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HEAVY TRACK RACING Thursdays Sport at Havana Over Extremely Difficult Course. Winners Come From Unexpected Sources Royal Queen the Only Successful Favorite. HAVANA, Cuba, Feb. 28. Racing at Oriental Park today was over an extremely heavy track and the winners came from unexpected sources. In the inaugural dash betting attention waa centered on Sun Turret, but the best he could do was to finish third. The veteran Hemlock proved best in the going and won easily. The old fellow worked his way up on the outside from a slow beginning and, overtaking the pacemaker, Happy Buxton, after entering the stretch, passed him in tho last eighth and drew clear at the end. Happy Buxton set the pace from the start, but found the going too much when challenged and tired near the finish. Sun Turret was far out of it in the early part, but gained rapidly at the end, too late to catch tho leader. The public went wrong in the second race when Gray Girl was selected as first choice. The winner came from the Florida Stable in Claro de Luna, neglected in the wagering. She ran a good race to beat Phoebe by two lengths, the latter outlasting the favorite. Gray Girl. After Solomons Kilts retired from setting the early pace Claro de Luna assumed command, and, racing in the best going on the outside, found little trouble in maintaining her advantage to the end. There was more disappointment in store for the backers of favorites when Mart OHara failed them in the third race. Ho finished on the outside in the heaviest going, ruining a good chance to score, as he had raced prominently from the start. When he tired Rita It. challenged Bodanzky, which had set the pace from the start, and after a brief duel wrested the lead from him and won going away. Bodanzky dropped completely out of the picture and Dr. Shafer, finishing with a great rush, outgamed Mart OHara for second place in the last stride. The mile and seventy yards of the fourth race proved a welcome respite for the public, the downfall of favorites being halted when Royal Queen romped home victorious ahead of Red Mill, Jacquerie and live others. The race was virtually a contest between Red Mill and Royal Queen. The first mentioned led to the stretch turn, but raced in the bad going all the way and was no match . for Royal Queen when the latter challenged. Miss Beulah was claimed Tuesday by Nicol and Skaggs for ,000. P. Hinphy will ship his string to Montreal next Monday. Glenn "was claimed out of the second race Wednesday for ,000 by C. E. Davison. Lottie Loraine was acquired for a similar amount by J.. A. Parson, who lost her recently in a claiming race.
