Newgrange © Benoit Photo

Seven stakes horses will battle over a mile and one eighth at Del Mar Sunday in the 46th edition of the Native Diver Stakes, a Grade III affair that carries a purse of $100,000. It will go as Race 8 on the nine-race card with a post time of approximately 4 p.m.

The horse to beat in the lineup is multiple-stakes winner Newgrange, who hails from the Phil D’Amato barn and races for the partnership of Rockingham Ranch and David Bernsen. The 4-year-old colt by the Medaglia d’Oro stallion Violence is just getting his sea legs back under him after an extended vacation following a distant finish in the Santa Anita Handicap on March 4. He made his first start since then in an allowance test at the Arcadia track on October 6, a race where he finished third.

With that one under his belt, the Kentucky-bred should be ready to do some rambling now. He had run third in this same race last year and has more than $750,000 in earnings to show for his efforts thus far.

Here’s the full field for the stakes from the rail out with riders and morning line odds:

Williamson Racing’s Visitant (Flavien Prat, 4-1); Double L Racing, Malarkey or Odmark, et al’s Arrowthegreat (Victor Espinoza, 6-1); Edge Racing’s Celestial Moon (Antonio Fresu, 10-1); Sondereker Racing’s Kiss Today Goodbye (Kyle Frey, 8-1); Newgrange (Edwin Maldonado, 5/2); C R K Stable’s Skinner (Mike Smith, 4-1), and Sunny Brook Stables’ Mr Fisk (Juan Hernandez, 3-1).

Mr Fisk, an Arrogate colt, comes into the race off a score in the Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar on September 3 – a victory he had to share with a horse named Tahoe Sunrise when they both finished exactly the same at the wire at the end of the mile. The 3-year-old has been training forwardly since for conditioner Bob Baffert and the presence of top rider Hernandez again on his back only enhances his chances.

Another 3-year-old – the Curlin colt Skinner – has been stakes-placed on several occasions, but is still looking for that breakthrough race. He races out of the John Shirreffs’ barn.

Visitant is the veteran in the field at age 7 and with 23 starts under his belt. He’s won 11 of those races and sports a bankroll of more than $700,000. Trainer Peter Miller has to like the fact that he secured the saddle services of top rider Prat for his son of Ghostzapper.

First post on the Sunday card is the usual 12:30 p.m.