Man O Rose Rallies Under Jaramillo to Win Palos Verdes Stakes

Man O Rose rallied from fourth to sweep past the field and win the $100,000 Palos Verdes Stakes (six furlongs) at Santa Anita, prevailing by 1½ lengths under Emisael Jaramillo on Feb. 15. The 6-year-old California-bred gelding was sent off the even-money favorite and returned $4.00 to win in a field of five in the Grade 3 event, stopping the clock in 1:09.87.

Breaking from the rail, Man O Rose was outrun early as Pilot Commander carved out the early lead. The race set fractions of :22.49, :44.98 and :57.53 before the stretch run. Jaramillo tucked the favorite on the inside, bided his time and launched his move around the three-eighths pole, swinging four-wide into the stretch to get clear running room. Man O Rose closed strongly to catch stretch leader Listenupshance inside the final furlong, finishing 1½ lengths clear of Tyler Baze aboard Listenupshance, who was the 13-1 longshot, while Pilot Commander, listed at 7-5, held for third.

The win came on Jaramillo’s first time aboard Man O Rose, and the rider described the tactical change that produced the rally. “He wasn’t sharp out of the gate,” Jaramillo said. “I thought, no problem, we’ll just relax. He had no problem being behind horses. At the three-eighths pole I started to move him to the outside. He finished strong.” DRF also quoted Jaramillo summing up his approach: “Relax, relax, relax.”

Trainer Jeff Mullins framed the Palos Verdes as both a test and a maintenance move for the gelding, noting the connections initially had Cal-bred targets in mind before opting for this spot. “Words can’t describe what he is. He is a special horse,” Mullins said. “We had some Cal-bred races in mind for him down the road, but we were going to have to wait awhile, so we decided to get in here and give him another race just to keep him sharp and fit. We will just see how he comes out of this and go from there.” The victory was Man O Rose’s 12th in 19 career starts, his sixth stakes win and extended a five-race win streak that included four stakes for California-breds from September to mid-January, bringing career earnings to $632,965; this was his graded-stakes debut.

Reports list conflicting owner-breeder information: some accounts identify the connections as B & B Zietz Stables, while another lists Bruce and Beverly Seitz as owner-breeders. The gelding is by Stanford out of Kathleen Rose (by Good Journey), and the performance, moving from Cal-bred company into open, graded company and delivering under a first-time rider, will shape Mullins’ decision-making about future spots. The race replay and postrace photos were available through Santa Anita’s streaming and media feeds as the connections evaluate how Man O Rose comes out of the Palos Verdes.