Sweet Azteca © Benoit Photo

Pamela Ziebarth’s homebred gray mare Sweet Azteca stands out – stands way out – in a succinct lineup of fillies and mares named to the 52nd edition of the Grade III Rancho Bernardo Handicap, the feature attraction on the shore track’s Sunday program.

The speedy daughter of Sharp Azteca has won six of the eight starts in her career so far, including a tally in this same Rancho Bernardo last year by a sharp seven lengths. She sports earnings of $607,200 now and appears likely to add to it via the $100,000 purse for the six and a half-furlong test. She’ll have to do better than just four rivals, though she will have to spot them weight under the handicap conditions of the stakes.

Her 126-pound package – most of it via leading rider Juan Hernandez – means she’s giving her rivals from seven to 12 pounds to start. Odds are they’ll need it, as Del Mar’s morning line maker John Lies has made her the 2/5 morning line favorite.

Her most recent outing – and her first in nine months – was in the Great Lady M Stakes at Los Alamitos on July 5 where she came away a winner by a length and a half, also at six and one-half furlongs.

The opponent she may have the most concern about appears to be Jaime Renella’s homebred Chismosa, a 5-year-old by Clubhouse Ride who has been a solid sort throughout her 26-race career. She shows six wins, five seconds and five thirds and can claim a bankroll of $624,750 for her efforts. She’ll get the saddle services of Kyle Frey Sunday, the guy who has been aboard the California-bred for her last three starts.

The “X” factor in the lineup is the 3-year-old filly Formula Rossa, who’ll be making only the third start of her career Sunday. By the Candy Ride stallion Vekoma, the chestnut miss has been a daylight winner of her two outings so far, one against straight maidens, the other in an allowance test. She’ll be ridden by Antonio Fresu and runs out of the barn of trainer Mark Glatt.

Here’s the full field for the sprint in post position order with riders and morning line odds:  Chimosa (5-1); Gans, Jacobs or Katz’s Dontellourwives (Diego Herrera, 20-1); Formula Rossa (3-1); California Racing Partners and Ciaglia Racing’s Visually (Armando Ayuso, 15-1) and Sweet Azteca.

The stakes short field dictates that it will be run as the second race on the card with a post time of 2:30. The track opens for Day 23 of its summer session at 2 p.m.