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HEAVY TRACK AT HAVANA Mud Runners in Limelight When More Rain Fails at Course. Meeting Now in Full Swing Patronage and Sport Better Than Ever Before. ITavana, Cuba, December 19. Ileavy track conditions again prevailed at Oriental Park this afternoon and mud runners were in tlie limelight. Show- rs fell during the afternoon, which ruined all pros-liecls for a good track during tlie next few days. The dash of five and a half furlongs, which was run as tlie fifth race, was tlie main attraction of the day. There were only four starters, with Hilly Toa a well-backed favorite. The race proved an easy victory for Miss Fannie, which set the pace throughout and Avon in a canter. The best finish of the day occurred in the second race. Worlds Wonder set a fast early pace, then was passed by Flecha Xegra, which in turn succumbed to the. ultimate winner, the old mare Evelina scoring in the final strides of a game finish. King Stalwart found tlie going to his liking in the fourth race and, quickly opening a big lead, easily maintained it to the end. The opening dash proved easy for Ukulele over a band of maiden two-year-olds. Lola appears to have trained off, as she tired badly in the third race and was eased up. Money was the winner,, being under restraint at the end. The closing race of the day resulted in an easy victory for Lady Rowena over the favorite Chief Brown. Several horses arrived yesterday, among the number being Harry Lauder and Lohengrin. Jockey Taplin rode his first winner of the meeting when he scored with King Stalwart in the fourth. TJuyj-aeing- at Oriental Park is now. in full swing. During the first ten days of the meeting the attendance, volume of speculation and local interest exceeds by far that of any previous year. The class of horses and riders participating in tlie meeting is of better average than last year and with it naturally comes an improvement in the racing. There are several new officials here this winter. C. Coraehlsen is assisting Martin Xathanson in the judges stand, while Edward Jasper is acting as associate secretary and clerk of the scales. KENTUCKIANS FAKING WELL. The Kentucky delegation is especially strong this, winter. More than twice the number of horses were shipped here from the blue grass state than any previous year. During the first ten days of the meeting they won forty-four of the fifty-five races run. Kay Spence, who has an extensive string here, leads the winning owners with nine races to his credit. lie also won a race with Alert, which he is training for X. F. Dortch. P. J. Williams has won five races and Al Austin, who brought a public stable here, has also furnished five winners to date. J. Umensetter won three races, as lias also W. A. McKinney and J. II. Eiff. The latter won all three with the mare Lola, which was returned a winner in her first three efforts. Luzzi, Xorvic, Violet. Parr, Lenshens Pride, Kafferty, Marauder and Zim were two time winners. W. A. Carter has a promising apprentice in Humphries. This boy is a much better judge of pace than the usual run of riders and lie appears to be a level headed sort of a chap. lie has already ridden a couple of winners and if lie continues to improve, by the time the meeting ends lie will be a real good rider. Tlie contract on Gruber, the apprentice that Kay Spence brought here, was sold to E. L. Itogers and Spence is now letting Luns-ford do most of his riding. Spence, by the way, is taking tlie place that II. G. Bedwell filled here in previous years. He has a much better stable than Itedwell ever brought here and runs his horses just as frequently.. He already has quite a following among the Cubans, who are quick to string along with a lucky stable. There are several more bookmakers in line this winter, several of whom are newcomers in these parts. Abo Levy is one of them and this old Klobe trotter is right at home down here in Havana. Several of the prominent merchants in the Chinese oolcny are rather stiff operators. Levy was quick to note this and during a lull in speculation one day last week lie wrote, the odds on the favorite, in this particular race, on his slate in Chinese. There was a quick response from one of the above mentioned Chineses merchants, who opened up a conversation in Chinese with Levy and was more than pleased when the latter gave him ready answer. Result, Levy now has a monopoly of the betting among these operators. George Lichenstein, brother to Sol, is another who is booking here for the first time. He is a Spanish scholar and speaks the language fluently. Mr. Lichenstein for some few years was in business in tlie Argentine and is quite familiar with Spanish customs. He is an affable gentleman and lias already made a number of friends down here. Every indication points that the meeting will be a most successful one and when the tourists begin to arrive after the holidays, things will begin to boom.
