Only half a dozen horses have been entered for this year’s Swedish Grand National, which will be run on Saturday at Strömsholm. Last year’s easy winner Kazzio [trained in Germany, also winner of the Gran Premio at Merano in 2015] will not be in the race, and it looks very interesting from the Czech point of view. Last year’s second and third finishers, Al Bustan and Rockinger, both of which are trained here, are now heading for Strömsholm racecourse, which is some way west of Stockholm. Rockinger was trained at Strömsholm until last year, but he is now with Radim Bodlák, who would of course like to win in Sweden for his Swedish owner.

“Rockinger and his jockey, Niklas Lovén, know the course very well, and among this year’s runners I think there’s a real chance that we can contest first place with Al Bustan,” Bodlák considers. “We’re hoping to take first or second place in the Grand National,” he admits.

In addition to Rockinger, Bodlák is taking Taurito, also a hardened warrior that finished 5^th in last year’s renewal of the Swedish Champion Hurdle.  In this race, too, the competition appears to be less strong than last year, and Bodlák is hoping to finish in the first three. Taurito will be ridden in Sweden by Josef Bartoš, who will be in the saddle of Al Bustan, Bodlák’s main rival in the Grand National. “He rode Taurito in Sweden last year, and it is an advantage that they know each other and have already raced together at Strömsholm. Niklas [Lovén] is on Swedish-trained Calvados, a horse he’s ridden there in the past, and everything turned out perfectly when Josef Bartoš didn’t have any other ride in the race,” Bodlák says, with a smile.

He is also smiling about the outcome of the Crystal Cup race at Wroclaw last Sunday, even though his Delight My Fire was the favourite for the race and “only narrowly held on to 2^nd place”.  “I’m really pleased. After the way he rode in that race, I can only take off my hat to jockey [Jaroslav] Myška, who rode outstandingly and gave his horse [Reki] a perfect race. They simply deserved their win. Niklas Lovén didn’t do a bad job at all on Delina. Since we are targeting her all season for the big event at Pardubice in October [Velka Pardubicka, October 8^th], I think she did all that could be expected of her at this stage. Of course, we would’ve liked to win, but, as I said, it was Myška’s day at Wroclaw. In general, though, I don’t have a good feeling about the race. There were a number of injuries and awkward moments, and I was glad that we got back home more or less in one piece. The mare has a slight problem, but in a few days she should be OK,” Radim Bodlák says of his tough and popular globetrotter [whose last 6 runs have been at Wroclaw, Pardubice, Slušovice, Cheltenham, Milan and Wroclaw, with Niklas Lovén traveling from Sweden to ride her in all but one of these races].

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This interview by Petr Guth first appeared on the Czech-language pages of Dostihový svět. Translation by Robin Healey