I am told that May was an unusually cool and wet month here – but I think those of you living in northern Europe, would happily have exchanged your weather for ours in the past month. Except in the mountains, we did not have a frost in May.

The first of the four qualification races for the Velka Pardubicka, the Town of Pardubice Grand Prix, 5 800 metres, crosscountry, was run on good ground on May 26^th, an overcast, cool afternoon. The prize money, CzK 300 000, was 50% higher than in previous years.

The opening day of the 2013 season at Pardubice was a sunny, pleasantly warm early May day. Jiri Janda and his team had the course in good condition. Unusually, each of the nine races was won by a different rider, though Josef Vana and Frantisek Holcak each trained two winners.