To find the winner of the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes in fall at Del Mar, start with the shippers. Seven of 11 Matriarch winners at Del Mar made their most recent start outside California, three others were making their second start in California. The pattern could continue Sunday if New York-based Segesta or Maryland-based Heredia run as expected in the filly-mare turf mile. The Matriarch is race 7 on closing day of a bumpy autumn meet plagued by multiple scratches from Breeders’ Cup races, cancellation of the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes due to a shortage of 2-year-olds, and rain that derailed turf racing and led to postponements and one canceled card. The closing weekend Turf Festival, with four stakes on Sunday, will provide a welcome lift before the all-dirt Los Alamitos daytime meet begins Friday. Santa Anita opens Dec. 26. The Sunday card at Del Mar includes the Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille, race 3 for 2-year-old turf milers featuring Hey Nay Nay; the $100,000 Stormy Liberal, race 5 for turf sprinters, including Yellow Card; and the Grade 3 Bayakoa, race 8, a filly-mare dirt route led by Hope Road. The Matriarch field is deeper than Segesta and Heredia. It includes Grade 1 winner Ag Bullet and graded winners Medoro, Breath Away, and Ozara. The remaining entrants in the 10-runner field are Antifona, Vibez, Spicybug, and In Our Time. Four of the 10 entrants made their last start outside California. Since 2014, when the Matriarch was first run at Del Mar, 55 shippers and 57 locals have contested the race. Shippers have won seven, including six trained by East Coast-based Chad Brown, who has the horse to beat Sunday. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports Segesta arrived at Del Mar this week following a runner-up finish in the Grade 1 First Lady on Oct. 4 at Keeneland. “I thought she ran really, really well,” Brown said. “I don’t think a mile is her best distance, but the fact she was able to run a top race at a distance that is just a shade shorter than she wants to go gave us the confidence to go right back into the Matriarch and try to get a Grade 1 with her. She’s knocking on the door.” Owned and bred by Juddmonte, Segesta was cut out to be a top filly. Sired by Ghostzapper, she was produced by Antonoe, winner of the Grade 1 Just a Game for Brown and Juddmonte in 2017. As a broodmare, Antonoe has produced stakes winners Segesta and Salamis, a contender in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on Saturday. Segesta “got just a touch of a later start this year than I would have liked,” Brown said. “But when I’ve gotten her over there in the afternoon, she’s been very consistent.” Segesta won the Grade 3 Matchmaker in July at Monmouth Park, followed by runner-up finishes in the Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf and the First Lady. Flavien Prat rides 3-for-10 Segesta, whose main rival is Heredia. The sixth-place finish by Heredia in the First Lady was outstanding considering she lost position at the start, trailed the field, and was five wide through the far turn. It was not a good trip. “It was brutal,” trainer Graham Motion said. “She broke a step slow, got hampered a little bit coming out of the gate and got pushed to the back of the field. She got beat [1 1/2 lengths], which was pretty remarkable considering she had just a terrible trip.” Juan Hernandez rides 7-for-12 Heredia, wire-to-wire winner of the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon this summer at Del Mar. On Sunday, she is likely to rally from behind. “No one was more shocked than me she was on the lead in the Yellow Ribbon,” Motion said. “I’d be very surprised if that happened again.” It probably won’t, because the Matriarch field includes a pair of stretch-out sprinters with speed. Ag Bullet and In Our Time are likely to contest the pace. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Ag Bullet is the most accomplished in the field, having won eight races and more than $2.9 million from 16 starts for trainer Richard Baltas. Winner of the Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes this summer racing 5 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga, Ag Bullet stretches out from a runner-up finish in the five-furlong Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. The pace scenario and distance are problematic for Ag Bullet, who finished third in the Matriarch last year after leading to deep stretch. John Velazquez rides Ag Bullet. In Our Time stretches out from sprints, and from the outside post must use her speed under Javier Castellano. Saffie Joseph Jr. trains In Our Time. Peter Eurton trains consistent Medoro and Vibez. Miguel Clement trains Breath Away and Ozara. Favorites are 3 for 11 in the Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar. The median win payoff is $11. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.