(translated from the web site of the Jockey Club of the Czech Republic)

21 horses are being prepared for the 133^rd running of the Velka Pardubicka. Thursday September 7^th was the closing date for entries for this year’s Velka Pardubicka. The list contains 21 names, including one challenger from Fance, two representatives from Ireland and a number of very high-quality entries trained in the Czech Republic. The deadline for declarations to run is on September 27th.  

On September 2^nd, 2023, Jaroslav Myška rode Sexy Lord to his 286^th career win in the Melody Catering Stakes at Pardubice, and he now holds the record for the number of wins in a jumps racing career in the Czech Republic. He had become the joint record holder on June 24^th, also on that occasion riding Sexy Lord.

Filip Minařík, the most successful Czech jockey in history, tragically passed away on Monday at the age of 48. His wife Katja has asked  through the German media for no questions or condolences to be sent to his family.  Filip Minařík gained his first experience as a rider in Prague, but his greatest successes were at the racecourses in Germany, where he won the jockeys’ championship four times and won some of the biggest races,  including the Grosser Preis von Baden. He also rode successfully in Japan and in other leading centres of horseracing.

(Pardubice racecourse press release)

Argano turns a warm-up outing into a VP qualification race win

(interview and photo by Petr Guth, editor of Dostihovy svět. This interview first appeared on our Czech language pages)

Two horses trained in Ireland by Peter Maher have been sent over to the Czech Republic to prepare for the Velka Pardubicka. They will both run in a Category II crosscountry steeplechase at Pardubice on Saturday, September 2^nd, and the plan is that they will stay here until the Velka Pardubicka, which is on Sunday, October 8^th. The two horses will spend the interim period in the care of Greg Wroblewski, whose many claims to fame include the fact that he was the trainer of triple Velka Pardubicka winner Orphée des Blins.

The main route for the Czech-trained and Slovak-trained contenders to qualify and prepare for this year’s 133^rd running of the Velka Pardubicka with Slavia Insurance takes in at least one of the four qualification races run at Pardubice racecourse. The third qualification race, the Chládek&Tintěra, Pardubice a.s. Stakes, will be run on Saturday, August 5th. The first race on Saturday will be at 1 p.m. The qualification race, the last of eight races on the card, is at 5.50 p.m.

This interview with Eva Petříková, trainer of Sacamiro in the Velka Pardubicka and also Maková Panenka in the opening race on Velka Pardubicka day, appeared in Czech language in Dostihový svět on October 5th. The interview was made by Jana Šejnohová, whose interviews with Czech horseracing people often appear on our website. Sacamiro has clearly been prepared with great dedication in a small yard for the Velka, and he just might have a big day on Sunday.

Chris Simpson has been working on his Unofficial Velka Pardubicka website Velka Pardubicka Steeplechase - (webs.com) for thirty years, and it is a goldmine of accurate and eclectic information about the great race, in English language.