There’s room at the top for Man O Rose, a comeback gelding who might fill a void in the older California-bred division Saturday at Los Alamitos.
Man O Rose seeks a repeat in the $75,000 E.B. Johnston Stakes, a California-bred dirt mile he crushed last year by eight lengths. It’s different this season. Man O Rose has not started since November. Can he fire off the layoff?
“Against Cal-breds, yes,” trainer Jeff Mullins assured. “He’ll be fine.”
What’s not fine is the older California-bred division. While Man O Rose was sidelined, two division leaders ended their careers. The Chosen Vron, an 18-time stakes winner, retired in spring. Kings River Knight won his ninth stakes this summer, then retired. The Chosen Vron and Kings River Knight won the E.B. Johnston in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Man O Rose, a 7-for-14 front-runner, meets modest rivals Saturday, including last-start allowance winner Stamp My Passport, $20,000 claiming winner Left Hand Man, and California-bred allowance winners Shortman and Mystic Spirit. Chismosa, a mare with five stakes wins and $636,750 in earnings, is a one-turn specialist facing colts and geldings around two turns.
The E.B. Johnston is historically predictable. Favorites have won the last three years, and are five for nine since the race became a one-mile race at Los Alamitos. It was run previously at Fairplex Park. Man O Rose is the best route horse and also the speed. But his most recent start was Nov. 9.
“He had a pretty lengthy and grueling campaign,” Mullins said. “He was kind of tailing off a little bit, so we gave him some time off and brought him back.”
Edwin Maldonado is both jockey and workout rider for Man O Rose, who smoked five furlongs from the Del Mar gate last Saturday in 59.40 seconds. It was his third work since Mullins scratched him from the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes on Aug. 23. Man O Rose was not ready for that tough race. He is ready for the easier E.B. Johnston.
Man O Rose, owned and bred by B and B Stables of Dr. Bruce Zietz and his wife Beverly, is the likely pacesetter. Man O Rose has earned $339,340, the highest by a progeny of Stanford.
If the favorite falls short, the E.B. Johnston is wide open. Stamp My Passport won a relatively fast allowance July 4 at Los Alamitos and has been aimed for the E.B. Johnston since. Left Hand Man was claimed for $20,000 from a dirt-mile win at Del Mar and also figures as a contender.
Chismosa seems out of her element at one mile against males. A one-turn specialist, Chismosa lost her only two route races by double-digit margins. She has won 6 of 27 and might be the class of the field, but two turns against colts and geldings is a lot to ask.
◗ Based on field size, Los Alamitos is off to a good start compared to the first two days of the 2024 September meet. Field size the first two days last year averaged 6.5, field size the first two days this year average 8.7.
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