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HAVANA MEETING NOW IN ITS STRIDE Indications Point to Most Successful Season on Record Senor lezama Wins Two Races HAVANA Cuba December 23 With all indica ¬ tions pointing to the most successful season on rec ¬ ord the CubaAmerican Jockey Clubs fifth winter race meeting has now settled into its stride and is serenely proceeding on its way No feature of the racing that has taken place to date is more fraught with significance for the future of the sport on this favored tropical isle than the prominence with which Cubanowned horses have been figuring in the results TIic present season opened with many more thoroughbreds in the hands of Cuban owners than at any previous time since racing was introduced under its present auspices at Oriental Park in 1915 Last years highly successful meeting brought more accessions to the ranks of the Cuban owners of the racing thoroughbred than all the previous seasons combined combinedGenepil Genepil manager H D Brown thoroughly ap ¬ preciative of the importance of this inclination of the Cubans to take an active part in the racing has been taking a personal interest in helping them to get started properly by recommending competent trainers that they might employ and by suggestions in other directions calculated to smooth the way for them The results have done much to counter ¬ act the effects of the unfortunate experiences of several Cubans who were unsuccessful as owners in earlier years chiefly because they were badly advised It is altogether probable that as a direct result of the recent successes of the Cubanowned horses there will be fresh accessions to the list of Cuban owners in the near future Already racing secretary Nathunson has found it practicable to offer races exclusively for Cuban owned horses for the first time in the history of Cuban racing and races of this type will form a regular feature of Oriental Park programs from now on onIn In accordance witli the custom of racing seven days in the week during the holiday period the sport is now going on every day at Oriental Park and will continue until the first Monday in January when the practice of having no racing on Monday will be resumed for the remainder of the season The recent rains demonstrated the efficacy of the imnrovements which were made during the summer upon the course itself The track with ¬ stood the drenching to which it was subjected much batter than at any time since its construction Additional drainage facilities whitit xrrn installed carried off the surplus water so efficiently that there was a complete absence of the slop that usually followed a heavy rain and the track re ¬ mained in much better condition generally Natu ¬ rally it dried out faster and the rain is expected to work a lasting benefit in settling the fresh top soil witli which the track was redressed redressedHEALTH HEALTH OF HOHSES EXCELLENT EXCELLENTThe The general health of the 600 horses quartered at Oriental Park remains excellent There is prac ¬ tically no sickness among them Two horses have died of pneumonia contracted on the trip from the United States these being Capt P M Walkers Col duff and Kay Spences March Wind Fuzzy Wuzzy Amazonian and Cousin Bob died from vari ¬ ous causes while summering on the island and Napper Tandy died in Porto Rico where he raced during the summer summerKay Kay Spence furnished the winner of todays feature at Oriental Park when Hocnir beat Daddys Choice a couple of lengths in the third race Hoc ¬ nir ridden by Lunsford made all the pace and won easily Belle Roberts a firsttime starter at this meeting was third beaten in the final strides by Daddys Choice ChoiceAlmino Almino proved the big surprise in the fourth a threequarters of a mile dash coming from behind and closing fast He won going away by a length from Timkins Alimo paid the handsome dividend of S10810 in the twodoilar mutuels mutuelsJockey Jockey Dominifk was suspended for two days for cutting across the others witli Gloriue at the start of the fifth which the latter won her first success openedSenor in five starts since the meeting opened Senor A Lezama won the first two races of the afternoon Major Domo scoring in the first and Mabel Trask easily accounting for the second secondMabel Mabel Trask was claimed by Williams Brothers after winning for 800 800G G M Kidgc claimed the plater John W Klein after lie was beaten by Baby Sister in the seventh race Sunday SundayJockey Jockey C Gray who lias been riding in Peru for the last few years had his first mount at Oriental Park on the twoyearold Earnest in the first race thi afternoon afternoonCharles Charles H Lansdulc was an arrival from Key West this morning and assumed his duties as asso ¬ ciate steward at Oriental Park ParkFormer Former jockey Willie Dugan in his day one of the foremost of American riders is among those who are here for the first time this year Jockey yearJockey C Howard has been licensed to ride only the horses which race ii his unmi unmiK K K Brysons useful horse Bellringer which pulled up liime in his last start lias a spread foot
