ARCADIA, Calif. – Considering it lost graded status this year, and offers a purse of just $100,000, the Palos Verdes Stakes is not a bad race Sunday at Santa Anita. The six-furlong stakes pits streaking California-bred gelding Man O Rose against two high-profile Bob Baffert trainees – Grade 3 winner Pilot Commander and Grade 1-placed Madaket Road. Along with speedster Modus Bestia, four of the six entrants have a shot. The horse with the longest win streak landed the worst post. Man O Rose won four straight California-bred stakes, including a romp last month in the Cal Cup Sprint. But when he faces open stakes company for the first time Sunday, he will break from the rail without his regular rider. :: Santa Anita Classic Meet! Get DRF Past Performances, Clocker Reports, and more. “If he breaks running, they’ll have to run” to beat him, said Jeff Mullins, Man O Rose’s trainer. Simple enough, except for the inconvenient truth that the pair drawn directly outside Man O Rose both have speed. Pilot Commander and Modus Bestia are certain to apply pressure. The question is how much speed and energy will Man O Rose expend from the rail? “Hopefully, he just does it and we don’t have to make him do it,” Mullins said. The 6-year-old gelding does it most of the time. Man O Rose, owned by breeder Bruce Zeitz, has won 11 races and $572,965 from 18 starts. Mullins would prefer to keep Man O Rose in statebred stakes, but the next California-bred sprint stakes is not until the Sensational Star on March 22. Man O Rose is ready now, even without regular rider Edwin Maldonado, who rides two stakes Sunday at Sunland Park. Emisael Jaramillo will ride Man O Rose for the first time Sunday. “It makes a difference [because] Edwin’s been on him every time,” Mullins said, referring to his last 16 starts. “Edwin talked to Jaramillo and told him all about the horse.” Win or lose, Man O Rose will be easy to find – contesting the pace from the inside post. Pilot Commander won the San Carlos Stakes last spring at Santa Anita and finished second in a highly rated allowance comeback last month. Florent Geroux rides the Justify 5-year-old, who has won 4 of 8 starts and is drawn in post 2. Baffert also entered Madaket Road, who was scratched from the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup last month with a reported foot abscess. Madaket Road has just one published workout in the last month. He breaks from the outside post under Kazushi Kimura. Modus Bestia looms an upset candidate despite finishing last of seven in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes. His maiden and allowance victories two and three back were fast; a blistering pace sealed his fate in the Malibu. Richard Baltas trains Modus Bestia, who is eligible to a second-level allowance. “I was hoping this race would come up a little bit softer,” Baltas said. “But he’s doing really well.” Antonio Fresu rides Modus Bestia. Two outsiders in the Palos Verdes are Smooth Cruisein and Listenupshance. The Palos Verdes was downgraded from Grade 2 to Grade 3 in 2021 and from Grade 3 to listed this year. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.