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CUBAS BEST RACING YEAR Coming Meeting Expected to Sur ¬ pass All Previous Ones Opening Day Sunday December 8 Racing Every Day DayExcept Except Monday Cincinnati O November 30 After having seen the big shipment of horses from Kentucky safely on the way to Cuba which was the special object of his trip west General Manager H D Brown departed today for Havana to complete the final arrangements for an auspicious opening of the winter season of racing in Cuba Before departing he announced that the date for the opening of the meeting of one hundred or more days at l enutiful Oriental Park which had been set for Saturday December 7 had been changed to Sunday December 8 This change was determined upon by Manager Brown because it developed that the date previously set for the opening is a day of mourning in Cuba in memory of General Maceo the national hero Willie the occasion corresponds somewhat to Memo ¬ rial Day in the United States the Cubans take the day much more seriously seriouslyMr Mr Brown left here quite enthusiastic over the prospects for decidedly the best season of racing in Cuba since he and his associates in the Cuba Amcrican Jockey Club established racing on its present basis at Oriental Park in 1915 Both from the standpoint of numbers and quality the ship ¬ ments of horses from this country which have gone forward to Cuba this fall have broken all records and foreshadow a season of exceptional brilliancy at the Cuban tracks More than three hundred horses including not a few of handicap caliber have been shipped from eastern racing points Among the two hundred or so that comprised the big ship ¬ ment from here are many that have been making turf history on Kentucky tracks all season includ ¬ ing a smart sprinkling of the better sort The gen ¬ eral average of the shipments from lx th east and west is far above even the good showing of last year when a new record was set in this important respect Something like one hundred horses summered at the Cuban track and are in training for the ap ¬ proaching meeting which will give Racing Secre ¬ tary Martin Nathanson a total of more than six hundred horses with which to carry out his program for highclass winter racing This is materially more than he has had to work with in previous years Last winters successful meeting was car ¬ ried through with something like five hundred horses available availableThe The success of last years meeting at the Cuban track was due almost entirely to the generous manner in which the sportloving people of Havana and vicinity supported it There were few tourists ill Havana last winter on account of war time re ¬ strictions With the war at an end these restric ¬ tions are being relaxed and a big movement of tourists to Cuba is looked for this winter When Mr Brown was in Washington recently he learned that it is the intention of the authorities to relax the passport restrictions to such an extent within the next few weeks that tourists and others desirous of visiting Cuba for purposes of recreation or pleasure can easily obtain the necessary permission The Cubans are keen for racing and reports from the Cuban capital are to the effect that the OM II ing of the season is being eagerly looked forward to It is naturally to be expected that the Cuban patronage of the sport will increase as it has with each passing year since the track was opened So Manager Brown has good grounds for the opti ¬ mism with which lie is looking forward to the season about to open openMEETING MEETING TO RUN TO APRIL 1 OR LATER LATERRacing Racing will go on at the Cuban track six days each week from the opening of the season as the regular program Monday will be the idle day ex ¬ cept that during the holiday season there will be racing every day in the week including Monday This means that the one hundred days announced as the minimum for the meeting will not expire until April 1 1Food Food conditions are much better in Cuba this year than was the case last winter when so many restrictions were being enforced by the United States government These restrictions are gradually being lifted or relaxed and American visitors to Cuba will fare much better as a consequence The CubaAmerican Jockey Club has recently obtained a license to export to Cuba some 10000 worth of food and provisions to be used in its restaurant at the track and in the clubhouse A New York restaurateur famous for his beefsteak dinners has been engaged to conduct the restaurant for the association associationManager Manager Brown announced the appointment of Willie Kerryhart as manager of the bookniaking ring in succession to the late Oscar Holder The betting ring will be conducted on precisely the same lines as last year with the bookmakers and the mutuels both in operation The bookinakin is conducted with the big slates and the facilities for pariinutuel hutting have been doubled since last year yearThe The rainy season is now over in Cuba and an ex ¬ tended period of fast track racing is anticipated Usually there is little muddy trick racing in Cuba When Manager Brown made a flying trip to Ha ¬ vana recently he found Oriental Iark looking ex ¬ ceptionally well with plans for the further beauti fication of the grounds Hearing completion Part of the infield space has Ixen devoted to a truck garden with the idea of furnishing strictly fresh vegetables for tin clubhouse anil restaurant restaurantJust Just before leaving for the east Mr Brown pur ¬ chased two fine yearlings from Samuel Ross of Washington for the account of Toloii Fernandez a prominent Cuban breeding and racing concern They are Ford a bay colt by Aeronaut Bettie Bouncer and Gray Rump bay colt by Aeronaut Bonitas On arrival in Cuba they will l e turned over to W A Carter who has been engaged as trainer for this Cuban concern concernMrs Mrs L A Livingston is planning to spend part of the winter at Havana Eugene Leigh has shipped a dozen of his wellbred yearlings to Oriental Park together with sixteen other horses and Mrs Liv ¬ ingston will make the trip to Cuba to see them race when the baby racing begins at Oriental Park with the opening of the new year John yearJohn Sanford noted eastern breeder and raeins man was so pleased with his initial visit to Havana last year that he is planning to spend a more ex ¬ tended period there during the coming winter enjoying the racing and other delights of outdoor life that makes a winter sojourn in Cuba so en ¬ joyable
