The entries are in for the Velka Pardubicka and the other nine races at Pardubice on Sunday, October 11^th. As the race conditions for the Velka Pardubicka were changed, the entries that had been made in May have been cancelled. All the foreign-trained horses that were entered in May have not been re-entered, with the exception of Slovak-trained outsider Vandual.

Just one week after announcing his impending retirement, Jan Rája rode two winners to complete his 500 winners on the flat, in addition to 14 winners over fences earlier in his career. 500 winners on the flat, almost all of them in the Czech Republic or in Slovakia, is a tremendous lifetime achievement by Jan. Well done!

At the age of 20, grey mare Sixteen, two-time winner of the Velka Pardubicka, has had to be put down. She ran in the colours of BUC Film, and she spent the last years of her life in the riding section of the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague – Suchdol.

Only seven runners started in the third of the four qualification races for the 2020 Velka Pardubicka on Saturday, August 8^th.

On Tuesday evening, June 30^th, a long table stretched along Charles Bridge, and people sat outside on a beautiful evening and enjoyed the food and drink that they had brought along to share with each other.

The 2020 steeplechase season at Pardubice made a belated start on Saturday, June 20^th. It was the first time this year after the lockdown in the Czech Republic that 2 500 racegoers were allowed to enter the racecourse area, though the crowd that turned up on a very wet afternoon was probably quite a lot less than that.

According to a press release issued by Chuchle Arena Prague, organizers of events at Prague Velká Chuchle raecourse, the European Jockeys’ Cup event will not be held this year.

In a press release, Dostihový Spolek, organisers of events at Pardubice racecourse, has announced that its first two meetings of the 2020 season are planned for June 20th and July 4th. 

The death was announced on March 31^st of trainer Tomáš Šatra, at the age of 78. Tomáš Šatra trained for almost 50 years at Velká Chuchle  racecourse.

February 2020 in the Czech Republic was extraordinarily mild, like the entire winter until now. There was just a little snow in Prague at the end of the month, but nothing that had not thawed by mid morning. Plenty of nights were frost-free, and afternoon and evening temperatures were mostly well above zero.