Man O Rose makes it three stakes in row with The Chosen Vron

DEL MAR, Calif. – Man O Rose is the odds-on gift that keeps on giving.

The 5-year-old gelding won his third consecutive stakes race on Saturday at Del Mar, where he cruised to a 1 1/2-length victory in the $100,500 The Chosen Vron Stakes for older horses bred in California.

Bruce and Beverly Zietz own and bred Man O Rose ($3.60), who is trained by Jeff Mullins and ridden by Edwin Maldonado. The gelding’s win in the seven-furlong stakes was his 10th from 17 starts. Drop Um finished second, a half-length in front of 2-1 second choice Shea Brennan.

The race was run with a new name on Saturday. Previously called the Cary Grant, the race was renamed this year for the recently retired Grade 1 winner The Chosen Vron. After the Saturday stakes, Man O Rose’s trainer paid homage to The Chosen Vron, who won 19 races and more than $1.7 million from 25 starts.

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“It’s kind of nice to have The Chosen Vron gone,” Mullins said. “I love that horse, but he was tough to beat.”

Man O Rose also is tough to beat, and he was expected win Saturday against a field of older Cal-breds that was missing two prominent runners. Lovesick Blues and Big City Lights finished sixth and seventh, respectively, a week ago in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

Man O Rose broke sharply in The Chosen Vron, and Maldonado allowed him to drift three-wide. “Edwin knows him, he’s had him in the middle of the racetrack before,” Mullins said. Wide is where Man O Rose likes to be.

“He likes to be outside,” Mullins said. “If he’s inside, he gets a little weird.”

Drop Um pressed the pace inside, and Clovisconnection joined the scrum into the turn. The opening quarter-mile was :22.32; the opening half-mile was :44.63. The raw times were fast over a Del Mar dirt track that played lightning fast Saturday.

While pressing the pace three-wide, Maldonado stayed virtually motionless on Man O Rose. Nearing the quarter pole, Maldonado turned him loose. Man O Rose opened up by three lengths at the furlong pole and coasted home in 1:21.66.

After the top three, the order of finish was Clovisconnection, Stamp My Passport, Style Cat and R Heisman.

Man O Rose was the fourth straight favorite to win The Chosen Vron/Cary Grant. Favorites won seven of the 12 editions at Del Mar including 2022 and 2023, when it was won by The Chosen Vron.

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