From Santa Anita Publicity
ARCADIA, Calif. (Feb. 15, 2026) – After four straight stakes wins against California-breds, Man O Rose ascended to new heights Sunday at Santa Anita when beating open company in the $100,000 Palos Verdes Stakes for older horses going six furlongs at Santa Anita.
Bet down to the even-money favorite, Man O Rose prevailed by 1 ½ lengths under jockey Emisael Jaramillo while displaying a new dimension. Breaking from the rail, Man O Rose was outrun early by Pilot Commander (7-5) and failed to get his customary position on the lead. Instead, he tucked in behind leader Pilot Commander and two other rivals while on the rail. Turning into the stretch, Man O Rose went four-wide for clear racing room and swept past the field to score the popular victory.
A 6-year-old gelding by Stanford, Man O Rose is trained by Jeff Mullins for owner-breeder B & B Zietz Stables.
“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.”
Listenupshance, the longest shot on the board at 13-1, finished second under Tyler Baze. It was another 3 ½ lengths back to Pilot Commander in third.
Following fractions of 22.49, 44.98 and 57.53, Man O Rose won in a time of 1:09.87.
“Jaramillo did a good job of getting him to settle down and get him to the outside where he wants to be,” Mullins said. “He is usually a little rank on the inside, especially with outside cover, so he did a good job of getting him outside. He showed a new dimension today which was nice. “
Man O Rose improved to 19: 12-3-0 with more than $630,000 in earnings. Prior to the Palos Verdes, Man O Rose beat statebreds in the Don Valpredo California Cup Sprint on Jan. 17, The Chosen Vron Stakes in November at Del Mar, the California Flag Handicap in October at Santa Anita and the E.B Johnston Stakes in September at Los Alamitos, a race he also won in 2024.
“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.”
Man O Rose paid $4.00, $2.40 and $2.10. Listenupchance, trained by Doug O’Neill, returned $5.00 and $3.00. Pilot Commander, with Florent Geroux up for trainer Bob Baffert, paid $2.10. Madaket Road , the 7-2 third choice on the morning line, was scratched.
With Monday’s special Presidents’ Day card canceled because of expected heavy rain, live racing will resume Friday at Santa Anita with a nine race, all-dirt card starting at 12:30 p.m. PT.
PALOS VERDES STAKES QUOTES
JOCKEY QUOTES
EMISAEL JARAMILLO, MAN O ROSE, WINNER: “He wasn’t sharp out of the gate. 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 and he finished strong.”
TRAINER QUOTES
JEFF MULLINS, MAN O ROSE, WINNER: “That hasn’t been his running style, but Jaramillo did a good job of getting him to settle down and get him to the outside where he wants to be. He is usually a little rank on the inside, especially with outside cover, so he did a good job of getting him outside. He showed a new dimension today which was nice.
“Words can’t describe what he is, he is a special horse. 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 just give him another race and just keep him sharp and fit. We will just see how he comes out and go from there.”
NOTES: The winning owner/breeder is B & B Zietz Stables, Inc.