The EJC has been a remarkable annual event since 2015. Tomáš Machovský and his team have mobilized support for this major event. Generous sponsors have stepped forward, especially Leram and Loko Trans. Leading trainer Václav Luka has persuaded top jockeys to participate, and owners of good horses to run them in EJC races. Martin Cáp, both as a writer and as a television presenter, has promoted plenty of interest in the  meeting. Many other volunteers have have contributed. In fact, I think the effort put in by many volunteers has been a key feature in the success of the EJC.

The organizers intend to try again to organize an EJC meeting in the future when, as we all hope, times will be better.  

The following press release was issued by the organizers of the European Jockeys’ Cup on April 14^th. I apologize for not translating it earlier.

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The European Jockeys’ Cup, Czech horseracing’s richest flat racing day of the season, will not take place this season. The organizers state that the reason is the withdrawal of the general partner and the consequent loss of funding from sponsors, which it has not been possible to replace at the time of an ongoing pandemic, a fuel crisis and the war in Ukraine.

Saturday, September 24^th had been set aside as the date for the 8^th annual European Jockeys’ Cup raceday.

”With regret, we have to announce our final decision that this year’s European Jockeys’ Cup will not take place. In recent weeks and months, we have been talking with our current and former partners, and we have been intensively seeking for ways to organize this year’s event. In the present difficult economic situation, a number of companies have decided to cut their marketing expenditure, and unfortunately this has impacted their support for the European Jockeys’ Cup,” says Tomáš Machovský on behalf on Racing Horse, the association that has organized the event.

The European Jockeys’ Cup was set up in 2015 with the ambition to present leading personalities in world racing to Czech racegoers, and to give them an opportunity to see top level sport on home soil. This bold project, which at first met with scepticism from some quarters, quickly developed into one of the most successful events of its kind in the whole region, and gained positive publicity well beyond the borders of the Czech Republic.

Thanks to the European Jockeys’ Cup, top jockeys have appeared at Chuchle Arena Praha (Prague Velká Chuchle racecourse), including Christophe Soumillon, Cristian Demuro, Gérald Mossé, Antonio Fresu, Colm O’Donoghue, Adrie de Vries, Panagiotis Dimitsanis, and many others. The record line-up was in 2018, when sixteen jockeys from fifteen countries appeared. The fields of runners have also been on an international level. The main race, the EJC Leram Million, attracted the famous Irish-trained sprinter Gordon Lord Byron, which arrived in Prague in a private plane.

The organizers emphasize that the decision to cancel this year’s meeting has been caused by current circumstances, and in no way signals the end of the whole project.

”We will do all we can to bring the European Jockeys’ Cup back onto the stage in the future, and to offer top horseracing again for all racing fans. We also thank all our partners, who have given us generous  support and have contributed to the success of the European Jockeys’ Cup. In particular, we want to praise our long-term general partner Leram, whose contribution to Czech racing can scarcely be put into words. Without the vision and the generosity of Leram’s owner, Milan Kříž, no European-level meeting of this standard would have come about.  Another of our long-term partners, the Loko Trans group, has also made a major contribution to the success of the European Jockeys’ Cup,” says Tomáš Machovský.