The Gran Premio at Merano, the biggest steeplechase in Central Europe, was dominated by Czech-trained and Czech-ridden horses, though the main prize money goes to Italian owners. The race was won easily by Alpha Two, owned by Staj Evi - Vana (Orfeo and Evi Bottura), trained by Josef Vana, snr and ridden (with a broken ankle) by Josef Vana, jnr. Second-place went to Dar Said, trained by Paolo Favero and ridden by Josef Bartos,and third place went to Frolon, also trained by Favero. Vana-trained Imprezer, also owned by Staj Evi – Vana, took 4th place, ridden by Dirk Fuhrmann, and the other Czech-trained runner, Demon Magic(Olehla, Myska) finished 6th.

Josef Vana also trained the winner of an earlier race, when Grilias, ridden by Jaroslav Myska, came with a very late run. Josef Bartos rode two winners, both for trainer Paolo Favero.

This was a Czech triumph as great as when Masini and Kolorado won the Gran Premio a few years back. The glory, plus a nice percentage of the winnings, goes to the Czechs. The stress of waiting the prizemoney goes to the Italian owners.

See Petr Guth’s photos of a great Czech triumph at Merano: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27889831@N05/sets/72157636032838026/show