New-York tribune., 1905-06-07
IRISH LAD NOT HIMSELF.
Tradition Races to Easy Victory IN
Ga2eILe Stakes.

irish Lad-the mention Of whose name still
o,sckens the pulse-the superb brown son of
r.ndler1as which Tn his day was considered
.be greatest racenorse the present generation
,ss known, resumed his armor yesterday, and
IN The old Gravesend battlefield, that has been
,he scene of some of his most splendid triumphs,
rant down to a defeat that to the casual OBJ
ssrver was as ignoble as it was complete. To
che more critical however. it was not without it's
excuses and amply explained and justified by
me conditions which confronted him.
Irish Lad a starter in an all age handi-
,sn az about six furlongs, and of the eighteen
bo-ses that originally accepted Mr.. Vosburghs
,re;ghts only six had declined the issue when
.se saddling bugle sounded The official handi-
cspper. in assigning the burden Irish Lad should
,arry. reverted to the best form the horse had
shown. and placed 12S pounds on his back-two
more than the scale demanded and one more
,han he placed on Hamburg Belle. one OF his
competitors. With this impost ne conceded all
the way from one pound TO the Futurity winner
NJ 1903 TO twenty-four pounds to Race King,
the chestnut son Of Tenny. that ran Sysonby to
dead heat in the last renewal OF the AIetropoli-
san Handicap.
A half hour before the field was called to the
post drenching shower set in which trans
ferred the track from a condition OF compare
five dryness 10 q wet and slippery lagoon. Had
there been time Mr.. Duryea. il whose colors
Irish Lad still runs would have withdrawn the
horse rather than subject him to such unfa-
yorable conditions but the Caicial time limit for
making Withdrawals had expired and he had
no other alternative than to send him out to
race In his two-year-old form Irish Lad used
70 90 we'll enough in the mud. but since that
tine his stable has declined such conditions and
~, Ya0Y
reasonably firm.
In appearance the great brown horse has lost
little in looks in his long retirement and still
possesses the beautiful lines that made him in
his prime the ideal type of the thoroughbred.
He is cast in the same heroic mould. and al
though he may still be a little high in flesh it
was the almost unanimous opinion Of the critics
that Mr.. Rogers had him in splendid condition.
He wore bandages in his preliminary gallop and
did not show TO advantage in them, moving as
though he were a trifie sore and stiff. In the
race these were removed and for an exhilarating
moment the grand stand saw him settle down to
the great conQuering stride that has brought
him first home in so many contests. Before the
race was little more than half over, however, he
got into the soft going and began to founder
and 10 tire Lucien Lyme. who had the mount.
evidently had riding orders not to punish him
severely, anu WHEN l4t 4Oui4O IL "dS UScIeSS "
go on with him he wisely took him up and
finished back IN the rUck.
Shot Gun Hamburg Belle and Race King
.pught out the contest through the stretch, and
u whipping finish the artillery horse, that has
proved such a disappointment TO his followers
In his previous efforts, won by neck from
Hamburg Belle. Race King might have proven
q more formidable factor had he received a
better r1ds than Nicol gave him Hamburg
Belle likewise had bit Of hard luck, and did
not find clear sailing until the stretch was
reached She the choice of the spectators
and backed generously at prices ranging from
70 70 to 2 Shot Gun at to l in the
closing market Irish Lad seemed to nod q
tife when Lyme brought him back to the
scales, but ne walked out Of it directly and