An appealing card Sunday at Del Mar includes rock-solid favorites and a handful of upset candidates. Preview …

Race 1 – Trust an eight-start maiden? Hard Arch (4) should get a great trip positioned second or third behind the speed in this maiden-40 mile. Hard Arch is the program favorite at 3-1. That price is okay.

Race 3 – After three summers of chaos, turf sprints have become manageable. Favorites are 3-for-11; the median win payoff is $9.20. Comeback gelding Secreto Primero (1) is preferred, but Unreal Deal (3) looms an upset candidate after a horrible trip at Lone Star. Reunited with his favorite jockey Sasha Risenhoover, Unreal Deal has speed and can finish. He is listed at 8-1.

Race 4 – All three MSW sprints for 2yo colts this meet were won by first-time starters that were favored: Gracida ($5.60), Tatters to Riches ($3.20), Bolt d’Oro ($3.60).  Soul Streit (10), a fast-working 2yo trained by Bob Baffert, should continue the trend.

Based on his impressive Aug. 6 workout (free workout video XBTV.com), Soul Streit could make short work of this field. Baffert favorites have lost four straight (Serengeti, Pretty Owl, Drefong, Arrogate), but Soul Streit should right the ship.

Race 6 – The last 11 races at six and one-half furlongs were won by a horse positioned first or second after the opening quarter-mile. That is the challenge facing Rancho Bernardo favorites Skye Diamonds (3) and Bendable (2), who are likely to be positioned fourth and fifth in the five-runner field. Constellation (4), along with outsiders Rockport Babe (1) and Munny Spunt (5), will contest the pace.

Race 7 – The turf workout by Spooky Woods (8) on Aug. 6 was impressive. She enters this N1X turf mile as the most probable winner on the card for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, who is due to bust out. Hollendorfer enters Sunday 3-for-44, with nine seconds and nine thirds.

Race 9 – Gia Lula (2) is the top choice in this turf mile for 2yo maiden fillies, but Ladybug (5) is worth a shot at a price. The second-time starter is first-time turf, with a grass pedigree and a “turf foot” according to trainer Richard Mandella. Ladybug, sired by Medaglia d’Oro and produced by a Machiavellian mare, is 8-1.

First post Sunday is 2 p.m.