view raw text
DIFFICULT HAVANA GOING Only Sturdy Type of Mud Runner Able to Win In It. Pacemakers Tire Near the End and Winners Score in Final Strides of Close Finishes. HAVANA, Cuba, Jan. 10. There was little if any improvement in the going at Oriental Park today. Even the sturdy mud running type of thoroughbred found it a difficult task to successfully race over the heavy track. It was no wonder then that the hcrses participating in the afternoons sport were fagged out at the finish of their respective races. This was particularly true of Get Em in the second race, in which he led to almost the last few strides before relinquishing command to Miss Liberty. The latter got and passed the tiring pacemaker right at the end to score in sensational fashion, while Riposta, the favorite, after running forwardly throughout, vas third a few strides behind the leading pair. The aristocratically bred Begal Lodge, that first saw the light of day in Lord Rosc-berys stud in England, found the soft going suitable to his old legs and managed to last leng enough to win the opening dash. He. worked his way up on the outside after beginning slowly and drew clear in the homestretch, only to tire in the last eighth, holding on long enough to earn the decision by a half length. Adelante was second, closing a big gap in a great rush that just failed to bring victory. Queen Mazonia and Win or Quit, first and second choices respectively in the third race, were the chief factors in the running of that contest and finished in the order named, the first mentioned getting up and beating Win or Quit in the final strides. It was another the end after showing the way from the start. Virtually the same thing happened in the following race, though here Momentum wrested the lead from Jacobean entering the stretch and drew clear in the last quarter. Jacobean tired from his early pacemaking efforts, though lasting long enough to hold Okaloosa safe for second place. One of the best contests of the afternoon came with the decision of the fifth race, a dash of three-quarters of a mile. The Pronto Stables Kirk Dress was second choice, while Babbling, from the Florida Stable, enjoyed the post of favoritism. The latter failed badly, but Kirk Dress made good after a sparkling performance, in which she moved up fast in the stretch and, overtaking Tease in the last quarter, outgamed her at the end to earn a neck decision.