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FRANK WEIRS REJUVENATION OF ROSEBEN. The victory of Roseben in the Fall Handicap at Sheepshead Bay, Saturday, was a feather in trainer Frank Weirs cap, for Roseben not only showed that he was fit but also displayed practically the same remarkable form that enabled him to break the American record for three-quarters of a mile at Belmont Park, last fall with the crushing impost of 147 pounds on his back. In Saturdays race Roseben had wonderful speed, yet he was eased up In the last furlong by Lyne, who saw that he had the race at his mercy. Roseben, if he had been compelled to stand even a mild sort of a drive, surely would have broken the track record of 1:12 and might have equalled his own record of 1:11 J. Roseben must be reckoned with in future. He has a number of valuable engagements at the fall meetings in the east, and If lie continues in his present condition he will be hard to beat. It is safe to say that trainer Weir will be permitted to have his own way in future and that there, will be no further juggling .with the greatest sprinter of modern times. .Davy Johnson had been warned even before the opening of the racing season by such expert turfmen as John A. Drake and Frank Farrell that Roseben would never make a successful long distance horse, so there was little or no sympathy for him when Roseben was beaten badly in the Brooklyn Handicap after similar setbacks in the Excelsior and the Metropolitan. Even then to the suggestions of his friends to turn Roseben back to the sprinting game Johnson turued a deaf ear, feeling sure that the racer could be made to go a route. But with the loss of thousands of dollars and crushing defeats came a conclusion by Johnson that Roseben, after all, was nothing but a sprinter, a fact that his friends and advisers had tried hard to point out to the plunger all along. When at Sheepshead Bay, June 28, the big son of Ben Strome was defeated by Klaniesha and Handzarra in the sprint at six furlongs, Johnson, disheartened, turned Roseben over to the management of L. O. Appleby. In the name of the latter he was beaten a head by Kia-" mesbai six furlougs in 1:124s July 5, at the Coney Island Jockey Clubs track, and pulled up so lame that it was generally predicted that he had faced the starter for the last time. "Can anything he done with him?" asked Johnson of, trainer Frank D. Weir, who has patched up many cripples in his time. "Only time will tell," replied Weir, who never believed in letting Roseben start in the big handicaps, "Roseben needs a long rest." The Ben Strome gelding accordingly took matters easy for more than a month before Weir began to work ulni. His" lameness had all disappeared, and Wlti aluminum pads on his feet Roseben soon showed that ho had all of his old speed. His time trials were so fast that Weir could not believe his watch was correct and called on several of his tnrf associates to time the big fellow too. When Weir was sure that .Roseben was fit and ready he notified Appleby and Johnson that the champion sprinter was in shape to win the Fall Handicap from some of the best sprinters in training, Includ-iug Onnondalc, Neva Lee, Hamburg Belle, Haud-zarra, Kings Daughter and others. "Can he win sure?" asked the plunger whose policy had almost ruined the racer. "It looks like he would break the track record if extended," replied this conservative trainer. "He was never better at six furlongs." So Roseben was craftily added to the Fall Handicap with 132 pounds and he was backed to win a fortune.
