The spotlight card for Week 7 at Del Mar comes with the closer on Sunday featuring the Torrey Pines Stakes. It’s 1 of 5 mile contests (2 on dirt, 3 on turf) on a card exclusively for sprinters and milers. A two-day pick 6 carryover of $192,078 makes for a sizzler.

Each day this summer at Del Mar, I’ll be handicapping the action with my top plays on the card – including full-card selections for a featured program each week.

Del Mar Race 1 | starter optional claiming
#1 Howie’s Law is rail speed at 4-5 morning line and will be the one to catch, but not a cinch over 7 furlongs. That opens the door to #4 Letmein, who at 8-1 morning line goes for a Mark Glatt barn firing right now. The only closer to make a dent in the finish July 19 when rallying for third and could be heard from if the chalk comes back to the field. Picks 4-1-3

Del Mar Race 2 | maiden special weight
Just 6 running lines combined in main body of this 10-horse turf sprint for juveniles. #3 Chiseled in Stone makes plenty of sense as the 5-2 morning line favorite after showing speed in a debut runner-up. But Steve Knapp’s barn hasn’t been anywhere near successful enough to accept short prices at the moment. Carla Gaines has had her stable clicking in recent weeks and is one of the circuit’s best turf-sprint conditioners. #5 Lil Prince Cairo at 8-1 morning line offers intrigue and price for that outfit. She and Kazushi Kimura have almost been printing money with their ROI in tandem. Picks 5-3-2-8

Del Mar Race 3 | claiming
The 3-1 morning line favorite #8 Miz Clubcali got completely stopped last time at an important point in the race and made 2-3 runs to just miss while second. Should make amends in a race common to a trio of these and one in which the third-place finisher already has come back to win at the meet (albeit on a class drop to $8K level). Pace setup also favors top pick, who is a possible single for me in multi-race wagers. Continue to respect these Gato Del Oro offspring on the Del Mar dirt and consider #1 Chasing Kat candidate to repeat her victory against easier competition 14 days ago. Picks 8-1-6.

Del Mar Race 4 | allowance optional claiming
Hard-used from a tough post 10 last time, #4 Cortina d’Amprezzo gets a very noteworthy jockey change to Antonio Fresu and a big helping of post relief. That should be enough to propel the 3-1 morning line favorite to get back to her June winning ways at Santa Anita. It’s been a disastrous meet for Leonard Powell, but his #5 Waiting For You is better than her last effort when left with no pace help at all and better than her 10-1 morning line offering. The offspring of Bated Breath are dynamos on the Del Mar lawn and maybe she’ll show a big improvement. Jeff Mullins’ turfers have been firing like clockwork, and #6 Run With Liberty would be no shock to continue that wave. Picks 4-5-6.

Del Mar Race 5 | maiden special weight
There’s not much creativity to this one as #1 Not So Merry Mary (5-1 morning line odds) should know her fate in the initial jumps. I think she could get loose early on the turf-to-dirt transition and come out firing. Tim Yakteen’s barn has been on point the last few weeks with limited strikes and he’s a serious threat in second career starts like this historically. Followers here know we’ve chased a few of these George Papaprodromou rider changes from Belmont to Fresu with some success. #8 Her Strut could follow suit while adding blinkers. Picks 1-8-10-3

Del Mar Race 6 | claiming
Turf sprint with a big field and lot of early speed could come back to a strong finisher. #2 Harcyn loves Del Mar’s lawn (3: 2-1-0) and narrowly missed vs. #9 Code Duello last time out. The latter makes a barn change and is 5-2 morning line, while my choice is 8-1 in the line. The Goldecents offspring continue to provide value on the green here and we’ll roll with Harcyn late to turn the tables. The X-factor is former stakes player #5 Otto the Conqueror, who gets Juan Hernandez off the claim for Vladimir Cerin and has been a dirt horse primarily. His 1 turf sprint try at Churchill puts him right in the discussion, however, but part of a wicked pace. Picks 2-9-6.

Del Mar Race 7 | Grade 3 Torrey Pines Stakes
Definitely wouldn’t be a spotlight play for me as I’m not enamored with any of these. All seem as flawed as playable, so I’ll treat lightly and spread amongst multi-race wager considerations. Mild nod to #3 She’s No Quant off of 3 straight wins – albeit around 1 turn, albeit against Cal-breds, albeit jockey Juan Hernandez jumps to the obvious Baffert pairing with #3 Rabeeba. The speedster Rabeeba hasn’t lost in 2 tries but her mile allowance win saw a sundial slow 26-2/5 final quarter. You don’t have to trust she’s about to ace the next test vs. tougher – and a speed duel with #5 Mohaven looks to be in the cards. #7 Wolf Hill might be the most trustworthy router of the race and she’s an 0-10 maiden, so difficult to take on top. I’m going to lean on a 94 BRIS late pace figure earned in the Fleet Treat by She’s No Quant as the reason she’ll stretch out 2 turns, but that’s not assured. Picks 2-7-3.

Del Mar Race 8 | maiden special weight
So, 6 of the 10 entered here exit the same July 31 turf mile that walked 49 seconds the back half. I’m not fond of turf races that decelerate like that and going to bank that one of the 5-furlong stretchout horses here can forget to stop. Sprint-to-route turf milers have had a lot of success this meet, winning about a third of the offerings. #1 First Light, #5 Platinum Groove, #7 Zuzu’s Classic Gal and #8 Druliner all make the distance extension. Shop the tote here for some value, but #1 First Light (8-1 morning line odds) has been sharpened with a couple of works since a cut-back try earlier in the meet. She’s been decent over a mile in the past and gets to take the shortest way around. #5 Platinum Groove debuted fifth in a decent finish behind another Jeff Mullins barnmate. That outfit has been aces on turf this meet and note the third-place finisher in that Aug. 1 race came back here to win a similar race Aug. 23. Picks 1-5-7-8

Del Mar Race 9 | allowance
Stakes-caliber allowance race will be a great watch, but a difficult bet with 3 of the 9 entrants making their first starts of 2026 – including Longacres Mile winner #4 Arrowthegreat, Tokyo City Stakes winner #5 Privman and a sharpie from the hot Mark Glatt barn who flashed ability here last summer in #6 Lyell’s Song. Then you have #9 Mirahmadi, second in last summer’s San Diego Handicap locally making his second start of the year after a tiring bid in that same stakes without any races between. Chilean star The Goat was thrown into the deep end in 2 starts earlier this year against Journalism and Stronghold and wasn’t embarrassed while fourth in both starts. John Sadler turns to his money rider Joel Rosario and they might have the edge on form cycle to some of these. At 6-1 morning line odds, I’d take that shot. Picks 5-7-6.

Del Mar Race 10 | starter optional claiming
This capacity field of 12 should absolutely cook early and give a finishing contender every chance to throw the last punch. #9 Call Me Sir (5-1 morning line odds) gets a delicious set-up for his rally, something he didn’t get last out when third behind a slow 1:12 split for 6 furlongs. #10 Henry Adams (8-1 ML) closed right on his heels in that same race and the pair could be difficult to separate again. The edge to Call Me Sir who gets a rider upgrade to Joel Rosario, who has been outstanding this meeting. #1 Midway Lane may be best of the pace brigade as the 3-1 morning line favorite. Picks 9-10-1