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HAVANA OPENING AT HAND ] + ORIENTAL PARK A SCENE OF BEAUTY AND MUCH IMPROVED IN ALL WAYS. 1 .*. All Cuban Elements Impatiently Awaiting the Be- l to ginning of Racing — Horses at the Track tl Superior to Those There Last Winter. ■ o of — j. Havana, Cuba. December 15. — With everything in complete readiness the second winter meeting of the Cuba American Jockey Club will open tomorrow £ under conditions that promise to firmly establish ] racing as the greatest of all s-ports in this "Pearl s * f the Antilles." as Culia has been so aptly desig- I nated. When H. I». I.rowu built the Oriental ] Park race track, a year ag.i. he laid the foundation j for racing in Cuba on a broad foundation and in j spite of the handicaps with which the sport bad ] to contend during the inaugural meeting last winter, as a result of the abnormal amount of wet weather that prevailed. ;-ueli a showing was made that it i became apparent that Havana was destined, with j |iroiK-r management of the s| ort. to become one of • the greatest winter racing centers of the world. Tomorrows opening will take place under eondi- j lions differing greatly lroni those that prevailed i when the course was opened last winter. Then, as j is usually the case with new enterprises of this 1 -sort, the plant was in a crude and incomplete i state. In the interim a vast amount of landscape gardening has lieeu done and Oriental Park is now one of the show places of Havana. The track itself has also come in for attention and has been reconstructed and provided with a drainage system : that will effectually eliminate the necessity for tile postponement of the races, that was one of the drawbacks of la»-t winters meeting. Roth in respect to numbers and quality the horses that are here to participate in the racing are far ahead of last seasons showing, and for this reason alone it may be taken for granted that the meeting is destined to Ik- a success. Last winters introduction of the sport left the ; Cubans with a keen appetite for racing, notwithstanding the numerous handicaps. The result is that tomorrows opening is awaited with feverish interest by all classes of Cubans. Society will lie out in force, as it was last winter. Iieeause its leaders have taken up racing as one of their diversions, and ail the other elements of the Cuban populace will likewise lie well represented. There are many more followers of racing from the Inited States than was the case last winter and the hotels of the city are already well filled with tourists, of which class a much greater number will lie here this winter than for several years, if the usual indications may lie depended upon. So, ••11 In all. there is every reason for the nianage- J..ent of Oriental Iark to look forward to a highly satisfactory season of racing. The meeting is to continue for eighty-two racing clays. As in all Latin countries, there will be racing each Sunday. Monday is to be an off-day. but there will lie racing on every other day of the week until March lit next. The first race will be ruu Mick day at 2:30 oclock. Havana time, which is 2:."i7 New York time. There are some 400 horses on hand for the meeting and the card for the o|H-uing day gives » fair line upon their quality. although some of the lietter grade, not perfectly ac« liinat -d as yet. will not come into action until later on. The track is in good condition and faster than it was last season. I a trims of the sport speculatively inclined will lie permitted to cho ise between the iniltuels and the bookmakers. The,lietting ring will be kept open I to all reputable bookmakers and the old-fashioned | iKHiths with big slates will lie used for displaying the odds. A considerable number of bookmakers arc on band, fifteen bookmakers are expected to 1 bo iii line tomorrow and fourteen pari niutucl machines will also be ill operation. Something like 0.ooo was s|ient in improvements on the plant since the last meeting. Tlie track is now approached by a lsmlevard lined with beautiful palms. New entrances have been made and a profusion of flower beds adorn both tin* tn.ut and rear of the grandstand. Applications for stabling accommodations are lie-gi lining t i pour in from liorsemen at other racing points for stable room. Those who are here for the • lirst time are loud in their praise of the plant. One of the liest stables at Oriental Park has been i assigned to M/ise Coldhlatt. who is due to arrive ■ here next week with a big string he will bring ; here for Jefferson Livingston and himself. All the officials are ben-. A party .if one hundred 1 arrived this morning from the Inited States. The • weather is beautiful and the track so good that t hordes are working faster now than races were run i last winter. _____________
