The winner of the Velka Pardubicka in 1995, and the last Brit to win the greatest Czech race, has no intention of coming back to Pardubice. According to his comments in the Racing Post [on 13.10.2014], Charlie Mann’s visit to Pardubice yesterday was his last-ever trip to the town. “It’s not because of the race, but because of the people running Pardubice racecourse,” Mann is quoted on the pages of the Racing Post as saying. As concerns his horse, Lambro, which had problems at the Taxis and was never a factor in the race, he stated that the horse’s chances of a better placing were affected by interference at the fences.

Before this year’s Velka, Charlie Mann made a supplementary entry for his horse, and before he arrived he shocked the organizers with unprecedentedly high demands to ensure the participation of the horse. These demands were not acceded to by Pardubice racecourse. Racing Association manager Michael Skalický explained that if such concessions and gifts were made to the British, he would not be able to explain this approach to the local participants in racing at Pardubice, but that Mann had clearly expected a quite different attitude …
The question arises, How bad an advertisement for the Velka Pardubicka in the UK will Mann’s behaviour be? In the British press, the trainer speaks about Irish trainer Enda Bolger, a long-time supporter of links with Pardubice, having a similar attitude to Pardubice. However, Mann is also known in the British Isles for his somewhat non-conformist attitudes, and his words are not always taken as valid currency.
In any event, Lambro  spent most of the race in the company of Tiumen and Josef Váňa at the back of the field, and he was not able to get on terms with the opposition. “I think he’s a good-quality horse, but several of the jumps gave him problems,” his rider Mark Grant admitted after the race. “The length of the race was not a problem for him, but he would need to deal better with these fences.”
Grant  said that he had enjoyed the race, and the contest with the Czech elite was lifetime experience for him. However, it appears that trainer Charlie Mann is not about to give him a chance to repeat his own triumph here. How this will affect the potential interest of other foreigners in the jewel of Czech racing will be revealed in the months to come …

Translated from the Czech language pages of this Dostihový svět website.

A study of the video of the race, and of the riders’ comments after the race, shows that Lambro was in a collision with Amaragon when they landed after the Taxis, and Amaragon’s rider was unseated. At the next obstacle, the Irish Bank, Lambro was very slowly over, and was in last place. Although not dealing well with the unfamiliar obstacles, he was gradually moved up, and was with the rest of the field when he slipped up after the Big Water Jump, and his rider did well to hold on. Lambro carried on gamely but forlornly, continuing to be caught out by unfamiliar jumps, and finished last of the 17 finishers, tailed off. Let us hope that this game horse is not permanently damaged by the experiences he has been exposed to in the last three weeks. If he were to be sent to a good Czech trainer, it might be possible to turn him into a contender for the 2015 VP.