In spite of the Indian summer conditions in the Czech Republic, the coming weekend will mark more or less the end of our horseracing season, with only a single meeting to be run in November (at Kolesa, on Saturday November 9th).

The three meetings this weekend will be at Pardubice, on Saturday; at Prague Velka Chuchle, on Sunday, and at Slusovice on Monday, which is a state holiday. Please note that the first race at each of these meetings will be at midday.

All three meeting have attractive racing and good fields. At Pardubice, the main race is the Orphee des Blins Final Crosscountry Steeplechase, which provides a last opportunity for horses to pay for their winter keep. Budapest fell at the Popkovice Turn in the Velka Pardubicka. His main challenge may come from Moula, which fell early on in the Labe Prize. Another interesting runner is St Petersbourg, which was a top chaser in Italy, but has not run for two years. In the jumps jockeys' championship, Josef Vana junior has overtaken Dusan Andres. Josef Bartos, in third place, could get back into contention.

On Sunday at Velka Chuchle, the main event is the 93rd running of the President of the Republic's Prize, over 3200 metres. Trip to Rhodos showed at Pardubice recently that he is our best stayer. The main dangers to him seem to be Mister Westminster and Sky Pilot.

Slusovice racecourse continues to battle against the odds, and to survive. This year there were problems due to the drought in midsummer. Monday's meeting features the Velka Slusovicka steeplechase. Demon Magic is the class horse in the race, and recently finished 6th in the Gran Premio at Merano, after losing his jockey early in the Wielka Wroclawska at Wroclaw. Godea sprung a surprise when she won this race in 2011. Frasini has been unlucky/unsuccessful in his last four runs, but promised a lot before that. Slusovice also offers two unusual events, one after the other - the shortest race in the Czech racing season, over 900 metres, with a full turn, and then our longest race of the season, over 3 900 metres.

In the flat jockeys' championship, Bauyrzhan Murzabayev holds a lead, but needs a couple more winners to make sure he is not caught by Jaromir Safar.