The opening day of the 2013 season at Pardubice was a sunny, pleasantly warm early May day. Jiri Janda and his team had the course in good condition. Unusually, each of the nine races was won by a different rider, though Josef Vana and Frantisek Holcak each trained two winners.

The main race was the Opening Steeplechase, crosscountry, 4 500 metres, which was a CAtegory I race this year. It was won by Zarif, trained by Josef Vana and ridden by his son, Josef jnr. Second place went to Hipo Jape, also trained by Josef Vana, and Cherwick, which did not get a good run, came 3rd. 6-y-o Zarif is owned by Koi-Dent, owner of triple Velka Pardubicka winner, Tiumen. Owner Ivo Kohler said he does not plan to run both horses in this year's VP, but that Zarif will probably go for the VP next year.

In earlier races, Age of Jape won his race, but not impressively. Age of Jape won the Czech triple crown 4 years ago, and had a remarkable record of success on the flat and over hurdles before he suffered an injury and missed the 2012 season. He has moved into new ownership (Red Rebels), but is still with trainer Frantisek Holcak. Now he has won a crosscountry race at Pardubice, at the first attempt. Owner Rostislav Hanak makes no secret that Age of Jape was bought with the Velka Pardubicka as his target.

The peerless Registana's second foal, Reaper, by Sholokhov, is now four years old. He showed plenty of promise over hurdles as a 3-y-o, and now he won at first attempt over the crosscountry course at Pardubice.

The next meeting at Pardubice will be over two days. On Friday, May 24th, there will be 5 races: three bumpers and two hurdles races. On Saturday May 25th, the main event will be the first qualification race for the 2013 Velka Pardubicka.