HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Comparative could get an ideal tracking trip behind Hot and Sultry and perhaps Shotgun Hottie on Friday, when she seeks to win her third consecutive race in the Grade 3, $250,000 Bayakoa at Oaklawn Park. Comparative is shortening in distance for the 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares, but could sit closer to the pace than Grade 3 winner Butterbean and graded stakes-placed runners Skratch Kat and Ice Orchid. Others making up the nine-horse field include Misty Veil, winner of the Pippin last month at Oaklawn, and The Alys Look, who ran third in last year’s Kentucky Oaks. Comparative enters off a win in the $150,000 Ladies at 1 1/8 miles on Jan. 6 at Aqueduct. She raced with the pace throughout, one start after sitting close to quick fractions and prevailing in a one-mile allowance at the same track Nov. 25. Manny Franco has the mount from post 6. “This gives her an opportunity at graded stakes company again,” said trainer Brad Cox, a three-time winner of the Bayakoa. “She’s been very good since she was freshened up this summer and fall. She’s 2 for 2 – obviously likes Aqueduct. “Belmont has been her home for the last couple of months, and she’s done very well there. We put her on a plane and flew her over, and she’s settled in well. We’re hopeful she can be effective.” :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Comparative is a Godolphin homebred by Street Sense. She is a full sister to Shared Sense, a multiple Grade 3 winner around two turns who earned $577,435. Comparative is 4 for 10 in her career, with two of those wins coming at the Bayakoa’s distance. “We always liked her,” Cox said. “Early on, she kind of had some rough trips and bad luck. “She has a big [pedigree]. It was a big win last time and winning a graded stakes would add to her value.” Hot and Sultry became a graded winner in her last start, when she wired the field in the Chilukki on Nov. 18 at Churchill Downs. The Grade 3 race was run at a mile and has since produced two next-out stakes winners in third-place finisher Oeuvre and eighth-place finisher Hidden Connection. Both came back to win stakes at Fair Grounds. Hot and Sultry, who is looking for her first win at two turns, has prepped at Fair Grounds. She’s run some big races off the bench and is a candidate to control the pace when she breaks from post 7. Ricardo Santana Jr. has the mount for Alex and JoAnn Lieblong and trainer Norm Casse. Shotgun Hottie owns the field’s best last-race Beyer Speed Figure, a 98 for her win in the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher in July at Monmouth Park. She could be up in the race as a fresh horse who has been working sharply at her base of Fair Grounds. Cristian Torres has the mount from post 9 for trainer Cherie DeVaux. Butterbean won the Mistletoe in December at Oaklawn and was flattered when runner-up Misty Veil came back to win the Pippin. Juan C. Diaz rides Just Katherine, who is coming off a two-other-than allowance win at Aqueduct. Just Katherine is the first mount for Diaz since December 2019 at Gulfstream Park, according to Daily Racing Form statistics. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.