The Interbets blog with Bob Ehalt began on June 30, 2011, where Bob describes the methodolgy behind the NY Hot List. Scroll down for subsequent weekly blog postings.

Original post 6/30/11

Welcome to the dawn of a new era here at InterBets.com and Catskill Off-Track Betting.

I’m Bob Ehalt and for more than 40 years I’ve been involved with New York racing as a turf writer, handicapper, owner and avid fan. You might know me from my recent work for ntra.com, Thoroughbred Times or ESPN New York.com. But today I’m delighted to introduce a new and innovative daily handicapping feature that will be available free of charge to InterBets and Catskill OTB customers beginning on Saturday.

It’s called the New York Hot List and it’s your ticket to a wealth of valuable handicapping information – including a novel monitoring of late betting swings – as well as a daily supply of selections and horses to watch at New York Racing Association tracks.

My goal in creating the New York Hot List was to provide a multi-faceted handicapping tool and I’m confident both novice and experienced players will find much to like about it.

The NY Hot List starts with a daily review of NYRA races in which we pick out the runners most likely to turn in a strong effort in their next start and categorize them into four different lists of horses to watch. Then on each day of racing at either Belmont, Saratoga or Aqueduct we’ll provide a listing of our horses running that day as well as some insights on how to play them and who to use them with in the exotics.

The lists are lettered A, B, C and D and it’s as simple as a-b-c to follow them.

The A List is our preferred list of horses to watch based on trips, pace, track bias and final time. The B List is our secondary group of horses culled from the same criteria.

The C and D Lists make the NY Hot List unique as they provide a first-of-its-kind breakdown of late betting swings. Horses whose odds drop by two or more notches in the final 5 minutes of wagering (i.e. 5-2 to 9-5) and finish first through third are placed on the C List. The D list is for horses whose odds drop and finish fourth or worse.

Aside from just listing the horses, the daily reviews feature a brief write-up on each horse so that you can make your own judgments and build a stable of horses watch based on what you read in our analysis.

Best of all, as an InterBets/Catskill OTB customer you will have free and exclusive access to all of this content – which is quite a deal at a time when fast food joints charge you $1.29 for items on the dollar menu. The daily reviews, which generally take a couple of days to prepare, will be sent via email if you send us an e-mail request to . As for the selections and list of horses running back, they will be available each NYRA racing day at interbets.com – just click the handicappers banner.

Once you check out the daily reviews and selections, you’ll see how beneficial they can be. If you’re simply looking for a few live horses to bet on, the NY Hot List will give you plenty of options. If you’re a savvy pro looking for some extra tidbits of information to help find one more horse for your triple box or Pick Six ticket, the NY Hot List could be your answer.

So make sure you visit again Saturday for the first set of selections and horses to watch and then return Sunday and each racing day after that for the extra edge you’ll get on a daily basis from the NY Hot List.

Looking ahead, in the coming weeks we’ll add features like cumulative lettered lists for the past three months and late wagering statistics for each trainer so that you’ll know what to do when you notice that a horse’s odds are starting to sink.

One quick hint: when a horse trained by Richard Violette, Carlos Martin or Kiaran McLaughlin take a late plunge on the tote board, pay attention – pay close attention.

In addition, each Friday in this spot, either yours truly or my partner in this venture, Shawn Rychling, an experienced NYRA observer and handicapper for more than 20 years, will post a blog on the key weekend races and offer our early thoughts on some of the NY Hot List horses running that weekend.

If I’ve done my job and piqued your interest in the NY Hot List, you can contact to make sure you get the NY Hot List daily reviews emailed to you on a regular basis.

You can also contact me at nyhotlist@interbets.com with any questions you might have about the NY Hot List.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you and enjoying a great ride with you, thanks to InterBets.com and Catskill OTB.

Bob Ehalt, an award-winning turf writer and handicapper based in Connecticut, is the co-founder of the New York Hot List. His blog at ntra.com received the 2009 Breeders’ Cup award for Outstanding Social Media. He can be reached at nyhotlist@interbets.com.

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5/17/12

By Bob Ehalt

If you’re looking for wagering value in a Triple Crown race, then, sorry, you were warned two weeks ago.

No other race can match the value inherent in the Kentucky Derby, where the winner of the Santa Anita Derby was allowed to go off at 15-1 odds. If you had faith in that West Coast hero, I’ll Have Another, and backed him, you were rewarded with a handsome $32.60 payoff for that astute decision.

Now comes the Preakness and value has apparently pulled a Dullahan and elected to skip the middle jewel of the Triple Crown in favor the Belmont Stakes. Though there’s a field of 11 and some long morning line prices on the toteboard, the Preakness is basically a four-horse race and if you can get 8-1 or one of them, you’ve got yourself a bargain.

What you saw at the Derby is basically what you’ll see again Saturday in Baltimore as four of the top five finishers in the Derby tower over the other seven entrants. I’ll Have Another was the best horse on the first Saturday in May, but the morning line favors Bodemeister (8-5), who set an exceptionally quick pace in the Derby before giving way in the final sixteenth and settling for second.

There’s a distinct lack of horses with sharp early speed that, on one hand, bodes well for “Bode” yet it also means I’ll Have Another (5-2), who has more speed than he showed in the Derby, will most likely chase Bodemeister with earnest. That possibility could set it up for Went the Day Well or Creative Cause, who were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Derby, to post a minor upset. Just don’t expect to collect more than about $15 for cashing on one of them.

Beyond that, Teeth of the Dog (15-1), who was third in the Wood Memorial, seems the best hope for cracking the chalk superfecta. Daddy Nose Best (12-1) appeared poised for a sharp effort in the Derby but lumbered home a disappointing 10^th.  Perhaps he’ll answer his wake-up call on Saturday.

Those morning line prices, as inviting as they may sound, reflect how the game has changed with the shifting of the scene to Pimlico. After getting the winner of the West Coast’s premier prep at 15-1, you can have a horse that was 10^th in the Run for the Roses at the same price.

Goodbye, value. It was nice knowing you.

Still, someone has to win, and what’s the point in swallowing all that chalk. Let’s hope a young, inexperienced rider such as Mario Gutierrez pushes I’ll Have Another into a speed duel with Bodemeister that leaves both of them gasping for air in the final yards and hands the race over to Went the Day Well.

Owned by Team Valor International, which won last year’s Derby with Animal Kingdom, Went the Day Well had a ton of trouble early in this year’s race and then was moving fastest of all in the final yards.

He seemed a natural for the Belmont as opposed to the shorter Preakness, but his connections must have seen something compelling enough in him to bring him back on two weeks rest instead of giving him a freshening for the final leg of the Triple Crown.

A $14 payoff doesn’t seem a good enough reward for beating both I’ll Have Another and Bodemeister with a horse who was 30-1 in his last race, but, hey, where do you think you are? At the Derby? If only, value-minded price shoppers. If only indeed.

Oh, and don’t forget, advance wagering on the Preakness will be available at Catskill OTB beginning on Friday.

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5/11/12

By Shawn Rychling

The first leg of the Triple Crown is in our rearview mirror and the betting crapshoot that is the Kentucky Derby produced a somewhat surprising result, though certainly not a shocking one.

I’ll Have Another reeled in the very game Bodemeister in the final 1/16^th to pull off the win at 15-1 and light up the toteboard with the usual hefty payoffs theDerby produces.  The top finishers were filled with California-based horses in a departure from recent form.

I’ll Have Another is already in Baltimore setting up shop in Stall 40 at Pimlico Race Course as he prepares for the Preakness next Saturday.

Back in New York this is the weekend when our thoughts begin to turn to the great summer racing we have here as 3-year-olds compete in the Grade II Peter Pan which is the top prep race for the Belmont Stakes.

It’s a full field of 12 – at least as of now – for the mile-and-an-eighth event around one turn on the huge Belmont oval.

Included in the field is Mark Valeski, a colt that pulled out of the Derby a few days before the race.  He was talked about as a ‘wiseguy’ type choice as a horse that might be sitting on a big effort coming out off a runnerup finish in the Louisiana Derby.

Trainer Larry Jones has this horse working well and he figures to be able to rate off the lead and take advantage of an early speed duel

Several horses figure to try and stay with front-running The Lumber Guy who comes off the win in the Jerome which was a step forward from the Wood Memorial when he was the early speed, but was forced into a 3-wide trip.

Problem for The Lumber Guy is that it’s likely he will have several rivals who won’t let him get an easy early lead.  Right to Vote starts inside of The Lumber Guy and has early foot, while Le Bernardin and Master Rick figure to be close up as well.

The New York Hot List has a horse in this race and that is the No. 3 Zetterholm, a NewYork bred colt that is the longest shot in the morning line at 20-1.

Zetterholm has won three in a row, but has only beaten New York breds.  However, he is improving, like several of these horses, and the price should be huge. He is being mentioned as a possible Preakness starter, but there is some thought that he will indeed run at Belmont on Saturday.

If Zetterholm was a horse that liked to run on the lead, he would best be ignored. But he is an even deeper closer than Mark Valeski and sometimes in these one-turn routes at Belmont you see suicide speed duels develop.

With all the horses entered that like to run on the lead, we could have a serious meltdown in the final 1/8^th of a mile. That is the scenario that could get Zetterholm the upset or at least into the bottom half of the exacta.  So we think he is one you want to use on your exotics at the minimum.  Hey, it’s a longshot, but that’s why they call in GAMBLING.

One other horse of interest in the Peter Pan is Street Life who adds blinkers for Chad Brown after a lackluster effort in the Wood.  That should help him focus a bit better and he is a good looking son of Derby and Travers winner Street Sense.

The key play in this race for me is Mark Valeski on top with The Lumber Guy, Street Life and Zetterholm underneath in varying degrees of usage.  May just have to have a few tickets with Street Life and Zetterholm on top as well.

Saturday is one of the more interesting cards we’ve seen at Belmont since it opened on April 27 and the Hot List has several good betting options on the card.

So check out all our picks right here. Don’t forget that all of our daily race reviews are available to Interbets account holders. To sign up for an account go toInterbets.com.

We’re just 68 days and counting until Opening Day at Saratoga!!!

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5/3/12

By Bob Ehalt

The day is finally at hand.

The confusing prep races, the long hours of handicapping, they all culminate at 6:24 p.m. Saturday when a field of 20 will break from the gate in the 138th edition of the Kentucky Derby.

About two minutes later, everything will be crystal clear, and handicappers across the land will wonder how in the world they failed to cash.

As usual, this year’s Derby offers yet another Rubik’s Cube of a race. Just picking the betting favorite is a challenging enough exercise, though Bodemeister, the morning-line choice, and Union Rags seem the best bets in that regard.

Picking the winner looms a different task as none of the horses have ever tackled a mile and a quarter distance and some have yet to race at Churchill Downs. Intent in the prep races looms another key consideration. Since graded stakes earnings determine spots in the field, some of the top candidates had berths locked up prior to their final prep and were able to use that race as a nothing more than a tune-up.

Perhaps that might explain recent losses by top contenders like Hansen, Union Rags and Creative Cause, who finished 1-2-3 in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs and have valuable experience over Saturday’s surface.

Meanwhile, some horses, like Bodemeister and Gemologist, came into their final preps needing a win to punch their ticket to Louisville. Perhaps they turned in their gem of a race in April rather than May.

Then there’s the added zaniness created by Trinniberg’s presence in the field. One of the best 3-year-old sprinters in training, he’s a longshot to be around at the finish. But his early speed will create all kinds of headaches for anyone who tries to run with him in the early stages.

Put it all together and what does it get you?

How about Union Rags?

In a race with so many variables, he has more positives on his side of the ledger than anyone else. He’s run well at Churchill Downs, has yet to turn in a bad effort, and has enough ability to wind up somewhere in the triple at worst.

Given all that, he gets the nod. It may not sound inviting to back the second choice in such a wide-open race, but if goes off at his morning line price of 9-2 it’s a bargain as opposed to the 2-1 he figured to be prior to a third-place finish in the Florida Derby.

For second, we’ll try Alpha, who is actually a New York Hot List “C” horse off a runner-up finish in the Wood, when he took late money. Coming off a two-month layoff, he staged a promising late rally to fall a neck shy of catching Gemologist in a race the victor desperately needed to win.

The recent loss of some training time is a concern, yet the Wood seemed an ideal prep to have him on his toes for a top effort in the Derby and the 15-1 odds are quite inviting.

To round out the triple, there’s Daddy Nose Best, who actually was a winner for the Hot List back in August at Saratoga – on the turf no less. A son of Scat Daddy, he’s on the upswing at the right time and has the kind of closing kick that should be effective at a 10-furlong distance.

In 2009, Mine That Bird used the Sunland Park Derby as a springboard to victory in the Run for the Roses. Perhaps this year it’s Daddy Nose Best’s turn to take the New Mexico route to the winner’s circle in Kentucky.

In a zany year like this one, that wouldn’t be much of a surprise.

Happy handicapping to all!

Derby seminar/Belmont Beat the Pro contest at Mahopac

If you’re in the Putnam County area on Friday, then stop by the Catskill OTB branch in Mahopac, where I’ll be conducting a Kentucky Derby seminar as well as a “Beat the Pro” contest linked to that day’s races at Belmont Park.

The Derby seminar will begin at noon.

After that, I’ll serve as “The Pro” and will take on a series of customers selected through random drawings.

The customer, who must be present to participate, will pick a horse in the upcoming Belmont race. I’ll then pick a different horse.  If the customer’s horse beats mine, then they win a $10 betting voucher. If I win, then the money is rolled over to the next race and next player until someone beats me or the card ends.

Hope to see you in Mahopac! I’ll be the guy with the Yankee hat on.

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4/27/12

By Shawn Rychling

The best part of the horse racing calendar is upon us as we stand just one week away from the 138^th running of the Kentucky Derby, and don’t forget that the New York racing scene moves to Belmont Park with opening day on Friday with the weekend’s main event being the Grade III Westchester at 1 mile on the main track.
To Honor and Serve will be favored in that one as he goes out for Bill Mott in his first race since winning the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Thanksgiving Weekend.  He will be taking on the Richard Dutrow-trained Boys At Tusconova – a likely Derby horse last year if not for an injury, and Jersey Town which won the 2010 Cigar Mile for Barclay Tagg.

The long winter slog at Aqueduct is over and you can follow all of the Belmont action and get our daily picks at the New York Hot List exclusively on Interbets.com.  We look forward to the Belmont Stakes on June 9 and Opening Day at Saratoga on Friday, July 20.

As a little appetizer for opening weekend, we’ll mention three ‘Hot List’ horses we are particularly high on. While they may not be entered this weekend, keep an eye out for them early in the meet as they are gearing up for Belmont and had a recent prep at Aqueduct, especially on the turf.

Ziptronic went out for Gary Contessa on April 12^th in his first race since late December. It’s worth looking at the replay of that one as the horse fought the reins of Ryan Curatolo the entire run to the clubhouse turn and beyond. He had pull back heading into the far turn to go around horses and then had to check at the quarter pole.  Slipped outside in the stretch and remarkably had some run left in him.  Ziptronic won twice on the turf last fall – once at 6 furlongs and the other at 1 1/16 miles so he is versatile.  He got pinned on the rail in this race around the first turn and would seem to really like the one-turn sprints or routes at Belmont.

Madoffwiththecash is a filly you have to like on the clever, irreverent naming alone.  She put in a pretty dull effort on an off track in her debut so Eric Reed switched to the turf for a mile-and-a-sixteenth affair on April 18th.  They made a conscious effort to take back with the horse and she fought the bit early and lost a lot of ground leaving the gate.  before relaxing down the backside.  Slow start left her with a lot of work to do and she rallied 5-6 wide on the turn, had to check at the top of the stretch and then regained momentum and missed the top spot by only ¾ of a length.  Great effort for this one and she dropped down from the special weights.  It sure would be nice for her odds if the Reed had the confidence to step back up in class.

Captain Goodenough was almost good enough to win for the low-profile trainer Glenroy Brown, who switched everything up trying turf, blinkers and a route for the first time with this 4-year-old.  It all paid off as he ran probably ran his best race in 6 career starts.  He was dueling for the lead as the entered the backstretch before jockey Ruben Silvera backed off and tipped outside about 4-wide to rally for the pace spot.  Would up second by a wide margin. This one should be formidable now that he has found a home on the turf.

There you have it – three horses to watch closely in the opening couple weeks of the Belmont meet.
Remember to check out all our picks right here. Don’t forget that all of our daily race reviews are available to Interbets account holders. To sign up for an account go to Interbets.com.

82 days and counting until Opening Day at Saratoga!!!

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4/20/12

By Bob Ehalt

They’ll be breaking out the “Lumber” on Saturday in Queens, and it has nothing to do with Dave Wright’s hot streak for the Mets.

The Lumber Guy, trainer Mike Hushion’s fleet 3-year-old colt, heads a field of seven in the $200,000 Jerome, the final graded stakes of New York racing’s marathon six-month stay at Aqueduct.

Contested at a mile, the Jerome could be a springboard to a start in the Preakness for a Triple Crown hopeful, but in The Lumber Man’s case it seems a more fitting audition for future graded sprints like the Woody Stephens at Belmont and the King’s Bishop at Saratoga.

The Lumber Guy’s Triple Crown aspirations pretty much evaporated when he set the pace in the Wood Memorial but then tired in the stretch and faded to fifth. Yet the speed he displayed in carving out the early fractions for the victorious Gemologist in the Wood should serve him well Saturday at a flat mile against lesser competition.

A winner of the Miracle Wood at Laurel and a maiden race in his first two starts, the New York State-bred colt looms the one to beat against a field that lacks a rival who has finished better than third in a graded stakes.

“I’m still figuring out what his best distance is,” Hushion said. “Physically, he’d definitely go long, but mentally he’s not ready to (do it). Hopefully he’ll start to get the idea and not get panicky once he gets set off a little bit.”

The other starters include Brigand, Stirred Up, Dan and Sheila, Right to Vote, Adirondack King and Term Loan.

Racing at Aqueduct will conclude on Sunday and the scene will then shift to Belmont Park on Friday for a 56-day spring/summer meet that features the Belmont Stakes on June 9.

On the national scene, Saturday’s stakes menu also features the $200,000 Lexington Stakes, where Holiday Promise will be an attractive key for exotic wagers if his morning line price of 6-to-1 holds up.

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4/13/12

By Shawn Rychling

Well we’re three weeks out from this year’s edition on the Kentucky Derby and this weekend is the last chance you get to see any of the consensus contenders prepping for the big race.

The focus will be on Keeneland, which has the Blue Grass Stakes, and Oaklawn Park, where the Arkansas Derby will be contested.

We’ll talk about the Derby today since nothing much jumps out at me from the Aqueduct cards this weekend.  But you can still check out our picks at the New York Hot List exclusively on Interbets.com.

The Blue Grass features Hansen, an impressive colt who, along with Union Rags, Gemologist and Creative Cause, is in the conversation among the top tier of Derby favorite.

Michael Maker has done everything right with Hansen as this horse has won 4 of his 5 career starts.  He began last fall with two dominating wins on the polytrack at Turfway, and then proved his versatility by winning the Breeders’ Cup juvenile at Churchill.

