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PROGRESS OF RACING AT HAVANA. Cubans Taking Increasing Interest in the Sport and Several Buy Horses. . Havana, Cuba. December 14. The meeting at tlic Almendares course of the Cuban Jockey Club is progressing towards a point tbat warrants tbe assertion that next season a really high-class meeting will lo given in Cubit. It is tliQ intention of tbe v-lub to remodel tbe present plant, but for tbe time being its requirements are found fully satisfactory. At tbat considerable money bas been spent and the association is now reaping tbe reward of the money which it laid out this fall in improvements. The attendance since the opening day has been increasing. On Sunday last fully 4,000 persons witnessed the racing. All of the races proved keen contests. majority of the winners being under bard drives to u-iu by small margins. Just at present there are four racing days a week. l!Ut the idea is to race every day beginning December cu The purses, too. will be increased and on Sundays seven races will be given. Every one is well satisfied with the outlook and there are enough Siorses hero to warrant every owner getting his share of the money. Racing in Cuba has come to stay. This is evidenced by tbe increasing interest which, is taken in the racing on each successive day. The lirst two days of the meeting there was but little enthusiasm shown, but now the close finishes cause no end of rooting from the backers of the horses which happen to be in the first Hight. The Cubans are quick to catch on and are the greatest gamblers on earth. They will bet on anything and it is a common sight to see several newsboys squatted down on a street corner with a piece of sugar in front of eaeli one. Thev make up a pool and the owner of tbe cone of sugar "on which a fly lands first gets the money. The inutuel system of betting appears to bo the most popular bere nntl tbe machines get a great patronage. On Sunday last the four machines could not come near to handling the business, and about twenty-five per wilt, of those wisliing to bct were crowded out. The books, liowever, have not by any means been neglected. Stoney Abrams handled ,000 and Charley Jones ,000 on Sunday. The other books had their share of the business, too. so that it can easily be seen that the business is a good one. Applications are being received every few days from horsemen asking for stalls and tbe club found It necessary to erect a number of new stables to accommodate tbe late arrivals. The horses appear to do well here, especially mares. There is a native grass which they like very much and horsemen say that they will leave a bundle of bay to eat this grass when it is placed in their stalls. There is any amount of fine pasture and the water is clear as crystal. Tbe Almendares course borders on the Gulf of Mexico and is only a short distance from Havana. Tbe trolley cars run direct to tbe course. There are a number of high-class Cubans here Who are anxious to go in for racing. Several of them have purchased horses recently, Kustacian and Trey of Spades being a couple tbat have changed bands. Both horses were purchased by local, men. Trey of Spades has been a Hindoo since his arrival. He lias a clean record up to date, having won the three races in which he started. Young IlinchclilTe. who was sent here by Captain V. F. Ircsgrave for a winters experience, bas been improving right along. He has ridden several winners and bas developed into a strong finisher. He has ridden Trey of Spades in all of his races and lias succeeded in keeping the horse straight. Trey of Spades is inclined to bear out and needs a good, strong rider to make him do bis best. By next spring, when be returns to the States, IlinchclilTe should have developed into a good jockey. I. Hall came here from New Orleans, but Secretary Gerhardy has refused to permit him to accept mounts. The management is determined to keep the racing clean and above suspicion, they realizing that this is the only way to make the siiort popular here. The racing lias been clean and spirited. New stables are constantly arriving, the latest to get in being a division of the stable which W. Ucrst raced at Baltimore. The horses are in charge of James Frayling and jockey Obert will probably do the riding. Word was received from New York asking the whereabouts of jockey Louie Smith. He is wanted by Louis Silvers to go to Peru and ride for a prominent turfman there. A report was sent out from here by enemies of the association that, the meeting would not run out the fdxty days advertised, and the incentive of this was jealousy. The Cuban Racing Association holds the only racing concession on the Island and it has yet ten years to run. There are many who have been looking with longing eyes on this valuable asset and tl ey have been knocking tbe meeting, with the idea of leading those not in a position to know, to believe tbat it is a frost. As a matter of fact the management has given out that after December 21 it is their intention to race seven lays a week. On Thursday next "the first hurdle race of tin meeting will Iks run. and this feature is expected to prove a strong drawing card with the Cubans. There are a half-dozen good hurdle horses here and a field of six or seven will probably go to tiie post. Thursday will also be ladies day. anl the big grandstand is expected to lie backed on that occasion. Since bis arrival here Sam Farmer bas disposed of his half-interest in Dr. Booth, a two-year-old half-brother to Notasuiga. A. Brown, of Nashville, bought out Parmers half-interest, paying SU.50O for the same. During the past season tbe linn refused an offer of 1908.sh,000 for the wit At Latonia this fall Dr. Booth worked six furlongs three times in better than 1:111. and preparations were made for a big killing. Rain came up and spoiled the contemplated coup. Tlio mare. iFreneli Nun1, which was brought here by A. Baxter, has gone wrong in one of her knees and has been thrown out of training. Her owner considered this mare the best of bis string and had hopes of winning a number of races with her here this winter. She bas been blistered and it may be that she will round to again during the latter part of next month. Tbe Tramp, a jumper which came here with the Texas shipment, met with a mishap the other day. While being galloped over the track in the morning be liolted against the fence and. breaking one of his legs, had to be destroyed. The climate here seems to be peculiarly adapted to livestock. There are no sick horses here, and owners claim that they are forced to do more with their horses than in the States to keep them from getting fat on tbe inside. All the native horses are slick and round as an apple. There is a lot of nutrition in the native grasses and already some of the horsemen are feed-in- their stock with it. Tbe horses like, it and do well on it, and this means a great saving, as the cost of feed here is greater than in the States. The Gerst string, which arrived Saturday morning, includes the following-": Esterjoy. Sam Hoffheimer, Yuniuri, May Brennan, Gowanga. Oriental Queen. Mexia. Mollie Moonshine. Giiliford, Rose Arklc and Lord Direct. The lirst three are well-tried jumpers and one of them will be a starter in the hurdle race which will be given on Thursday next. The jumpers in tbe Gerst stable have formerly been trained by D. Pierce, but Frayling in the future will look after this end of the stable. Frayling was at one time a well-known cross-country rider of some merit. He will be a bit handicapped here on account of having no experienced steeplechase jockey and will be forced to rely on one of his colored rubbers. Silas McClain is the only steeplechase rider on the ground and. lis lie is under contract to II. Flippen, it means that the latter will have some little advantage over the other horsemen unless one of the green boys develops into a good jockey. Frayling brought over Black Rod and Kid Roos for Sam Parmer. Autumn Maid has been having much had luck in her races and has invariably met witli interference. This accounts for her failure to win up to date. There is some talk of remodeling the track after the close of the present meeting and making it six furlongs. This will, it is believed, make the racing more interesting to the natives. The present track is a mile and a furlong and 100 yards, which means tbat the racing is robbed of its spectacular feature, something very necessary down here. There would be much more interest if the people were able to see the horses during the entire race. The Cubans have caught on quickly, however, and the close finishes now arouse a lot of enthusiasm. The local press is friendly to racing and the people here wish to encourage the sport. The merchants realize that the race meeting will .make their winter season here one of four months instead of two months, which lias heretofore been the limit. George S. Davis. P. Gallagher and Charles Lansdale are some of the new arrivals. The Cincinnati baseball team sailed for New Orleans on Friday last and this removes from the island a strong counter attraction.
