Josef Váňa jnr: The hurdles in Madrid were a pleasant surprise

The first jumps race held in Spain on February 24th at La Zarzula, the  P. Glycerius Stakes, 2800 metres, with prize money of EUR 8500, was  won by Orlov, trained in Spain by Callejo, ridden by Josef Vana jnr.


The premiere of jumps racing in Madrid on February 24th brought a new triumph to the Váňa family, and Josef jnr. demonstrated that he can succeed on jumpers in more exotic and warmer climes. After he tried some races in Australia in the course of an internship there, a trip to Madrid will have seemed like a small outing. However, it was an outing that the participants enjoyed. Not only our Czechs enjoyed it – it seems that jumps racing could have some kind of future in Madrid …


“It was very pleasant,“ Váňa said, after having to return from Spain to the snows in Central Europe. “The races were well prepared. We had been a bit worried about that, but the Spanish organisers had managed to prepare the course very well, the jumps were OK, and the horses jumped pretty well,“ he added.


His riding engagement, which Madrid resident Václav Janáček [the leading Czech jockey who is now champion flat jockey in Spain] had arranged for him and for Josef Bartos, ended up exceeding Váňa’s expectations. “There were some really decent horses with some class in the race, and almost the whole race was run at a proper pace. If the Spanish can keep going in this style, their horses could be able to compete internationally …“


 


This was indirectly confirmed by an Italian runner in the field in Madrid, which set out as an odds-on favourite but only managed fifth place. “This was a horse good enough to win in the provinces, not some kind of no-hoper. In three weeks time, there are some more jumps races in Madrid and I hope we will be back there,” he added, pointing out that it had been an interesting and profitable experience.


(Written by Petr Guth, translated from Dostihovy svet, Czech language pages)