Less than five weeks before the beginning of our racing season, it would be reasonable to assume that preparations are under way and excitement is building. However, February has been a really cold month here this year, as it has been over a large part of Europe. Very cold, but cloudless for the last three weeks, so we have been spared snow and ice here in Prague.

The best Czech sprinter of the past years, Mikesh (Majestic Missile), has ended his racing career. The nine-year-old won eight of his 41 races and has earned EUR 65,000. Besides winning easily all major races in his home country over six furlongs, he scored four black-type places in Germany and Italy. He was the first Czech-trained horse to race in the Gr.2 Goldene Peitsche at Baden Baden, but his most favourite track was the straight course at Hoppegarten, Berlin, where he placed four years in a row in a listed race.

The 23^rd annual Czech horseracing gala evening