Information about European Jockeys’ Cup raceday (on Saturday)  

 

There will be 9 races at Prague Velká Chuchle Racecourse on Saturday, September 25th. The first three races are not part of the European Jockeys Cup (EJC) competition. These races will be at 12.30, 13.00 and 13.30.

 

Then, there will be 6 races within the European Jockeys’ Cup competition. The first two EJC races are low-category races. These races will be at 14.20 and 15.05. Each of the ten international jockeys in the EJC competition will ride in both of these races, and will score points for their finishing position. In these two races, the jockeys were assigned according to a lottery.

 

The final four races are for top-quality horses and for very good prizemoney (by Czech standards). The race at 15.40 is for young two-year-old horses, and the race at 16.15 is the EJC Million, the biggest race of the afternoon. In both of these races, more than  ten horses  will run. The  owner/trainer of the horses chose the jockey. The owner/trainer of the most highly rated horse had the first choice among the jockeys, followed by the owner/trainer of the second most highly rated horse, and so on. (Horses have received an official handicap rating according to their performance in their previous races.)

 

In the final two races, at 16.50 and at 17.25, there are fewer than ten horses in the race (6 declared horses for the 16.50 race, and 9 runners for the 17.25 race, so unfortunately not all the EJC jockeys can ride in these races. The owner/trainer of the horses chose a jockey, as above.

 

*There will be an official opening ceremony for the EJC competition at 13.45.

**There will be a winners’ ceremony followed by a final ceremony at about 17.35.

**It is hoped that (most of) the international jockeys will be available to give signatures/speak to racing fans after the final ceremony, at about 17.55.

 

When to arrive?

 

Real racing fans will arrive before 12.30 and will not leave the racecourse until well after 18.00.

However, this would be a very long afternoon for people who have not been to a racecourse before. For these people, a good time to arrive might be at about 13.40, in time for the official EJC opening ceremony, or about 14.10, in time for the first EJC race, or about 15.20, in time for the four most important races.

 

How to get to the racecourse?

 

The recommended way is by bus no. 244, from Smichovskě nadraží, which stops at the main entrance to the racecourse. To find the buses: as you leave the main concourse of Smichovskě nadraží (Smichov Station) and you will see the bus stops on your right, 100 metres  away. Other buses from Smichovskě nadraží stop at Dostihová, which is 10 minutes on foot from the main entrance (on the far side of the racecourse).

 

*Note that Velka Chuchle railway station is closed.

*Note that the car park at the racecourse is not big, and there will be a long queue for the car park. There is nowhere near the racecourse where you can park your car on the roadside (the traffic police will definitely find dangerously parked cars, as these would be a major hazard on EJC day, when a large crowd is expected.).