When at the end of May all 15 runners in the first of the four qualification races at Pardubice completed the course and met the qualification requirements for the 134^th running of the Velka Pardubicka, most of  them very competently, it seemed there might be a vast number of entries at the end of September and probably a particularly large and high-quality field.

However, much can happen between the end of May and October 3^rd, when just 16 runners and riders for the Velka were announced. Several well-fancied horses fell out of the reckoning in the course of the summer, including the impressive winners of three of this year’s four qualification races at Pardubice racecourse. Two of those, Korfu and Aeneas, are entered for shorter races on VP day - Aeneas for the Labe Stakes and Korfu for the Vltava Stakes. Chelmsford, very narrowly beaten in the May qualification race and the impressive winner in the August qualification race, pulled up lame after tha race, but it is hoped that he will be back in 2025. 2023 VP winner Sacamiro has been off the track all this season, but it is hoped he can come back in 2025. 2022 VP winner Mr Spex was not himself in two qualification races this year, and he was given the rest of the season off, with a view to coming back in 2025.

The May QR was won by Godfrey. This was an impressive performance, but he has not run again since May, and maybe short of a race. He was to have run in the September qualification race, but the meeting had to be delayed due to the rain and flooding that impacted large areas of central Europe. Pardubice racecourse did not suffer from long- or medium-term damage, and the September meeting was run in good conditions after a eight-day delay, thanks to the work of the racecourse ground staff and the equipment and staff of the Pardubice municipal services. However, Godfrey's connections did not want him to run in a warm-up race just 3 weeks before the Velka. Godfrey will start as favourite, unless the Irish invest heavily in Coko Beach, about which more later. Godfrey has never been tested over anything like 6 900 metres – he was unfortunate to be brought down in the pile-up at the Taxis in last year’s Velka. Trainer Dalibor Török will have prepared him well, and it is easy to see why he is generally considered here to be our best Czech contender. His 7-y-o stablemate High in the Sky has shown some promise, and could get into the prizemoney, which goes down to seventh place.

Some good Czech-trained horses followed Godfrey home in the May qualification race. Star ran a terrific race, and was only caught close to home. At the age of 13, he still seems to be near his best. He finished 3^rd in last year’s VP, and is popular with followers of grey horses. Star’s trainer, Hana Kabelková, also has another old boy in the race. Talent won the VP in 2021, and finished in 2^nd place in 2022 and 2023. For a number of years, I have been reporting that his joints are dodgy, but he keeps coming back. Hana Kabelková has given him intensive hydrotherapy and other care over the years, and she hopes that she has been able to get him fit to run again this year. The stable also has a third runner, Del Rey. As a young horse, he won the May qualification race in 2022.  He was then off the track for two years. His runs this year have not indicated that he is a major contender.

Trainer Josef Váňa senior has no runner in the Velka, for the first time in 22 years, as Chelmsford is unfit, and he and the horses’ owners decided that Aeneas should go for the much shorter Vltava Stakes earlier in the afternoon. However, Josef Váňa junior will have had his mother and father engaged in preparing Santa Klara for the race. She recently won the Wielka Wroclawska, the most prestigious crosscountry steeplechase in Poland, and must have a good chance in the Velka Pardubicka.     

Ivana Porkátová, owner and trainer of Her Him, is the wife of Greg Wroblewski. Her Him ran well in the May QR, and warmed up satisfactorily in the September QR. He has won the Swedish Grand National and the Wielka Wroclawska. Her Him will be ridden by Lenka Neprašová, who has been breaking though in the last two years. Any new rider based in the Czech Republic has to get herself to Italy, France, Poland and even Sweden for a ride or two  here and there, and 20-year-old Lenka has made remarkable efforts. Lenka Neprašová has ridden 30 winners, most of them over fences, in the last two seasons. Her Him can provide a terrific opportunity for her and Ivana Porkátová to be famous.

Sexy Lord, trained by Martina Růžičková, has won 4 good races in the last couple of years, including the Labe Stakes a year ago. His three runs this year have been OK, and he has a good chance to step up and win some prizemoney in the Velka.

Dulcar de Sivola deserves a special mention. He has already run in the Velka 5 times, winning prizemoney for 7^th place in 2022 and again in 2023, getting round each year, but always in his own time and towards the back of the field. When the delayed September meeting was held at Pardubice this year, Dulcar and his stablemate, Erik Le Viking, had changed owners and trainers. Both Erik and Dulcar won their races at long odds, and 11-y-o Dulcar de Sivola amazed us by winning the trial race for the Labe Stakes by 15 lengths, easing up, and looking like a sure thing for the Velka Pardubicka. In retrospect, I think he did not beat much, and the soft ground and muddy ploughed fields must have helped him.

On a good day, Argano, too could win some prizemoney. So too could Player, especially if we could turn back the clock about four years, to when he finished in 2^nd place. 13-y-o Lombargini had his day a year ago, when he won the prizemoney for 4th place in the VP. I hope Slovak-trained Zataro will get round safely.

Finally, I have introduced the Irish-trained horses in a separate article http://www.dostihovy-svet.cz/en/node/11664. Coko Beach has twice run prominently in the Aintree Grand National, before tiring towards the end of the race. Jeremy Pass was sold from Ireland to timber racing people in the USA. He has quite a good record, but I mistakenly wrote that the race he won earlier this year at Listowel was a flat race. It was in fact a hunter chase. It seems that Jeremy Pass has remained in Ireland so far. He will be ridden in the Velka by his new American trainer’s 20-year-old son, Teddy. A big welcome to these sporting Americans, but just a word to Teddy: a foreign jockey and his horse caused the unfortunate pile-up at the Taxis last year – you should bear in mind that the Velka is not won in the first few fences, and obstacles 4, 5 and 6 deserve a lot of respect, and not heroics. Jeremy Pass appears to be horse with a good record in point-to-points. Streets of Doyen also appears to be quite a good horse, and he is a welcome visitor. The main foreign contender is definitely Coko Beach.