The post of manager of Most racecourse has been advertised on website of the Jockey Club of the Czech Republic http://www.dostihyjc.cz/zpravy.php.

The February newsletter can be the hardest for me to start writing. The previous season is far in the past, and the coming season still seems far away. During the season, I am in weekly contact with horses and racing, as there is rarely a weekend when I do not go to the races. In winter, I have to make an effort to remain in any kind of direct contact at all.

Trainer Martina Růžičková had an exceptional year in 2016 as regards the results achieved by horses that she trained. She won the Velka Pardubicka and one of the Velka Pardubicka qualification races with Charme Look, and her 3-y-o filly Venillia finished 2^nd in the Oaks and won two good races.

The most successful female rider of the 2016 Czech horseracing season was Kateřina Hlubučková. With 17 winning rides, she occupied 5^th place in the overall jockeys’ championship, and she won the Nikon Ladies Cup for female riders. This was her seventh season in racing, and it was her most successful so far, both in terms of winners and in terms of her results in major races. She formed a partnership with Venillia, on which she took second place in the Oaks and won the Harry Petrlík Memorial Stakes and the Martin Tour Stakes for greys.

The horseracing programme for the 2017 season has been published on the website of the Jockey Club of the Czech Republic http://www.dostihyjc.cz/dostihy.php. It is of course a good sign that the programme has appeared on time this year. There has presumably been a less toxic dialogue between the Jockey Club and the racecourses than last year. However, I am not sure that the dispute over the amounts to be paid by owners to enter and declare their horses for races has been fully and amicably resolved.

The Twenty-second Czech Horseracing Gala Evening, organized by the Jockey Club of the Czech Republic, will be held, like last year’s event, at Národní dum na Vinohradech in Prague, which is one of the finest ballrooms in Prague. It is located right next to Náměstí Miru metro station, green line. The date for this celebration of the 2016 season is Saturday, February 4th, 2017.

The programme will begin with an evaluation of the 2016 season, and with prizes for the leading human and equine performers.

The December 2016 newsletter has been delayed to an extraordinary extent, for reasons that are too banal to report in full here.