The 2012 debut was a second-place showing in the Holy Bull, but he had valid excuses with the sloppy track and stumbling start.  Hansen quieted some critics in the March 3^rd Gotham as he was forced 5-wide early leaving post 12 and then sat just off the lead and blew on by the leader at the quarter pole to win rather easily.

That brings him to the Blue Grass where he returns to polytrack.  But unlike recent years with winners of this race, Hansen is already a proven winner on dirt and a win Saturday and he may be headed to Churchill Downs as the big favorite.

With six career starts – and five wins – Hansen would have the kind of foundation that few recent Derby favorites have had.

Betting against Hansen may be a tough proposition in this race, but there are a few options. Dullahan goes out for Dale Romans. He ran fourth in the BC Juvenile and won the Grade I Futurity at Keeneland last fall.  Not sure if the dirt form makes him a Derby horse, but he is a threat in the Blue Grass.

Prospective could be a late-blooming type as he comes in off the Tampa Bay Derby win. He got better in every race he ran at Tampa over the winter for underrated Woodbine-based trainer Mark Casse and he is looking for a solid showing in order to punch a ticket to Louisville.

Howe Great looks more like a turf horse, but that means he is capable of running well on the polytrack.  He is also trained by Graham Motion, who trained Animal Kingdom last year, a horse thought to be just a turf runner.

Trainer Bob Baffert has two horses entered in the Arkansas Derby.  First up is Secret Circle which won the first two legs on the Oaklawn Derby prep schedule – the Southwest and Rebel Stakes.

Secret Circle has won 5 of 6 in his career and is one of the few Derby hopefuls with a Beyer figure above 100.  His Oaklawn prep schedule is the same path followed by 2004 Derby winner Smarty Jones.

Baffert also sends out Bodemeister, an Empire Maker colt with just three career starts.  This horse is the morning-line favorite at 9-5 on the strength of two 101 Beyer figures his last two races.  His stablemate, Secret Circle, is 5-2.

He will have his work cut out for him from the 11 post, but here is his real problem.  He’ll have to win the race in order to qualify for the Derby on the graded earnings requirement.  That alone should make this race interesting.

Looking elsewhere for a winner in the Arkansas Derby, you may land on Optimizer.  The D. Wayne Lukas colt ran his best race in the Rebel and just missed the top spot after rallying six-wide.

So enjoy these final two ‘major’ Kentucky Derby prep races and maybe find a betting angle for the First Saturday in May.

And remember to check out all our picks right here. Don’t forget that all of our daily race reviews are available to Interbets account holders. To sign up for an account go to Interbets.com.

96 days and counting until Opening Day at Saratoga!!!

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4/6/12

By Bob Ehalt

If you grew up in New York and followed horse racing, you just might remember the winners of the Wood Memorial as easily as you do the proud Thoroughbreds who went on to capture the Kentucky Derby.

For me, my first trip to the Big A to see New York’s definitive Derby prep came on a cold, rainy afternoon in 1972 when Upper Case, in a  scene to be repeated in five of the next six Triple Crown races, carried the blue and white silks of Meadow Stable to victory.

On Saturday, a new crop of Derby hopefuls will descend on Aqueduct and in another month we’ll know if the race gave us another Upper Case, Riva Ridge, or – if we hit the Powerball jackpot – Secretariat.

Chances are the Wood winner might be somewhere along the lines of the fourth choice in the Derby, but last week’s whacky results – highlighted by Union Rags’ loss and a 109-1 shot winning the Louisiana Derby – create the possibility that if either Gemologist or Alpha pull a Bellamy Road and win the Wood by a parking lot they might the one to beat at Churchill Downs.

Gemologist was installed as the 8-5 favorite in a field of eight, even though he hasn’t run in a stakes this year. His lone 2012 start, though, was a dandy as the Kentucky Jockey Club victor beat Hopeful winner Currency Swap in a one-mile allowance race at Gulfstream Park.

Alpha, the 5-to-2 second choice, enters with two 2012 stakes wins to his credit, taking the Withers and Count Fleet at Aqueduct. He’s not as fast as Gemologist, but he could benefit from lively pace. Gemologist, who will break from post six, has more than enough to speed to grab the early but he may be challenged from the outside by The Lumber Guy (8-to-1) in a duel that gives hope to Alpha as well as My Adonis (8-to-1), who was second to Hansen in the Big A’s Gotham.

Street Life, like Alpha, is coming off a pair of wins at Aqueduct. Yet in his last start, he finished just a half-length ahead of Copy Swagger, a former claimer, and at 4-1 odds, he wears the distinctive look of an underlay.

Casual Trick could be an interesting longshot, which is said somewhat tongue in cheek about a 20-1 shot. He’s lost his last two races by a combined 50 lengths, but don’t laugh him off. He had a displaced palate in both of them. If the tongue tie works this time for trainer Nick Zito, the son of hot sire Bernardini could revert to the form he displayed while running second in the Gulfstream Park Derby on New Year’s Day and land in the exotics.

Teeth of the Dog, who just broke his maiden, and Tiger Walk, who seems to heading in the wrong direction as third in the Withers and most recently fourth in the Gotham, and round out the field.

Looking at the odds, My Adonis seems the best value in the race and an attractive key for your exotic wagers.  He’s 8-1 and has been first or second in six of eight career starts, showing his competitive spirit. He also turned in a sharp blowout for the race and should have a nice pace to chase.

Owned by George and Lori Hall, who last year sent out Ruler On Ice to capture another major 3-year-old race in New York – does the Belmont Stakes ring bell? – he could very well be the one who writes the next chapter in the long and illustrious history of one New York’s most memorable races.

NOTES: The Wood can be seen on NBC TV with a post time of 5:15 p.m. . . . That telecast will also include the Santa Anita Derby and the Ashland from Keeneland . . . Like Creative Cause, the chalk, and Brother Francis, a maiden, at Santa Anita . . . Saturday’s Aqueduct card also features three other stakes, topped by the Grade 1 Carter Handicap which brings together Preakness winner Shackleford, Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile champ Caleb’s Posse, Calibrachoa and Jackson Bend among a field of six . . . Aqueduct will be dark Sunday in observance of Easter. Racing will resume at the Big A Wednesday, with the April 27 opening of Beautiful Belmont Park closing fast on the outside . . . Hope loyal New York Hot List followers were busy at the cashier’s window as last week’s winners featured System Restore ($11) and Read the Signs ($46.60) on March 29 and then Ode to Sami, at a delightful $69.50, the following day. Check out today’s picks by clicking on Handicappers Corner here at www.interbets.com.

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3/30/12

By Shawn Rychling

We say good-bye to March today and after one of the mildest winters in recent memory it looks like we will usher in spring with some snow, though the New York City area shouldn’t get more than some cold rain.

As the temperature has dropped the New York Hot List has remained true to its name with two double-digit winners from Thursday’s card.

In the opener we gave you Irish Eddie, System Restore and Power King in that order and when Irish Eddie scratched our 2nd and 3rd picks ended up running 1-2.

We predicted that System Restore – a ‘B’ in our system – would close with any kind of early pace and that’s just what he did, paying $11 to win. Power King completed a $34 exacta and if you had used Dakota Roadhouse, the 4th choice in the betting, for third then you would have cashed a $132 trifecta.

In the 7th race on Thursday we said why not take a flyer on lightly-raced longshot Read the Signs which we rated a ‘C.’ All he did was go out and absolutely steal the race on the front end at odds of 22-1 — a return of $46.20!

Main Track Musings

The win by Read the Signs was one of the first on the turf this spring and the Aqueduct main track opened last Wednesday after the long haul on the inner.

The New York Hot List kept up its steady work on the inner track as our horses won at a rate of 21 percent and they ran in the money at a 55 percent clip.  That second number is big because beyond the dubious game of ‘picking winners’ we are always striving to give you ‘usable’ horses for your exotic tickets and several of those in the money horses went off at double-digit odds and pumped up the payoffs in the exacta and trifecta pools.

The first week on the main track has been interesting as we watched a serious speed bias develop.  In the 46 races on the main track, 12 of the winners went wire-to-wire, while 30 of the winners (65 percent) were in first or second place at the second call of the race.

We’ll see how the main track plays the rest of the spring, but a check of Thursday’s chart showed that a whopping 7 of 9 winners were either 1stor 2nd at the second call and 4 winners went gate-to-wire.  It’s funny that the inner track gets a reputation for a bias toward frontrunners, but it seemed to play rather fair this winter.

Saturday Horses to Watch

Since we’ve done well with longshots lately I will highlight two of them on Saturday’s card.  In the 5th race Kevin Silverlaspia should draw in off the MTO list and I like his chances coming off the best race of his career when he ran second at 40-1.  He will get some class relief moving from open claimers to restricted and his maiden win was on a muddy track.

In the 8th race, Outside Love will start on the outside and goes second off a long layoff and just 8 days since he ran 2nd at 89-1. He led that race late as the Finger Lakes form held up in the state-bred allowance ranks.  You won’t get 89-1 and he may regress, but the decent record over the off going makes him an enticing play.

If the Aqueduct card doesn’t appeal to you, then the Florida Derby showdown between Union Rags and El Padrino should as we hit the 5-week mark to the Kentucky Derby.

Be sure to check out all our picks right here. Don’t forget that all of our daily race reviews are available to Interbets account holders. To sign up for an account go to Interbets.com.

Just 110 days until we begin the Saratoga meet!!!

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3/23/12

By Bob Ehalt

It’s as much of a ritual as Opening Day at Yankee Stadium.
Well, for New York racing fans, anyway.

Spring is official in the air as Aqueduct’s main track reopened for racing Wednesday, finally putting an ugly winter into the rearview mirror.

As good as the weather may have been, a horrific spate of fatal breakdowns created a dark cloud over the inner track meet.

In response, a switch to the main track two weeks earlier than scheduled, coupled with a restructuring of purses to correct a dramatic imbalance between claiming prices and purses should help in that regard.

And while NYRA claims nothing different is being done by its team of veterinarians, the usually high number of scratches on Wednesday and Thursday indicates more discretion is being exerted on several fronts to keep horses in questionable physical condition away from the racetrack.
The early results have been promising as there were no fatal breakdowns on Wednesday and Thursday, and hopefully that trend will continue and make this winter just a bad memory.

The races themselves will also take on a different look with 6 1/2- and 7-furlong races and a one-turn mile returning to the condition book. The two-turn races also switch to at least a mile and an eighth.

Best of all, grass racing returns Wednesday.
Yes, spring is in the air.

But while it might be time to put your winter coat in the closet, don’t forget some of the handicapping principles that were invaluable on the inner track. Speed, in particular, has been as dangerous on the main track as it has ever been on the inner.

Through the first 18 races on the main track, 12 (67 percent) of them have been won by horses who were either first or second at the first call. Keep that in mind and remain as vigilant as ever for horses with controlling speed, even at a 7 furlong distance.

And if you’re looking for help with Saturday’s card, the New York Hot List for Saturday should be posted in the Handicappers Corner of Interbets.com. Our Eli, in the eighth race, looks like the best bet of the day but don’t overlook Irish Eddie (1st), Rockin Boogie (3rd), Fiftyfivefiftyfive (5th) and Understatement (10th).

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3/16/12

By Shawn Rychling

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from all of us at the New York Hot List to all of you Irish folks out there…and isn’t EVERYONE Irish on St. Patrick’s Day?

And if you had followed the Hot List the last few days you would have had some cold, hard GREEN cash to go along with your green beer!

Since Sunday the Hot List has given out 14 winners as we continue to eclipse a 20 percent win rate during the inner track meet.  We gave you 6 winners on Sunday and 4 each on Wednesday and Thursday.

The highlights included Joker Jack ($24.80) in Sunday’s 2nd race and that one topped an $87 exacta with another Hot List horse, Go to the Net.  Five Sixteen ($13.20) took Wednesday’s 2nd and Freud’s Notebook ($16.20) won Thursday’s 8th race. She was paired with our horse Alphabet Jamerica to complete a $41.20 exacta for the Hot List.

Let’s hope our HOT streak continues and let’s take a look at a few plays for Saturday’s card.

One Saturday horse I consider intriguing is Street Life, a 3-year-old colt cross-entered in the Broad Brush at Aqueduct and the Private Terms at Laurel.  The Laurel race seems the tougher spot with Gotham starter Raconteur set to go out for Pletcher.  Withers entrant Hakama – also a Hot List horse — is also scheduled to run in that one.

Street Life has only two career starts and after a dismal 8th in his debut, the colt scored an impressive victory for trainer Chad Brown when stretching out to a route. Jockey Junior Alvarado was skilled in weaving through traffic in that victory as Street Life ran past horses effortlessly.

Brown scratched the horse out of a March 7 optional claimer to wait for a tougher spot and he may be trying to see what kind of horse he has in this colt which is nominated to the Triple Crown series.

The Broad Brush will likely include a few other talented horses in Swag Daddy, Copy My Swagger and Hard Facts.  If you are looking to bet Street Life you should hope he runs at Laurel where you will get a better price – albeit against better competition.

Either way you should sit back and enjoy both races which may include a quality late-blooming 3-year-old which just may show up at Churchill Downs the first Saturday in May.

If you are looking for more value on Saturday’s Aqueduct card be sure to check out the 5th race, which is a maiden special-weight affair for 3-year-olds. The Hot List has #2 Bustarella and #8 Guyana Star Dweej in this race and both should go off at a juicy price.

Guyana Star Dweej may be starting to figure things out as he ran second in a very quick race on March 3 at odds of 55-1.  He had to expend plenty of energy in the second quarter of that race just to get into contention.  He ran on well in the stretch, dueling with the winner before yielding the top spot. That race came back fast giving this horse the best career speed figure of the horses entered in Saturday’s race.

Bustarella made a similar improvement last time, but the caveat for this one is that he will now be stepping up into the MSW ranks for the first time.

There will be some tough competition in the race from the likes of Reserve Currency and Pletcher first-timer Giant Indian.  But these maiden races can be unpredictable and a place to find value which you should get with the two Hot List horses.

So here’s hoping you go GREEN on Saturday and try to win some GREEN by checking out all our picks right here. Don’t forget that all of our daily race reviews are available to Interbets account holders. To sign up for an account go to Interbets.com.

Just 124 days until we begin the Saratoga meet!!!
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3/9/12

By Bob Ehalt
It has been said that money can talk, and at a racetrack it can often be deafening.
As most followers of the New York Hot List already know, late money is the angle that stocks horses on the C and D lists. In most cases, we’re looking to follow a horse that drops two or more pegs on the toteboard in the final 5 minutes of wagering, but astute handicappers can also cash on late wagering trends sooner rather than later.
An analysis of how trainers have fared during the inner track meet with horses who have taken late money reveals some interesting numbers.
For starters, to no one’s surprise, the most successful trainers have been Richard Dutrow Jr. and David Jacobson, who have been spending so much time in the winner’s circle that the IRS might consider it a second home for them.
Dutrow, who has been winning at a clip of nearly 40 percent overall, has won with 42 percent of his late money horses (8 of 19) but the numbers jumps to 79 percent (15 of 19) when the sample is expanded to include first and second place finishers.
Jacobson has been more active than Dutrow, with 36 late money horses, though his numbers are slightly lower. Just slightly, mind you. Jacobson has 14 winners (39 percent), 14 runners-ups (78 percent, combined first and second) and two third-place finishers (83 percent), making his horses must-use propositions in the exotics when their odds tumble.
On more surprising note, Todd Pletcher, the kingpin of New York trainers, has rather ordinary numbers with 3 wins out of 19 starters (16 percent), 5 seconds (42 percent) and 5 thirds (68 percent).
A lesser known trainer to watch is Eddie Kenneally, who has clicked with 6 of his 12 late money starters. At a winning percentage of 50, that tops Dutrow and Jacobson. Kenneally also has two seconds and two thirds as his horses have finished in the money 83 percent of the time.
Gary Contessa and Dominic Galluscio have similar numbers with Contessa holding a slight edge in wins (40-36 percent) and first/seconds combined (60-58 percent) over Galluscio.
Behind them come Linda Rice (29 percent win; 41 percent first/second) and Rudy Rodriguez (15 percent win; 48 percent first/second).
While smaller samples can generate less reliable results, others to watch when the money shows up are Joe Aquilino (37 percent win; 62 percent first/second; 87 percent first/second/third) and John Terranova II (25 percent win; 75 percent first/second ; 87 percent first/second/third). Both of them had eight starters.
Bruce Levine has also been productive, winning with 4 of 8 starters (50 percent) and having four more finish third to give him a perfect batting average when it comes to landing in the triple.
On the flip side, Mark Hennig has one win in 11 tries (9 percent) and has been first or second only 4 times (36 percent).
So listen up the next time money starts to talk. It could have something rather rewarding to say.

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3/2/12

By Shawn Rychling
As the calendar flips to March, the racing at Aqueduct remains on the inner track, but is growing in relevancy as thirteen 3-year-olds converge on Ozone Park Saturday for the 60th running of the Grade III Gotham Stakes at 1 1/16 miles.
The Grade II Top Flight and Grade III Tom Fool are also part of an attractive 11-race card which can’t help but make us think of the coming Spring.
The large field was attracted for the Gotham despite the presence of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Hansen. Perhaps his stumbling start and distant second-place finish in the Holy Bull at Gulfstream has made the competition a little braver. Or just maybe it’s the 60-percent increase in the purse over last year’s Gotham from $250,000 to $400,000. Thank you slots (er…video lottery terminals)!
Hansen still figures to go off as the big favorite as after that bad start in the Holy Bull he still charged to the lead under Ramon Dominguez and ran a half mile in :45 and change before coming back to the field. Trainer Michael Maker is removing the blinkers which he thinks will help the horse relax from the start. He also thought Hansen was just too keyed up in his first start after the layoff since the Cup.
All seem like plausible excuses for Hansen’s first defeat, and at the same time it makes perfect sense for his rivals to show up and for us horseplayers to try and beat him.
The New York Hot List does indeed have a horse in the Gotham – and that is Side Road – which will start from post 10 for Kiaran McLaughlin under Alan Garcia.
Side Road earned a ‘C’ when he broke his maiden on Jan. 28 after being bet down from 7-1 to 9-2. The replay is worth watching as he was patiently ridden in midpack through a quick half-mile and then he accelerated to get into contention heading into the far turn. Even after that middle move he had enough left to win going away.
You don’t see that very often, especially from a young horse which may indicate the improvement in that race is genuine and not a product of pace or track bias. Add to it the fact that his last race was the first time he got a squeaky clean trip.
Also if you notice this horse is not nominated to the Triple Crown so McLaughlin isn’t under a lot of pressure to run him in a prep like the Gotham. And the presence of Alan Garcia is a mild jockey upgrade and it appears he had at least one other choice of where to ride.
With all that being said, his last race was still a maiden affair and Side Road still has the tough task of facing winners for the first time and it comes in a Grade III Derby prep. But if we have learned anything from recent Derby prep seasons it’s that late bloomers are often the horses you try to find, especially last year when the 20-plus prep races didn’t have a repeat winner.
Bottom line: If Hansen runs his race he wins, but we’ll look for plausible alternatives and Side Road could be one of them. Other possibilities include Maan a colt that is 2-for-2 for Eddie Kenneally and certainly eligible to improve. Steelcase, which is improving each start for the underrated trainer Mark Casse. Odds on any of these 3 should be enticing.
Another longshot could be King and Crusader which showed a similar move forward as Side Road in his last race and has 2 wins over the inner track. One horse I am betting against is My Adonis, which I think benefited from Hansen’s fast early pace in the Holy Bull.
In betting the race we still plan on playing Hansen hard, but pressing the exactas and trifectas with Side Road underneath.
As for the other two stakes on the card, it seems a little tougher to makes cases against either It’s Tricky in the Top Flight or Caleb’s Posse in the Tom Fool. Unless you consider that both have been away since the Breeders’ Cup and that certainly can be a negative.

