I am a bit late with the July 2104 newsletter. I blame a combination of being a bit busy, and too many late nights watching the World Cup. Watching top level footballers these days is watching rich guys getting richer. It is like watching bankers ripping off their clients. The footballing millionaire’s work is essentially a team effort to deceive the referee and cheat the opposition. As long as they cheat in normal ways - kicking an opponent from behind on both Achilles tendons, stamping on his feet or ankles, systematically holding, pushing  or pulling, diving and disagreeing unsportingly with every single decision the referee makes – it seems to be accepted, even praised (if one’s own team gains an advantage, that is). But when Suarez attempts to establish a new type of disgusting play - persistent biting - that brings no unfair advantage for his own team, and does more damage to Suarez’s own incisors than to the opponent’s shoulder, the footballing ethics committee is furious with him. In the good old days, the referee used to be there to see fair play, but now his main role is to ignore most fouls, be cursed by everyone and blamed for most defeats - often, it must be said, quite justifiably, since he is not even allowed to consult the television evidence that we viewers can see played and replayed.

But let us talk about horseracing.

June was warm, and got warmer and the drier as the month progressed. Nevertheless, this has been a good spring for grass in the Czech Republic, and the racecourses have benefitted. It is hard to imagine how desolate Prague Velka Chuchle was a year ago, after being completely covered by muddy water for quite a few days in June. On Derby day this year, the course was fine. Pardubice racecourse is receiving much care and attention these days, and even on a hot day at the end of June the conditions were fit for jumps racing. The other courses that I have been to this year -  Lysa and Most - are also in good shape.

Derby day was again a fine occasion. The winner, Cheeky Chappie, was given an excellent ride by Jiří Chaloupka, and got up in the last few metres to beat Honzik Chipera.

There were two meetings at Pardubice in June. Trezor, not entered for the Velka Padubicka, won the 2^nd VP qualification race – his fifth successive qualification race win in the last three seasons, a remarkable achievement. The extra 1100 metres of the Velka, the autumn date and the less hard going seem not to favour him. However, we need Trezor in the Velka, and I hope the owner and trainer can be persuaded to enter him and run him.

After the first two qualification races, the following Czech- and Slovak-trained horses have qualified, by completing a qualification raced. From the May race, Nikas, Peintre Abstrait, Speranza, Klaus, Universe of Gracie, Zarif, Amaragon, Kindly Boy and Al Jaz qualified, in that order. In the June qualification race, the qualifiers were Trezor (not entered), Zarif (already qualified in May), Kasim, Sisi Merble, Borderland, Puntarenas, Sheron, Cardam, Ter Mill, Sun Belina, Sortina and Budapest. Orphée des Blins qualifies as last year’s winner. The two remaining qualification races at Pardubice will be on August 23^rd and September 13^th. All horses, Czech and others, can also qualify by finishing a steeplechase of three miles or longer anywhere in the UK, Ireland or France.

Tickets for the Velka Pardubicka are always a problematic issue. The racecourse has never developed a satisfactory system of its own for selling tickets directly to people from outside the country, and seems to have decided to hand the business over to a company called Ticketportal, which specializes in rock concert tickets.  http://www.ticketportal.cz/performance.aspx?idp=265008. Ticketportal is off to a very poor start, with a website in Czech language only that seems to provide totally inadequate information and service for the considerable numbers of non Czech-speaking racing fans inside the country and abroad who would now like to purchase seats for October 12^th. People coming from afar and spending a lot of money on travel and hotels would in most cases really like to be able to book a covered seat. We regulars know how to keep dry and warm if VP day is wet and chilly, but visitors on a pilgrimage to the famous racecourse should be able to buy a ticket in advance.

Czech trainers have continued to take their horses to run abroad at an impressive number of racecourses. Some good successes have been achieved. Greg Wroblewski’s horses won three chases in France in June, at Wissembourg, at Strasbourg, and the EUR 55000 Prix du Perray at Auteuil, with Kamelie, ridden by Jan Faltejsek. Another notable Czech raid was by trainer Stanislav Popelka, who took two horses to Sweden. Godea finished 2^nd in the Swedish Grand National, at Strömsholm, and Hawa Bali won one of the other races. In June, Czech-trained horses ran in France (Chantilly, Le Croise Laroche, Compiègne, St Cloud, Wissembourg, Nancy and Strassbourg), in Germany (Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin Hoppegarten, Bremen, Munich and Hamburg); in Slovakia (Bratislava, Topolčianky); in Italy (Merano, Milano - where Chardonney Tcheque won a good race on the flat); and in Hungary (Budapest), Poland (Wroclaw), Austria (Ebreichsdorf) and Sweden (Strömsholm). Unfortunately, the Czech racing community travels well, but welcomes only a very limited number of EU fellow members and their horses to race here.

The revolution at the top of Czech racing has been an issue mentioned in all recent newsletters and in a number of articles on this site. Revolutions make some people suddenly less important and others suddenly find themselves not only with nice positions but also with demanding functions to fulfill. The new situation does not necessarily make the old leadership happy and cooperative. There is still quite a lot of tension, for example, between the new leadership (dominated by big owners and to some extent by top trainers) and the racecourse managers. New Jockey Club president Jiří Charvát headed the move by the Association of Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners to make a concession to the racecourse managers by renouncing the 50% of owner’s prizes that have in the past been paid out by the racecourses. Jiří Charvát’s  company also resolved a major headache by sponsoring the Czech Derby. More recently, Jiří Charvát published an open letter saying that he expects the racecourses, in return, to raise the prizemoney that they offer.

It makes sense, on the face of it. Our prizemoney is low, and the owners, especially Charvát himself, have made a generous contribution. However, if I were a racecourse manager, I might say to myself that it would be nice to repair and paint the grandstand, improve the grass, provide better accommodation for the jockeys, and simply replenish the racecourse's reserve fund. The amount of money that has flowed into the racecourses now that they do not have to contribute to owner’s prizes is not exactly a fortune, and is divided among 14 racecourses. The racecourse managers do not necessarily see increased prizemoney as their top priority, and they do not necessarily welcome such pressure from the president of the Jockey Club about what they should do with a relatively small sum of money.

There is plenty to look forward to here in July. The end of the World Cup, thank goodness, and high season for the up-country racecourses, which take over in the summer months. The more important races in the next eight weeks will be run at Karlovy Vary and at Most. In July, there will also be racing at Lysa-nad-Labem, Svetlá Hora, Kolesa and Benešov, as well as a meeting at Pardubice at the end of the month. Slušovice and Netolice hold  meetings in August. The strength of Czech racing is seen at the smallest courses, where there is often a very good and enthusiastic crowd. July should be a good month.