Del Mar Picks & Predictions — July 19, 2026
Sunday at Del Mar — 79 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and the Pacific breeze doing exactly what it's supposed to do. Conditions don't get much better than this at the track by the sea, and the 11-race card does the weather justice with a nice mix of maiden events, allowance company, and a turf stakes to close out the afternoon in style.
The turf course figures to be the storyline today. Four of the eleven races are contested on the grass, including the Race 9 stakes, and with firm footing expected under the clear conditions, speed figures earned on this surface should translate cleanly. Dirt runners will find a fast, consistent surface as well — no excuses for anybody today.
We've got three races open to every TrackWiz reader to kick off the card, then eight premium deep-dives covering the full afternoon through the final furlong. Whether you're here for a couple of casual plays or building multi-race tickets all the way to the nightcap, there's plenty to dig into.
Best Bets
Race 1
Maiden Claiming · 5 1/2 fur · Dirt
A wide-open maiden claimer on the dirt sprint where TrackWiz ratings are tightly bunched at the top — expect a contested pace and a race that sets up for the closers.
Jetway tops our TrackWiz ratings at 57.5 in this field and lands in a barn that knows how to win first out — John Sadler consistently puts debut horses on the board at Del Mar. Joel Rosario gets the call, which is about as good as it gets for a maiden at this level. The 5 1/2-furlong distance suits a horse that should be sharp right out of the gate, and the 5/2 morning line actually understates how much we like him over this group. Jetway's avg speed of 55 gives him a workable baseline against most of this field.
Howie's Law comes back with the second-best rating in the field at 56.67 and matches Freddy Five Four with the top avg speed figure of 56 among horses with recorded works. The Doug O'Neill barn is a perennial presence at Del Mar and Emisael Jaramillo is a live rider to have aboard. At 3/1 on the morning line, he's a natural runner-up threat if Jetway gets loose on the front end.
Pharoah's Candy checks in at 55.83 on the TrackWiz scale — third-best in the field — and Jeff Bonde has a knack for placing first-time starters in spots where they can hit the board. Julien Leparoux is a proven short-sprint pilot at Del Mar, and at 7/2 there's fair value here for exotic players looking to anchor a show parlay or include her in trifecta tickets.
Race 2
Maiden Special Weight · 5 fur · Dirt
An MSW sprint on the dirt with a crowded field of first-timers — pace shape is a mystery, but the talent gap between the top three and the rest of the field is notable.
Phone Booth sits atop our TrackWiz ratings at 57.5 — a clear edge over the field — and Doug O'Neill has been formidable with fresh horses at Del Mar all meet long. Umberto Rispoli is sharp right now and knows how to sit just off a pace on a 5-furlong dirt sprint and pounce. Without recorded speed figures this is projection-based, but the combination of top rating, elite trainer, and a proven jockey makes Phone Booth the most compelling top-line bet on the card for Race 2.
Goodtimesntanlines (yes, that's the name) carries a 55.0 rating for Steve Knapp, who quietly puts together solid maiden debut efforts with first-time starters. Tiago Josue Pereira has been building his book at Del Mar and this could be a spot where he steals a piece. In a race where pace is undefined, horses with a clean break from the rail can grab the early call and hang on for a slice of the purse.
Southwest Sun at 5/1 represents trainer Peter Miller, one of the elite short-sprint conditioners on the West Coast — and that pedigree alone earns a place on the ticket. His 53.33 TrackWiz rating puts him third in the field, and Miller's ability to have horses ready first-time out is well-documented. Cesar Belmont gives this horse a confident, forward-moving ride style that plays well in 5-furlong dirt sprints.
Race 3
Allowance Optional Claiming · 5 fur · Turf
This Allowance Optional Claiming turf sprint features a dominant figure at the top of the ratings — Motorious stands out sharply, but D'Amato sending out two horses from the same barn creates some strategic intrigue.
Motorious is the most dominant horse on the entire opening day card through Race 3 — an 88.54 TrackWiz rating that towers over this field. A 41% career win rate is elite for any division, and a 2/1 morning line tells you the market agrees. Trainer Philip D'Amato is one of the best turf conditioners in the country, and Antonio Fresu has been red-hot this season. On a 5-furlong turf sprint, a horse with a 59 avg speed who wins four out of ten starts is simply the right call here.
Sorrento Sky is the other D'Amato runner and rates out at 76.77 — second best in the field by a healthy margin over Book Smart. Umberto Rispoli gets the leg up, and his feel for turf racing at Del Mar is arguably better than anyone on the grounds. There's a scenario where D'Amato uses Motorious to soften up the pace and Sorrento Sky swoops in late, making the 5/1 morning line look very generous.
Book Smart at 5/1 with Mike Smith aboard is not a horse to dismiss in this spot. A 26% career win rate is respectable at the allowance level, and trainer Robert Hess, Jr. rarely enters horses without a real shot. The 69.37 TrackWiz rating puts Book Smart clearly ahead of the remaining field — if the D'Amato duo runs each other wide or gets into traffic, Smith's patient style could thread through for third.
Our three free races set the table nicely. Races 1 and 2 are maiden events over the dirt — the kind of short-field sprints where pace scenario and morning-line positioning tell a big part of the story. Jetway (5/2 ML) in Race 1 and Phone Booth (5/2 ML) in Race 2 both earn top TrackWiz ratings in their respective fields and represent the clearest angles we see early on the card. Don't sleep on the maiden races just because they lack experience — on a clear, fast surface like today's, raw ability shows up fast.
Race 3 shifts us to the turf for the first time, and Motorious (2/1 ML) enters as our highest-rated free pick of the day at 88.54 — the strongest number of the three opener races by a comfortable margin. A 5-furlong turf sprint over a firm course plays right into the hands of horses with early tactical speed, and Motorious fits that profile. Keep an eye on how these early turf runners break — it can tell you a lot about how the course is playing heading into the meat of the card.
Full Card Analysis
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It's a beautiful Sunday at Del Mar and the card delivers. Jetway, Phone Booth, and Motorious headline the free plays to get you started, with Motorious carrying the highest TrackWiz rating of the trio. For the full afternoon — including the stakes showdown, the Cornealeusthegreat longshot angle, and our multi-race ticket breakdowns — all eight premium races are waiting for subscribers. Good luck out there, and may the chalk hold up just long enough before a big price blows the doors off.