In total the New York Hot List has 17 horses entered for Saturday’s card so be sure to check out all our picks right here. Don’t forget that all of our daily race reviews are available to Interbets account holders. To sign up for an account go to Interbets.com
Just 138 days until we begin the Saratoga meet!!!

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2/24/12
By Bob Ehalt
One of the reasons why racetracks switched from dirt to synthetics was to have a racing surface that would be uniform, regardless of sun, rain, sleet or snow.
Say what you want about Polytrack, but it’s always labeled fast.
This winter, New York fans could be fooled into thinking that Aqueduct switched to Polytrack, Tapeta, Cushion Track or something of that ilk while no one was looking.
A year after snow would not go away, we’re in the midst of a winter that’s a 180-degree difference from 2011. It’s been like a desert at Ozone Park, N.Y., with a parade of one dry day after another.
If you’re wondering, prior to Friday’s rain/snow, the last time Aqueduct’s inner track was anything but fast was January 28. Including the Thursday, Feb. 23 card that made 19 straight racing days with a fast track.
Beyond that, beginning with Dec. 30 and ending with Thursday, just 3 out of 38 cards have been contested on a track considered something other than fast – a figure that would be considered nirvana for Saratoga.
For handicappers, the dry weather has offered a couple of benefits. Already small fields have not been reduced to virtual match races because of scratches, and the always tricky task of assessing a horse’s wet track abilities has been removed from the equation. While mud may be mud to some, the consistency of a wet track can often create a situation in which a horse might revel like a sow in the Belmont Park mud but flounder in the Big A’s slop.
The dry weather has also lessened the bias toward inside speed. While the inner track inherently favors inside speed because of its tight turns, there have been plenty of occasions when horses have stormed from the back of the pack to the winner’s circle – sometimes at a very nice price.
One interesting characteristic about the inner track is that inside speed is usually most dangerous once the surface dries out following a storm. For instance, on the Jan. 28 card, which started with the wet track listed as “good” for the first three races and was upgraded to fast for the fourth and the remainder of the day, there were 6 front-running gate-to-wire winners as well as one winner who led at every pole but one and two early leaders who finished second.
Keep all of that in mind for the Saturday and Sunday cards. As much as it might seem like she’s spent the winter working on her tan in Florida, Friday should be a reminder that Mother Nature is always lurking around the corner.

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2/18/12

By Shawn Rychling
The Aqueduct winter meet (does it really feel like winter this year) rolls on and the New York Hot List has lived up to its name with several multiple-win days of late.
Our biggest day may have been Sunday Feb. 5 when we had Minister’s Fate win and pay $75.50 to win. That wasn’t all as another hot list horse, Wow Me, took second in that race to complete a $391 exacta!
Minster’s Fate took some mild action moving from 8-1 to 6-1 on the board in her previous race on Jan. 16. Let me include our race notes on her effort that day:
Took a little late money off that mild wakeup last time out. Raced 3-wide on both turns in this one and showed very little. She does have two wins on the inner and we think she is better suited to a 6-furlong event.
As you can see this horse was on an upswing for 2 straight races and we stressed the inner track success and that a turnback to 6 furlongs would be a boon to her chances. This is why you need access to our race reviews and you can get them by opening an Interbets.com account. And in addition we’ll always have picks and analysis for every racing day on the NYRA circuit.

Things I Think About
If you follow the races daily as I do you look for every conceivable angle to gain an edge and at the forefront of that is race conditions and how horses may perform as they move in and out of those conditions.
Saturday’s card has a couple of good examples of this with Hot List horses.
In Race 2 we have The Tapinator making his sixth career start in a $35,000 maiden claiming race for New York State breds.
The horse is coming off the best race of his career in which he ran second at 17-1. That race came against open 16k maiden claimers. I checked the past performances for that race and he was one of only 3 New York breds entered.
So now the question is how a 16k maiden claimer for any horse compares with a 35k maiden claimer for New York breds. The price is higher, but it is restricted to a limited pool of state breds.
Alas, The Tapinator is the morning line favorite at 2-1, but is that prediction due to the class move or his recent form? As for how he actually runs we’ll have to wait and see.
The 5th race on Saturday’s card is a bottom-level, $7,500 claimer for horses which have never won 2 races. That would be the N2L condition.
The hot list has Purge Bird and Cool Operator racing at that condition for the second-straight week. But if you look at the 2 horse, Up Above, he arguably ran his best race in a while of Feb. 11 and it came in a Clm7500N2X race.

The X stands for races ‘other than’ maiden, claiming or starter which means Up Above may have raced against horses with multiple wins rather than against horses that have won only once in their lifetimes. Owners and trainers will tell you that horses with 2 or more wins are ‘hickory tough’ or a huge cut above the maidens and one-time winners.
Up Above may have run against significantly better horses last time while he is in today against foes that are 1-for-55, 1-for-46 and 1-for-36. It is interesting that he is 10-1 in the morning line.
Just a few tidbits to think about as you play the races this weekend and beyond.
Be sure to check out all our Hot List picks right her every day. Don’t forget that all of our daily race reviews are available to Interbets account holders. To sign up for an account go to Interbets.com.
Saratoga opens in 152 days!
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2/9/12

By Bob Ehalt

It’s been a while since New York served as the main highway to a Kentucky Derby victory.

Nine years ago, to be precise, Funny Cide went from a runner-up in the Wood Memorial to a champ the following month in the 2003 Kentucky Derby. Since then, an assortment of New York hopefuls have fallen short in bids to follow the lead of Funny Cide and Empire State runners before him like Monarchos (2001) and Fusaichi Pegasus (2000).

This year that might change. New York has a highly intriguing Derby candidate on its hands in Godolphin Racing’s Alpha, who was last seen a week ago taking the Withers at Aqueduct.

Alpha didn’t beat much in the Withers, which explains his 2-5 odds, yet he took a solid step forward off his previous start – a win in the Jan. 7 Count Fleet at the Big A – and improvement is the name of the game on the road to the Triple Crown.

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is shipping Alpha to Florida to continue the colt’s training (a wise move with talk of weekend snow in the air) and will then bring him back to the Big Apple for the Wood Memorial. The April 7 Wood should be the third and final Triple Crown prep for Alpha, and in a year in which current Derby favorite Union Rags is scheduled for just two preps, his resume might look as good as anyone’s on the first Saturday in May.

The first round of Kentucky Derby future wagering is available this weekend at www.interbets.com and Catskill OTB outlets, and at a morning-line quote of 20-1 Alpha serves up a very inviting price.

At 8-1, Algorithms, winner of the Holy Bull, is the early chalk among the 23 single entrants in the future wagering. Union Rags is next at 10-1.

Without question, the overall favorite for the first of 3 future bet pools will be the mutuel field, which comprises every 3-year-old except the 23 individual wagering interests. The early line on the field is 9-5, which pretty much matches the $6.20 payoff from last year when Animal Kingdom was not included among the individual choices in Pool One.

While the mutuel field offers the most logical wager, another longshot to consider is Empire Way. A full brother to last year’s 3-year-old champion filly Royal Delta, Empire Way was second in the Robert B. Lewis at Santa Anita last weekend in his first try on dirt.

Empire Way might not be a New York horse, but at a highly generous 50-1 he could certainly ignite an Empire state of mind if he finds a mile and a quarter to his liking on the first Saturday in May.

‘Fate’ leads to a $75.50 winner for the Hot List

Hope you enjoyed a Super Sunday with the New York Hot List, as included among the Feb. 5 plays were Minster’s Fate, who paid $75.50 for winning the sixth race at Aqueduct, and Wow Me, who was second in that race to complete a $391 exacta.

The Hot List also had 5 winners on Saturday, and started this week on the right foot with Coaltown Legend, a $15.20 winner on Wednesday’s Aqueduct card.

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2/4/12

By Shawn Rychling

In a blink of an eye we’ve entered February and Bob Ehalt definitely saw his shadow on Thursday which means we have at least 6 more weeks of inner track racing at Aqueduct. We’ve actually seen a bit of an improvement over last year with marginally bigger field sizes thanks to the nearly 40 percent increase in purses.

This weekend we get a look at a possible Kentucky Derby contender in the Grade III Withers and there are two other minor Derby preps at out-of-town tracks. As always the New York Hot List will have picks and analysis for every racing day on the NYRA circuit and you can get it all with an Interbets.com account.

The Hot List is coming off a sizzling week here which saw us give out FOUR winners on Wednesday as well as four second place horses. Three of those runners up were within a half-length of winning.

Once again we stress that our horses are always usable in the exotics and the best example on Wednesday was the 7^th race when the very logical Congo prevailed at 3-1 with the ‘D’ rated Mitigation running second at 10-1 to complete a $79 exacta.

Other highlights off the pick sheet included a $26 winner named Marvelous Margaret in the 4^th race on Jan. 25 which was not Hot List rated, but was a value play we specifically mentioned in our race analysis. And on Jan. 27 we picked the trifecta cold in the 5^th race with Slews Big Finale on top of Unbridled Danger and Best Actor. It paid $189.50.

Stay in touch with our Hot List picks right here every day. Don’t forget that all of our daily race reviews are available to Interbets account holders. To sign up for an account go to Interbets.com.

Derby Trail starts here

With Groundhog Day in the rear view mirror we can look forward to some more serious Kentucky Derby prep races and we have one at Aqueduct on Saturday with the Grade III Withers at a mile-and-a-sixteenth.

And the race has a big name entrant in Alpha, the Bernardini colt trained by Kiaran McLaughlin for Godolphin Racing. He ran 11^th in the Breeders Cup Juvenile, but came back Jan. 7 to take the ungraded Count Fleet on this same track, and that was in spite of a 3-wide trip. A win for this horse and they have to be thinking about a trip to Louisville in May.

There are a couple other intriguing horses if you are trying to beat Alpha. Tiger Walk is a Tale of the Cat colt that really woke up when the connections finally put him on the dirt in December. He comes in with some strong works and seems to have a lot potential.

Hakama is another horse which showed vast improvement in his last 2 starts which were both wins. Meanwhile King Kid goes out for the third time and could contend if he improves in this start as he did from his debut to his second try.

Finally, Todd Pletcher enters How Do I Win, which didn’t answer that question until he dropped in for a tag back in October. But his race in the Count Fleet behind Alpha was what you might expect off a layoff and he certainly has room to improve as a 3-year-old.

Elsewhere on Saturday, 3-year-olds will be running in the Grade III Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs and the Grade II Robert B. Lewis at Santa Anita where Bob Baffert has two 3-year-olds entered.

As for the rest of the Aqueduct card on Saturday the Hot List has a pair of best bets with Nicole H in the 5^th race and Zetterholm in Race 7.

Nicole H has won 5 of 7 and is 3-for-3 lifetime on the inner track, while Zetterholm picks up Dominguez for this race after a strong second in his last outing.

If you are looking for value – as we always are – you may want to take a look at Mr. Beer Goggles in the 4^th race. He will have to improve off his first two efforts, but the mud may have slowed him down last time and the quick turnaround may give him a fitness edge.

Well that’s all for this week. Be sure to check out all our Hot List picks right her every day. Don’t forget that all of our daily race reviews are available to Interbets account holders. To sign up for an account go to Interbets.com.

Saratoga opens in 166 days!

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1/27/12

By Bob Ehalt

As important a role as trip handicapping can play in tabbing winners, there’s not a steadfast formula to follow.

As good, or troubled, an effort may appear what matters more is whether that horse will run better the next time he races. That’s when the reward comes into play for spotting the right horse.

Keep that in mind while watching races over the inner track at Aqueduct, where inside speed generally has an edge. Just because a horse overcomes a wide trip and closes strongly to finish third it doesn’t mean he’ll find a fair racetrack the next time he starts. He could be doomed to a series of third place finishes until spring arrives and Aqueduct’s main track reopens.

That, in a nutshell, explains why you will not find every horse with a bad or wide trip on the New York Hot List. Each day in preparing the daily reviews, we judge whether or not a horse will improve off that effort, which means, at this time of year, that there could be great value in following speed horses that are hurt by wide trips.

The hope is that if they land an inside post next time they will be more formidable on the front end.

To help illustrate that point, here are a few of our recent “A” list horses, with a brief explanation of why they were selected:

Jan. 20

Hoopskirt – She ran a game second despite a wide trip and with her speed should move forward with a better post.

Jan. 19

Bizzaroworld – Usually he’s close to lead, but he was bumped at the start and forced to rally from the back on a day when speed ruled. With a clean start he’ll be closer at the finish next time.

Supsa – The track was kind to her speed, but she clicked off a fast opening fraction and early kick like that will be a valuable commodity this winter.

Great Gracie Dame – She was simply much the best and in her current form should be just as tough next time.

Easy Ending – Was a good front-running second in her first try at two turns. The effort should give her the kind of foundation she needs to handle either a route or sprint next time.

Jan. 16

Won Fast Bullet – Had enough speed to stalk the leader and take charge in the stretch. A horse with speed that is in excellent form deserves tons of respect on the inner track.

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1/21/12
By Bob Ehalt

The timing has always been wrong for a rather fast racehorse named I Want Revenge.

In 2009, he might have been the favorite in the Kentucky Derby.

In 2010 and 2011, he could have been one of the year’s best older runners.

But a string of injuries and assorted setbacks have popped up with enough regularity that I Want Revenge has gone from a leading Triple Crown candidate to a horse that makes appearances with all the regularity of Santa Claus.

On Saturday, I Want Revenge will attempt yet another comeback when he heads a field of six in the $75,000 Evening Attire Stakes at Aqueduct, the same place where he notched his last win some 33 months ago.

That win back in the days when Aqueduct housed a grandstand instead of a casino came in the 2009 Wood Memorial and earned I Want Revenge billing as one of the top contenders for the Kentucky Derby. But hours before the opening leg of the Triple Crown, an ankle injury was detected and I Want Revenge was scratched.

He was sidelined for a more than a year, running twice in 2010, with a pair of third-place finishes in the Suburban and Iselin.

Another wave of physical setbacks led to a 5 ½-month layoff and a 2011 campaign that featured just a fourth in the Donn, an 10^th-place stinker in the Godolphin Mile and a runner-up effort in the Three Coins Up.

It’s been about eight months since I Want Revenge was seen in the Three Coins Up, but he has been training sharply enough for trainer Rick Dutrow that he was pegged a 7-5 favorite in the mile and a sixteenth Evening Attire.

The speedy Eighttofasttocatch, the 2-1 second choice, rates as the main competition for the favorite. The 6-year-old gelding has won three of his last four races, with the trio of victories coming at Laurel

Redding Colliery also merits respect, coming off a two-month layoff. A winner of the Hawthorne Gold Cup last fall, he was a disappointing sixth in the Swatara at Penn National in his last start and could return to top form in this spot for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin.

A trio of longshots, Jimanator, Day Of Destiny and Thunder Ball, round out the field on a day when the timing might finally be right for I Want Revenge.

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1/14/12
By Shawn Rychling

Well, they’re off in 2012 at Aqueduct and the New York Hot List will have picks and analysis for every racing day on the NYRA circuit and you can get it all with an Interbets.com account.

Full fields ahead

Right off the top this week we have an update on the field sizes at Aqueduct as this writer noticed an uptick in entries as I analyzed the race cards this week.

And a quick check of the numbers confirmed my suspicions as there were 8.29 horses per race entered during the week of Jan. 11-16. That number is up from the average of 7.97 starters per race in the first four days of 2012.

Don’t forget there are six racing days this week due to the Martin Luther King holiday. And note that the Saturday-Monday numbers are BEFORE scratches.

A look at this weekend

Let’s highlight a few of the horses and races the Hot List is watching for this weekend.

AGAVE KISS – Hot List ‘A’ – Race 7 – Saturday

This Rudy Rodriguez filly has won both her races by wide margins and her second race was so easy that she actually regressed because jockey Ryan Curatolo put her under wraps the last 1/8^th of a mile. Since that race she’s posted two bullet works and there is no reason to believe she won’t make it 3-for-3 in her career. She is not without some competition in this race however; including Perennial Song which is rated a ‘C,’ but comes off three-and-a-half month layoff following a decent second in the Grade III Tempted. Well Kept will start third off the layoff and finished second to Dance to Bristol last time which is also entered here. That horse made such an improvement last time that one may wonder if the track was playing a little faster than normal that day. Another wild card in here is Corderosa, a David Donk filly with an impressive win in her only start which came back in December.

QUIET EYES – Hot List ‘B’ – Race 9 – Saturday

Very interesting horse going out second time in his career for Richard Dutrow as he threw the jockey prior to the start in his debut and then broke in a tangle spotting the field about 20 lengths. But since that slow start this horse has done nothing but run as he made up a ton of ground in that race and has been burning things up in the morning with bullet works in each of the last two weeks. This horse offers some great value especially if you think the public will make Panthro the favorite. It’s hard to take a short price on that horse when you just don’t know which of his 2 races is closest to his true quality. That improvement he showed from race 1 to race 2 is almost too great to be a true indication of his abilities.

COALTOWN LEGEND – Hot List ‘C’ – Race 2 – Sunday

This great old veteran posted 7 of his 12 career wins in 2011, but has been racing in tougher company since returning to the races after a well-deserved, 3-month rest. And so her returns in this 25k optional claimer again, but his closing style may get the benefit of a speed duel in here among Wise Stop, Bound by Humor and Too Tough Jake. Coaltown Legend is fun to watch if the race sets up for him as he usually closes from the clouds. If he can’t get it done here we’ll look for him to drop back into a straight claimer for 14k or less.

STREET DREAMS – Hot List ‘D’ – Race 5 – Sunday

Very interesting horse because she was bet down from 14-1 to 5-1 in the final few minutes before her last start. In fact she was as high as 10-1 as they were loading the gate. She did nothing once the gate opened finishing next-to-last nearly 23 lengths behind the winner. But taking that amount of money must mean somebody thinks highly of her. It’s enough to make us want to use her in some way today as she is 15-1 on the morning line.

ELUSIVE RUMOUR – Hot List ‘B’ – Race 9 – Sunday

Albertrani horse had a sneaky-good debut as she broke from the inside and rated on the rail up close to an honest pace. She wound being the only horse running at the end besides the winner. Might have pulled off a win if not for some traffic blocking her in the stretch. She can probably get some good position leaving the gate in this race and will get the jump on the two most talented horses Bird House and Flea Flicker – both of which will break from the far outside. Have to think this horse is eligible to improve off that debut and it may not take much improvement to win this one. She should offer tremendous value.

