I am told that May was an unusually cool and wet month here – but I think those of you living in northern Europe, would happily have exchanged your weather for ours in the past month. Except in the mountains, we did not have a frost in May. It is true that we have not had any hot days, certainly nothing like the very hot days that we had for the first Velka Pardubicka qualification race at the end of May 2012.

I was thinking to myself that farmers and trainers will have enjoyed the month of May here, and their main worry will be that good weather conditions will lead toward bigger crops, and this will mean more work for them in the harvesting season and lower prices for their products. As a town-dweller, I tend to think of big crops and low food prices as a good thing, but farmers and economists probably ‘sincerely believe’ the opposite, and that I 'don't understand'.

I read in the free newspaper yesterday that the prolonged period of damp weather, which is forecast to continue into June, is going to rot the hops, which are an important crop, especially in the area not far north-west of Prague. And also the grapevines, which are an important crop, especially in Moravia. As you see, there is plenty to worry about in the Czech Republic as we move into June 2013. [I cannot believe that I wrote this just a few days ago - it has rained incessantly since I wrote these words, and on June 2nd  there is widespread flooding in the western half of the country, and today's race meeting at Velka Chuchle has been cancelled because a section of the course is under water.]  

The racing season here is in full swing, with the Derby on Sunday, June 23^rd. Since many of the contenders have not yet run over a distance greater than 1600 metres, it is far too early to discuss the prospects. Every year, the Czech Derby comes along before the 3-y-os are ready for their big day, while they are still immature. The winner is often a horse we have never heard before and never hear of again. Like last year’s winner, whose name I forget. Derby day itself is nevertheless always a major occasion, with Prague Velka Chuchle racecourse carefully prepared and looking at its midsummer best.

Our top owners are still buying their Derby horses. It occasionally even happens that a horse is purchased, let us say in Ireland, is supplemented for the Derby, and goes straight to Velka Chuchle for the race before setting foot in the stable which will be his new home. A few years ago there was a German-trained horse called Laureate that was entered for the Czech Derby with a view to selling it to an ambitious Czech owner desperate to own a Derby runner. However, negotiations with several potential owners broke down, and Laureate ran in his German owner’s colours – and won our Derby!

Jiri Charvat, who has won most of our top races repeatedly, has not yet won the Derby. He recently bought a filly called Reglisse, in Ireland. He also owns Maestro Quercus, bought as a yearling, which finished 4^th in our Two Thousand Guineas. He is not the only one that really wants to win on June 23^rd. Reglisse will run in the Derby trial on Sunday, June 2nd.

There has been an interesting new trend in Czech racing this year, as concerns prize money. For several years, the prize money for our big races has stood still or even fallen. The Jockey Club and the racecourse managers have pleaded poverty, and sponsors have been hard for them to find. These have been hard times for some in the Czech Republic, and the hard times are ongoing for pensioners and for the unemployed. However, our top owners are not feeling this pinch and want the prize money for big races to reflect the good times in which they are living. Since the new season began, we have had a series of announcements of major increases in the prize money, of the order of 50%, for both Guineas races, for the Velka Pardubicka qualification races, and for the Oaks, and also an 11% rise in the prize money for the Velka Pardubicka itself. It has also been announced that there will be a series of three new classical steeplechases in the summer months, at Most, Karlovy Vary and Pardubice, each with one million crowns of prize money. That is almost EUR 40 000, which is serious money by our standards. Some of this increased prize money has been put up by the companies of our top owners, while the rest is being raised by initiatives being undertaken by groups of leading owners, plus Josef Vana (who will want to win a full share of the prizes).

At the top level, Czech racing is quite international, for a simple reason. We have quite a few horses good enough to run in major races, and the prize money for this kind of race has been five times higher abroad than in the Czech Republic. Our chasers have been picking up good prize money in Italy for the last 15 years, and in the last 5 years our flat horses have also been going to Italy and even to France, and picking up not only good prize money but also in some cases good owner’s prizes for successful horses purchased in France. Ten years ago, it was still tedious to take a horse abroad, but now the borders are open for people and for horses, thanks to the excellent work done by the people in Brussels.

