The best horse running Sunday at Del Mar could be a slam dunk at a short price, but Grade 1 winner Exaulted will be cooled out hours before either $100,000 turf stakes is run. The Osunitas Stakes for fillies and mares is race 7 on Sunday; the Wickerr Stakes is race 9. Both restricted miles offer greater wagering value than the race 1 allowance with Exaulted, but the opener ultimately will be more significant if the best horse improves off his comeback misfire. Exaulted, top turf miler in California last year after he won the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita, has overcome multiple challenges to make it back. He scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Mile last fall, took winter off, then aimed to the Shoemaker Mile this spring. He could not enter because he was still on the vet’s list following the Breeders’ Cup scratch. Trainer Peter Eurton shipped Exaulted to Churchill Downs for a June 29 comeback in the Grade 2 Wise Dan, knowing he needed the start. It was his first start in nearly 10 months, and jockey Juan Hernandez said Exaulted did not handle the turf course at all. :: DRF's Del Mar Handicapping Packages: Get everything you need to play the races with confidence. “He said he just keep stumbling,” Eurton recalled. “He just kept bobbling; the ground kept breaking.” Exaulted finished fifth by 10 lengths. Not good. But the comeback woke him up. “He got a lot out of it, mentally and physically,” Eurton said, and Exaulted worked well since. A 7-year-old, he has won five races and $678,525 from 17 starts for the CRK Stable of Lee and Susan Searing. A good effort by Exaulted on Sunday would re-establish his reputation and could put him on schedule for the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on Aug. 31. A stakes-quality field entered the mile allowance, including graded winners Bran, War At Sea, Watsonville, and Packs a Wahlop. Stakes winner Sumter also entered. The main rival for Exaulted is Bran, a sprinter making his first start since September, beyond his one-turn preference. “I’m not scared of the distance,” trainer John Sadler said. “He was third in the Wickerr two years ago. He’s been off since fall, but he’s doing good, he’s trained up a storm. He’s had plenty of training.” Bran will be ridden by Umberto Rispoli. Exaulted and Bran both were nominated to the Wickerr, but will face fewer rivals in a race that normally would be easier. The Sunday allowance is actually tougher than the Wickerr. Both stakes Sunday are frequently won by longshots. Osunitas favorites won just two of the last 14, with a median payoff of $15. In the same period, Wickerr favorites won 4 of 14, while four winners returned more than $40. The race 7 Osunitas marks the second U.S. start for Richi, a Group 1 winner in Chile who ran super finishing second in a fast-pace sprint stakes in her U.S. debut at Santa Anita. Bob Baffert trains Richi, a front-runner facing Ag Bullet, a sprinter with the same style. The Osunitas sets up for Justique. Though she is winless around two turns, the runner-up finish by Justique two back in the Grade 3 Royal Heroine at a mile on turf would probably be good enough. Mike Smith rides Justique. The race 9 Wickerr attracted 11 entrants, including a front-runner who will dictate the tempo. Air Force Red drops after finishing eighth in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile. He was compromised by strategy, according to trainer Leonard Powell. “There was so much speed in the race that we said we’ll try something different,” Powell said. “We tried to take him back, and he ended up being inside horses. He was never happy.” Air Force Red finished eighth without using his asset, which is speed. There will be no messing around Sunday. “We’re going to put blinkers on him, and I bet you can guess our tactic,” Powell said. :: Get Del Mar Clocker Reports straight from the morning workouts at the track. Available every race day. Air Force Red and jockey Edwin Maldonado are likely to set the pace. They will be hounded by another horse with a similar style. Conclude won the Oceanside and Grade 2 Del Mar Derby last year, but he finished next to last in his comeback in the Shoemaker. “Very disappointing, but he’s come back and trained” well, Phil D’Amato said. He acknowledged that pre-race instructions backfired. “He broke on top, but I kind of tied the rider’s hands. I told him I wanted to rate,” D’Amato said. “In hindsight, I should have just let him do his thing.” Conclude has trained exceptionally well since and figures to use his speed Sunday. While pace-presser Conclude is more accomplished than late-running stablemate Almendares, a contested pace benefits the closer. Almendares stretches out from a third-place comeback sprint; he has won twice over Del Mar turf. Antonio Fresu rides Almendares; Hector Berrios rides Conclude. Ten years ago, Lil Bit O’ Fun ($43.60) gave D’Amato his first Del Mar stakes win in the 2014 Wickerr. Dandy Man Shines enters with attributes similar to Almendares. A two-time winner over the Del Mar course, Dandy Man Shines is a late-runner whose style suits the pace scenario. Umberto Rispoli rides for trainer Jeff Mullins. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.