Well that’s all for this week and don’t forget Aqueduct will be racing Monday with the MLK Jr. holiday. Be sure to check out all our Hot List picks right her every day. Don’t forget that all of our daily race reviews are available to Interbets account holders. To sign up for an account go to Interbets.com.

PS…just 191 days until Saratoga opens!
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1/7/12
By Shawn Rychling

Happy New Year to all you fans of the New York Hot List and we hope you stay with us throughout 2012. We’ll have picks and analysis for every racing day on the NYRA circuit and you can get it all with an Interbets.com account.

Purses rise, entries fall?

With the dawn of the ‘racino’ era at Aqueduct last fall, NYRA announced a 36 percent increase in purses for 2012 and that was expected to be a boon for bettors with an expected increase in field size.

However, through the first four days of 2012, Aqueduct field sizes were actually slightly smaller than they were in 2011. The first 36 races of the New Year have seen an average of 7.97 horses start as compared to 8.02 starters for the same period in 2011.

That is a disappointing development, but it’s still early and perhaps the horses are still trying to recover from the holidays – just like some of the bettors! Here’s hoping that entries pick up and give us some enhanced opportunities to make some money over this long winter.

Hot List living up to its name

The inner track portion of the meet has been kind to the New York Hot List and we hope you have profited. We are winning at 24 percent clip since the inner track opened on November 30.

The highlights have included old veteran Stud Muffin which paid $15 to win on Dec. 28 as well as Rebellious Chic ($15.80) on Dec. 4 and Perfect Drive ($23) on Nov. 30.

This weekend brings some interesting racing for early January and a couple of potential plays from the Hot List.

Saturday features the $150,000 Count Fleet Stakes at 1 mile and 70 yards for 3-year-olds. Among the entrants is Shkspeare Shaliyah — a very good turf horse trying the dirt for the first time. He won the Grade III Pilgrim on the Belmont turf before a disappointing effort in the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf. Are the connections trying the dirt while eyeing a possible Derby campaign? This race will answer that question.

Two others in here started in the dirt version of the BC Juvenile. One of them – Alpha – may have an outside shot at making it back to Louisville the First Saturday in May and Kiaran McLaughlin is out to see what he has here from his Bernardini colt.

The Hot List has Speightscity rated a ‘C’ in this race. He ran 9^th in the Juvenile and 8^th in Remsen before dropping down to win an optional claimer his last time out.

The Count Fleet is a fairly entertaining race this time of year with 3-year-old angle adding to the intrigue.

Just before the Count Fleet is the Busanda for 3-year-old fillies and the Hot List points to Bourbonstreetgirl which gets some class relief after a solid showing in the Grade II Demoisel. She had a bullet work on New Year’s Eve and we have her as a ‘C’ for the stakes effort. Also, her connections are high on her and she could be ready to roll.

On Sunday, I’m going to go out on a limb here and give you the early double. In the opener we have Pete’s Parley (C) going out third off the layoff after a fabulous effort to run 2^nd on December 17. He also loves the inner track with 2 wins, 2 seconds and 2 thirds in 8 career starts.

In the second race, Dreaming of Cara is rated a ‘C’ and is a horse that hasn’t really been in the right spot very often. She has run on turf several times even though she seems to like the dirt better. This field has several turf types on the dirt which improves her chances. She also has a bad habit of losing touch with the field, but she gets blinkers for this one which may help the early focus.

So on Sunday play that early 7-3 double with us and maybe we can cash!

Be sure to check out all our Hot List picks right her every day. All of our daily race reviews are available to Interbets account holders. To sign up for an account go to Interbets.com.

And the good news is…just 198 days until Saratoga opens!

_______________________________________________________________________12/29/11By 12/29/11
Bob EhaltHi, folks. Happy New Year’s to everyone.With 2012 on the horizon it seems as good a time as any to discuss something that can deliver “presents” throughout the new year.Many of you are familiar with the New York Hot List daily selections and horses to watch that appear in the handicappers corner area of this website.What you may not know is that Interbets.com account holders can also get the NY Hot List daily reviews of each day’s NYRA card for free.

These reviews are basis for our horses to watch. We list all of the horses that make our A,B,C, D lists, detailing why we believe they’ll run strongly in their next start or showing how much late money they took to earn a spot on the C or D lists.

You can analyze them and use them to help build your own stable of horses to watch.

So you can see what you’ve been missing, below is a sample of a recent review. If you like what you see and the price (it’s hard to beat free!) and want to receive the reviews on a regular basis just …..

If you have any other questions about the NY Hot List or our methodology, you can also contact me and my NYHL co-founder Shawn Rychling at NYHotList@interbets.com at your convenience.

Happy handicapping to everyone in 2012.

*****
NY Hot List daily review – December 17, 2011

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

Track fast

Race – Horse (Letter earned today) – (Today’s odds and finish)

1st race – Keechi Bullet (B) – (4th at 17-1) – Turned in a decent effort in his first start for Chatterpaul, rising from $7,500 to $15,000 in claiming price. Drawing the outside post in a field of 7 didn’t help his chances as he rated a couple of lengths off the leaders from 3-4 paths. Tired in the final eighth, but should benefit from this effort if returned to his previous claiming level. Was a “C” horse here after taking late money in his previous start.

1st race – Pete’s Parley (C) – (From 2-1 to 8-5 and finished 2nd) – Tracked the early leaders from the rail, then came out a couple of paths in the stretch and took aim at the leader. Wasn’t good enough to collar that one, but managed to grab 2nd in his first start for Asmussen. Seems to fit well at this level.

2nd race – Great Opal (A) – (2nd at 23-1) – Longshot turned in a sharp effort in his career debut for Donk off slow works. Broke quickly and opened a clear lead. Was joined by a pack of 3 rivals at the quarter pole but dug in and fended them off until the winner rallied inside of her. Wound up nearly 3 lengths ahead of the show horse in a promising debut.

2nd race – Economic Forecast (D) – (From 8-5 to 4-5 and finished 4th) – It wasn’t surprising that he was an odds-on favorite in his career debut for Violette, who does well with his first-time starters. Works were decent, though not particularly fast, but was caught wide throughout after breaking from the outside post in a field of six. Tracked in 4th early on and forged to a slight lead at the 3/16ths pole, but then tired and dropped back to 4th. After running against the grain of the racetrack here, should improve with an inside post.

4th race – Personal Assistant (B) – (1st at 5-2) – Two-year-old graduated in his 3rd career start and seems talented enough to more than hold his own against winners. We listed him as a “C” last time and will stick with him one more time.

4th race – Odom – (C) – (From 5-1 to 4-1 and finished 2nd) – Dutrow runner was 7th out of 9 early on, then launched a belated 3 wide move that brought him to within three-quarters of a length of the winner. Had nearly 4 lengths on the next horse and, considering this was his first race in 2 months, should be sharper next time.

5th race – Fiery Footwork (C) – (From 7-5 to 4-5 and finished 3rd) – Took a huge drop for his first start since April. Showed a bullet move in his next-to-last move, but appeared to need a race. Held a short

lead while involved in a 5-way battle on the front end. At the quarter pole, spurted clear with the winner from that pack but couldn’t keep pace with that one in the stretch and wound up third.

6th race – Officerandafoose (A) – (2nd at 7-2) – Settled for 2nd as an “A” list choice and ran well enough to merit another fling as an “A.” Dashed away to a clear lead with the even money favorite chasing him. Was joined by that one in the stretch and gave away grudgingly to fall a neck short at the wire. Should be even more formidable next time in his 3rd start off a layoff.

6th race – Quiet Eyes (B) – (5th at 7-1) – It was actually surprising that he finished 5th after a miserable trip. A first-time starter for Dutrow, he dumped his jockey while heading to the gate and ran off briefly. Then, after being reunited with Alvarado, was bumped and checked at the start, falling 21 lengths behind after the first quarter-mile. To beat 7 horses after problems like those bodes well for his chances of taking a big step forward in start No. 2.

6th race – First Verse (D) – (From 10-1 to 5-1 and finished 12th) – Drawing post 12 was a negative, but it was surprising to see him chase the pace 4 wide and then retreat to last. He had never been worse than 3rd in 4 previous starts, so was this a glitch or a sign he’s gone off form?

7th race – Gramercy (B) – (3rd at 9-2) – Moved up approaching the turn but ran up on the leader’s heels. Was checked, losing 3-4 lengths, and then swung outside. Moved back inside in the stretch and grabbed 3rd, though he might have been closer with a smoother trip.

7th race – Black Market Money (D) – (From 24-1 to 19-1 and finished 6th) – Invader from Parx hadn’t shown much recently but attracted some late money. Coiuldn’t find an explanation for it in his effort as he never menaced against this bunch.

9th race – Bayshore Blaze (A) – (2nd at 8-1) – Came to life off a 2-month break after finishing no closer than 11 lengths of the winner in his first 5 career starts. Broke from post 10 in a field of 10 and engaged in a 4-way duel for the lead early from the 4-5 path. Remained widest throughout and battled with the 6-5 winner and others until the final furlong when he gave way. Even though it was a 5 1/2-furlong race, he should be OK at 6 furlongs next time.

9th race – Elaborate Geena (D) – (From 4-1 to 5-2 and finished 5th) – Showed speed and vied for the early lead from the 3 path until the stretch. Tired late to finish off the board and may need a class drop to land in the exotics after this showing.

*****

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12/22/11 While the Hot List Team takes a well deserved break today’s post was a reprint of the original blog post 6/30/11 explaining The NY Hot List…
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12/16/11

If those four- and five-horse fields at Aqueduct have you scanning the past performances for Gulfstream and Tampa Bay, hold on for a couple of more weeks.

Purse incentives from the Resorts World Casino New York City will finally kick in on Jan. 1, bringing with them richer purses and more reasons for trainers to call the racing office at Aqueduct and enter their horses.

It won’t be Saratoga, but there should be more horses running in January of 2012 than in January of 2011. And there should be better horses, too, which will pave the way for more competitive races and better payoffs.

Looking at Aqueduct’s condition book for January 1-22, the value of a maiden special weight sprint will rise from $50,000 to $60,000 and a non-winners of one allowance route will jump from $53,000 to $67,000.

Aside from the inflated purses for maiden, allowance and claiming races, NYRA has also put together package of 13 graded stakes races this winter, carrying a combined value of $3.75 million.

Best of all, to add some spice to winter racing, the first Saturdays of February, March and April will feature cards with at least three stakes.

On Feb. 4, the $200,000 Withers for 3-year-olds joins a pair of sprint stakes, the Toboggan for colts and the Correction for fillies.

Next, on March 3, comes the $400,000 Gotham, another Kentucky Derby prep for 3-year-olds, along with the $200,000 Tom Fool, a 6-furlong sprint, the $200,000 Top Flight, a mile and a sixteenth test for fillies and mares, and the $75,000 King’s Point for New York State-breds.

Finally, on April 7, there’s New York’s definitive Kentucky Derby prep, the $1 million Resorts World Casino Wood Memorial, as the center piece of a sensational card that also features the $400,000 Carter, $250,000 Comely, and $250,000 Bay Shore.

With action like that on tap in the months ahead, there’s surely no reason for New York handicappers to ponder a winter of hibernation.

Speaking of winter racing, the New York Hot List has been doing its share to cut down on home heating bills. The Hot List has gotten off to a, well, hot start on Aqueduct’s inner track, posting a 6-win day on Dec. 4, and 3-win afternoons on Dec. 15, 14 and 10.

In addition, on Dec. 15, in the featured list of races to watch, 4 Hot List selections combined for a $980 trifecta and a $246 exacta.

Nor should fans of Florida fans feel left out. While the Hot List is based on races in New York, Hot List horses have been frequently appearing in the Gulfstream Park entries, accounting for winners like Hyper ($6.40) on Dec. 15.

December 15 was indeed a big day for the Hot List as aside from the score at Aqueduct, the key plays netted a $34.80 boxed exacta with its 3 selections in its Gulfstream Park play.

If you’re curious about the Hot List selections for today, just visit Handicappers Corner at www.interbets.com. You can also get the New York Hot List’s daily review of Aqueduct’s races, so you can start building your own stable of horses to watch, free of charge by simply contacting customer service and opening an Interbets wagering account.

I might be going out on a limb here, but I have a hunch an interbets.com account could definitely come in handy on those cold, snowy days to come.

Happy holidays, folks.

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12/10/11

By Shawn Rychling

It’s December and we’re back on the inner track at Aqueduct and the New York Hot List will be with you every step of the way.

Looking back at opening week on the inner, the Hot List gave out 13 winners from 48 starters for a solid winning percentage of .271.

The highlights included opening day when we hit the first three races of the meet –Perfect Drive ($23 to win), Union Victory ($3.90) and Empress of Gold ($10.80). That combination resulted in a snappy pick 3 payoff of $308.

We capped the week last Sunday by indentifying 5 winners in 9 races with Rebellious Chic leading the way by taking the finale in wire-to-wire fashion and returning $15.80 to Hot List devotees.

We think we can build on this fast start as the horses have a tendency to race more often in the winter and the Hot List will hopefully have a good handle on how our horses will run on particular days.

‘Suspicious’ odds take a tumble

For those that follow us you know that we at the Hot List track the late money and try to determine what that might tell us about a horse for his next race.

Last Saturday we witnessed a rare event in a maiden turf race for 2-year-old New York breds. The #10 horse, Suspicious U, was 60-1 with 5 minutes to go before post and then dropped six slots at the end to go off at 54-1.

Since launching the Hot List last summer we had never seen a horse with odds that high actually take money late in the betting. There have been a couple horses move from 20-1 down to 15-1 or lower, but the horses we’ve seen at double-digit odds move four slots or more in the final 5 minutes can probably be counted on one hand.

It’s an interesting phenomenon that horses with big odds never get bet in the moments before post time. In fact it almost always goes the other way – and drastically. In that same race the #7, Powerful Instinct, was also 60-1 and was sent postward at more than 120-1. Most of the horses that the Hot List designate a ‘C’ or ‘D’ for taking late money move down from no higher than 5-1. The betting public sees the board and will almost never go out on a limb to back a longshot late in the game.

Suspicious U was making his career debut that day for trainer William Badgett and it would appear that the late money was at least a little smart. After lagging well behind for ¾ of a mile, Suspicious U rallied furiously to finish third, beaten by just 3 lengths. And he raced very greenly in the stretch veering in and out. That performance earned Suspicious U a ‘C’ and we’ll await his next race. If he wants the turf again he may show up out of town as the grass course will be shutting down for the winter in another week or so.

We hope you are enjoying the Christmas season and be sure to check out all our Hot List picks right her every day. All of our daily race reviews are available to Interbets account holder. To sign up for an account go to Interbets.com.

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12/2/11

By Bob Ehalt

If you’ve been following the New York Hot List on a regular basis, you’ve seen the importance of the dollars that are tossed into the win pool during the final few minutes of wagering.

Charting the flow of late money is a key component in the Hot List formula as it often points out horses who are in solid form and will turn in strong efforts in their next race.

But that doesn’t mean you have to wait a few weeks to put late money to work. Sometimes keeping a sharp eye on the toteboard can pay off in minutes rather than weeks – if you follow the right trainers.

Since the Hot List started charting NYRA races in Dec. 2010, we’ve kept tabs on each trainer, compiling statistics on how they fared in the races when their horses took a late drop of two or more wagering levels in the final five minutes.

Veteran Hot List followers might recall back in the Belmont Park spring/summer when horses saddled by Linda Rice and Todd Pletcher were virtually sure things for the triple when their odds took a late dip. Rice hit the board with 26 of her 27 starters that plunged on the toteboard, while Pletcher finished 1, 2 or 3 with 16 of 17 Late Money (LM) runners.

Since then, though, both barns have gone cold when the money has showed up in the late stages. Pletcher had only 6 of 19 LM horses hit the board at Saratoga, followed by a 4 of 10 mark at the Belmont fall meet and a slate of 2 for 5 at the Aqueduct meet through Nov. 26.

Rice, meanwhile, has been in a deep slump with a combined LM record of 4 for 10 with just 2 wins since the start of the Saratoga meet.

In their place, several other trainers have become the ones to watch when the odds tumble.

Bruce Brown was leader in LM wins at the Belmont fall meet as he registered 5 victories and 3 seconds from 10 starters. Brown has cooled off on that front at Aqueduct with just two off-the-board finishes through Nov. 26, but his barn usually heats up in the winter, so continue to keep tabs on his LM horses.

At the current Aqueduct meet, Rick Dutrow Jr. has dominated the trainer standings and the toteboard has done a reliable job of pointing out his live runners. Of his 5 horses that were magnets for late money, two have won and two have been second, which adds up to an 80 percent success rate for landing in the exacta.

The return of the chilly weather has also brought out the best in Chris Englehart, who has hit the board with 4 of 7 horses who dipped in price. Three of them, though, wound up in the winner’s circle.

Dale Romans plans to keep a small string in New York this winter to capitalize on the purse enhancements linked to the revenue from Aqueduct’s casino, and he’s already raking in the cash. He’s had three hot LM items on the toteboard and has walked away with 2 wins and a second.

Dominick Galluscio, who had been quiet since Saratoga, also seems poised to make some noise with 2 wins and 2 seconds from six runners that met the late money criteria.

Though it’s a small sample, Dominick Schettino has been perfect at Aqueduct with two LM horses and two winners. Interestingly, both were 2-year-olds, so pay close attention the next time you see one of his juveniles.

That’s it for now, but with the inner track now open for business and the curtain about to drop on grass racing, the New York Hot List will continue to watch the toteboard as your guide to finding the hot horses who can heat up a cold winter.

Oh, and don’t forget to visit Handicapper’s Corner here at interbets.com (http://www.interbets.com/racing/otb/news/ny-hot-list/) for today’s list of NY Hot List runners.

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11/25/11
By Shawn Rychling

We at the New York Hot List hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving with friends and family. As you remain in a food coma this weekend, we hope you decide to avoid the shopping rush and take a look at the final Saturday of racing on the Aqueduct main track.

Four graded stakes are on the Saturday menu with a pair a Grade II events for 2-year-olds and a pair of Grade I races for older horses.

The co-features are the Grade I Cigar Mile for 3YO and up and the Grade I Gazelle for 3YO fillies at a mile-and-an-eighth.

The undercard features the Grade II Demoiselle for 2YO fillies and the Grade II Remsen for 2YO colts.

The Cigar Mile features morning line favorite To Honor and Serve which comes in off a disappointing 7^th place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. But he had the far outside post that day and lost some momentum on the first turn so we can toss that race and look for him to run big on Saturday. To Honor and Serve is 2 for 2 lifetime on the Aqueduct main track, winning the Nashua and Remsen last November which propelled him to the top of the Derby watch list. The one-turn mile in the Cigar also suits his stalking style perfectly.

To Honor and Serve will have to hold off Haynesfield a horse which may have slipped a bit in 2011 until a strong showing in the Empire Classic on Oct. 22. That race was restricted to New York breds so he has to go against open company, against which he has struggled this year in 2 races at Belmont.

The Todd Pletcher-trained entry of Calibrachoa and Caixa Electronica will also be a factor. Both scratched out of the Fall Highweight sprint on Thanksgiving Day.

