21 horses have been  entered for this year’s Velka Pardubicka, which will be run at Pardubice racecourse on Sunday, October 8th. Two of them, Alpha Male and Jet Fighter are trained in Ireland by Peter Maher, and are already here in the Czech Republic. Polinuit is trained in Frence and has not yet run in the Czech Republic. Two horses are trained in the Czech Republic by Josef Váňa junior, and are owned by Scuderia Aichner SRL. The Aichner horses have been trained here for a number of years, by Josef Váňa senior and since 2019 by Josef Váňa junior, but Josef Aichner has only in the last 12 months been persuaded to run his good horses more ferquently at Pardubice. Santa Klara may do well. Gap Pierji did not appear to stay in the September qualification race, and the extra 1 100 metres of  the Velka probably will not help him.

The four Velka Pardubicka qualification races held at Pardubice racecourse have not revealed a hot favourite, but Lodgian Whistle, Josef Váňa senior’s only runner and winner of the June qualification race, will be well supported. The winner of the May qualification race, Chelmsford, also trained by Josef Váňa senior, has been off the racecourse and is not entered for the Velka. Sacamiro finished third in last year’s Velka, and he came with a late run to win the August qualification race. He is from a small stable. Eva Petříková and her team, all of them part-timers, put their heart and soul into training a small number of horses.Their Sacamiro is definitely a contender. The September qualification race was won by Argano, ridden by his trainer and jockey, Martin Liška. This horse likes to relax a long way behind the rest for most of the race, and come with a long late run. This tactic worked for him in September, and in VP 2022 it brought him a creditable 5th place.

Previous winners of the Velka very often do well again. Talent, winner in 2021 and second in 2022, has been one of our top long-distance chasers for several years. However, has not done much in his three runs this year, and at the age of 12 may be past his best. Last year’s winner Mr Spex has only run once this year, finishing in a remote 8th place when not ridden out in the May qualification race. He missed a warm-up race in August due to a setback.  Player finished second not far behind Hegnus in VP 2020 and fourth, not far behind Mr Spex, in VP 2022. He has been one of our best long-distance crosscountry chasers for a long time, but he spent most of the present season trying to qualify for the VP, failing to get round in the May and June qualification races. At the age of 11, he is not too old to have a chance this year.

The Velka Pardubicka continues to be a major social and sporting national event in the Czech Republic, much spoken about and attracting a big crowd to the racecourse and also a very big television audience.