The San Francisco call., 1908-12-15
FRESTONE HUMBLES
PRIDE OF BIG
SPRINTER
President Williams Crack Wins
Race From New York's Peer
less Short Distance Horse
By J. K. Jefery

By J. X. yeffery
The mighty Roseben, Davy Johnson
peerless sprinoer, went down to defeat
at the E,rneryville track yesterday IN "a
race which ne looked to have so com
pletely At his mercy that TO repre-
sented The best odds obtainable against
him. Ee was at even shorter odds
when the bugle sounded. going TO the
post / TO shot T. N. Williams
good year old colt Firestone, quoted
a. 15 70 ! in the betting, was the horse
that took the measure Of the big
train as Roseben IS affectiOnately
known ala over the land. RoSeben had
no excuses and was seemingly beaten
his merits IN wonderfully fast time,
considering the heavy state OF the go
ing The race was at seven turIonss,
ior which distance ROSeDen mas no Spc-
cial liking, but II Is improbable tAat
The result would have been different
had the contest been at six furlongS.
which is supposed 10 be Roseoen
faVOrite distance Flrestone was
keen contender at all stages OF the run
ming and probably would have been
able TO win the race had the route been
apprecfably shorter.
Various reasons were advanced TO ac-
count for the defeat OF the horse. One
was that ne is not partial TO tho par
1icular kind Of going that prevailed
Another was that ne can not run so We'll
with light weight up as with the heavy
burdens which he has been accustomed
10 pack throughout his career in his
good races. he was carrying only lOf
pounds yesterday. as against 135 in his
start OF Saturday, which he won in a
gallOp from much the same sort OF
company Still another element among
the raceEOerS felt sure that the distance
Was the one thing that brought about
his undoing. At any rate, he was beat
en- when his defeat was entirely un-
looked for, as all other good horses that
nave come TO the coast with big repu-
ratlons have been, with hardly an eX
ception- Those racegoerS who had been
predicting similar fate for Roseben
were in evidence with their 4 told you
sos after the race, but few had the
temerIty 10 play anything to beat him.
Some Of the bookies laid field odds Of
: TO ]. with virtually no takers, and
Rosehen out, so certain did IL appear
that he would be returned the winner
While the odds against the horse were
100 short Tor the ordinary bettor, some
OF the "clnch' players lost large bets on
the horse. Euclid Allard and Little
Fere Christensen, two of the biggest
plungers in the ring, were among the
heaviest losers. Allard had $500 down
at = 10 and Christensen's commission
amounted 10 $1,000. Many a $50 piece
was lost that had been put up with the
Idea that il was Ike finding a little pin
money TO have a bet down
BETTORS Up IN THE AIR
Most Of the few who had had the
nerve 10 play something to beat Rose
ben and others who had been casting
about for place horse were as badly
on as the hackers OF the top heavy
faVorite. Royal Tourist, the horse that
was expected TO give Roseben the
closest argument. put UP A WretchedlV
poor performance and was at no time
factor IN the contest Hanbridge.
whose odds had scared up to 25 to /
outran Rosebeq IN the early stages.
and then FirestOne, whose odds had
receded from TO IS. put on the finish
ing touches Jockey Mccarthy was
hunching Roseben along from the start
and there was genuine surprise when
he was unable TO head Hanbridge in
the first quarter. after beating the har-
rler- Not until the stretch turn had
been reached could ROSeben Wrest the
lead from the flying Hanbridge and
then he was able TO open no more than
length or so. ttrestOne had been
laying along within couple of lengths
Of the pace all the way. and responding
TO Jockey Giiberts urging at the head
of the stretch came like a streak
through the final quarter, took the lead
from Roseben near the paddock and won
with two open lengths between him and
the favorite. Hanbridge took the show
about three lengths behind Roseben
and the others were badly beaten off
According TO the official fractionals.
the first quarter was run in 23 seconds:
the half in IS 1-5; three-quarters in
---y- HIS tAo NI- fanny a ltIL4uC CLIP
for the going
It was a poor day for favorite play
ers right through, Miss MaZzoni being
the only public choice to make good.
Mike Asheim, Toll Box and Gene Rus
sell, favOrites Of their respective races.
all finished second. and the crowning
disaster for the hackers Of first choices
came when Jockey Gllberts cOWardice
was responsible for Creations failure
10 finish in the money in the closing
event Of the card.
DUEL BETWEEN FAVORITES
Argonaut and Toll Box, the two
choices, figured in a sensationally close
finish IN the year old event ArgO-
nsut was shuf1ed back in the early
stages. but closed like a lion and got
up in the very last stride to beat Toll
Box. which had taken the lead from
RosamO at the last turn Erbet beat
the others for show, in spite of the
handicap Of having to carry the ap-
prentice rider. Schmidt. ROsamo. whose
odds receded at an alarming rate, was
nrOminent 10 the stretch. then tired
under his heavy impOst Bill Eaton. on
which there had been a lively play. got
IF TOO poorly to cut any figure in the
running, the apprentice rider. Deverich
getting him all but left at the post
ONE WINNING FAVORITE
Miss MaZzoni. which had made a
miserable showing a favorite on Sat
llrdaN. recovered her speed with such
S1ddenness over Sunday that she was
able 10 beat out Gambrinus in the
third. after having displaced him ia
Tavoritispl- as the result Of a tremend&
Gus plunge by the smart set She was
never very far back yesterday and
made good with her usual strong
stretch sprint. Jockey Mccarthy was
M as on Saturday. Jockey Butler rode
,. waiting race with Gambrinus, taking
the lead from Standover only at the
LEST turn. Col Bronston and Confeder-
ate had their usual turns of carly
speed. but both stopped badly.
TWILIGHT QUEEN EASY WINNER
Twilight Queen was outrun in the
carly parf of the closing race. but got
through along the rail at the stretch
spread. and galloping over the leaders,
won in a big roTnp. Ocean Shore,
which had been well up from the start.
outlasted Raconteur. so to L shot
that set the pace, for place by neck.
creation. on which Jockey Gilbert put
m a cowardly ride. ran unplaced as
the favorite Of the race. Creation was
right there with the leaders TO the
ttrn. where Gilbert pulled up and went
around his field rather than take the
s,hance of getting through on the rail,
as Jockey Russill did on the winner.
Creation made up 7ot OF his lost
ground. but could do no better than
fnish fourth Cloudlight and Early
Tide for both Of whom there had been
olentv of support. weakened badly in
the stretch after showing early speed.