Last time out, Calibrachoa took the Grade III Bold Ruler over his stablemate. This will be his first race beyond 7 furlongs, but Pletcher is confident his horse is better suite to the mile distance. Caixa Electronica has been a workhorse for Pletcher since the trainer claimed him at Gulfstream in March. He won the Grade III Westchester in his first race for Pletcher beating Haynesfeld among others. ‘Caixa’ has three wins and two thirds in seven starts for his new trainer.

An interesting wild card entered here is the Godolphin Stable’s Sangaree. He was second to Calibrachoa in the Bold Ruler and he may thrive on the extra furlong. Sangaree has run big figures his last 2 races and that minor stakes in August was one of the most entertaining races of the Saratoga meet as he and Rule ran in tandem, several lengths ahead of the field, for the entire mile-and-an-eighth.

If you are looking for a longshot to hit the board you may want to play Pretty Boy Freud on your exotic tickets. Yes, this is a huge class hike for him, but he can close if there is a contested pace up front and he has been spectacular in 3 of his last 4 races since he had minor throat surgery.

Pletcher has two strong entrants in the Gazelle sending out R Gypsy Gold and Savvy Supreme – as well Love and Pride which is more of a longshot.

Savvy Supreme took the Grade III Monmouth Oaks this summer while R Gypsy Gold has won her last two against easier foes, but ran a solid third in the Grade I Mother Goose.

The deserving favorite in the race is the undefeated Awesome Feather trained by Chad Brown which returned to the races after a one-year layoff on Nov. 5 to win an overnight stakes at 7 furlongs. Her last win had come exactly 365 days prior in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

The Hot List has a horse in the Gazelle as Miss Valentine is a ‘B’ and breaks from the rail. She is certainly in tough after running 4^th in her last race behind R Gypsy Gold and two others entered here. She did run second the Savvy Supreme as the favorite in the Monmouth Oaks so perhaps she is capable of hitting the board at a price if the race shakes out correctly.

As for the 2-year-old races, they are pretty wide open and your guess is as good as mine as these days the top 2-year-olds are so lightly-raced it’s difficult to get a feel for these races even late in the year.

The Hot List doesn’t have a horse in either race, but in the Demoiselle I will mention a longshot named Bourbonstreetgirl only because the connections are high on this horse and she has had a couple of poor trips on the turf and she will try the dirt for the first time.

In the Remsen, Souper Speedy has the nice maiden win in his only start and if he moves forward off that effort he’ll be tough to beat. If you are looking for a price perhaps Managed Account can make some noise. He has more experience than most and that last race was a nice move forward for him.

Enjoy the final run on the Aqueduct main track for 2011 and check out all our Hot List picks for that day right here. Then it’s time to get ready for the Inner Track meet which could be better than recent years with an increase in purses coming in January. You can follow it all and bet on it at Interbets.com.
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11/18/11

By Shawn Rychling

Less than a week until Thanksgiving and we here at the New York Hot List hope you and your family have a happy and safe turkey day and holiday weekend as well.

The Aqueduct meet is well underway in New York and we are heading toward the inner track, which opens on December 3. That meet is usually much-maligned, but this year will feature a video lottery-induced hike in purses beginning in January and that should attract more and better horses making for some good wagering opportunities so stay tuned to Interbets.com and the New York Hot List as we go through the winter.

Before we look ahead, lets take a look back at the Belmont meet and how the Hot List made out during the fall.

For the entire meet the Hot List gave out 63 winners out of 296 Belmont starters for a 21 percent win rate. That is one point better than the 20 percent showing at Saratoga when we had 71 of 348 starters finish first.

What did drop off a bit was the payoffs as the average successful win bet returned $7.68 at Belmont compared to $10.67 at Saratoga. Looking at some raw numbers, the Hot List had 13 Belmont winners pay $10 or more with 2 of them at $20 or more.

But what we always stress is that the ‘Hot List’ is not about picking winners per se, but rather about identifying LIVE horses which we think have a good chance of at least running in the money for your exotic tickets or as an addition in your multirace wagers. Just think how those winners that paid above $10 enhanced the Pick 3 or Pick 4 payoffs.

To expand on the issue of exotic bets lets look at the Hot List horses that finished second and third. Of the 44 horses that ran second, 10 of them went off at odds of 5-1 or better which surely made a nice difference on those exacta payoffs.

Meanwhile of the 36 Hot List horses that ran third, 12 of them went off at 10-1 or better, with three at 20-1 or better and two at more than 50-1 odds.

Tug of War went off at 52-1 in the 4^th race on Oct. 22 and he completed a trifecta that paid $306 with the favorite running first. And that very day we talked about Tug of War at our handicapping seminar in Middletown and specifically said we thought he might hit the board at a price. And, as it turned out, one of the players in the parlor used him and thanked us for pointing him in that direction.

In the 8^th race on Oct. 26, the favorite ran off the board, but Nine O Wonderful was third at 22-1 behind the second and third choices in the race and that completed a trifecta of $1,087.

Those are 2 examples of a Hot List longshot running third underneath two logical horses and giving our players a great payoff.

The point is not to focus on winners as much as horses on our list that you can use with the ideas you might have and wager in a way that helps you cash a ticket.

‘Money’ Trainers

As you know the Hot List is all about tracking late movement on the tote board with our ‘C’ and ‘D’ designations. And as part of this we track how trainers do with horses that take late money and some interesting numbers came back from the Belmont fall meet.

Bruce Brown, who is quieter at Saratoga, came back nicely at Belmont. He had 10 horses take late money at Belmont and eight of them finished in the money with five earning a trip to the winner’s circle. That bodes well for him as he usually has a strong Aqueduct meet.

Chris Englehart horses performed well also running in the money seven of 10 times after being bet late.

On the other side of the coin, the toteboard was not the place to predict winners for Chad Brown as 10 of his 13 horses that took money finished off the board. It wasn’t a good barometer for Todd Pletcher either as 6 of his 10 horses that took money finished off the board.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family from the New York Hot List.

Good luck this winter at Aqueduct and stay with Interbets.com and the New York Hot List throughout the meet.

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11/11/11

By Bob Ehalt

Another Breeders’ Cup has come and gone, once again reminding us of why it’s any year’s biggest and best weekend of racing.

It may not have ended in the same electrifying fashion as the two previous editions, but there was still no shortage of thrills, excitement and huge payoffs over the course of two days and 15 races.

Realistically we didn’t learn much that we didn’t already know. Havre de Grace came into the Breeders’ Cup as the favorite to be Horse of the Year and she exited a fourth place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the same position.

Yet as we move further away from last weekend and reflect on what we witnessed, there were some sights and sounds that will linger at least until next year’s event at Santa Anita rolls around.

Such as:

- If you are going to play the chalk from start to finish you might as well save yourself some aggravation and just donate your money to charity.

There were four winning favorites, which means the chalk scored at a fairly respectable 26.6 percent clip. Yet what mattered more than the number of winning or losing favorites were the stars who went down to defeat. The BC Classic was an extremely contentious race, so having Havre de Grace, Flat Out and Uncle Mo all finish out of the money wasn’t stunning. But Stacelita? Goldikova? The mere fact that both of them lost, and were beaten by the likes of Perfect Shirl ($57.60) and Court Vision ($131.60) explains why boxing the three choices in an exacta makes little sense. Wheeling your selection, giving you coverage with horses you would never pick on your own, is actually quite logical at the Breeders’ Cup.

Someone who bought an all-Nahrain exacta in the BC Filly & Mare Turf, keying the 5-2 second choice, would have received $324. An even more fortunate somebody who went out on a limb with 11-1 shot Turallure in the BC Mile and wheeled him underneath in the exacta would have been rewarded with a $1,979 payoff.

No, that someone was not me.

- Speaking of wheeling horses, while Shackleford will not win an Eclipse Award, he clearly deserves the sport’s Alydar Award. The 3-year-old has turned finishing second into such an art form that an all-Shackleford exacta bet was probably the best bet of the day.

- Can’t say there were tears in my eyes while waving goodbye to the Kentucky stewards for a while.

They and everyone else involved in it bungled the Life At Ten mess in 2010.

This year, for an encore in controversy, there was no excuse for not disqualifying Goldikova in the BC Mile. Regardless of whether Courageous Cat – who was taken up and knocked out of the race when Goldikova bumped him – jockeys can be allowed to make right turns in a closely bunched group of horses.

Jockey Olivier Peslier carelessly put the lives of riders and horses at risk when he yanked Goldikova off the rail and slammed into Courageous Cat while trying to maneuver outside for running room in the stretch. Given that Goldikova was seeking her fourth straight win in the BC Mile, had she won, it would have been understandable for the stewards to review the tapes for a minute before taking Goldikova down. But she could do no better than third, and should have been DQ’d in the blink of eye.

- The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile produced an exciting finishing with the frontrunning Hansen gallantly holding off Union Rags by a head in a battle between two 2-year-old colts who came into the race unbeaten.

There were some thoughts that Union Rags was the best horse because he had a much wider trip, but I can’t get too excited just yet about either horse’s chances in next year’s Triple Crown. The time was relatively slow and for all the ground Union Rags lost, he was drifting out in the stretch like a tired horse who may not want to go 10 furlongs.

It’s just a hunch but my thought is that we’ve yet to hear from the winner of next year’s Kentucky Derby.

- Don’t look for me at the next Calvin Borel fan club meeting. While he’s one of the few riders who has no qualms about saving ground and riding the rail, he can also leave you exasperated after some of his more unfathomable rides. As successful as he’s been at rallying horses like Mine That Bird and Street Sense from the rear of the pack in the Kentucky Derby, he should not have taken Rattlesnake Snake back to a different area code in the BC Classic. Older, experienced horses have much more stamina than 3-year-olds who are untested at a mile and a quarter and the entire field in the Classic is not going to slow to a walk in the stretch so Borel can scoot past them.

Suffice it to say, dropping Rattlesnake Bridge more than 17 lengths off the lead after the opening quarter mile was not the wisest of move by Mr. Borel, who wound up ninth 5 ¼ lengths behind the victorious Drosselmeyer.

- Is there a better trainer on the planet right now than Bill Mott? It’s hard to disagree when the Hall of Famer wins the Ladies’ Classic and Breeders’ Cup Classic in back-to-back days and then takes Sunday’s featured race at Churchill Downs – the Cardinal Handicap – to boot. He also gets bonus points for wearing a Yankees cap around his barn.

- Finally, I guess I have to speak in lower tones about having the Breeders’ Cup in New York. If this year’s event had been held at Belmont Park it most likely would have taken place on Oct. 29, a day when snow plows, not tractors, would have been needed to clear the track.

Can’t you hear the race call? “Down the stretch they slide!”

As mentioned before, next year’s Breeders’ Cup will take place at Santa Anita and thanks to Albert Hammond we all know that it never rains – or snows – in southern California. It pours, man it pours.

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11/4/11

By Shawn Rychling

New York racing returns to Aqueduct for the long, cold winter this weekend which begins in the dark for some us here in the Northeast following that surprise October snowstorm.

But before we focus on the New York winter, we’ll try to shed some light on the Breeders’ Cup which begins its 2-day festival or racing on Friday. A total of 15 races will be run for purses in excess of $22 million.

I’ll do a little analysis of some of the races on the card with a focus on the New York Hot List horses that are entered. Those horses will be listed in all caps.

RACE 5 – Juvenile Sprint: It will be difficult to bet against (6) Secret Circle as Bob Baffert looks like he has this one ready to roll. (4) Trinniberg likes the frontend and could challenge especially if the track comes up wet. (9) Vexor beat Trinniberg last time out proving that we can toss that poor effort in the Hopeful on the Saratoga slop.

RACE 6 – Juvenile Fillies Turf: (9) PURE GOSSIP is a Hot List ‘A’ horse and will likely be overlooked by the bettors here as a New York bred. She is coming off a nice Grade III win in her turf debut and now cuts back in distance slightly which should be to her favor. Hard to pass her up at the expected price. Another horse in here that has been on the Hot List is (2) Dayatthespa which took a step forward despite a second-place finish in her last outing. (4) STOPSHOPPINGMARIA is also listed as an ‘A’ and switches to the turf perhaps to avoid My Miss Aurelia.

RACE 7 – Filly and Mare Sprint: This is a wide open race and if you are looking for value you can find it with B-rated (10) TAMARIND HALL which goes third off the layoff here and may be sitting on a big effort like the one she had in the Grade III win a Belmont on July 3. Favored (3) Turbulent Descent comes in off a 3-month layoff. (6) Switch has been the beaten favorite in three straight, but she returns to the dirt which should help.

RACE 8 – Juvenile Fillies: (4) MISS NETTA is a ‘B’ coming in and you can toss her last race where she veered in at the start and was never comfortable. She offers value and it will be interesting to see if she tries to go to the front or rate behind a solid pace. She may be a need-the-lead type. (9) My Miss Aurelia is the one to beat in here as she comes in undefeated and is tough to knock. (5) Grace Hall is also unbeaten in 3 career starts and should not be overlooked.

RACE 8 – Breeders’ Cup Turf: (3) DEAN’S KITTEN is a ‘B’ off a superb second in the Joe Hirsch falling short by a nose to Cape Blanco. And the two races at Arlington – including the Million – weren’t too shabby either. If this race were restricted to American horses he’d be the favorite, but the Euros will be tough to beat. The Kitten offers some value with Ramon piloting and just might be peaking at the right time. (2) Sarafina gets a new trainer after the Arc debacle, but looks just too good not to rebound. (6) Await the Dawn gets Lasix for the first time, but needs to shake off the rust after 11 weeks on the bench.

RACE 9 – Breeders’ Cup Juvenile: (10) UNION RAGS comes in as a ‘C’ and looks awfully tough in here. He is undefeated and has really impressed in workouts leading up to this race. (7) Creative Cause deserves respect off the Grade I win. If you are looking for value (4) Drill and (5) Hansen could provide it.

RACE 10 – Mile: Generally speaking, I love (12) Compliance Officer. But let’s face it: He’s treading some very deep water here. He is in great form, however, winning 5 straight – all against restricted New York-bred competition. Perhaps he can sneak into the trifecta behind (1) Goldikova and a host of others. These races don’t often hold form, especially the underneath positions so putting the officer for 3^rd or 4^th isn’t that far-fetched.

RACE 11 – Breeders’ Cup Classic: I have to say that I think THE value play of the weekend will end up being (13) To Honor and Serve. Don’t forget he was probably second only to Uncle Mo in early favoritism for the Derby last winter before his injury. And now he’s had an extra start than ‘Mo’ on the comeback trail and I think he is more likely to get the distance. The Hot List has three ‘A’ horses in this race and they are: (2) FLAT OUT which has been working awfully well since the Jockey Club win at this same distance. Have to question him outside of New York though and that 6^th at Churchill in the Stephen Foster is a concern. That being said, he is in top form since then and is very rate-able from a stalking position. (12) UNCLE MO will likely go off as the favorite, but it’s going to be tough to take him at a short price. It will be only his third start since the illness and he is adding 2 furlongs from that spectacular Kelso. He is yet to win beyond a mile-and-a-sixteenth, but that was at Churchill in last year’s juvenile. He could win, but may need the race of his life. Clock may strike midnight for (10) HAVRE de GRACE as 10 furlongs may not be her best game. Here’s hoping To Honor Serve stays close to the 12-1 morning line and we’ll play a nice win ticket on him as well as pressing the exactas with the above horses as well as (9) Stay Thirsty, (8) Game on Dude and (5) So You Think. May also wheel him on top in a variety of trifectas.

Good luck this weekend with your Breeders; Cup picks and stay with Interbets.com and the New York Hot List throughout the Aqueduct meet this winter.

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10/28/11

By Bob Ehalt

With all due respect to Andy Williams, right now is the most wonderful time of year for handicappers.

The Breeders’ Cup pre-entries have been released and with a record 193 entries this year’s two-day series promises to be as spectacular as ever.

In the meantime, you have another week to get your hands on your favorite type of past performances and begin your homework. If you’re a New York racing fan, you’ll even get some extra time to focus on the Nov. 4 and 5 races as NYRA will be dark between Sunday’s finale at Belmont and the opening of Aqueduct on Friday, Nov. 4.

What you’ll find in looking over the Breeders’ Cup menu is great depth and competition in each of the 15 races.

There’s even a new addition to the series, the Juvenile Sprint, which is part of the Nov. 4 card.

Before you draw any firm conclusions, though, it would be wise to await Monday’s post position draw to make sure your can’t-lose choice doesn’t land post 14. The draw will also fill in the blanks on where some horses are racing as horsemen can pre-enter in two races and then opt for one at the draw. In some cases, horses do not make the cut for their preferred race and have to settle for their second choice. Other horses do not have enough graded stakes points or are not chosen by a selection committee and are not allowed to run, so just because a horse is pre-entered it doesn’t mean it will race.

Foremost among the entries is the Breeders’ Cup Classic which should live up to its name with Havre de Grace, Uncle Mo and Flat Out in the field. The race lost some of its star power when Tizway was retired, but with To Honor and Serve and Game On Dude in the field there should be a honest pace and a fair test for the probable favorites, Havre de Grace and Uncle Mo.

In a scheduling change for this year, the Breeders’ Cup Mile was moved into the penultimate spot in the lineup so that the series can conclude with Goldikova attempting to win the Mile for the fourth straight year followed by the Classic.

Goldikova has not been as awesome as she was in previous years but she’s still the horse to beat in the Mile. Interesting among the entrants in the Mile was Compliance Officer, a short-priced winner of the Mohawk Stakes for the New York Hot List last Saturday at Belmont. Let’s not get too wild-eyed, but imagine if the mighty Goldikova loses to a New York State-bred? Brings back memories of Fio Rito, doesn’t it.

Happy handicapping, folks, and be sure to check out the Catskill OTB website (www.interbets.com) for information about branch hours on the two Breeders’ Cup days.

As for this weekend, Saturday’s featured race at Belmont is the $100,000 Bold Ruler. The New York Hot List has two runners in the race, Caixa Eletronica, who’s part of a 5-2 entry, and Flat Bold, who’s 15-1, so there could be some value there.

You can check out all of the Hot List picks on a daily basis at the Handicapper’s Corner of this website. To better describe its location, it’s the link right next to my smiling mug. You can also find it at:

In the meantime, if you have any questions about the Hot List, Breeders’ Cup or even Rapid Redux winning 19 straight races – how about that! – you can email me at NYHotList@interbets.com.

Also, a tip of the Yankees cap goes out to the patrons and staff at the Middletown parlor for their hospitality during the NY Hot List seminar last Saturday. Hope the folks there padded their Breeders’ Cup bankroll.

And for all you Breeders’ Cup handicappers, remember, do your homework!

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10/20/11

By Bob Ehalt

It’s not the Breeders’ Cup. It’s not even a mini-Breeders’ Cup or a Saturday that gets a “Super” placed in front of it.

But on this Saturday afternoon at Belmont Park, there will be an abundance of interesting and competitive stakes races, thanks to the annual New York Showcase Day.

The day includes seven stakes for New York State-breds, bringing together a cornucopia of sprints, routes, grass and dirt races.

