The 125^th Velka Pardubicka was run on a chilly afternoon on good ground. Twenty-two horses went to the start, and there was much interest in whether temperamental co-favourite Rabbit Well would get away with the others. He did.

Jan Faltejsek took the other co-favourite, Universe of Gracie, straight into the lead, and they led the field until after the 4^th from home, setting a strong pace but not going clear of the field. As they went on to the grass track for the last 600 metres, Nikas took the lead, and Universe of Gracie began to fade. None of the others got on terms with Nikas, which won by 3¾ lengths from Ribelino, with Zarif 3½lengths further back in 3^rd place. Further place money went to 4^th Universe of Gracie, 5^th Rabbit Well, 6^th Kasim, and 7^th Lorain. Eleven of the 22 runners completed the course.

Nikas started at 210:10 (i.e. 20/1). He has won a number of good races in the past, including the May 2014 VP qualification race, and he finished second in the VP to Orphée des Blins in 2013. He had failed to finish in 4 out of his last 6 runs, however, though it was not always due to a mistake of his own.

The quality of Nikas’ performance was underlined by the fact that he completed the Velka Pardubicka course in record time.

10-y-o Nikas is owned by Castor (Petr Kupka), and is trained by Stanislav Popelka. He is likely to be aimed at the Velka Pardubicka again next year.

The winning jockey was Marek Stromský. It was feared that this good and popularjockey had missed his chance when he was twice unluckily beaten on Amant Gris. When Nikas finished 2^nd in 2013, he was ridden by Dušan Andrés. However, this time the trainer decided that Dušan should be on the yard’s more favoured runner, Modena, which finished in 8^th place.