Roamer (USA)
1911 – January 1, 1920
Knight Errant (USA) x Rose Tree II (GB), by Bona Vista (GB)
The product of a chance mating, Roamer rose from running in a US$2,000 claiming race as a juvenile to become a champion and popular favorite. He was a remarkably versatile horse who won at distances from 4.5 furlongs to 14 furlongs and set or equaled 11 track records during his long career. A stirring rivalry with another great gelding from his crop, Old Rosebud, only added to his appeal. His most famous performance was a 1918 time trial in which he set a new American record of 1:34-4/5 for a mile. His induction into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 1981 was a long-overdue honor for a horse whose consistent speed, gameness and class could not be denied.
98 starts, 39 wins, 26 seconds, 9 thirds, US$98,828
Won Saratoga Special (USA, 6FD, Saratoga)
2nd Lafayette Handicap (USA, 5.5FD, Havre de Grace)
Won Carter Handicap (USA, 7FD, Aqueduct; new track record 1:24-4/5)
Won Washington Handicap (USA, 9FD, Laurel; new American record 1:49-3/5)
Won Brooklyn Derby (USA, 10FD, Aqueduct; new track record 2:05-3/5)
Won Travers Stakes (USA, 10FD, Saratoga; new track record 2:04)
Won Huron Handicap (USA, 10FD, Saratoga)
Won Midsummer Stakes (USA, 12FD, Empire City)
Won State Fair Stakes (USA, 10FD, Syracuse; new track record 2:02)
Won Municipal Handicap (USA, 10FD, Belmont)
Won Autumn Weight-For-Age (USA, 12FD, Belmont; walked over)
2nd Baltimore Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Laurel)
3rd Withers Stakes (USA, 8FD, Belmont)
3rd Empire City Handicap (USA, 9FD, Empire City)
Won Havre de Grace Handicap (USA, 9FD, Havre de Grace)
Won Merchants' and Citizens' Handicap (USA, 9.5FD, Saratoga)
Won Queens County Handicap (USA, 8FD, Aqueduct)
Won Saratoga Cup (USA, 18FD, Saratoga)
Won Saratoga Handicap (USA, 10FD, Saratoga)
Won Brookdale Handicap (USA, 9FD, Aqueduct; equaled track record 1:50-3/5)
Won National Handicap (USA, 9FD, Laurel)
2nd Brooklyn Handicap (USA, 9FD, Aqueduct)
Won Yonkers Handicap (USA, 9FD, Empire City)
2nd Queens County Handicap (USA. 8FD, Aqueduct)
2nd Empire City Handicap (USA, 9FD, Empire City)
2nd Saratoga Cup (USA, 14FD, Saratoga)
2nd Municipal Handicap (USA, 12FD, Belmont; 2nd of 2)
2nd Kentucky Handicap (USA, 10FD, Douglas Park)
2nd Chesterbrook Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Havre de Grace)
3rd Merchants' and Citizens' Handicap (USA, 9.5FD, Saratoga)
Won Aqueduct Handicap (USA, 9FD, Aqueduct)
Won Excelsior Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Jamaica; new track record 1:45-2/5)
Won Arlington Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Pimlico)
2nd Queens County Handicap (USA, 8FD, Aqueduct)
2nd Brookdale Handicap (USA, 9FD, Aqueduct)
2nd Clark Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Churchill Downs)
2nd Edgemere Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Aqueduct)
3rd Delaware Handicap (USA, 8FD, Saratoga)
Won Empire City Handicap (USA, 9FD, Empire City; equaled track record 1:51)
Won Saratoga Handicap (USA, 10FD, Saratoga; new track record 2:02-1/5)
Won Mount Vernon Handicap (USA, 8FD, Empire City)
Won Pierrepont Handicap (USA, 9FD, Jamaica)
2nd Continental Handicap (USA, 9FD, Jamaica)
2nd Excelsior Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Jamaica)
2nd Saratoga Cup (USA, 18FD, Saratoga; 2nd of 2)
2nd Carter Handicap (USA, 7FD, Aqueduct)
2nd Pelham Bay Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Empire City)
3rd Edgemere Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Aqueduct)
3rd Scarsdale Handicap (USA, 8f+70yD, Empire City)
Also set a new American record of 1:34-4/5 for a mile on dirt in a time trial on August 21 at Saratoga.
2nd Yonkers Handicap (USA, 8.5FD, Empire City)
National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (inducted in 1981)
American Horse of the Year (1914)
American champion 3-year-old male (1914)
American champion handicap male (1915)
American co-champion handicap male (1916)
Roamer was rated #99 among the top 100 American racehorses of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by The Blood-Horse (Thoroughbred Champions, Eclipse Press, 7th printing, 2005).
Ranked second among American older males of 1916 through 1918 by The Blood-Horse.
A slightly built bay gelding, Roamer stood 15.2 hands. He was gelded young due to being undersized but never grew much, partly because he was a poor eater. Despite his small size and finicky eating habits, he needed a lot of work to stay in his best form and was a good weight carrier. He had excellent action and could run well over any track surface. In competition, he was completely honest and game and could carry front-running speed over long distances. Jockey Andy Schuttinger, who frequently rode him, described him as being "as smart as they come"; unfortunately for his trainer, Roamer was smart enough to figure out the difference between a race in the afternoon and a workout in the morning and was not inclined to put himself out during the latter. He remained a very sound individual until age 8, when wear and tear began catching up to him; he only made six starts that year but was expected to return at 9 in an attempt to pass US$100,000 in earnings.
Roamer was bred by the Clay Brothers. For most of his career he was owned by Saratoga Race Course's secretary and treasurer Andrew Miller, who bought Roamer for US$2,500 after the horse's eighth start as a juvenile. He was initially trained by F. Books and was trained by A. J. "Jack" Goldsborough following his purchase by Miller. Roamer was humanely destroyed during the early hours of New Year's Day of 1920 after slipping on ice and breaking a leg in his paddock; his owner, Mr. Miller, had suffered a fatal heart attack just a few hours earlier on New Year's Eve.
Roamer was inbred 5x5 to King Tom and to King Tom's half brother, Stockwell. He is a half brother to Rosewood (by Magneto), dam of stakes winners Blackwood (by Black Toney), Stock Market (by Luke McLuke) and Woodlander (by Rolled Stocking). Rosewood is also the second dam of Percentage, whose son Three Bars became a great sire of racing Quarter Horses. Roamer's dam, Rose Tree II, was a minor stakes winner in both her native England and the United States.
Roamer's mark of 1:34-4/5 for the mile was the last American record set for a popularly run distance in an officially sanctioned time trial.
Roamer met Old Rosebud 11 times during his career, with Old Rosebud finishing ahead of him six times.
Roamer's sire Knight Errant had been a stakes winner in his youth but at the time of Roamer's conception was the farm teaser for the Clay Brothers. Two stories about Roamer's origins exist; in one, Knight Errant jumped the fences to get to the paddock where Rose Tree II was kept and fathered Roamer during this unsanctioned tryst. In the other, Rose Tree II was deliberately bred to Knight Errant as a substitute for Star Shoot in order to avoid breeding two blind animals together. Roamer supposedly took his name from the former story.
Woodford Clay paid US$2,005 to keep Roamer from another owner's claim after the gelding won a US$2,000 claimer at Belmont in his eighth start. As the winning purse was only US$380, Clay actually lost US$1,625 on Roamer's winning race.
Noted Turf writer Neil Newman took "Roamer" as his pen name in honor of the great gelding.
The Roamer Handicap was a contest for older males on the New York stakes calendar. Originally run at Jamaica in 1944, it was last run in 1987.