For interbets.com patrons, the day will also showcase the New York Hot List in a supporting role as Shawn Rychling and myself will be the hosts for a seminar starting at 12 noon at Catskill OTB’s Middletown branch in the Plaza at Crystal Run just off Route 211 on Galleria Drive, Route 17 Exit 120.

We’ll be on hand beginning at noon to provide our analysis of the card and to also showcase how valuable the New York Hot List can be for both novice and experienced handicappers.

The Hot List brings a new dimension to handicapping the NYRA races with our horses to watch concept and a first-of-its-kind tracking system for late wagering.

Shawn and I will be happy to discuss our methodology and get your feedback on the results since the Hot List was launched at www.interbets.com back in July. Hot List horses did turn a flat-bet profit at Saratoga, so hopefully there will not be too much grumbling.

We’ll be on hand for much of the afternoon, so the Breeders’ Cup or anything else is fair game for discussion, too.

If you want, I’ll even be happy to tell you who the Yankees should drop and go after in the off-season. This Pujols kid at our St. Louis farm club looks like he might finally be ready to play major league ball in the Bronx. Shawn’s a Red Sox fan, so if you bring him some fried chicken and beer, for Lack-ey of a better term, I’m sure he’ll be ecstatic.

Seriously, folks, it should be a fun and beneficial day of watching and playing the races. So if you’re in the neighborhood, pay a visit to Middletown OTB and take in the seminar and all of the action of a day that showcases New York’s homegrown stars.

What to look for

While there might not be many household names on the card, the seven stakes are evenly matched and promise to offer plenty of value – if we can get some sunshine.

The day’s star power figures to come from Haynesfield, winner of last year’s Jockey Club Gold Cup, who will try to take the day’s richest race – the $200,000 Empire Classic – off a layoff of nearly five months. When last spotted in a starting gate, Haynesfield was fifth behind national Horse of the Year candidate Tizway in the Metropolitan Handicap.

His rivals, from the rail out, include Bigger Is Bettor, Green Monster, Johannesburg Smile, Icabad Crane, Uncle Smokey, Inherit the Gold, and Mine Over Matter.

The Ticonderoga, a grass stakes for fillies and mares, should also be hotly contested with the always-game Gitchee Goomie facing challenges from Hessonite, Rogue’s Jewel, Frivolous Buck, Mystic City and Who Is Lady, among others.

See ya in Middletown!

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10/14/11

By Shawn Rychling

Super Saturday at Belmont Park is 2 weeks back in the rearview mirror as the 2011 Breeders’ Cup and the opening of Aqueduct gets bigger on the horizon. Both of those events take place the weekend on November 4-6.

The Breeders’ Cup will be at Churchill downs for a second-straight year and it will be tough to top the drama of 2010 with Zenyatta falling just short of capping an undefeated career and the brilliance of miler Goldikova as well as several big payoffs to keep the gamblers happy and scratching their heads at the same time.

This year’s Classic is shaping up to be another high-drama event as Uncle Mo seems likely to go in that race after his superb performance in the Kelso which earned him a 118 Beyer figure. What a comeback this Todd Pletcher colt has made since an illness forced him to miss the Triple Crown.

4-year-old filly Havre de Grace is pointing toward the Classic as is Whitney winner Tizway who won’t have the benefit of a race since that early August win at Saratoga.

Jockey Club winner Flat Out will be tough, but he seems to favor the Belmont surface, while Jim Dandy and Travers winner Stay Thirsty has struggled outside the state of New York.

The one wild card in the field may be To Honor and Serve. His last 2 races have been superb and the best from him may be yet to come. He could be a better bet the get the 1 ¼ miles than Uncle Mo. With these two colts, plus Stay Thirsty in the race you get the sense the top 3-year-olds will be in this Churchill race rather than the one that was run on the first Saturday in May.

As for the betting menu there is much for the exotic players to be happy about. There are two pick 4s and one pick 5 each day, and each have a 50-cent minimum bet.

Also, the low minimum of 50 cents will be available for all rolling pick 3 and trifecta wagers, which is something we don’t see at Belmont or any other NYRA location.

Just 3 weeks away until the windows open and end-of-year awards are settled at the two-day festival of racing we call the Breeders’ Cup.

Rain, rain, go away

We’ve had our share of rain this fall – and even late summer at Saratoga.

A wet track – and how wet – is always a factor that horseplayers have to weigh in their wagers. Many players out there refuse to play at all unless the track is listed as fast.

But there are numerous opportunities to cash for big payoffs on wet tracks and one just needs to know what to look for.

For example, we saw plenty of rain at the Saratoga meet and it certainly seemed like that track was a difficult one for closers, especially when muddy or sloppy. Under those conditions the track would get heavy and if a horse wasn’t on or near the lead, then it would likely be too tired to close effectively.

A closer look at the racing from July 25 showed that of the 7 races run on the sloppy main track, 5 of them were won by horses on the lead or in second place at the ½-mile point. Even some turf frontrunners were 1^st or 2^nd that day as they went to the lead and were able to hold on.

The track at Belmont is usually more fair to frontrunners and closers, but we have seen early speed do awfully well on wet tracks as well. On Sept. 23 there were 8 races run on the sloppy main course with a whopping 7 winners having been first or second at the ½ mile point and 4 of those winners going wire-to-wire. Only Ms Vanenzza could close on the track coming from 7^th early and 5^th at the quarter-pole to win the 2^nd race.

One way to cash on these days is play the usual ‘cheap’ speed horses in your exotics. On Sept. 23^rd three horses ran second after being sent off between 7-1 and 12-1. Those prices can really make for nice exactas.

A similar scenario played out on Super Saturday when horses at 14-1, 16-1 and 42-1 filled out the bottom halves of exactas.

As for this Saturday we still may have a wet track and some cancelled turf racing after the Friday rain and the New York Hot List has a few intriguing options on the card.

In the opener we are going with Skinny Peter a horse that scratched out of a turf race on Thursday perhaps hoping for a wet track on Saturday. He ran a career-best in an off-the-turf-event last time so we’ll play him if this one goes on the main track.

Two other value plays we’re looking at are Seniors Pride in the 6^th and Boots Ahead in the 8^th.

Seniors Pride should be ready for a big effort, third off the layoff, and was blocked in the stretch a bit last time so that race was a lot better than it looks.

Meanwhile Boots Ahead steps up after a win last time on a soft turf course which he may get on Saturday. Considering the odds on these two they are both worth a long look.

Good luck Saturday and stay with Interbets.com and the New York Hot List through the Belmont Fall meet all the way through the 2011 Breeders’ Cup.

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10/7/11

By Bob Ehalt

Last Saturday’s card at Belmont Park featured a card any fan of the game – and chalk players in particular – had to love.

There were stars like Havre de Grace, Uncle Mo, Flat Out, Stacelita, and Cape Blanco who, quite sadly, suffered a career-ending injury in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic.

There was also a series of miniscule payoffs, which served as a lesson for handicappers.

As shown by the Super Saturday card, much more goes into making money on the races than picking winners. Sometimes it’s the second or third finisher who can put enough money in your wallet so that you can dine at the Outback instead of Burger King’s $1 menu.

Looking at the winners of the six stakes on the card, five were favorites. Four of them paid $3.20 or less, making it a truly super Saturday for bridgejumpers.

One of the pick three’s involving the stakes paid $11.20, and the final pick three of the day returned $9.10. If you finally hit the Pick 6, your return that day was a paltry $486. You didn’t even need a social security card to cash the ticket.

But while the payoffs for picking winners were puny, there was some decent cash to be made from finding the right longshots to use with them.

For instance, Stacelita took the Flower Bowl and paid an even three dollars. Finishing directly behind her in a field of six was Distorted Legacy at 42-1. The two combined for a $70 exacta, which adds up to a profit of $60 for anyone who used Stacelita on top and hit the all button for second.

Better than that, if you liked Dynaslew a bit, and used her for third in the triple on a ticket of Stacelita – All – Dynaslew you got back $277 for an investment of $8.

Even in the featured Jockey Club Gold Cup, it took a runner-up finish by 2010 Belmont Stakes winner Drosselmeyer to trigger a $35.30 exacta payoff with the favored Flat Out. If you used Drosselmeyer to split the favorites (Flat Out and Stay Thirsty) in the triple you were paid $60.

Those are hardly life-changing scores, but on a day when one of the doubles paid $4.10, they accounted for some measure of value. And that’s the name of the game for any handicapper – finding value.

Let’s face it. Someone who hits an exacta with a 15-1 shot in the second leg is going to fare better than someone who cashes on a couple of 3-2 winners.

So don’t focus solely on winners. You surely need them to start the process of cashing a ticket, but in the end it’s finding that chunk of buried treasure in the second, third or fourth spot in your exotics that can make a day at the races truly rewarding.

Super day for the Hot List

Super Saturday turned out to be a busy day at the cashier’s window for fans of the New York Hot list.

Of the 12 horses on Saturday’s list, five won and one finished second.

The best price of the bunch was The Noz, who took the fourth race at $14. If you were wise enough to use him in the Pick Three with Stacelita and Cape Blanco in the next two races, you took home a $37.80 payoff. That might not sound like much, but it certainly beats the $4.10 payoff on the Stacelita-Cape Blanco double.

Remember, it’s all about value, folks.

If you haven’t checked out the Hot List yet, just visit Handicapper’s Corner here at www.interbets. Interbets members can also get the Hot List daily reviews via email.

9/30/11

By Shawn Rychling

Super Saturday – or Breeders Cup Preview Day, whichever you prefer – has arrived at Belmont Park along with the ushering in of the month of October. The opener at Saratoga seems so long ago doesn’t it?

Savor this weekend racing fans because even though there are still some nice races in New York still to come this fall, the long winter slog pretty much begins when this weekend ends.

But there is some good news on that front as NYRA announced a 36-percent purse increase at Aqueduct beginning Jan. 1 2012 as the Genting Casino gets ready to open this fall. Perhaps the quality of racing will improve as some stables decide to stay north for the winter.

Now on to Super Saturday…

NYRA has a superb day of racing on tap with five Grade I races and a Grade II set to go off from races 5 through 10 on the card.

Among the highlights is the Grade II Kelso at a mile which features Repole Stable’s Uncle Mo trained by Todd Pletcher. Last spring’s early Derby favorite returned from the illness that forced him to miss the Triple Crown with a superb effort in the King’s Bishop at Saratoga. He was just nosed out for the win in that one and now adds a furlong and has been on fire in morning workouts during September.

The New York Hot List has Uncle Mo rated as an A off that King’s Bishop effort. Get all our Saturday horses to watch at Interbets.com.

Mo won’t have a walkover by any means against the Tigers…er wait a minute wrong sport…as the late-blooming Jackson Bend is a threat off his two powerful closing wins at Saratoga. He stretches out a furlong as well here and he is a different horse at 4 than he was at 3. He’ll try to let Uncle Mo go and hope a speed duels ensues and catch him at the wire. That’s exactly what Caleb’s Posse did in the King’s Bishop.

The Grade I Beldame comes up next and that is expected to be a duel between Woodward winner Havre de Grace and Alabama victor Royal Delta. Have to lean toward the 4-year-old Havre de Grace as Royal Delta likes to go longer and she will be facing older horses for the first time.

The feature of features comes up next in Race 10 – the Jockey Club Gold Cup. If Uncle Mo wins his race, Travers winner Stay Thirsty will be trying to make it a huge day for Repole and Pletcher by pulling off the win.

Stay Thirsty will be facing older horses for the first time as well, but he sure loves New York and you have to lean his way at any race beyond a mile-and-an-eighth.

The late-running Flat Out is in great form and should be Stay Thirsty’s prime competition. He should really benefit from the extra furlong.

I have a soft spot for Ice Box since I won big on him in last year’s Florida Derby. I’d like to say he could fill out the exotics at a price, but he was mediocre at best in his two starts at Saratoga. Maybe I’ll use him a little bit.

Elsewhere on the card, the Hot List likes the always impressive Trappe Shot in the Vosburgh. He is 3-for-3 lifetime at Belmont and has gotten better with every race so far this year.

We’re also taking a shot with a value play in the third race. Number 3 Penn’s Grant makes his second start after stumbling at the gate in his debut and losing all chance. Showed some maturity closing and weaving through traffic in that race and is eligible to take a big step forward. Best of all, we like the 8-1 morning-line price.

Good luck Saturday and stay with Interbets.com and the New York Hot List through the Belmont Fall meet all the way up to the 2011 Breeders’ Cup.

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9/23/11
By Bob Ehalt

It’s not the calm before the storm, because there will be plenty of activity this weekend at Belmont Park.

But with a Super Saturday of racing on tap for next weekend – with the Jockey Club Gold Cup and four other Grade 1 stakes bundled together – it’s easy enough to overlook this Saturday’s featured Gallant Bloom, a sprint stakes for fillies and mares.

Thankfully there’s a highly competitive race to keep everyone focused on the present rather than the future.

Tar Heel Mom is the 2-1 favorite in a field of seven, and appears the one to beat off a second to Hilda’s Passion in the Grade 1 Ballerina and win in the Grade 2 Honorable Miss in her last two starts. She even has an insurance policy in case Mother Nature interferes with a shower as she owns six wins in 10 wet-track starts.

Pomeroys Pistol should provide the biggest threat to the chalk as she comes off a runner-up finish to Turbulent Descent in the Grade 1 Test Stakes at the Spa. She comes into the 6 ½-furlong dash with a pair of bullets work and seems as ready as she’ll ever be to face older fillies and mares.

Tamarind Hall has also been working sharply after finishing third, a neck behind Tar Heel Mom, in the Ballerina. That seven-furlong sprint was Tamarind Hall’s first race in eight weeks and she could be primed for a big effort with that race under her belt.

The rest of the field of seven includes Moontune Missy, Buckleupbuttercup, Lovely Lil and Katy Now.

Also on Saturday’s stakes menu is the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing, where Travers runner-up Rattlesnake Bridge gets the nod as the one to beat in the Grade 2 stakes.

On Sunday, the featured race will be the $100,000 John Hettinger for New York State-bred fillies and mares on the turf. Gitchee Goomie is the standout in a field of 10.

Speaking of Sunday, next Sunday offers a nice complement to Gold Cup Day with four graded two stakes for two-year-olds at Belmont and Europe’s premier race, the Arc de Triomphe, taking place in France.

As much as the weather is cooling off, it looks like the racing action is heating up again.

TIZWAY OUT OF THE GOLD CUP

The JC Gold Cup lost some of its luster Friday when it was announced Tizway would miss the race due to a fever. Winner of the Met Mile and Whitney, Tizway is expected to train up to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, which will present quite a challenge for trainer H. James Bond.

At least no one can say he will not be fresh for the race.

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By Shawn Rychling

9/16/11

If you follow horse racing on a daily basis, Saratoga 2011 may already be a distant memory, but the Belmont Fall meet starts to heat up this weekend with the first of nine Grade I stakes which are on tap over the next four Saturdays.

This week features the $250,000 Garden City at 1 1/8 miles on the turf for 3-year-old fillies with Winter Memories as the headliner.

Winter Memories was involved in two electrifying races up in Saratoga. She won the Gr. II Lake George July 27 and then ran fourth in the Gr. II Lake Placid August 21. Both replays are well worth the time it takes to view them.

In the Lake George, Winter Memories raced toward the back until the far turn and then tried to move on the rail and was shut off. Jockey Jose Lezcano had to check hard and then swing very wide and was still dead last at the top of the stretch. But once she got in the clear she powered past the leaders for an impressive win.

The Lake Placid was similar in that she trailed early and then made an inside move on the turn. But she was trapped this time and finally dove inside at the 1/8^th pole but could not pull off the win.

Trainer James Toner has switched riders to Javier Castellano after Winter Memories’ traffic-plagued trips.

Hungry Island went off at 9-1 in the Lake Placid and took advantage of Winter Memories’ troubles to earn her fourth-straight win. The Shug McGaughey filly should be right there again as she can close even when the pace is slow.

More Than Real – the Breeders Cup Juvenile Filly Turf winner – breaks from the rail in just her third start since that Breeders Cup win over Winter Memories.

British invader Theyskens’ Theory is a bit of wild card in here as she makes her first start in the States with Garret Gomez piloting.

The Garden City goes as race number 9 with a scheduled post time 5:18 p.m.

17 Hot List horses in for Saturday

The New York Hot List has a full plate in Saturday’s card with 17 horses scheduled to run. You can see the list and our selections at Interbets.com.

One of our best bets is second-time starter Right to Vote who takes on six other maidens in a 6-furlong sprint. Right to Vote went off 37-1 in his debut and dueled with the eventual winner before yielding late to run second. That race came back much faster than any race his Saturday rivals have run.

In Saturday’s opener, Cool Operator is a Hot List value play. He was a beaten-favorite last time fading to ninth place. I don’t think he liked the rail post as he got pinned down on the backstretch and then threw in the towel after he was brushed a bit. That poor showing may help his odds and breaking from gate 5 should be more agreeable to him.

As for the Hot List we are off to a good start at Belmont, including a 3-win day on Wednesday. We’ll have some more detailed statistics in this space next week.

Musings on Saturday’s card

Things about Saturday’s card that interest me and may or may not interest you…

Smarteralex drew post 9 in the opener, a maiden state-bred claimer for 16k. He is 0-for-62 in his career.

Is it odd that Emma’s Posse was claimed by David Jacobson for 15k last time and is entered for 10k in race 2? And that is after two years of allowance races.

I feel the pain Tom Durkin must feel when he checks the entries and sees Nykid Time to Jazz and Cardsontablefaceup.

Two Saturday mounts for old-timer Jean-Luc Samyn. He had 4 wins in 65 starts so far this year.

Good luck Saturday and stay with Interbets.com and the New York Hot List through the Belmont Fall meet all the way up to the 2011 Breeders’ Cup.

By Bob Ehalt

9/9/11

Saying good-bye is never easy, especially when it’s Saratoga that has faded into the rear-view mirror.

Yet, as sad as it might be to relate, another Saratoga meet has been entered into the annals of racing history.

As usual, the Spa did not disappoint, with a wealth of unforgettable moments. Stay Thirsty in the Travers. Havre de Grace in the Woodward. Tizway in the Whitney. Royal Delta in the Alabama. Champions and perhaps future champions, like Uncle Mo and Trappe Shot, going down to defeat as heavy favorites.

Saratoga had it all, and now the focus shifts to Belmont Park, where championship races will come into a sharper focus through races like the Vosburgh, Champagne and Frizette and a day like Oct. 1 when the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, Beldame, Flower Bowl, Vosburgh and Kelso will be contested on a single, Breeders’ Cup-like day.

This opening weekend gets off to a tepid start Saturday with the $150,000 Bowling Green Handicap that features a field of seven going 1 3/8 miles over the inner turf course.

Sunday’s card is highlighted by the $100,000 Ashley T. Cole, a mile and an eighth turf stakes for New York State-breds.

On the national scene, today’s $500,000 Super Derby is the headliner. Meistersinger looms a solid value play at 9-2 in a field of nine that features Prayer for Relief and Alternation as the probable favorites.

A hot streak for the Hot List

Saying so long to Saratoga will be equally hard from a handicapping standpoint as the New York Hot List, which is featured each NYRA racing day here at interbets.com, had a sensational meet.

