On a bright but chilly afternoon at Kolesa last Saturday, our season came to an end. There is not much protection from the elements at Kolesa, and a combination of grog, mulled wine and winter clothing protected the racegoers. Here is an exhibition of photos of headwear from Kolesa. Click on to http://www.galopp-reporter.cz/galerie/2016/kulichy-v-kolesach-2016, the website of Galopp Reporter, a very active Czech horfseracing website. 

October 2016 was autumnal. There was a fair amount of rain, the days got shorter and the afternoons got chillier. This year, like most years, we have had very little soft going, and when it finally arrived, in mid October, the season was almost over.

On the last day of our horseracing season at Kolesa last Saturday, there was much interest in whether Jan Rája could hold on to the narrowest of leads in the flat jockeys’ championship, and whether Jaroslav Myška could hold on to an even narrower lead in the jumps jockeys’ championship.

Neither Rája nor Bauyrzhan Murzabayev won a race, though Murzabayev came close, and veteran Jan Rája held on to win the championship.

For the fourth year in succession, the final meeting of the Czech horseracing season will be held at Kolesa. In the last three years, this meeting has been rewarded with a fine sunny afternoon and a good crowd. Let us hope it is at least not too wet and not too cold this year. There are nine low-class races on the card, first race at midday.

Great news for horseracing in Central Europe! Freudenau racecourse in Vienna is to reopen in 2017. When the north American style racing + casino project was set up at Ebreichsdorf, east of Vienna, several years ago, racing at Freudenau soon began to dry up. It had seemed to be only a matter of time before this beautiful racecourse would become a dream site for developers. However, the Ebreichsdorf gallop racing project was never a financial success and is now moribund.

** This was a substandard renewal of the race. It was the slowest Velka since 2002, although the going was good. Despite the slow race, horses started dropping out of the race by the 7^th from home, and by the third from home only three or four were still in the race.

Swedish jockey Niklas Lovén had been looking forward for several months to having a ride in this year’s Velka Pardubicka, but in the end he enjoyed his afternoon at Pardubice even without riding in the big race. His win on Delight My Fire, followed by getting into the prizemoney on the outsider Terebesz, left him in an excellent mood, and he was able to be a well-disposed spectator and get special en

VELKA PARDUBICKA RACEDAY

SUNDAY 9TH OCTOBER 2016

You can find the latest odds on the Velka Pardubicka on http://www.betino.cz/index.php?menu=20

As of Monday midday, the odds are

Charme Look                3:1

Rabbit Well                   4:1

Zarif                             5:1

Nikas                            6:1