At its meeting on February 13th, the Council of the  Jockey Club of the Czech Republic announced some more race meetings for the first half of the 2013 season.

The 2013 season will now open at Slusovice on Saturday April 6th, and Slusovice will also put on a meeting on Saturday May 18th. This will provide an opportunity for Moravian owners to race their horses early in the season without making the long and expensive journey to Prague Velka Chuchle.

Approval has been given for "bumpers", and Pardubice will put on Friday afternoon meetings on May 24th and June 21st. Note that there will now be a two-day late June meeting, including the 2nd Velka Pardubicka qualification race, followed by Czech Derby day at Prague Velka Chuchle on Sunday, June 23rd.

On some of the Sundays between the beginning of April and the end of June, the traditonal Sunday afternoon meeting at Prague Velka Chuchle remains unconfirmed. Velka Chuchle has 'reserved' these afternoons but has not yet confirmed that the meetings will be held. Sponsors are still being sought. 

The racing calendar for 2013, until the end of July, can be found onlhttp://www.dostihyjc.cz/dostihy.php. It is good to see that a meeting is planned for Svetla Hora on Saturday, July 13th.

The changes in riders' allowances, announced five weeks ago, have not been approved. They would have put our favourite older jockeys at a fairly considerable disadvantage, and might even have made some of them think of hanging up their boots. We do not have enough young talent to make that desirable.