22 declared runners for the VP

Twenty-two horses have been declared to run in the Velka Pardubicka on Sunday, October 12th. All the major Czech-trained contenders have been declared as expected, and there will also be representatives of Slovakia (Cardam) and the UK (Lambro). Josef Váňa senior is expected to ride Tiumen, and Martina Ružíckova, only 11 years his junior, will be trying to achieve her ambition/obsession - to complete the VP course at the eighth time of trying.

Three meetings this weekend

There are three race meetings in the Czech Republic this weekend. None of them offers particularly high-quality racing, but there are good-sized fields, winners will be hard to find, and a few owners and trainers will win long-awaited consolation prizes as we enter the last month of our horseracing season.

October 2014 newsletter

September was, at last, a month with mild weather and reasonable rainfall. Temperatures have reached about 20°C most days, but not much higher. Rain has fallen frequently, but it has been steady rain – not like the very heavy but infrequent storms that we had in summer. The grass is now green, and the going has mainly been good.

Plenty of racing this weekend

Although we have three meetings in the Czech Republic this weekend, our thoughts, especially on Sunday, will be at Merano, where Alpha Two and five other Czech-trained runners will be competing in the Grand Premio, and at Bratislava, where the field for the Slovak St Leger will be headed by Cheeky Chappie, winner of the Czech Derby and St Leger.

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