The third of the four qualification races for the 131st running of the Velka Pardubicka with Slavia Insurance attracted 12 runners on August 7th. Most Czech-trained horses that are intended to run in the VP had already qualified safely for the big race. Owners and trainers know that there is always a high risk of a very hot afternoon and rock-hard ground at Pardubice in August.
An ever-growing trend for Czech-trained horses to run in races abroad
It is with great sorrow that we received the news that Mr MARTIN ŠABATA left us on Saturday, July 17, 2021.
František Holčák, trainer of more Czech Derby winners than anyone else and one of the greatest personalities in Czech horseracing, announced his retirement as an active trainer in April 2021. He will continue to train just three of his old favourites.
Czech horseracing teams up with Tipsport
The first of the four Velka Pardubicka qualification races will be run at Pardubice racecourse on Saturday, May 22nd, behind closed doors. Fourteen runners have been declared for the qualification race, which will be run at 2.45 p.m.
Chris was a Swiss citizen who appeared in the Czech Republic in about 1999, and set about becoming a major racehorse owner here. Initially, his great ambition was to win the Velka Pardubicka. At first he owned a number of racehorses, trained at Lysa and at Mimon. After some years commuting between Switzerland and the Czech Republic, he decided to live mainly in the Czech Republic and he set up with his own trainer, Pavel Kinsky.
We are told that the virus figures have been heading sharply in the wrong direction. Stricter measures have been introduced, and open-air events must be held behind closed doors, at least until November 3rd. The Jockey Club of the Czech Republic has been arguing for an exception to be made for horseracing, so that the Czech St. Leger can be run, and a premature end to our racing season has not been called.
In the second half of September, the COVID-19 data for the Czech Republic were heading in the wrong direction. The numbers of people being tested and testing positive were rising, though the numbers in hospital and the numbers dying with the virus remained fairly low (but, admittedly, rising).
