Thirteen days before the beginning of the Czech horseracing season at Prague Velká Chuchle racecourse (Conseq Park), which will be on Sunday, April 6^th, a press conference was held at the Park Inn Hotel by the organisers of racing at Velká Chuchle.

The headquarters of Czech flat racing is planning 20 racing days this year. As usual, races will be held on Sunday afternoons from the beginning of April until Derby Day (June 21^st), and from the last Sunday in August (St Leger day) until the last Sunday in October. As usual, there will be no racing in Prague on the Sunday before the Derby and on Velká Pardubicka day (Sunday, October 11^th).

The standard time for the first race will, as in the past, be at 2 pm, but changes will be made if required by television schedules (especially on ČT Sport).

The feature race on the opening day of the season will be the Gomba Handicap, over 1200 metres, which is always a very open race. Joint-owner Martin Cáp stated that Mikesh, our top sprinter in 2014, is an intended runner, though he will have to carry top weight of 62½ kg. The organisers at Velká Chuchle are hopeful that Hungarian-trained Opium Bullet, a half-brother to the wonder horse, Overdose, will be entered, taking advantage of new agreements that will enable horses in Central European countries to run in handicaps in each others’ administrations.  

Racecourse manager Petr Drahoš said that the prize money for Category I races will be raised to 135 000 crowns this year, and Category IV races will be run for 40 000 crowns. He also announced that the new Vision Lounge restaurant will be open from the beginning of the season. This will offer middle price-range food and beverages, and plans to host an after-party after each racing afternoon.

Some interesting innovations are being worked on for the second half of the season. There will be an extra racing day in July, organized in collaboration with the Prague Stock Exchange. The Leram European Jockey Cup has been penciled in for Saturday 26 September. The idea is to put on about 5 Category I races, over various distances, each for prizemoney of € 20 000, and a big race for prizemoney of  € 60 000. There are to be races over 1000 m., 1400 m., 1800 m., and 2600 metres, plus a race for fillies over 1400 m. Leading trainer Václav Luka jnr. is trying to put this event together. He is hoping to persuade international jockeys to enter this date into their calendars, but Václav Janáček was the only name he was willing to divulge at the press konference.

On the final raceday of the season, on Sunday, October 25^th, the Agrofert Grand National Stakes will be run at Velká Chuchle. This is to be a classical oval track steeplechase, with prizemoney of one million crowns. The idea is to raise the prizemoney to 2.4 million crowns in future years. This steeplechase will carry the name of Josef Váňa.