DS Pardubice press release: Aeneas wins  the last Qualification Race

4th qualification race provides the last opportunity for Czech-trained horses to qualify for the  Velka Pardubicka

Pardubice, September 22^nd, 2024 – The last of the four qualification races for the 134th running of the Velka Pardubicka with Slavia Insurance -_the EURO EQUUS Pardubice Grand Prix, was won by 10-y-o_Aeneas, ridden by Josef Bartoš. Aeneas’s best distance  has long been reckoned to be around 5 kilometres, and it was a pleasant surprise for trainer Josef Váňa senior to watch his horse deal comfortably with a distance 800 metres longer.

 10-y-o Aeneas, known to trainer Josef Váňa and the team around him exclusively as Ananas (Pineapple), was favorite for the race, and he set out at odds of 2,4:1 (i.e. 11 to 8). The next in the betting were High In The Sky, at 4,85 (i.e. 3.85 to 1) and Del Rey at 6,5:1 (i.e. 11 to 2).

Enjeu D’Arthel, ridden by Slovak jockey Martin Cagáň, set the pace for the 9 runners. Their chances evaporated at the Drop, where Enjeu D’Arthel parted company with his jockey. The other Slovak-trained runner, Kaiserwalzer, being tried out for the Velka by Lukáš Matuský, also dropped out of the race. The trial came to an end at the Small Taxis, where Kaiserwalzer made a mistake and got rid of Matuský. Cayras Star was pulled up by Josef Borč, and also did not get round. Meanwhile, the experienced Player with Marcel Novák and Aeneas with Josef Bartoš were out in front. They crossed the last fence together, but while Aeneas kept up his pace, Player was overtaken in the run in by High in the Sky and Daniel Vyhnálek, by Zarate and Jakub Kocman, by Del Rey and Jan Kratochvíl, and by Lenka Neprašová on Godsalino. These three thus gained the right to run in the Velka Pardubicka.  Aeneas, High in the Sky and Player had  already qualified in earlier races, and the four qualification races had produced at total of 27 qualifiers.

Entries for this year’s Velka Pardubicka close on September 24th, and runners and riders will be  declared on October 3rd.

One other horse already qualified for the Velka Pardubice ran at the 4th qualification race meeting. This was Dulcar de Sivola, who has repeatedly run round at the rear of the field in the Velka, and finished well beaten in 7^th place in the Velka in 2022 and 2023. He ran in the trial race for the Labe Stakes, and won the race very easily. However, he did not appear to beat much.