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0,000 FOR NEW STABLES Much Money Being Expended to Modernize Oriental Park. Lowest Purse at Havana for American Horses Will Be 00 No Racing on Mondays. HAVANA, Cuba, Nov. 17 Not since the golden era of H. D. "Curley" Brown, John McEntee Bowman, Charley Flynn, Charles Stoneham and John J. McGraw has a greater amount of money been expended than the deluge of American greenbacks being poured into Cuba by Albert Levey, president of the Havana-American Racing Association, to make both the Casino Nacional and Oriental Park the last word in modern construction. The latest news from the Levey front is the expenditure pf more than 0,000 for the erection of 300 to 500 new stalls to accommodate the 700-odd American horses which will compete at the track proper beginning January 12 and right up to March 12, next year. Carloads of lumber have arrived in Havana from the States and carpenters are working in double shifts to complete the stalls in time for the reception of horses on or about December 1. Levey announces with pride the signing of the following men to officate at the coming winter meeting: James F. Milton, prominent American starter who is very popular in Cuba, general manager. Robert Shelley, racing secretary. Tom Thorp, Sam Nuckols and A. Carrillo, stewards. "Buddy" Wingfield, starter. TJSE JONES CAMERA. The lowest purse for American horses will be 00, with handicaps and stake races to be held throughout the meeting. Races will be staged every day except Monday. The modern Jones camera will be used to take photo finishes. Purses for both American and Cuban horses will be tilted from time to time. Alfonso Herrera, track superintendent, has whipped the oval into such good shape at this early time that horses can train on it in the morning. He says it will be lightning fast by the time the first contingent of out-of-town horses are housed in the vast stable area. Levey today was in receipt of a welcome letter from Milton, who has been starting the Pimlico races down Maryland way. "I have combed some parts of the States, and I can assure you we will have more horses than we can use," he wrote, adding "I expect to be in Havana around the first week in December. From what I hear in these parts Havana will be crowded with tourists, for the most part racing fans, and I have no hesitancy stating your first meeting will be crowned with success. I know what the Cubans want, for I have been a part of them many years, and I am going to give them the finest horse racing theyve ever seen." In other words, there are more than 300 skilled and as many unskilled men working zealously tq whip the Casino and race track into something resembling the original structures with plenty of Cuban atmosphere thrown in for good measure. EXPENDITURES HEAVY; Although Levey has no official figures on the amount of the payroll arid cost of reconstruction it is estimated his bankroll will be dented to the tune of 00,000, perhaps as high as 50,000. When men and women start trooping into the Casino, which opens December 23, their eyes will feast on a varied color scheme, the last word in the art of painting. Brand new gaming paraphernalia has been purchased by Levey, displacing ancient materials. All day yesterday Levey was in the Casino changing this and that paint until he was satisfied with the proper colors. Turf enthusiasts, too, are in for a rare treat. The thousands who love to see the thoroughbreds strut their stuff will be shown every comfort when the first bugle is sounded on January 12. They will see the horses disport themselves in practically a new paddock built of mahogany, and if they care to go to the stable area their eyes will gaze upon 300 to 500 brand new stalls, modern in every respect streamlined as it were. The clubhouse and grandstand will also look as if they had just been built. This is the first time in six years that a thorough cleaning and painting job has been done on the track and casino since they were erected back in 1915.
