Through the eyes of Jiří Palík: I still feel that I have been treated unjustly. The first priority is for the horse

A week and a half has passed since the last Saturday in August, but I keep returning to it. I play it through in my head, and I always come to the same conclusion. My conscience is clear, and I would not do anything differently. I have simply been treated unjustly, and I would like to hear why. I need someone to explain to me what really happened, what I am to do in my present situation, and whether I should continue to ride in the Czech Republic, or whether I should go back to Germany. It is not a decision I had wanted to take. After many years I came back home. I still like riding, and at last I have got some good horses to ride here. I tell myself it would be a pity to throw it all away because of some little thing. Except that it is not a little thing, it is my livelihood.

I had looked forward to going to Most. Two months after the Derby, I was going to ride Joseph [on which Jiří Palík won the 2017 Czech Derby]. Of course I wanted to win, but I also knew that Joseph had had a long break after the Derby. I went into the Summer Grand Prix with the idea that, if we could, we would go for a win, and if it turned out that he had no chance of a good result there would be no point in pushing him too much. He is being prepared for the St. Leger, and this race was taken as a part of his preparation, to raise his spirits after a long break and to give him some motivation. In brief, to help the horse, and not to harm him. I was not given any firm orders, I was to act according to the way the race went, and the feeling I got from the horse.

When Joseph did not get away well from the starting stalls, I did not worry about it. I relied on his finishing speed, and I told myself that we would not have a problem when we turn it on at the end of the race. Later I heard that I was supposed to have held the horse back after the start. However, anyone who has ever ridden in a race knows that, when you come out of the starting gate, you quickly have to find a position. If you take it that way, Joseph had his head turned round in the Derby. You just have to get into a position after the beginning of the race, and that is what I do. My first duty in a race is the settle the horse and get a position. The video from Most shows that Joseph did not gallop well. He hung to the left, and did not settle until the first bend.

On the last bend, it began to go badly. Turning into the final straight, I twice gave Joseph a reminder. It was clear to see that he was willing, but it did not have any effect. The straight was simply too short for him. By the time he began to improve, we were already out of the game as far as the leading places were concerned. The three best horses were far away, so I rode him to the finishing post just with my hands. To the best of my knowledge and in all conscience. If I had had something “in my hands ” on the last bend, I would have moved up a place or two, given him a breather, and he would have set off down the finishing straight. However, I went into the straight on an “empty” horse, and it would have been hard to do anything about it. Joseph barely responded to the two strokes of the whip that I gave him as we turned into the straight. We finished in sixth place, and the only horse behind us was Eskerkhan, which won the Czech Turf Grand Prix a week later.

We riders are often reminded by horse racing stewards that, when a horse does not have it in him on a certain day there is no point knocking him about for no purpose. As an experienced jockey, I can state that there was no chance of a good place at Most, that it was clear to see, and that I rode the horse out properly with my hands. Then we come to those different interpretations. If I had given him the maximum allowed number of strokes of the whip (six), perhaps I would have got fifth place, but in doing so I would have hurt him and damaged him for his future career. Neither the trainer nor the owner wants something like that. At the same time, I can imagine the situation if I had hit Joseph six times, and he had still finished sixth, and the stewards would justifiably have asked: Why did I hit the horse so many times when he had no more to give? It is simply one person’s word against another person’s word – except that I am the only person who was sitting on the horse. If I had beaten him up and perhaps finished fifth, it would have had consequences for Joseph’s future. At the same time, I supported him intensively with my hands, so I did not harm the interests of the people who had had a bet on him.

At the moment when I crossed the finishing line, no such questions crossed my mind. We had done all we could, we had not been successful, and naturally I was disappointed. After the race, I went over it with the trainer, and in the end he said to me “Jirko, it’s all right”. Then the stewards called for me over the loundspeakers. I spoke to the chief steward, Mr Čech, who introduced himself and questioned me about Joseph’s performance. I described how the race had gone, and I was told “I will take it into account.” I did not have rides in the last two races, which were steeplechases, so I took a shower and went home. I found out afterwards from an acquaintance that because of the Summer Grand Prix I had lost my licence for two days for “giving the horse insufficient support”. These words have their meaning all over the world, and there is “holding the horse back”, for which the punishment is a suspension for six months and upwards.

I must admit that I do not understand it. I had done nothing, I could not have done anything about it, and I received a punishment. I cannot ride on Sunday, September 10th and on Saturday, September 16th, when the Slovak and Austrian St Legers are being run. In both of these races, I could have ridden a horse with a chance. These are lost winnings that are not a matter for shrugging the shoulders. This is a jockey’s livelhood, we have families, and we are not exactly swimming in money.

