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HAVANAS HOLIDAY STAKES Entries for Christmas and New Years Handicaps Announced Practically Same Horses Nomi nated for Both Events Orien tal Park a Beauty Spot HAVANA Cuba December 1C The fifth season of racing at Oriental Park bids fair to be the Kreatest since the inauguration of the sport in 1915 But for the delay of two days on account of the strike everything tends to con f inn the roseate predictions made in advance of the meeting meetingThe The most notable of the oitening day visitors was President Menooal of the Cuban republic With Irs Menocal and a half dozen members of his cabinet and other intimates the presidcnt who is ino of the most progressive men in Cuba occupied the presidential Iwx in the grandstand and evinced the keenest interest in the days proceedings With his entourage he witnessed the running of a race from the stewards stand as the special guest of general manager II D Brown It was the first time in the history of Cuban racing that the presi ¬ dent had visited with the stewards although ho had upon Innumerable occasions manifested his in ¬ terest in racing by his presence in the grandstand The incident is taken to show his increasing inter ¬ est in the details of the sport which is altogether natural in view of the fact that he has embarked in the breeding of thoroughbreds on an ambitious scale at his country estate not far from Oriental Park and is planning to race the produce of his xtud as soon his young stock is old enough The president is u graduate of a great American uni ¬ versity and in becoming a breeder of blooded stock is setting his peonle an example of progressiveness that he had previously done in other directions Theopenihg was in all respects the most notable In tlie annals of Cuban racing Xot only was the attendance greater than ever before but the volume of speculation both in the mutuels and books broke all records for a similar occasion occasionThere There is general satisfaction among those who nave the welfare of racing in Cuba at heart over the presence here of more and better horses than in Jiny previous season The management has been put to the necessity of erecting one hundred additional stalls to accommodate the overflow Previous meetings here have been conducted with less than five hundred horses There are now more than six hundred horses here and all are fit and ready to take part in the racing racingAmericans Americans who have been coming to Cuba year after year since racing was first established here were hardly nrenared for the enhanced beauty of Oriental Park as a result of many improvements which manager Brown carried to completion during the nast summer All the buildings were repainted the track was resoiled truck gardens laid out in the center field a fine macadam roadway con ¬ structed through the center of the infield for the cimvcnicnce of the horsemen and undeveloped por ¬ tions of the big inclosiirc planted with oranges and other tropical fruits and flowering shrubs In fact it may truly be said that Oriental Park is now a veritable bowvr of beauty beautyRACING RACING CONTINUOUS DURING HOLIDAYS HOLIDAYSRacing Racing secretary Martin Xathansmi has announced the entries for the Christmas and New Years Han ¬ dicaps the outstanding events of the holiday season during which racing will proceed every day including Mondays The Christmas Handicap is an event of 1500 added for threeyearolds and over It will be run on Wednesday December 25 over the mile and fifty yards course and will be con ¬ tested by the best field of horses ever brought together in Cuba in all probability There are fortvoue nominations for the nice including the following Sir Wellons KohiNoor Flittergold Bright Sand Milkman Wise Man Shasta John I Day Fronella Sasiu Almine Zululand Rora Smart Money Buikboard Deckmate Douglass S Barney Shannon Daddys Choice Harwood II Graphic Kate Bright Bank Hodge Hocnir Clair ¬ voyant Celto Etruscan Belle Roberts FaiixCol Orlando of Havana Bolster Highland Lad Hanovia Gordon Russell White Crown Queen Trovato Bon ¬ nie Tess Paymaster Sevillian and Kicking Kid KidThe The New Years Handicap which will be run over the mile and three sixteenths course on the OIHMI iiig day of 1JI19 drew practically the same entries Both races should set a new standard for Cuban racing from the standpoint of class It is worth vhile noting in passing that Sasin one of the cligibles for both races won the most valuable race of the New Orleans season last winter and the winter before swept everything before him at the Tijuana track in Lower California Sasin is owned by Clarence Buxtou a capable trainer who has a string of a dozen horses in training here for Joseph Marrone of Xew York in addition to five that lie is racing for his own account Buxton headed the list of moneywinning owners at Xew Orleans last winter and at Tijuana the winter before and it is his first visit to Cuba The horses he is training for Joseph Marrone include Philippic Harwood II Kingfisher Appleton Wiske Riverside Santra Dandy Dude Fustian Point to Point Venetian Boy Eddie McBridc and Daddys Choice His own horses embrace Sasin Ambrose Manganese Mae Murray and Kimplong KimplongEighteen Eighteen books are being operated at Oriental Park this season in competition with the mutuels W Kerryhart is in charge of the ring in succes ¬ sion to the late lamented J Oscar Holder The managers of the books in the big ring include Mr Kerryhart J Hare Oscar Ituchmann T McBride Abo Kcmpnor Alxi Mevers Ed Colell Ed Thornton William Myron Peter Dell Sidney Bender Henry Wendt 1 Moore A J Levy Ray Miller and W Morgan Mannic Smith is in charge of the l ooks iu the field inclosure and Bert Johnson runs the ouibination book Phil Haniil fills the position of priceuiaker for the books
