In the years since 2015, the European Jockeys’ Cup has won a fixed place for itself in the Czech horseracing calendar. This week, its organizers have come to the conviction that this year’s competition among star jockeys on the top horses in our region should not be frustrated even by the crisis linked with the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We’ve started work on the sixth annual European Jockeys’ Cup meeting. Despite the current situation at home and in the world, we’ve been doing our calculations and we have made up our minds to offer Czech horseracing fans a top-class European-level event to watch,“ Tomáš Machovský says, on behalf of the team of organizers.

One of the elements in this prestigious meeting is the richest flat race on the Czech lands. Last year, it was run for prizemoney of CZK 2.6 million (about EUR 100 000). The winning horse was Zock, trained in France, and ridden by Eduardo Pedroza. The overall winner of the fifth EJC competition was Belgian jockey based in France, Christophe Soumillon, thanks to whom the event at Chuchle Arena Prague (Prague Velká Chuchle racecourse) gained a lot of publicity all over Europe.

In the original Czech racing calendar for 2020, which was issued before the arrival of the pandemic, the European Jockeys’ Cup was slated for September 26th. The organizers are now working on all important details and issues that need to be sorted out in order to put on the most successful possible event.

“The pandemic and the crisis linked with it are of course significant factors. Together with our partners, we are doing everything we can to to keep the prizemoney at the height that was announced in the original race conditions, despite these difficult times. One option is to raise the entry fee by one percent, and bring it up to the same level as is normal for other races in the Czech Republic,” Machovský explains.

In previous seasons, entries for the four top category races within the framework of the European Jockeys’ Cup closed at the end of May. In the current situation, the organizers have been forced to delay this deadline. “This year’s entries, for obvious reasons, will close later, and we’d like to ask owners and trainers to be patient. All important information, including dates and updated race conditions will be published just as soon as possible,” Machovský adds.