The worst thing in all this is that my reputation has been dragged through the dirt. If I call an owner who does not know me, and say I would like to ride his horses, he can read the verdict from Most and say to himself: This guy Palík does not ride his horses out. We won’t give the ride to him! I have to react to that in some way, personally. I have found that I practically cannot defend myself. The Czech horseracing regulations state that if a rider gets a punishment not greater than two racing days, he cannot appeal against the decision. On the Tuesday after the race I submitted an application to the highest organ of the Jockey Club. I was told that the Council of the Jockey Club will not meet until September 15th, and my application was submitted to the presidium of the Jockey Club of the Czech Republic. I received a reply on Sunday, September 3rd, in the evening: “In accordance with the valid provisions of the Rules and Regulations of Horseracing, which allow no appeal in your case, the presidium of the Jockey Club of the Czech Republic has decided to leave the decision of the stewards unchanged.”

I must say that I have received great support from horseracing people. I greatly appreciate the responses of a number of people who have supported me. These include major owners and trainers, and also colleagues. For example Pepa Bartoš [top steeplechase jockey Josef Bartoš] publicly backed me on Facebook. All this has offered me great support. I have also spoken with Joseph’s trainer, Pavel Tůma, who confirmed to me that there had been nothing from him about me, and I believe him. In the week after the race, Joseph’s owner, Dr. Charvát [President of the Jockey Club of the Czech Republic], called me and said he did not know anything about it. I asked both of them if I can ride Joseph in the St. Leger, and I was told they are counting on me. These people are still standing behind me, so I conclude that they did not stand against me.

It is no secret that chief steward Mr Čech and I have not seen eye to eye in the past. In spring, I was given a punishment from him at Most for coarse behaviour. We got into a discussion and I defended myself emphatically, but without any insults or vulgarities, which I would not have allowed myself. I just expressed my opinion frankly, out loud and without respect. Mr Čech took it amiss, and gave me a fine of 500 crowns. I can live with that. He has an official position, and I am a jockey. I respect officials and I respect the rules of racing. But that does not mean that, as a senior jockey, I must automatically let all kinds of behavour pass. We are all sportsmen. How often do we have a race that does not turn out the way we wanted, and afterwards we react emotionally. But sometimes I have the impression with stewards that they do not take all this into account. And it is mostly something that could be let pass and that will be forgotten about the next day. I am a professional, and I end up smiling even at vociferous exchanges of opinion, and we move on. In the Czech Republic, unfortunately, I often have the feeling that these incidents get stuck in the memory. However, I in no case want to claim that the events at Most are some kind of act of revenge on the part of the chief steward. I really cannot say that, and I do hope it is not the case.

Personally, I have not had any problems with stewards until now. At most, there have been some fines from time to time for use of the whip or for crossing, which is all right. Sometimes of course there have been verdicts and decisions that I have shrugged my shoulders at. I think that present-day stewards commissions should include former jockeys, who have ridden a certain number of races, so they can speak from practical experience. The word of these people should carry a lot of weight, and it is what is missing at present. If the Jockey Club gets such people and makes use of them, a lot would of course depend on how the structure of former active participants in racing would be set up. I am convinced that we would not now be discussing my present case. Would I do it myself? Yes, when I stop riding one day I can imagine working as a steward. It certainly would not be easy, but I think I would like doing it, and it would be a good way to give back to horseracing some of what it has given to me.

For the moment, however, I want to carry on riding, and I am currently making up my mind what to do next. I feel that I have been badly wronged. If my licence had been taken away for not riding the horse out, I would have needed an explanation for the punishment. With this reminder, I feel I am in a rather stupid position, because I really do not know how I am going to be able to ride in the Czech Republic. I see no yardstick and no consistency in these decisions.

Photo: Jiří Palík and Josef, on Derby day.  

***

Firstly, I feel sorry for the anguish that Jiří Palík has been going through. He is a vastly experienced jockey, one of the most successful Czech flat jockeys of all time, and his winning ride in the Czech Derby in June on Joseph was masterly. His return from a successful career in Germany a couple of years ago has considerably enriched our horse racing.

I was at Most for the race under discussion. I noticed that the Derby winner, which I had backed, was beaten into sixth place out of seven, and that he was a bit off the pace, was beaten some way out, and was not given a hard race – as described above by Jiří Palík. I shrugged my shoulders, and thought that this is what can happen when I back a horse.

When I saw that the jockey had been punished for not assisting his horse sufficiently, I was surprised. I assumed that the stewards must know something that I had not noticed, and that was not evident to me from the video replays.

I hope a thorough investigation will be made. Jiří Palík has suffered from a very serious accusation that impugns his professionalism. He deserves an opportunity to clear his name, and soon.

Of course there is a good future for him in Czech racing.