In the first outing of Czech-trained horses in 2016, Greg Wroblewski’s charges finished 2^nd and 5^th in Dortmund. The trainer can give a positive rating to his attack on the German all-weather track, even though he did not have a winner. And now he can hatch plans to take horses again to a racetrack that had been spurned by Czech horses for many years.

“I have no idea why that may have been the case,” Wroblewski admits. “It doesn’t make much sense to me that we do not race here in the winter months, and I’m glad that trainers like Josef Váňa and Václav Luka have been breaking down the taboo in recent years. I think these expeditions make good sense for 4-y-o and older horses. The winter break here is unreasonably long. Horses mostly have no need at all for a six-month break. Of course, the season for the 3-y-os is planned with a view to the classics, but after that owners are interesting in running their horse. We should be looking for opportunities to run, and why not in Germany?” 

What speaks in favour of the courses in Germany, according to Wroblewski, is mainly their proximity. “It’s more or less the same thing for us if we take our horses to Bratislava, in Slovakia, or to Dortmund,  while France and Italy are further away [Wroblewski trains at Levin, 25 km south-east of Prague].” Of course, the prize money is less good in Germany, but the trip makes sense if you have horses that don’t mind the sand track.” 

On January 2^nd, his horse Green Rocks, in particular, showed that he does not mind the surface, and finished in 2^nd place. “He wasn’t backed much over there, but jockey André Best got a good impression of him. It wasn’t enough to win this time, but he showed that the unknown surface doesn’t worry him. He moved well, and there are certainly good prospects for next time out. Three weeks from now, we have a 1200-metre race for him at Dortmund, and it could turn out even better,“ says Wroblewski, who is well known for his distaste for taking second place. “Of course, no-one likes it, being just one place away from winning. However, this time it was a positive for me that we found out the horse likes the track and we can go back there.”
The trainer was also satisfied with Bukhari’s first run since he came to his yard. “He showed us what we can aim for with him, and we managed to get into the prize money with him, too. So I can take some positives from his race at Dortmund,” says the trainer who made a start to the 2016 racing year for Czech-based trainers.

Translated from the Czech-language Dostihový svět web pages. The interview was made by Petr Guth. 
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The discussion about the length of our winter break goes on and on. Climate change in general and our second successive very mild winter, in particular, have repeatedly raised the question of extending our season. At Dortmund, they race under floodlights on the sand track in the winter months, and on grass in the rest of the year. The betting industry makes it worthwhile.