The evening world., 1904-05-06
THE BEST HORSE WON THE
s 8. METROPOLITAN HANDICAP

The Metropolitan RAJ this year won
by tho best horse. Irish Lad. It was
also won by the best horse last year.
and that was Gunfire. These races are
emlnently satisfactory when the best
horse wins, but when some inferior
animal manages to scratch homo in
frcnt by a OF q nuky start or
something OF that sort then there IL
always an Aftermath which 10 sxtrcms-
~ unpleasant.
It was also pleasing that ntsh Lad
should have been q public favorite. His
wonderful trial for the race was not
kept secret. and all the newspapers In
formed the public of the work. n has
never been the policy Of Mr.. Rogers or
Of the whitneys to conceal h form
81 their horses. As O matter Of fact
they were always pleased to hsvs the
public win with them.
It IL with a feeling Of intense salts
faction and pride that the holiday o.
goer can 20 to his home or his club
and tell how he picked the winner Of
tho Metropolitan n bet on him. There
wa no fault to be found with the race.
The start was fair, there was no foul
ddfng, and II was Q true-run race from
Etart to finish.
Irish Lad will now, no doubt, be Q
strcng choice in the Brooklyn and Sub
urban. II he and Waterboy meet in the
Suburban there will be a race worth
going half way across the continent to
seS. It will surely 20 down into his
tory a. one Of the greatest races ever
seen on the turf.
RoseFs's Good Record.
Mr.. Rogers must be a proud man to-
day. Mr.. Rogers Is modest and retir-
ting, and he will no doubt pooh-pooh
any attempt at glorihcation on the part
of his friends. But he cannot. never
theiess. help feeling a certain amount
Of pride in the fast that he trained and
Ient to the post three good winner on
The opening day.
II ought to be a matter OF %congratu-
huon to Mr.. Duryea and to Mr.. Whit
ney that their horses are In such ca
pable hands, and they are surely to be
congratulated on having selected Shaw
tn ride their horses. for this boy Is In
superb form and is again proving that
he Is the best rider in the country.
1t would seem poor judgment for q
rider to tax top weights to the front
as Shaw did with Reliable and Irish
Lad. But Shaw Is a lad OF keen judg-
ment. He knows that II his horse 10 in
front he can pick the shortest rout
home. He knows also that II his horse
In In front no one Is going to pocket
him or throw him on the fence. And
Shaw also knows that he can walt In
frQnt with "a horse as well aQ he can In
he rear. That is why he took his
horses to the front. He broke quickly
with them, secured the position he
wanted and then took his horses in
hand. He rode Irish Lad exactly as
he wants to be ridden. Many races were
thrown away by Burns on this horse
last year because Burns would persist
IN waiting in behind. Shaw will win
many races with Irish Lad because he
win suit the horse and the horse will
suit him.
-he Standing starts.
Mr.. Fitzgerald. pursuant to the re.
quest OF the Jockey Club. went back tc
the old system OF fiat-footed starting
yesterday. The starting was bad all dny
long, but II is questionable II this car
be charged up to the starter, because
boys and horses have become used tc
the rwalk-up" start.
Mr, Cassidy has the right idea about
HkartinE. and he carried 1t out last fall
ria Nonderful success. And he started
~ I'll at Washington. But at Aque.
ssI md jamaica the principle of hii
Nc VIA entirely lost sight OF. ant
<enerated into the old system o.
q making u, boyu yyaIx n,