view raw text
GROWING IN POPULARITY Great Crowd Attest to Progress of Racing in Cuba Better Sport in Prospect with End of Rainy Season and Improved Track Conditions. HAVANA, Cuba, December IS. The importance to which racing In Cuba Jims grown under the progressive management of Frank J. Itruen and his associates in the Cuba-American Jockey Club was strikingly illustrated by the running on Sunday, December 12. of the Antilles Stakes, which, although one of the least valuable of the twenty-one stakes to be offered here, brought out to the course on that day the largest and most fashionable concourse of patrons, both Cuban and American, that has, ever been gathered within the confines of Oriental Park. And the vast assemblage . voiced its approval in no uncertain manner by the way in Which it cheered the winners and otherwise gave vent to its feelings. Tin; racing lias "caught" on with the Cubans and today Oriental Park is rightfully regarded as Havanas greatest and, most fashionable outdoor amusement park. The great popularity of the sport in Cuba was also emphasized on the afternoon in question by the. caliber and representative character of the participants in the afternoons outstanding feature. In recent years the track management lias been devoting its energies in an effort to attract the most representative stables to Cuba for a winters campaign. This year success has crowned these efforts to a marked degree and the list of owners represented in "the Antilles Stakes affords .an excellent Indexvo how highly Cuban racing is now regarded. The victory of Pomerene, owned by the Cuban Armonia Stable, was a most popular one and reflects much credit on his owner K. Fernandez, who, since the retirement from racing of Senor A. H. Diaz, has become the foremost figure among the Cuban owners. The Armonia Stable to date leads the winning stables in Cuba and gives excellent promise of maintaining that enviable position. These are hnlcyon days for the members of the American racing colony here. Since the ending of the. rainy season the weather has been truly de-lightfunl and if past records are a criterion it will continue so to the end of the racing season. Warm, genial days and brilliant tropical nights, the latter conducive to the most refreshing sleej, leave little to be desired in the way of climatic conditions. Sliice fast track conditions succeeded the muddy spell of the first two weeks the racing has been Batisfying, highly foruiful and of better quality than ever before seen in Cuba. It will not be long before many of the existing track records will be equaled or surpassed, as the track is now in excellent condition and most of the good, lnorses that were tardy in rouudiug into form are now in action. "vith the near approach of the running of the most valuable of the stake fixtures of the season the-more noted of the horses will be seen under silks. The change in the conditions governing claiming races has proved eminently satisfactory to the horsemen and has resulted in only two claims being made so far this season. Under the former regulations anyone was privileged to register a claim for a horse in a selling race, but uuder the Kentucky system recently adopted only owners represented in a race can make a claim in that race. W. H. Halls Dblph; which came here unheralded tind unknown, is the most improved horse shown m far. He lias started four times and been returned a winner each time. He is a three-year-old VJ. bay gelding, by Brummell Thrilled, and was bred by A. L. Ferguson. He had been racing in the Far "West up to the time he was shipped to Latonia last fall. He started several times at Lntonin, but did not win a purse. The record of Pcmerene is second only to that of Dolph. Pomerene lias already won three races, including the Antilles Stakes. He was summered in Cuba, together with the other horses belonging to the Armonia Stable, and the long rest and climate appears to have benefited him greatly, as it has also benefited the other horses that remained on the island since last winter. Oriental Park now boasts of what is the most complete paddock building in America. It contains n spacious office for the racing secretary, commodious quarters for the jockeys, an up-to-date printing plant where the daily programs and other paraphenalia used on the track are printed, a model hospital and a large press room where the eighteen Havana daily newspapers are kept on file. Charles A. Sloneham and John J. McGraw have returned fnom their visit to New York, where they went on business connected with their baseball interests. Both going and returning they were passengers on the big seaplane that carries passengers and mail daily between Havana and Key West. Many of the American visitors to Cuba are now availing themselves of this novel method of crossing the Florida strait.