Our trainers and owners are not so eager to go to Italy this year. The advertised prize money is not as good as it used to be, and owners are made to wait months for the money and perhaps worry whether they will ever get it. Not all owners feel comfortable about telling trainers and jockeys to wait a long time for their percentages, and so some of them wonder whether Italy is still be best direction to head in. Josef Vana is still sending horses to Italy, and has had some recent winners, but Cestmir Olehla and Greg Wroblewski have their doubts. Wroblewski has recently sent horses to Compiegne and Auteuil, to see if top French courses can be a happy hunting ground. Olehla, who trains in north Moravia, has twice recently taken chasers to Wroclaw. His conclusion was that the course is accessible, and he will go again, but that the prize money is nothing special – not comparable with Merano. In the month of May, Czech-trained horses ran at Munich, Dresden, Baden Baden, Leipzig and Berlin Hoppegarten in Germany; at Auteil, Compiegne and Wissembourg in France; at  Bratislava and Surany in Slovakia, in Ebreichsdorf (Austria), Merano (Italy), Wroclaw (Poland) and Budapest (Hungary).  

In recent years, our top steeplechase jockeys have established themselves in Italy, but few of them seem to be riding there this year. Josef Bartos is no longer with trainer Josef Vana snr or with trainer Favero in Italy. He is freelancing this year, and I think he has only been riding in the Czech Republic recently. Josef Vana jnr is his father’s first jockey. Stepanka Sedlackova and Jaroslav Myska are training on quite a large scale, and Myska also seems to be concentrating on training and riding here. Jan Faltejsek is now based in France, but we hope he will get back for some of the meetings at Pardubice. He seems unlikely to get to Italy as frequently as in the past, if at all. In the Czech Republic, as I understand it, jockeys have 5% of the prize money automatically and without delay put into their account at the Jockey Club, though top jockeys can negotiate an additional amount directly from the owner. In Italy, jockeys are entitled to 10%, but they have to claim it from the owner. I imagine it is not always easy to claim 10%, as an entitlement, from a Czech owner of a horse that has won money in Italy, when that owner is still waiting to be paid his winnings.  

We had three meetings at Pardubice in May. Bremen Plan ran twice, winning the VP qualification race. A change of stable seems to have worked wonders for him – or maybe he just had a good day. The two appearances of Age of Jape were also of great interest. His new owners would like him to run in the Velka, but he is still a novice over the crosscountry course. There is more about Bremen Plan and Age of Jape elsewhere on these pages.

A week ago we had a strange meeting at Pardubice on the Friday evening: just five races, beginning at 5 pm, two Category IV hurdles races followed by three Category IV bumpers, in front of a small crowd on a cool, overcast late afternoon. And then there were nine races on the following afternoon, most of them in higher categories. I do not think the definitive way has yet been found to organize a two-day meeting at Pardubice, but bumpers, more hurdles races and, perhaps more classical steeplechases could work well. It was good to see some innovation at Pardubice.

As mentioned above, trainer Cestmir Olehla has twice taken horses to run at Wroclaw Partynice. The meetings there are a mixture of flat racing, Arab racing, steeplechasing and, I think, some trotting. Racing at Wroclaw seems to have been on a low level for many years, including, I think, a period when jumps racing did not take place. However, there will be a Wielka Wroclawska meeting this year on September 7^th and 8^th, Saturday and Sunday, with a major steeplechase on both days.  The Wielka is on the Sunday, and will have prize money of about EUR 40 000. The Czech trainers will surely want to send horses for these races. However, there is concern that the weights might be too high, and that this may not be the best place for a preparatory race for the Velka Pardubicka meeting, which is 5 weeks later. If you want to work out more about Wroclaw racecourse, look up the web site – but remember that the course is called Partynice, and if you search under Wroclaw racecourse you will not get very far.    http://www.wtwk-partynice.pl/  . Thanks to Pat Reid for his notes. He used to live and go racing in Poland, and he says that there are a lot more steeplechases and hurdles races this year (21 are planned) with a lot more prize money than in the recent past. He recommends a visit to Wroclaw, and I can confirm that the town is well worth a visit. There are direct flights to Wroclaw from Stansted and/or from Luton. Thanks again to those people in Brussels, a trip to Wroclaw is now easy (though better road, rail and air links from Prague would be welcome).  

We have a good weekend of racing on June 22^nd and 23^rd, with steeplechasing at Pardubice on the Saturday, including the 2^nd qualification race, and Derby Day in Prague on the Sunday. In fact, there is also a Friday evening bumpers and hurdles meeting at Pardubice on the Friday evening. There is still time to treat yourself to a midsummer weekend of racing in the Czech Republic.