For the fourth year in succession, the final meeting of the Czech horseracing season will be held at Kolesa. In the last three years, this meeting has been rewarded with a fine sunny afternoon and a good crowd. Let us hope it is at least not too wet and not too cold this year. There are nine low-class races on the card, first race at midday.

The main interest will be in the jockey’s championships. The first four races are on the flat, and the jockeys’ champion will be either veteran Jan Rája or Bauyrzhan Murzabayev, who has been champion for the last three years. Both have ridden 40 winners so far, but Rája leads on second places.Rája has led all season, but was overtaken for half an hour last Saturday at Most. If he fails to win the championship, the decsisive afternoon will have been on October 15th, when he was under suspension and three horses that he would normally have ridden all won.

The last five races of the season are over fences and hurdles. Currently, Jaroslav Myška and last year’s champion, Jan Kratochvíl, have both ridden 12 winners. They are followed by Lukáš Matuský and Josef Váňa jnr, who have both ridden 11 winners. Myška has ridden the most 2nd-placed horses of all of them, and this gives him a nice advantage for the final afternoon of the season.

The other hotly-contested event at Kolesa will be for ladies’ headwear. Martina Růžičková’s stable has won most things this year, and they want to finish the season on yet another high note.