The 2018 Czech horseracing season is due to start on Easter Monday at Lysá-nad-Labem, 30 km east of Prague.

I do not remember a racing season beginning at Lysá before, but this will be the second year with a race day on Easter Monday at Lysá sponsored by Josef Dufek and Jana Dufková, whose horses run in the Statek Blata Český Ráj colours. In addition to their sponsorship of the race day, they have put up a special extra prize of CzK 100 000 for the main race of the afternoon, a Category II race over 2 200 metres. This will now be the record amount of prizemoney for a Category II race in the Czech Republic, though it will still count as an ordinary Cz 100 000 Category II as far as penaltiesare concerned.

Last year, Statek Blata Český Ráj horses, trained by Josef Váňa, won the three main races with horses that would not normally run at humble Lysá: Tamarind Cove, 2016 Czech Derby winner Timekeeper, and Sundara, one of our leading classical steeplechasers. All three of these horses are by Galileo. It is anticipated that the Dufeks will again want to win back the prizemoney that they are putting up, and that their pink-and-white colours (pictured here) will feature prominently.

Statek Blata Český Ráj is a dude ranch run by Jana Dufková http://www.statekblata.cz/. It looks like a nice place to go riding. Josef Dufek is the owner of Mlada Boleslav football club, currently lying 12th in the HET liga, the top Czech league, and in need of a few good results. He is the co-owner of GEMA, a construction company.

It is well over four months since the end of the 2017 horseracing season, but we can now look forward to tomorrow’s announcement of the entries for the season-opening meeting at Lysá. The first race on Easter Monday at Lysá is expected to be at 1.30 p.m.