race [NY, Md 30000, 6F] – (7) Magic Beach was on the lead in his last three starts and ended up with a pair of seconds and a third. (2) Ridolfi was last seen in February in a maiden special weight and drops in for a tag for the first time. (1A) Nine N Four has a pair of third-place finishes from his last three races. (3) Sittin Chilly will make his first career start shipping up from Kentucky for Wesley Ward.

6^th race [NY, Md Sp Wt, 1 1/16 mi TURF] – (5) Rad Llama (B) made his only start in July in a turf sprint at Aqueduct where she was 3-1 and part of the early pace, faced a bit of traffic, and ran on after she got clear to finish fourth. (8) Willful Mama gets back to the turf where he was second twice in the fall and since then raced well three times on the main track. (9) Currane made his second start moving to the turf at Tampa Downs and set the pace. (3) Mommy’s Turn debuted in December and moves from dirt to turf with turf breeding from the sire and the dam for Chad Brown.

Best bets: Ari’s Magic (3^rd); Mr. Mendelssohn (4^th). Best Value:  Magic Beach (5^th); Rad Llama (6^th).

Saturday Pick 3 Special --
Saturday Special $1 Pick 3 covers races 3-5 à 1, 4, 5, 6 with 1, 2, 3, 4 with 3, 7 = $32.