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THRILLING FINISHES Daily Feature of Present Meeting at Oriental Park. Majority of Todays Winners Score by Small Margins Tamper Wins by a Nose. HAVANA, Cuba, Jan. 4. Among the contributing factors to the growing popularity of the racing at Oriental Park this winter have been the large number of thrilling finishes witnessed at the beautiful Marianao course. Seldom a day passes that the spectators are not treated to one or more hair-raising finishes that delights not only tho casual visitor but even the hardened regular. Today was no exception in this particular and in the very first race the crowd had an opportunity to give vent to any superfluous enthusiasm that may have been held under restraint when the first three horses crossed the winning line separated by the smallest of margins. The official placing gave first place to Twinkle Bell by a neck, second to Myrtle Bilson by a nose and Mrs. Gardner third, a length in advance of Marmaduke. For a time one of the extreme outsiders in a betting way threatened to make a runaway of the race. This was Solomons Favor, which quickly opened a big lead and set a fast pace from the start Myrtla Bilson raced in closest pursuit of the leader and when the pacemaker tired in the last eighth passed him. However, the hard early racing told on her and she had little left for the final test. It was then that the decisive move was made. Twinkle Bell had been gaining rapidly after a slow beginning and. challenging in the final sixteenth, squeezed through on the inside to get the judges eye in the last stride. Mrs. Gardner was the outside of the pair and only those on a. direct line with the finish could separate tho trio. It was a great finish and delighted the crowd, though the majority had supported Suzuki, which never figured prominently. t ROXA FIDE UXLUCKY. Again in the following race the winner scored by a nose in another exciting finish. Here it was Drapery, which after showing the way the greater part cf the way, barely lasted long enough to outstay the fast-finishing Bona Fide. Had Bona Fides rider made his move a bit earlier a different story might have been told. As it was Bona Fide was gaining on the winner with every stride, too late, however, to change the result. The disappointment here was Castilla, which finished third, tiring badly at the end when in a contending position. -Jore excitement came with the running" of the fourth and again in the sixth. Dixons Pride earned another purse for the Florida. Stable when she beat Trafalgar by a head in the fourth, for which W. R. Cces Stone Image was the favorite. There was a sparkling last eighth duel between Dixons Pride and Trafalgar before the first mentioned was awarded the verdict. In the sixth Tampers winning margin was a nose and it required the haidest kind of riding on the part of Dawson to save the day, as Winall closed a big gap in a sensational display of speed that just failed to bring victory. The sport was held under the same pleasant conditions that have prevailed here for some time past and the attendance for a Friday was surprisingly large. The clubhouse roof, which was opened a week or ten days ago, is fast becoming the rendezvous of Havana society. The dinner dances which were inaugurated Saturday, December 15, are weekly affairs and havo been well attended. On Saturday last Mr. and Mrs. George M. Fletcher had thirty young couples as their guests. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Francis Dowd had about twenty in their party, which included Thomas Mona-han, president of the Jockey Club, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Burke, Mr. and Mrs. Georgo Grant, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Soule and their daughter. Miss Beatrice Soule ; Mr. and Mrs. Thomas K. Lynch, Mr. and Mrs. Claude Kyle and Mr. Charles Altman of New York.
