After surviving the unusual at Del Mar, Man O Rose should enjoy a return to the routine at Los Alamitos on Saturday afternoon when the 6-year-old gelding tries to win the E.B. Johnston Stakes for the third year in a row.
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Man O Rose, whose surface and distance versatility in six stakes victories among 12 wins in 21 starts has made him a star of the California-bred division since his first E.B. Johnston romp in 2024, tried the graded-stakes level for the first time in the Grade II Green Flash Handicap at Del Mar in August. It was a disaster from the start and actually before, when Man O Rose broke through the gate and ran the length of the backstretch until an outrider helped jockey Edwin Maldonado pull him up. After officials surprisingly allowed him to go back to the gate and race, Man O Rose went off at 4-1 and showed the effects of the extra exertion, ending up eased to last place behind winner Sorrento Sky.
Trainer Jeff Mullins told the Daily Racing Form the incident left Man O Rose with nothing worse than a skinned foreleg. He has posted two fastest-of-the-morning workouts since.
The son of Stanford and Kathleen Rose can rule Saturday’s field of six and run his Los Al record to 3 for 3 by repeating the quality of his 2024 and 2025 performances in the 1-mile E.B. Johnston, for Cal-bred 3-year-olds and up.
Those wins were achieved with front-running flair, and the same tactics this time aren’t a given. There’s other early speed in the field of six in Lavender Love (Armando Aguilar riding) and Mr. Disrespectful (Armando Ayuso), while Speedy Wilson (Kazushi Kimura), None Above the Law (Kent Desormeaux) and Cali Cat (Juan Hernandez) could rally.
One piece of intrigue in closing week of this short Los Alamitos thoroughbred meet concerns the jockey standings. Kimura leads with seven wins, five more than five other riders, and will try to hang on for a fifth straight Los Al title even though a three-day suspension resulting from a disqualification in June will allow him to race only in the E.B. Johnston.
‘Young’ again
Buildup to the Oct. 30-31 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland begins in earnest Friday when Forever Young’s return to the United States in the Grade I Jockey Club Gold Cup highlights the season-opening card at the new Belmont Park.
Since winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar in November, now 5-year-old star of Japanese racing has won his second Saudi Cup, run second to Magnitude in the Dubai World Cup and taken his usual long break. With Sovereignty’s foot abscess and the scratches of Chunk of Gold and Banishing reducing the field to five, Forever Young (Ryusei Sakai) will be odds-on and anything less than victory will embolden challengers in the Classic. Phileas Fogg (Kendrick Carmouche) and Baeza (Junior Alvarado) are factors on their best day.
Changes afoot
New York fans can’t judge the new Belmont Park facility right away because the three-year, more than $500 million modernization isn’t quite complete as the Long Island track reopens Friday. But fans betting Belmont from around the country can begin to judge the effects of changes to the main oval and two turf courses and the addition of a separate synthetic surface to be used for races rained off the grass.
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The finish line has been moved 126 feet farther from the main track’s final turn. At 1,223 feet, the Belmont homestretch goes from eighth-longest to third-longest in the United States, behind the Los Alamitos thoroughbred track (1,380) and Churchill Downs (1,234½). At a normal track this could help come-from-behind horses, but Belmont remains unique with a 1½-mile dirt oval, and handicappers should wait and see how the different dynamics play out.
On to Arcadia
Nominations are in for the first of two weekends of Breeders’ Cup prep races at the six-week Santa Anita fall meet that opens Friday, Sept. 25. They include three horses aiming to repeat 2025 wins: Nevada Beach in the Grade I Goodwood Stakes and Gold Phoenix in the Grade II John Henry Turf Championship on Sept. 26, and Imagination in the Grade II Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Sept. 27.
Safety watch
The deaths of two horses from injuries Sept. 12 at Los Alamitos brought the totals in racing and training for the year to date to nine at the Orange County track and 23 at Los Al, Santa Anita and Del Mar. Both numbers are slightly worse than the averages for this part of the year in 2021-25, according to data posted on the California Horse Racing Board website.
The 2-year-old quarter-horse gelding Walking Cuervo, who had yet to race, was injured in a workout Saturday morning. The 5-year-old thoroughbred gelding Thirsty Gambler, who had one win in 11 starts, was pulled up shortly after finishing fourth in the first race Saturday night.
Shortening up
• In Los Alamitos quarter-horse racing, Beuteeful ($7.60) and jockey Rodrigo Sigala Vallejo dominated the Grade I Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap for fillies and mares Saturday night, winning the 400-yard race by 1¼ lengths over Bold N Beautiful as favorite Shaken Goin On finished sixth. The time, 19.440 seconds, was the fastest for the Mildred Vessels since 2011.
• On the Los Alamitos thoroughbred track, horses from post 1 in routes (1 mile) have two wins from five starts at the current meet, while horses from post 1 in sprints (5, 5½, 6 furlongs) are 0 for 20 at the meet. That fits the general theory that an inside post is good in a short run to the first turn but can trap a horse on the rail in a long run to the turn.
• Jockey Florent Geroux remained in a Louisville hospital a week after sustaining broken ribs and internal injuries in a Sept. 10 fall at Churchill Downs. Geroux went down with the 2-year-old colt Flip Flop Freak, who was euthanized because of a right foreleg injury. Geroux is back in Kentucky after riding much of the winter at Santa Anita.
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Follow horse racing correspondent Kevin Modesti at X.com/KevinModesti.
LOS ALAMITOS LEADERS
(Thoroughbred meet, through Sunday)
Jockeys / Wins
Kazushi Kimura / 7
Abel Lezcano / 2
Ricardo Ramirez / 2
Kyle Frey / 2
Tiago Pereira / 2
Edgar Payeras / 2
(Eight tied) / 1
Trainers / Wins
Peter Miller / 2
Ryan Hanson / 2
Genaro Vallejo / 2
Jesus Uranga / 2
(17 tied) / 1
UPCOMING STAKES
LOS ALAMITOS THOROUGHBREDS
Saturday
• $75,000 E.B. Johnston Stakes, California-bred 3-year-olds and up, 1 mile