Pardubice racecourse, 100 km east of Prague, is the home of the Velka Pardubicka steeplechase. This famous race, the oldest annual sporting event in the Czech Republic, has been run annually at Pardubice racecourse since 1874 – except for a considerable number of breaks in years when weather conditions, wars and political changes intervened and caused a cancellation.

In the mid 19^th century, Austro-Hungarian aristocrats went racing in Britain, at Aintree. They saw the Grand National, and decided to set up a racecourse of their own, on which they would organise their own long, tough cross-country race. A piece of land on the edge of Pardubice was chosen, and the Velka Pardubicka was set up.

Aintree racecourse, the model for the Velka, is of course still a great racecourse. However, it has been changed radically in the last 150 years, and is scarcely recognizable as the dangerously rough and tough cross-country course that it once was. Pardubice racecourse has also been made less dangerous for horses and riders in the last thirty years. Nevertheless, it still has some of the attributes of the daredevil cross-country steeplechasing tradition that attracted the founders of the racecourse in the nineteenth century. This is what makes the racecourse interesting.

The Velka Pardubicka is a major national event in the Czech Republic. Josef Váňa, the legendary holder of almost all records for jockeys and trainers in the race, is a national hero. He embodies the Czech virtues of toughness, resolution, bravery and fearlessness – as well as being a very effective spokesmen for steeplechasing in the Czech Republic. Josef Váňa is now leading resistance to a serious and imminent threat to racing at Pardubice racecourse.

On June 23^rd, 2022, the Pardubice Town Council is going to decide whether to give the go-ahead to a project to build a 13 500-capacity ice-hockey stadium, a 400-bed hotel, a restaurant and a multi-storey car park inside the racecourse area. The developer claims that this can be done without closing down horseracing activities. However, horseracing people believe that the development project would ruin the uniqueness of the famous racecourse, and would hasten its demise.

After the Changes in 1989, the Town of Pardubice became the owner of the racecourse area, which consists of the racecourse itself and also the land between the rear of the grandstands, a single-track railway line and the military airport. This land currently houses a rather shabby showjumping arena, some rough car parking space, some stables, the jockeys’ changing rooms, the parade ring, the horse boxes, and some refreshment facilities that are used on racing days. Nothing of great value, nothing that brings in much income, to be honest.

Thirty years ago, some Pardubice ice-hockey fans headed the group of local people who set up Dostihový spolek (Horseracing Association) to ensure the continuation of racing at Pardubice racecourse. Nowadays, the shareholders of Dostihový spolek are 60% Town of Pardubice and 40% small shareholders. Dostihový spolek has organised events at Pardubice racecourse for a period of 30 years that has generally been difficult and loss-making for organisers of all sports events all over the Czech Republic. The Town of Pardubice and Dostihový spolek have always hoped that the Velka Pardubicka could be made into a profitable enterprise. In the event, however, the Town has had to keep subsidizing the racecourse – in return for giving Pardubice its one day of pride and fame each year.

There is probably just about enough space between the back of the grandstands and the military airport for the hockey stadium, the hotel, the restaurant and the multi-storey car park.  However, some adjustment and some new access roads would be needed. These, together with the new big structures, would bring the 21st century to the heart of the historic racecourse area. Pardubice racecourse would no longer be Pardubice racecourse.

It is understandable that some representatives of the Town of Pardubice may listen attentively to the new proposals. Firstly, the racecourse loses money for the Town, while selling or letting the ground for the hockey stadium project would bring in money. Secondly, a fine new hockey stadium would be a popular asset for the town and for the region. Dynamo Pardubice is a leading Czech ice hockey team, and Pardubice is an ice-hockey town. A cynic might add that, thirdly, a project worth 3 - 4 billion Czech crowns might provide opportunities for local politicians to divert a modest amount money into their own pockets.

However, the main reason for horseracing people to take the Pardubice hockey stadium project seriously is that the proposed developer, Petr Dědek, has some standing in Pardubice. Petr Dědek was born in 1974. His father was a successful entrepreneur in the early years after the Changes in 1989, setting up a company called Elektromont. The father’s company assembled electrical goods in Vrchlabi, 100 km north of Pardubice. As a young man, Petr joined his father, and they set up DD Group, which specialized in development projects, and then got into sports management.  Petr Dědek is a passionate golfer, and has got into golf facility management. Quite recently, Petr Dědek bought the Dynamo Pardubice ice-hockey team, when it was in danger of being relegated from the top Czech league. He brought in some good players, and relegation was avoided. Now he has bought a number of star players for the team, and he is aiming to build the best hockey stadium in the country and a team worthy of the stadium.  

In all construction and development projects in the Czech Republic, including projects undertaken by Petr Dědek’s DD Group, there are accusations of sharp practice that are hard to evaluate. Petr Dědek appears to be a rich man (the 65^th richest in the Czech Republic), who gets things done. He is a successful and rich entrepreneur, and he has spent a lot on bringing hockey stars to Pardubice. There is a serious possibility that he can get permission to develop parts of the Pardubice racecourse area in a way that most people in Czech horseracing would consider a threat to the future of the Velka Pardubicka. We do not begrudge the people of Pardubice a fine new hockey stadium and a 4-star hotel – but it should not be constructed on the site of the famous and historic racecourse.