The List’s A, B,C, D horses combined to turn a flat-bet profit after the sport’s most perplexing handicapping puzzle, showing an ROI of $2.17 on a $2 wager.

And there was no shortage of longshots among the group. We had nine winners who paid $24.60 or more and 17 who returned $14 or more. The topper was Monteagle who rewarded his backers to the tune of $44 on Sept. 1.

The Hot List’s key plays offered each day with the help of my handicapping partner, Shawn Rychling, were also profitable. Hope you downloaded the picks on Aug. 24, when we gave out boxed triples paying $1,381 and $444.

Best of all, as said before, the picks are available here for f-r-e-e (I think I spelled that right) at interbets.com or Catskill OTB branches. Plus, interbets.com members can get our daily reviews on a regular basis, giving you our NY Hot List horses in advance so you can fill up your stable mail account and plot your wagering strategy well before the races are run.

You can also follow the Hot List on twitter at @nyhotlist if you’d like.

You really can’t beat that deal, can you, folks.

One other interesting note as we move forward into Belmont. During Saratoga we witnessed a higher percentage of D horses (those who drop 2 betting units or more and finish worse than 3^rd) than we had at any other meet since we launched the Hot List in December 2010.

Seeing that Todd Pletcher, the meet’s leading trainer by a wide margin, had an unusually cold meet in terms of late money, the initial thought is that the Saratoga crowds placed more emphasis on reputations than past performances.

Conversely, horses that came into their Saratoga races with a D did better than usual, indicating there might have been some prep races at Belmont that laid the foundation for success at the Spa.

We’ll see how it all plays out at Belmont.

Good luck, folks.
9/2/11

Greetings as we begin the second-saddest weekend of the year – closing weekend at Saratoga.
Why the second-saddest you ask? Because next weekend is the first in two months without racing at Saratoga and the cold, dark reality of having to endure 43 straight weekends before we return to the Spa sets in.

But the Hot List will be with you when we move back to Belmont and Aqueduct and what a closing week we’ve had so far. More on that later after we preview an exciting final weekend at Saratoga.

After Hurricane Irene blew through and cancelled racing last Sunday, this Saturday went from a very good day to a great one as the Personal Ensign was added to go along with the Woodward and Forego giving us three Grade I stakes on the menu.

The Forego, to be contested at 7 furlongs, features the versatile Sidney’s Candy going out for Todd Pletcher. This horse has won on all different surfaces and at distances ranging from 5 ½ to 9 furlongs. He switches to dirt here and turns back after winning the Grade II Fourstardave at 1 1/16 miles on July 31.

The main threats are Jackson Bend and Aikenite. Both favor a late-running style and Sidney’s Candy may be the loan speed in here so the chess game will be interesting.

The Personal Ensign features a Hot List ‘A’ selection in Acronym, starting on the rail for Bill Mott. It is a step up for her, but that last race off the layoff was a solid effort.

All eyes will be on Ask the Moon after her dazzling gate-to-wire win in the Grade I Ruffian. She must get the extra furlong, but her last race looks legit with the fractions she set and there isn’t much speed signed on.

The Personal Ensign might have been another chapter in the Blind Luck-Havre de Grace rivalry, but Blind Luck passed on the Spa this year and the connections of Havre de Grace decided to run in Saturday’s feature the Grade I Woodward.

Havre de Grace is a deserving favorite as she will try to beat the boys as Rachel Alexandra did two years ago in this race. But there are some other intriguing storylines here in what looks like the race of the meet.

Flat Out gets the start for low-key connections and has been stellar in his last two, romping in the Grade II Suburban and running a respectable second to Tizway in the Whitney.

Rule goes out for Todd Pletcher and he may have finally regained the form he had last spring on the Derby trail. It’s worth the time to watch the replay of his August 4 race at Saratoga where he dueled with the second-place finisher all the way around the track before prevailing.

And I think Ice Box deserves a mention as it looks like trainer Nick Zito used his last outing as public workout for this one as he put him on the front end for the first time ever. He has 3 bullet works since then and he could steal this one at a price.

Be sure to check out all of the New York Hot List picks for Saturday at Interbets.com

A 5-win day for the Hot List

The Hot List had a sizzling start to closing week with 5 winners, two seconds and a third from our 10 starters on Wednesday’s card.

And we followed that up on Thursday with 2 winners, including Monteagle in the 5^th which gave us our biggest win payoff of the meet at $44. Hot List horses then ran 1-2 in the 6^th with Heather’s Feather edging Purses Galore to complete a $31 exacta, and a double with Monteagle that paid a whopping $234.50.

The Hot List has been winning at a 21 percent clip for the meet with 64 winners from 303 starters. In addition, our horses have finished in the money 51 percent of the time.

We’ve had 4 winners pay in excess of $30 to win and 21 have returned at least $10.

Don’t forget, our daily picks are available free at InterBets.com and Interbets members get daily race reviews emailed to them at no charge.

It’s been a fun, profitable and, sadly, much too short Saratoga meeting. Good luck on closing weekend and we will see you at Belmont Park next week.
___________________________________________________________________________It may not be Breeders’ Cup weekend, but it’s pretty close.
As frightful as the weather forecasts may be, the summer’s best two days of racing are on tap for Saturday and Sunday with the centerpiece events at Saratoga and Del Mar being staged on back to back days so fans do not have to focus on one at the exclusion of the other.
Best of all, they are both outstanding betting races with large fields and plenty of value.
The thrills start Saturday on the coast where there was an earthquake the other day, and how strange is it to equate the E-word with the east over the west.
Saratoga offers yet another intriguing edition of the Travers, though this year’s race may be overshadowed by the race directly before it, when 2-year-old champ Uncle Mo will make his heavily anticipated return in the King’s Bishop.
In the Travers, the lure of $1 million in purse money has brought together the Preakness and Belmont Stakes winners against the winners of the more recent Haskell and Jim Dandy in a showdown that promises to give the muddled 3-year-old division some clarity – at least for a while.
Stay Thirsty, who took the Jim Dandy at the Spa by four lengths, was pegged as the 5-2 favorite, though this year that’s a dubious distinction. Upsets have been the way of the world among this year’s 3-year-old division, and there are certainly several starters who can spark a huge exotic payoff.
Yet with the calendar about to turn to September, if there’s ever been a time for someone to stand tall atop the division it should be Saturday.
In Stay Thirsty, Preakness champ Shackleford, Haskell winner Coil and Belmont Stakes victor Ruler On Ice, four of the most accomplished 3-year-olds in training will clash and should one of them emerge victorious it would stamp that fortunate runner as the division leader heading into the major fall stakes, where they will be forced to tackle older horses like Tizway.
Stay Thirsty seems the best of that group, based on two previous wins at Saratoga and an ability to handle a marathon distance. If he can finish third in the mile and a half Belmont Stakes, when he lost by only three quarters of a length to Ruler On Ice, then 10 furlongs should be well within his scope.
There’s also much to like in Coil, Shackleford and Ruler On Ice, yet to envision a Travers superfecta with nothing but the four betting choices seems about as preposterous a sight as Lady Gaga at an opera house.
Several outsiders like Rattlesnake Bridge, Raison d’Etat , J W Blue and Malibu Glow could easily sneak into the picture and inflate the payoffs into tax ID territory, so don’t be afraid to include a longshot or two somewhere in your exotics.
As for Uncle Mo, he’ll make his first start since finishing third in the Wood Memorial on April 9 when he heads a field of eight in the $250,000 King’s Bishop. Uncle Mo has been training sharply for the Grade 1 sprint stakes and if he can handle rivals like Flashpoint, Dominus and Caleb’s Posse off a four and a half month layoff due to a liver ailment, it just might be fabulous fall after all.
On Sunday, as we all wait out Hurricane Irene (P.S. Monmouth will be closed Sunday), we can at least enjoy a brief diversion by turning our attention to the San Diego area, where the weather is usually picture perfect, and watching the $1 million Pacific Classic.
The fabulous filly Blind Luck elected to skip the Pacific Classic, but even without her there’s a field of 10 (Bourbon Bay has been scratched) that features a rematch between Game On Dude and Twirling Candy, who were separated by a neck when they were beaten by the since-retired First Dude in the Hollywood Gold Cup.
As for the rest, Setsuko and Canadian shipper Don Cavallo might appreciate the 10-furlong distance and could cause a problem or two for the favorites.
Meanwhile, a day after Uncle Mo resurfaces in the King’s Bishop, The Factor, unsighted since suffering an injury in the Arkansas Derby back in April, will start his comeback against older horses in the seven-furlong Pat O’Brien, which will be the fifth race on Sunday’s card at Del Mar.

8/26/11

Sub-head: Staying ‘Hot’
It was another great week for the New York Hot List here at Interbets.com, with five winners on Saturday (topped by B Shanny at $14), a pair of boxed triples on Wednesday that paid $1,381 and $444.50, and even a $35.20 steeplechase winner on Thursday.
Looking over our stats, that jump winner, Mabou, was also the 11th Hot List winner to return more than $16 at the Spa. Hope you cashed on at least am few of them.
On Saturday, we have Travers starters Raison d’Etat and Malibu Glow on our C List (horses that went down two or more betting notches in the final 5 minutes off wagering and finished in the money), but we’re leaning toward Stay Thirsty as the one to beat.
Coach Royal (3rd), Aviate (7th) and Fast Grievance (13th) are our other key plays on Saturday.
Remember, you can get each day’s New York Hot List picks with just a click of your mouse at the Handicapper’s Corner area of Interbets.com.
You can also follow the Hot List on twitter at @nyhotlist.
Have a great weekend and, most importantly, be safe.
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8/19/11
It’s hard to believe that we’ve arrived at Weekend No. 5 at Saratoga. Seems like the track just opened yesterday.

While the summer’s main event – The $1 million Travers – is still a week away, the 3-year-old fillies take center stage in the 131^st Alabama Stakes to be run at the classic distance on 1 ¼ miles with a purse of $500,000 up for grabs.

Six sophomore fillies are entered with all eyes sure to be on It’s Tricky and Plum Pretty who thrilled the Saratoga crowd with a scintillating stretch duel in the Coaching Club American Oaks back on the opening Saturday of the meet. The two hooked up that day at the 3/8^th pole and ran in tandem until It’s Tricky pulled ahead in the final 100 yards to win by a length.

It’s Tricky, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, will be going for the TVG Triple Tiara following her victories in the Coaching Club and Acorn. Only six other fillies have accomplished that feat – the last being Sky Beauty in 1993.

Plum Pretty won the Kentucky Oaks and has run second in her last 2 races for trainer Bob Baffert. She likes to race on the front end, and the extra furlong will be challenging.

Bill Mott returns with Royal Delta, the third-place finisher in the Coaching Club. Distance should not be a problem for her and she can close if a speed duel develops.

St. John’s River, another late-running filly, will be making her Saratoga debut. She was second in the Kentucky Oaks and came back from a 2-month break after that race to win the Grade II Delaware Oaks. With a swift early pace expected this could be a good spot for her.

Queen’s Plate winner Inglorious and Pinch Pie round out the 6-horse field. Post time is scheduled for 5:45 pm and you can play the race at InterBets.com.

Elsewhere on Saturday’s the Hot List has Green Monster as D in the 1^st race. He is coming off two mediocre turf tries, but returns to his preferred surface and his races on dirt make him one of our best bets.

In Race 6 B Shanny is 15-1 on the morning line and is one of our value plays. He earned a C last time with a second-place finish in his career debut. Some others look faster in here, but he had some trouble in his first start and he may appreciate the stretch out to 7 furlongs.

Hot List Lives Up to its Name

The Saratoga debut of the New York Hot List has been a successful one as our horses have been winning at an 18 percent clip for a flat-bet profit of $67.60.

When you dig a little deeper our A selections have won from 10 of 36 starters with a profit of $70.90.

Of our 38 winners, two have paid more than $30, seven more than $20 and a total of 15 have returned more than $10 on a $2 win wager. The average payoff for a Hot List winner at the Saratoga meet in $12.41.

Don’t forget our picks are available each day free of charge at www.Interbets.com and our daily race reviews are emailed to all Interbets account holders and those are free as well.

Check us out on Twitter

The New York Hot List is now on Twitter. Follow us @nyhotlist and you can get updates on out horses each day and links to our picks.

Trainer stats

Another feature of the New York Hot List is our exclusive trainer stats and how their horses perform when they take late money. A couple of interesting bits of information emerged during the first half of the meet.

Chad Brown, second to Todd Pletcher in the trainer standings with 14 wins, has had horses take late money 9 times and those horses have finished in the money 8 times with 5 wins.

Meanwhile, Pletcher horses that take money have won just 2 of 9 starts and finished out of the money the other 7 times. Seems like his horses get bet late only because he is Todd Pletcher.

Enjoy the Alabama and good luck this weekend. Don’t forget to check out the NY Hot List at www.Interbets.com.
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8/13/11

If you’re fan of turf racing, then this is the weekend you circled on your calendar months ago. Today, in two different parts of the country, two of the year’s best and most famous grass races will be staged.

Illinois will be the site for the richer race, the Arlington Million, which brings together an international field of 10 in a mile and a quarter test at, yes, Arlington Park.

Meanwhile, in the Adirondacks region of New York, the $500,000 Sword Dancer rates as the main turf race of the meet at Saratoga and features a well-matched field of eight going a mile and a half.

Both Grade 1 stakes should be excellent betting races, with plenty of options for finding a handicapper’s gold mine, value.

In the Arlington Million, Gio Ponti looms the horse to beat, even though he’s winless in three 2011 starts. He has the best combination of class and consistency and should figure prominently in your exotic combinations, especially if he’s the second choice in the wagering.

Can’t say I’m keen on the favored Cape Blanco or Mission Approved, both of whom beat Gio Ponti in their previous starts. Both horses tend to react to a powerful effort and seem vulnerable at relatively low odds against such a quality field.

A longshot to watch is Rahystrada, who will break from the rail. He comes off a win in the Colonial Turf Cup and owns two wins at the distance. He’s nearly as fast as the top morning-line choices and at 12-1 is hard to ignore, especially in the exotics.

From the international contingent, Wigmore Hall seems the most interesting contender after running in some of the best races in the Far East.

Zack Hall ran well in one of France’s best races, and a repeat effort – if he’s capable of it – makes him a top contender here. His price – 10-1 in the morning line – is also right.

In the Sword Dancer, trainer Christophe Clement, who will saddle Gio Ponti in the Million, will try for a double with Winchester, the 5-2 favorite.

Winchester was second on a synthetic surface last time out and should thrive in a return to turf. United Nations winner Tweaks North looms the main threat, though several longshots also deserve a close look.

Bim Bam, is 12-1, but split Mission Approved and Gio Ponti in the Manhattan and should not be left out of your exotics.

Grassy, who is also trained by Clement, turned in a big effort at this distance at Woodbine and merits interest if he’s 5-1 or more.

It was another big week for the New York Hot List at Saratoga as we registered winners paying $25.40 or more on Sunday and Monday’s cards.

The Hot List, which blends trip handicapping and late wagering trends to give you horses to watch, connected on Sunday with Beautifulnigthtmare at $25.20 and Monday it was Siggi the Alien’s turn to reach the winner’s circle after lighting up the toteboard to the tune of $28.40. That brought the total to 10 winners at the meet paying $16 or more, which is anything but a cheap result for a service that does not list picks in each race and, best of all, is available free at the Handicappers Corner area of InterBets.com

We also gave you Tizway and the cold $47 exacta in the Whitney.

Oh, and that doesn’t include the bonus pick of Scorper ($24.80) on Thursday who was added because there were only a handful of Hot List choices that day.

We do our best to please, folks.

For Saturday, our key plays are Mr. Popps in the 4th, Simbamangu in the 5th and Power Blast in the 9th, but you can get all of the New York Hot List choices at InterBets.com. The NY Hot List is also distributed at Catskill OTB branches so look for it the next time you drop in to wager a buck or two.

You can also get the New York Hot List daily review of each day’s races via email, so you can build your own stable of horses to watch, simply by emailing CustomerService at Interbets.com and opening an InterBets.com account.

Happy handicapping.

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Weekend number three of the Saratoga meet is upon us and the past week of action has featured exciting racing as well as profitable picks from the New York Hot List.

The highlight of last Saturday was the Jim Dandy for 3-year-olds at a mile-and-an-eighth where hometown favorite Stay Thirsty romped to victory to validate his second-place showing in the Belmont Stakes and punch his ticket to the Travers on August 27.

While the Stay Thirsty story is nice, if you follow the Hot List, then you know the big news from Saturday was our top value pick – the B-rated My Redbyrd – closing hard to get the victory in the Hattie Moseley on the turf and pay a whopping $39.20 to win. We told you favored Ruthenia would be tough in that race and she ran second to return an exacta payoff of $181.50.

On Sunday we duplicated that feat as Ask the Moon, which we rated an A, went wire-to-wire to win the Grade I Ruffian and pay $38 on top. The exacta on that race with the very logical Super Espresso paid $173.50.

As we’ve been saying the New York Hot List is designed to give you live horses based on our analysis of their most recent races as well as how they might perform in that day’s race. You can use those horses to help fill out your exactas, trifectas and superfectas. During the Saratoga meet, 51 percent of Hot List horses have finished in the top three.

You can also use the Hot List if you are looking for a live horse to use in your double, Pick 3 and Pick 4 wagers as well.

Speaking of those multirace wagers I wanted to talk a little bit about a recent change in New York racing that makes the Pick 4 more playable.

The minimum wager on the Pick 4 was reduced this year from $1 to 50 cents, and this marks the first Saratoga meet where the change is in effect.

The plus for the bettor is two-fold: The 50-cent minimum allows the players with limited bankroll to cover more combinations, and the reduced minimum has actually increased the pool sizes over the first 11 days of the Saratoga meet. The average pool for the early Pick 4 is about $64,000 larger than it was last year at Saratoga – an increase of about 31 percent. And the late Pick 4 pools are up 8 percent which means there is more money out there for you to shoot for.

The 50-cent minimum helped yours truly hit a nice Pick 4 on the opening Saturday of the meet. I usually play an elaborate combination of tickets focusing on my ‘main’ and ‘backup’ selections. (I borrow this method from the one laid out by Steven Crist in his excellent book Exotic Betting, the details of which you can find there).

On that day the 50-cent minimum bet helped me cover all combinations of my main and primary backup horses for only $48. It would have cost me $96 a year ago. In the end, the full play cost this small-bankroll player only $92. Not that much over 4 races if you usually play $20-$30 a race.

And to tie it all together, one of my live backup horses was Wishingonastar which we at the Hot List rated a D. And that horse won the 3^rd leg of the Pick 4 at 11-1 odds to key a payoff of $769 for a 50-cent wager – and a trip to the IRS window!

So if you haven’t tried multirace bets before it’s a good time to give them a chance thanks to the 50-cent minimum and the NY Hot List.

Whitney and Test are bettable affair

On to this Saturday’s racing and after the 3-year-olds ran last weekend, the older males take center stage in the 84^th running of the Whitney at 1 1/8 miles on the main track.

