Bremen Plan wins the first VP qualification race

The first of the four qualification races for the Velka Pardubicka, the Town of Pardubice Grand Prix, 5 800 metres, crosscountry, was run on good ground on May 26th, an overcast, cool afternoon. The prize money, CzK 300 000, was 50% higher than in previous years.

Budapest, which had finished in the prizemoney in the Gran Premio at Merano in each of the last three seasons, had not run in a crosscountry at Pardubice since 2009, but he set out as favourite. Other well backed horses were Valldemoso, Klaus and Seslost.

Bremen Plan set off in the lead, and was never headed. In the run in, Klaus looked likely to pick him off, but Bremen Plan put his head down and showed a taste for victory that had been missing for the past three years. The horse has had health problems and seemed likely to be retired at the end of last year. Instead, however, he was sent to trainer Stanislav Popelka. If, at the age of 10, Bremen Plan is back near where he used to be, he is a contender for the VP. He was ridden by Marek Stromsky, who had also been expected to retire at the end of last season. He rode a fine race, letting the horse set the pace, but ensuring that he did not burn himself out.

Klaus and Budapest, in 2nd and 3rd place, both had a very good run and their owners can look forward to VP day with some confidence. Status Quo, which as an outsider had finished 3rd in the Vltava Prize at the 2012 VP meeting, ran prominently and finished in a very respectable 4th place. This is an improving gelding.         

Of the 14 runners, 13 achieved their basic task. That is, they got round safely and qualified for the Velka, which will be run on Sunday, October 13th. Fifth to 13th were: Mlyn, Valldemoso, Ilion, Nikas, Peintre Abstrait, Zagroskudla, Imbir, Bodyguard and Seslost. None of these was given a hard race. Lovely was the only faller. She made a series of mistakes before coming down at the fifth from home.

Another very interesting race was the Sagara Crosscountry, Category II, which attracted a strong field, including Age of Jape. Age of Jape won the Czech Triple Crown in 2009, and also the Slovak Derby and St Leger, and then started winning over hurdles in Italy. After missing the 2012 season, he won a small crosscountry race at the meeting at Pardubice on May 8th this year, and his name has appeared on the list of entries for the Velka. This time he was taking on a number of proven crosscountry horses. He jumped quite well, and went into the lead before the 3rd from home. However, he dropped back in the run in and was not given a hard race. Jockey Dusan Andres said he had some minor breathing problem, probably due to an equipment failure. Charme Look, Frasini and Silver Regent took the first three places. Of these, only Frasini is entered for the VP.

On her debut over fences, Dorotka, a good sprinter on the flat, won a Category IV oval-track steeplechase impressively.

It is always good to report on a winner for regular readers of the English pages. Marco and Julie, Power Prize, ridden by Josef Bartos, put in a really good performance to win the Category III Pardubice University Prize.

On Friday, May 24th, we had the first ever day of bumpers and hurdles races at Pardubice. There were just five races, beginning at 5 pm – two hurdles races and three bumpers. On an overcast evening, there was a small crowd, but what happened on the racecourse was not unpromising. More about this in the June newsletter, which will appear here in the next few days.