Man Among Men Grinds Out Oak Tree Win

Man Among Men wore down Peace Rules in the final stride for a head victory Wednesday in the $52,300 Pinjara Stakes for 2-year-olds at Oak Tree.

Ridden by Alex Solis at 116 pounds, Man Among Men ran one mile on turf in 1:34.64 and paid $4.20, $2.40 and $2.10. Gary Mandella is the trainer for owners R. D. Hubbard and Connie Sczesny. It was the first stakes victory for Mandella, son of Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella.

Runner-up Peace Rules did everything but win. New to the circuit from New York, the Florida-bred son of Jules opened a clear lead while setting fractional times of :23.03, :46.82 and 1:11.07. He turned into the stretch with a 1 1/2-length advantage, and just failed to hold off Man Among Men. Ridden by Pat Valenzuela, Peace Rules returned $2.40 and $2.10. It was eight lengths back to Gohalo, Chance Rollins aboard, for a $2.10 show payoff.

Man Among Men was rated in third place, some seven lengths behind Peace Rules, began his bid while three-wide on the last turn, and then fought the entire length of the stretch to edge past Peace Rules.

A Kentucky-bred by Gentlemen, Man Among Men has a two wins from three starts and is unbeaten in two races on turf. The $30,840 first prize increased his earnings to $62,040.