The Hot List has Tizway rated an A for this race as he comes off a sterling effort in the Met Mile back on May 30 at Belmont. With just a hand ride from Rajiv Maragh, Tizway powered to a career-best effort. He’s been off since then, but has given top efforts off the bench before.

The lukewarm favorite on the morning line at 4-1 is Suburban winner Flat Out. He has been working sharply at Monmouth since that win, but could be a bounce candidate.

Todd Pletcher sends out Mission Impazible following a second-place finish in the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs. And Nick Zito saddles Morning Line who may be forgiven his last race off the layoff and could be ready to run a big one

Just prior to the Whitney is the Test for 3-year-old fillies and it looks like a speed-laden field that may set things up for favored Turbulent Descent.

The Hot List has three longer shots tabbed in this race. The styles of Roman Treasure (D) and Savvy Supreme (C) may just out them in an early suicide duel. But Salty Strike (D) has shown some rating ability and may be able to make a late run.

We have several other horses to watch on Saturday’s card. Our best bets are Lime Rickey in the 1^st and Trade in the 3^rd. Sunnybrook is a top value play in a grass sprint which comes up as race number 4. Check out the list as we have several other value horses which could complete your trifecta or superfecta tickets.

Good luck and as Harvey Pack used to say: May the horse be with you!

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It seems almost fitting now that the Belmont Stakes was run on a dark, rainy day over a muddy track.

A race that was supposed add some clarity to the pecking order in the 3-year-old division only added to the confusion when the first three horses to cross the finish line were sent off at odds of 24-1, 16-1 and 10-1.

Some two months later, this season’s crop of 3-year-olds remain as muddled as ever, though a resolution, in some way, shape or form, might be around the corner.

Racing’s sophomore class will return to the spotlight this weekend when the three longshots from the Belmont, plus the 12-1 winner of the Preakness will be in action at Monmouth Park and Saratoga.

The $1 million Haskell on Sunday holds the most interest as it matches Preakness winner Shackleford and Belmont Stakes winner Ruler On ice in a mile-and-an-eighth speed duel at Monmouth.

It’s an interesting battle as Ruler On Ice, who is based in New Jersey, has homecourt advantage on his side as well as a talented tag-team partner in Pants on Fire, who won the Louisiana Derby.

Shackleford, meanwhile, has been working sharply since a fifth-place finish in the Belmont, and was installed as a 5-2 favorite over the two George and Lori Hall-owned horses, who will run as separate wagering entries in the Haskell and are each listed at 4-1.

Shackleford was no worse than second in the early stages of all three Triple Crown races and figures to be on the lead again in his first race since June 11. Staying on top will not be easy as there’s no shortage of horses with keen early speed in the field of eight. Both Hall horses like to run on or near the lead, while California shipper Coil and Joe Vann from the inside and J J’s Lucky Train and Astrology from the outside will be hot pursuit as well.

The lone closer in the field promises to be Concealed Identity, who beat Ruler On Ice in the Tesio at Pimlico but was second to Pants on Fire most recently in the Pegasus at Monmouth.

The $500,000 Jim Dandy at the Spa on Saturday drew a field of 7, topped by Stay Thirsty, who was second in the Belmont, and Brilliant Speed, who right behind him in third in the final leg of the Triple Crown.

The main threats in the Spa’s stepping stone stakes for the Travers promise to be Dwyer winner Dominus, Scotus, who captured the Matt Winn at Churchill Downs in his last start, and Peter Pan winner Alternation.

Both are wide-open races, yet if you put all of 15 of the starters in the Jim Dandy and Haskell together, all you’ll find is one horse – Pants on Fire – with more than one stakes win to his credit. In a year that has seen one longshot after another take the major 3-year-old stakes, the best part about the Jim Dandy and Haskell is that they could give someone that elusive second – or third – stakes win and push injured Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom farther into the background as far as the race for an Eclipse Award goes.

Yet as logical as that seems, history warns that to expect something predictable from his bunch could be as a foolish an endeavor now as it was in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness or Belmont Stakes.

A ‘Hot’ start at Saratoga

Moving into the second weekend of the Saratoga, the New York Hot List, Interbets.com/Catskill OTB’s innovative and free handicapping service, is off to a quick start. Through the first five days of the meet, the Hot List had six winners of $16 or more, with payoffs such as $27.20, $24.60, $17.20, $16.80, and $16.

There was even a $32.20 daily double on Monday, a $79.50 double on Sunday, and in Wednesday’s fourth race boxing the four NY Hot List horses resulted in a $597 superfecta.

The D List has generated the most profitable results as several horses that took late money and flopped at Belmont found the mountain air to their liking at the Spa and rebounded at hefty odds.

One of our key plays on Saturday’s card at the Spa is a D List horse. We’re looking for Aviate, at 5-1 odds, to perk up in the Diana – so long as the turf is on the dry side. She wasn’t her usual reliable self last time on soggy turf.

Keep in mind, too, that the NY Hot List is much more than a tip sheet. InterBets.com customers can get daily reviews of each day’s Saratoga races so that you can pick out the horses that intrigue you the most and build your own stable of horses to watch.

If you don’t have an InterBets account and want to see what you’re missing, email CustomerService@interbets.com or simply visit the website at InterBets.com where you’ll find a link to the sign-up page. You can also email me and my partner in the venture, Shawn Rychling, at NYHotList@interbets.com for more details or to answer any of your questions about the Hot List .

Happy handicapping.

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It’s heaven in your backyard.

For patrons here at Catskill OTB, Friday’s festive opening day at steamy but still exquisite Saratoga Race Course marked the 143^rd time the oasis in the nearby Adirondacks has added summertime charm and excitement into the lives of racing fans.

There’s no other meet like Saratoga, with its blend of first-class racing in a setting that remains oblivious to the constant march of time. Even if the calendar says 2011 there’s a relaxing feel of 1911 as you stroll through the grounds and the venerable grandstand and backyard.

But best of all, Victorian Saratoga remains a place where horse racing reigns supreme. Inside the city limits of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., fans can talk as freely and intelligently about the horses in the next day’s featured race as they do about the Yankees or Mets and Giants or Jets in every other part of the Empire State.

It’s as special now as it was in the 19^th Century, and perhaps even more so.

This year’s meet features 52 stakes spread across 40 days, and is highlighted by 17 Grade 1 stakes worth a combined $6.65 million.

The first of those Grade 1 tests takes place Saturday in the form of the 95^th edition of the Coaching Club American Oaks. A small field of five 3-year-old fillies was entered, but there’s no shortage of quality. Each of the starters finished either first or second in a Grade 1 or Grade 2 stakes in their last start.

Plum Pretty, runner-up in the Hollywood Oaks last time out and winner of the Kentucky Oaks before that, is the most accomplished starter in the mile and an eighth test.

My choice, though, is Royal Delta, who is coming off a win in the Black-Eyed Susan for trainer Bill Mott.

As small as the field may be, the speedy Plum Pretty figures to be pushed on the front by Acorn winner It’s Tricky and Mother Goose victor Buster’s Ready, which should set it up nicely for Royal Delta’s closing kick. I’m just hoping she goes off higher than her morning-line listing as the 2-1 favorite.

Rounding out the field is Mother Goose runner-up Joyous Victory, who also has a strong late kick.

The spotlight shifts over to 2-year-olds on Sunday. Overdriven, who might be the next Uncle Mo for owner Mike Repole and trainer Todd Pletcher, is the standout among a field of eight in the $150,000 Sanford Stakes. Futurity winner Jack’s in the Deck and Bashford Manor runner-up Power World loom the chief threats, though Overdriven looked like a very special runner as he pulled away in the stretch to take his debut by 3 ½ lengths on July 1.

Aside from winning in such impressive fashion, Overdriven received a sensational Beyer Speed Figure of 100 from Daily Racing Form in that maiden race, which was a whopping 31 points higher than the 69 Jack’s in the Deck chalked up for winning the Futurity, a Grade 2 stakes.

A son of Tale of the Cat, Overdriven’s monstrous effort also earned him a spot on the New York Hot List’s A List.

If you’re a regular here at InterBets.com, you’ve probably been introduced to the Hot List, a free handicapping service for InterBets/Catskill OTB customers that was launched at the start of the month.

The service, founded by myself and my partner, Shawn Rychling, offers graded lists of horses to watch based on trips, track bias, pace, final time and a unique tracking system for late wagering.

InterBets.com members have been receiving our daily reviews through email, and hopefully you’ve used them to create your own stable of horses to watch at the Spa.

To help with your handicapping, Shawn and I will be providing selections each racing day that can be viewed in the handicappers corner area of the InterBets.com website.

As mentioned, Overdriven is on our A List (our preferred list of horses to watch), though, we can’t take too big of a bow for pointing him out.

On Saturday’s card, our key selections are Self Control (5th), Crushing (7th), Clear Attempt (6th) and Bazinga (8th), and for the complete breakdown of the Hot List horses and our detailed analysis of the key races of the day visit www.InterBets.com on a daily basis.

And if you have any questions or comments on the Hot List, feel free to email us at NYHotList@interbets.com.

The King and Queen of late money

What separates the New York Hot List from other handicapping services is our novel tracking of late betting swings. While we use it primarily to identity horses to watch in their next race, it has also yielded some interesting results on race day.

Our methodology is that we list each horse that goes down at least 2 betting notches in the final 5 minutes of wagering – or 4 or more notches if they are 11-1 or more. We put horses that drop and hit the board on our C List and include those that finish out of the money on the D List.

Of course, you don’t always have to have to wait for those horses to run back to make money on them.

For instance, Linda Rice had 27 horses take late money at Belmont’s spring/summer meet . Twenty-six of them hit the board in the race in which they were bet down. That means if you simply included a Rice horse that dropped on the toteboard in your triples, you would have made the right choice 26 out 27 times. Not even Zenyatta had a record that good.

Todd Pletcher, who shared the trainer’s title with Rice, also was practically perfect. He had 17 horses who took late money and 16 of them in the board in those races, and while 16 of 17 may not be as good as Zenyatta let’s just say it ain’t bad.

Some other interesting stats are that David Jacobson had 12 horses drop and 6 of them won; Carlos Martin had 9 horses drop and 8 were either first or second; and an ice cold Nick Zito attracted late money only 5 times with 1 win and no seconds.

Down the road, the website will house an expanded area for the Hot List where late money stats and more will be available for InterBets.com customers.

A shout-out to Suffern

Shawn and I would also like to send a shout-out to the customers and staff at the Suffern OTB. They were gracious hosts for our seminar this past Saturday, and I hope we did our part to make their day a little brighter.

Among our four main plays of the day, we had a cold $148 triple at Belmont and a boxed exacta with two Hot List horses at Finger Lakes. Our total for the day was three winners and six second-place finishers among our Hot List horses, and during our seminar I even gave out an $82.50 exacta featuring two first-time starters.

OK, I know all of this falls into the category of tooting one’s horn, but, hey, it’s an absolutely free service that’s a reward for being an InterBets/Catskill OTB customer. So I feel a little more at ease in promoting it. It’s not like I’m trying to get you to buy 4 ShamWows for just $9.99. But wait, if you order now …!!!

With that strange interlude out of the way, best wishes to everyone for great season of handicapping and wagering at that slice of heaven in your backyard – Saratoga.

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It’s nearly time to load up the trunk and head to Saratoga.

Sunday’s card will mark the end of Belmont Park’s spring/summer meet, and then, after a four-day layoff, the Fab 40 Day meet at the Spa will merrily commence on Friday afternoon.

Can’t wait.

But before all hearts and minds turn toward the north, there is the pressing matter of two more cards at Belmont – or more specifically, two more chances to pad your bankroll for Saratoga.

Saturday’s 10-race program offers several interesting wagering opportunities, and if you’re looking for a tour guide to help you navigate those choppy waters then head over to the Suffern OTB branch at 140 Orange Avenue. I’ll be there with my New York Hot List partner Shawn Rychling to analyze the card. During our seminar, we’ll also help introduce the NY Hot List to customers of Catskill OTB/InterBets.com, explaining our methodology and how it can help you to have a more profitable day at the races.

At first look, it appears we’ll have more than 20 Hot List horses in action at five different tracks on Saturday, and Shawn and I will do our best to sort out the best bets and the prime value plays for you.

Saturday’s seminar starts at noon, about an hour before post time for the first race at Belmont.

Shawn and I will also stick around afterwards to introduce ourselves to the Suffern OTB betting windows and answer any questions you might have about the Hot List or racing in general.

Saturday’s card at Belmont is topped by the $100,000 Jaipur, a seven-furlong Grade 3 grass stakes. Gantry, who we tabbed on the Hot List as a B in his last start, is the 2-1 favorite, with Right One next at 5-2. Also keep an eye on Yield Bogey, an A last time, who is attractively priced at 5-1 after a game runner-up finish to Courageous Cat in the Poker.

On the national scene, the big race of the day on Saturday is the $750,000 Delaware Handicap, which brings together Havre de Grace and Blind Luck, the top two horses in the most recent National Thoroughbred Racing Association national poll. Havre de Grace’s tactical speed gives her an edge in a 5-horse field, but the mile and a quarter distance seems perfectly suited for Blind Luck’s late kick so I’ll side with her in this No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown.

Backtracking to last weekend, the weather made handicapping tricky, but it turned out to be a solid weekend for the Hot List. On Sunday, we had three winners and three runners-up on our lists, with Eltish Star, a $21.40 winner, shinning brightest of all.

Our best bet of the day on Saturday also landed in the winner’s circle as Fantasia won the Modesty at Arlington Park and returned $9.80.

Hopefully we’ll help close out Belmont with a few more winning tickets, so gas up the car, and, if you have a few wagering dollars left after that, head over to the Suffern OTB and join Shawn and I at noon.

I’d offer you a ride but I have a compact car and Shawn and I are anything but compact.

See you then.

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The countdown is underway.

After Saturday’s card, there will be just six days of racing left at Belmont Park and after that it’s time for a sentimental journey back in time to that beloved oasis in the Adirondacks, Saratoga.

Yes, the 143^rd season of racing at the Spa is charging up quickly on the outside, bringing with it New York Racing’s Fab 40 Days of Racing.

Hopefully you’re ready for it, but if not, you can always turn to the New York List for some help and guidance.

If you visited the InterBets.com wagering site last week, you had a front row seat for the launch of the NY Hot List, a new and innovative handicapping service I co-founded. The Hot List is a multi-faceted tool for New York Racing Association races that will provide you with a steady stream of horses to watch, unique handicapping data and selections plus wagering insights for our key races of the day.

Put it all together and it’s an enhanced wagering experience for InterBets and Catskill OTB customers.

If you’ve already seen the NY Hot List daily selections in the Handicapper’s Corner of InterBets.com, allow me to explain in more detail what you’re seeing.

The selections are just part of this free service. InterBets/Catskill OTB customers have also been receiving via email the NY Hot List Daily Review, which provides you with our horses to watch from that day’s card. Hopefully you’ve been reading and using them to build your own stable of horses to watch.

Each race is analyzed for trips, pace and final time, among other factors, to give you the horses we believe are the best bets to turn in a solid effort in their next start. Don’t bother looking for that 45-1 shot who got left at the gate and trailed throughout, or a favorite who encountered a slight bit of trouble but was well-beaten. We won’t detail every bad trip or outstanding effort. We’ll only give you the ones with the most promise so you can focus on them when they return to races.

Beyond that, the New York Hot List will also give you a first-of-its-kind breakdown of the late wagering, listing all of the horses who went down 2 or more betting notches in the final five minutes (4 or more notches if they are 11-1 or more). This exclusive information will help you to understand why late betting swings are often called “smart money.” You’ll be surprised at how loudly late money can speak in a race, and how that confidence at the betting windows can often translate into a good effort in a subsequent start.

In time, InterBets.com will house stats that will show how each NYRA trainer fares when their horse takes a late hit on the toteboard.

Through this system, we have stocked a large supply of horses on our A, B,C and D lists, giving us horses to watch on each NYRA card.

Playing them properly is the key part of the process, especially since we are tabbing horses weeks before they re-appear in the entry box. There are times where we might love a horse based on its last race, but loathe where the trainer placed him. Sometimes one of our horses might run back at an out-of-town track. It’s out of our hands after we list them.

To help cope with that, there’s a daily selection page at InterBets’ Handicapper’s Corner where we not only list all of our horses, but also highlight a few races where we believe our horses have the best chance of succeeding. Our insights can also help on those occasions when we have multiple horses in a race, which is unavoidable when you’re picking out prospects far removed from their next race

Our very first race for InterBets/Catskill OTB best reflect that mix of our horses to watch and our – or your – handicapping of the race. Our horse in last Saturday’s second race was Five Sigma Event, who in her last start was bumped while chasing a fast pace yet still managed to finish a game second. She was also hammered down from 5-1 to 5-2, so we listed her as an A and a C.

Unfortunately that last race was on Feb. 13, so off a nearly five-month-long layoff you definitely wanted to hedge your bets. In our analysis, we mentioned Voyles and Eastside Train as the ones to watch.

At the finish, a rusty Five Sigma Event faded to third but Voyles and Eastside Train ran 1-2, generating a $118 triple for a box of our three horses.

Yes, folks, you can cash some nice tickets even when your horse runs third, and our goal with the NY Hot List is to give you that extra horse or two that might turn one of your winner into a triple.

In subsequent races and days, we hit a few more boxed triples, and our horses even comprised a small superfecta on Monday. We also had a $9.20 best bet winner on Monday who teamed with another list horse for a $23.60 exacta. We had another 1-2 finish with list horses in Saturday’s final race for a $33.60 exacta, and on Sunday we had a 15-1 shot run second in the last race of the day.

Oh, we had our share of losers, too. Nobody’s perfect. Not even my hero, Mariano Rivera. Yet I’m confident that if you put the NY Hot List to work, either following it blindly or by weaving into your own decision-making process, you’ll make better handicapping choices – at Belmont and in a few weeks at Saratoga, where horses for courses are always dangerous.

If you do not have an InterBets.com account and want to get the daily reviews to start your homework for the Spa, contact customer service at CustomerService@interbets.com. If you have any questions about the New York Hot List, you can also email me and my partner in this venture, the always astute Shawn Rychling (except when he’s rooting for the Red Sox), at nyhotlist@interbets.com .

As for this weekend, the main event at Belmont is the Man o’War where Gio Ponti, a two-time Eclipse Award champ, will try for a three-peat in the $600,000 grass stakes. To do it, he’ll have to reel in Mission Approved, a former claimer who scored a 21-1 upset over Gio Ponti in the Manhattan and was partially responsible for that famous $1.1 million carryover from the Belmont Stakes program.

The rest of the field includes Bearpath, Boisterous, Al Khali, Nownownow and Cape Blanco.

None of those horses are Hot List choices, but in the sixth race, Westside Corral, who was an A in his last start because of a strong but belated bid, looms one of the day’s best bets. Another is Fantasia, who looks awfully tough in the $150,000 Modesty Handicap at Arlington Park, the eighth race of the day at the Illinois track.

That’s it for now, but don’t forget that Shawn and I will help introduce the New York Hot List at a seminar on Saturday, July 16 at the Suffern OTB branch, beginning at noon.

Happy handicapping to all of us.