The wintry weather continued over the weekend and is forecast to continue for at least another week, and as anticipated the first two meetings of the new season, at Slusovice and at Prague Velka Chuchle,  will not take place.

Vaclav Luka, President of the Czech Jockey Club comments, "Sunday's races [at Prague Velka Chuchle] have been cancelled. We had to take this decision, and not only because of the state of the track. Racing on this ground could be hazardous for the health of the horses. It is not just a question of cancelling a single day's racing. Unlike the Slovaks, for example, we do not have the option of simply holding the meeting one week later [the first meeting of the season at Bratislava has been postponed and will be run on April 14th]. At Velka Chuchle, we race every Sunday in the spring. We will certainly try to work on the race coundtions and retain the continuity of the races for 3-y-os, and we will be trying to maintain the season for [our top] sprinters, and somehow find a way to replace the Gomba Handicap. We will be working on this in the coming days."

 The Slusovice racecourse website http://www.dostihyslusovice.cz/shows pictures of a snow-covered course. At Velka Chuchle, there is no snow, but the turf has had no opportunity yet to recover from a long winter.

The season is now scheduled to begin at Prague Velka Chuchle on Sunday, April 14th, but the medium-term weather forecast implies it is not a sure thing.