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EVER GREEN ROAMER MARVEL HORSE OF THE DECADE AS SOUND AND TIRELESS AS WHEN A THREE YEAR OLD Now York Octoltcr in Xo thoroughbred in the ITnited States has a more devoted following than iimir te record bidding whipcord and whale ing now Hearing the close of his sixth i Uviis have come and gone but e of the decade is as sound and tireless as in his threeyearold canter when he won twelve out of sixteen starts and lowered the colors of every good horse in training trainingAt At an age when most thoroughbreds are cither broken down or have lost their speed and powers I of endurance Roamer is flourishing like a green Imv tree To date he lias started in ninety races of which he has won thirtyeight the last at Jamaica a few dnys ago been second in twenty three third in seven and unplaced in twentytwo His winnings are now 911 and in this connec ¬ tion it must not be forgotten that many of his victories were achieved during the loan years of racing when the sport was kept alive through the existence of a fund contributed by a number of gentlemen who believed in the thoroughbred horse and refused to let him become extinct The rewards were naturally much smaller than during the years when the sport was at the height of its popularity or exen today when racing is fast regaining the favor which it enjoyed before the crusade of 190S For example the Brooklyn Derby which was geneRilly worth around 10000 had a value of but 2300 in 1114 when Roamer was a threeyearold The Travers Stakes a Saratoga feature since Civil War days was worth only 3000 and it is safe to assume that the great gelding would have figured among the largest win ¬ ners on the American turf had the fates destined him to appear whiii turf prizes were at their maximum maximumBred Bred the property of the late Woodfjwd Clay he is of iHireljtKuglish lintuige his ir Knight Errant being Ity Trenton a son of Musket while his dam Rose Tree II is by Hona Vista by Heud I Or Knight Errant was little better than a good plater but he had the blood of St Simon through his dam St Mildred He ran in the colors of the late Philip iI Dwyer and the story goes that Roamer owes his existence to the fact that his dam Rose Tree II was mated with him because the premier stallion on the Clay farm was blind Hose Tree II was herself sightless She had been the medium for a tremendous betting coup in Eng ¬ land on the part of Edward Corrigan and his asso ¬ ciates who claimed her out of a selling Rice After l eiiig brought to the United States she became blind blindHOW HOW ANDREW M3LIEB BOUGHT HIM HIMIt It is related that WoOdford Clay thought he had a good race horse in the little gelding until Old Rosebud beat him and the story runs that if Allert Simons who bid the gelding up to 2000 after lie had won a race at Belniont Park had gone a few hundred dollars higher he would have bagged the prize As it was Andrew Miller bought Roamer pri ¬ vately for 3500 a few days later and straightway won him out as he captured tlie Saratoga Special the second time lie went to the post in his new colors colorsIf If a list of the races feiken part in by Itoamer could be given here it would be found that he had oecn an active participant in virtually all the sen ¬ sational fixtures in the past five years or ever since he was a threeyearold He has made more track records than any other horse that has sported silks in this country at any period and has dazzled and thrilled thousands by his matchless speed and dauntless courage An analysis of the big handicaps show that he was always in the lirst lliglit forcing the pace and he has to his credit more miles in 138 or better limn any other preformer the American turf has ever known Add to this the fact that Roamer requires twice as much work to keep him fit as any of his rivals and one gets some idea of the marvelous makony of this phenomenon in the shape of a race horse Let his trainer Jack Golds borough tell of the way he handles him himRoamer Roamer is a freak thats all said Goldsbor otigh a few days ago and cant be handled like an ordinary horse You must set him down flatten him out or he isnt worth a uarter If I had kept a record of the miles in 140 or better that he has worked it would amaze those who think they know something about horses To give you some idea of what you have to do with him let me tell you of his preparation for his Saratoga campaign this year He ran three times during the two weeks at Empire Before shipping to Saratoga j he got a mile and a quarter in 2OU The day I after he arrived there I worked him in the mud a mile and a quarter in 209 He then went out and won the Saratoga Handicap HandicapHIS HIS ACTION MAKES HIM CHEAT CHEATThat That amount of work would have cooked any ordinary horse but it only put Roamer on edge and he got it hot and heavy up to two days l efore he lowered the mile record Taking him all in all he is a wonder He has never weighed over 1000 pounds and as a younger horse I had the greatest difficulty getting him to eat six or seven quarts of oats a day He was given this at night and you never saw a poorer hay eater He wouldnt eat a mash until recently and I dont know where legothis vitnlityr Hisuction is what make him great His feet and legs are like iron and his heart must bo as big as my head He has no pets in or around his stable and wont go around the track with a pony I never expect to see another like him himAndy Andy Schnttinger who rode Roamer in his record breaking mile and who has been his pilot in nearly all of his races in recent years has the following to say about the peerless gelding geldingThe The old fellow is unlike any other horse I ever rode When he was younger he wanted to dive into the bit and stand his opponents on their heads the first half mile Now as he grows older 1 have to ride him nearly all the way He likes a fast hard track and on that kind of footing you would think you were in a risking chair When the track is soft or cuppy he shortens his stride and is a chonpy mount He is as smart as they come but is as honest as the day is long He will give up the last ounce of speed he has on tap and it was for this reason that I begged Mr Miller and Mr Goldsborough to have no pacemaker at Saratoga SaratogaIt It is a pity that Roamer was gelded as his qualities would have been a priceless heritage to the future blood stock of this country When Parole was retired by Pierre Lorillard tlie son of Leamington used to run with the yearlings at Kan cocas and he was the arbiter of all disputes Two years ago Price McKinney expressed a desiro to have Roamer when his racing days were over and perhaps he too may be dictator over a band of yearlings on tlie farm which the Cleveland sportsman will establish as a successor to the Wickliffe Stud
