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PLANS EOR HAVANA RACING ORIENTAL PARK, NEW TRACK IN CUBA, NOW , RECEIVING FINISHING TOUCHES. i Announcement Made That Shipment of Horses from j Charleston to Havana Will Consist of at Least 3C0 Head Course Expected to Be Fast One. j 1 Havana, Cuba, December 10. With work practl- cully completed on the 00,000 plant of the Cuba- American Jockey Club in Marianao, Manager II D. Blowp Is now devoting his attention to the construe- tlou of an ornate clubhouse, which will cost 0,000 additional. Oriental Park, as it now stands, is one if the show places in the environs of this metropolis 1 of "the pearl of the Antilles." and the immense main building is visible for ten miles around. It stands as a landmark near Marianao beach, to the south, and the Vedado, to the east, and is one of the tirt points of interest sought by the tourists who even now are arriving in large numbers for the biggest winter season this charming city ever has known. "La Hippodrome las Carreras do Caballos" the Cubans have named Oriental Park, and the slogan "meet nie on the Malecon" is now the motto among a multitude of race followers in Charleston, and lKiIuts farther north, according to advices received by Manager Brown. Superintendent Wilson, of the Laurel track, Is among the late arrivals. He is to be in charge of Oriental Park, and his first statement, when he examined the course at Marianao, was: "Theyll be running miles in better than 1:40 on the first day of the meeting." There is litle for Mr. Wilson to do, so far as the shaping of the going itself is concerned. The character of the subsoil, and the dressing which the course has received, have combined to make the course easy to work and flmlii, two natural advantages which many large" turf establishments have found lacking. There are now 250 stalls completed, and 550 more are In course of construction. The work on the administration building, betting enclosure and paddock, and the various other subsidiary buildings, which Manager Brown has made complete to tha last detail, js now SO per cent, completed and long before the first of the big consignments of horses arrive from Charleston, Oriental Park will have been made ready to the last minor detail, and will stand revealed as the biggest and best plant that - - r.iyvyfi-ever has constructed It is not in the physical aspect alone of the plant 7 that he has bent his best efforts;. The. landscape gardener and the architect have each been called info play, and the plant will more resemble a park than tho usual impression first-time visitors often have gained at many new courses. President Menoeal, members of his cabinet and several senators were guests of Manager Brown at an Informal Inspection, of Oriental Park last week, and all expressed themselves as delighted with the prospects of giving thoroughbred racing the place It belongs in the Cuban category of sports. It is not generally known, but for many years some member of the Cuban aristocracy have been conspicuous u the French turf, many , of Havanas bluebloods being quite as well known at Lougehamps and Mai-sons-Latlitte as the big French operators themselves. European war conditions this winter militate against an exodus of Americans to foreign shores, and Cuba offers them in addition to its usual gay round of winter pleasures, the advantage of a race meeting where horses of high class will race for the richest offerings ever hung up at a winter meeting on the North American continent. No purse at Oriental Park, which opens its. gates January 7, for sixty-eight or more tlavs of racing, will be less than 00, while the overnight handicaps will range in value from to 000. with the pixspect of further additions if success attends the meeting . Wonl has come to .Manager Brown from Charles-Ion, where Treasurer Charles Lausdale. Auditor Frank .7. Brucn and Judges Harry White and W. W. levies are compiling a list of the stables .to be shipped here, that not less than .100 horses will leave Palmetto Park at the conclusion of the present Charleston meeting, with further additions in prospects from New York. Sidney Bender is organizing a special train to leave Washington on New Years dny or the day after, to make the run to Key West. Via., without a scheduled stop. The train will he tilled with race-goers and winter tourists from New York, Philadelphia. Baltimore. Washington and other northern cities. "We will have not less than 150 on this train." Mr. Bender writes, "in addition to the hundreds who will come down from Charleston." For those horsemen who will ship direct from Palmetto Park to Havana, via Key West and the car ferries, a rate of 08 a car lias been obtained. This is the lowest rate ever secured for a similar shipment, and it covers all charges, such as Arms rental ami ferriage from Key West to Havana. Horses will be loaded on the Charleston-Havana special at the trackslde at Palmetto Park, and be detrained at the Machina wharf in Havana, the total time elapsing between departure and arrival bent being less than forty hours. Passengers and baggage equipment likewise will be carried on this train. The program book for the first eight days of the meeting will he distributed at once among horsemen at tharli-sUin. New Orleans, New York and Kentucky. In addition to the regular 00 purses, a goodly list of-haudicaps of 1914.sh00, and ,000 Is iimioiiucd. Conditions looking toward the establishment of a Mrmaneut center of racing for many winters to cuiw ure Ideal here. Climatic and social advantages reach high tide here during the winter mouths, and tho character of its appointments. Oriental Park present the last word In modernity and attractive-nets as a home for winter racing of high class.
