November 2013 was one of those Novembers when the weather would have permitted plenty of racing to take place in the Czech Republic, but only one meeting was organized, at Kolesa, and was held on Saturday, November 11^th. It will have been getting chilly at Kolesa by the eighth race, as there is no shelter there. In the absence of racing here, our trainers sent horses to run at Ebreichsdorf (Austria), Budapest (Hungary), Warsaw (Poland), Grosseto (Italy), and at Lyon-Parilly and Chantilly in France. As late in the month as November 22nd, thirteen Czech-trained horses made the short trip to Dresden (Germany), though they ran with very limited success.

There is a conflict of interests over racing in November here. From the point of view of the racecourses, it is difficult to find sponsors, there is the threat of small crowds on a chilly afternoon, of having to cancel or postpone the meeting due to the weather, or of horses taking big chunks out of their turf when the going is deep.

On the other hand, owners, trainers, riders and fans want to race as long as possible, and two of our courses, Prague Velka Chuchle and Pardubice, are able to offer shelter for as many as are likely to come, and comfort and warmth for those who pay more. By setting up a small fund to cover any losses that these two courses might make due to late cancellation of a meeting in November, we could make it worth their while to organize November events.

It was disappointing that Prague Velka Chuchle, which lost five meetings in the course of the season, due to frost at the beginning of April, floods in June and the consequences of the flood at the end of August, did not attempt to add some meetings in November. The reason, presumably, was the uncertainty about whether, or in what form, TMM will continue organizing racing at Velka Chuchle after January 1^st, 2014.

In June 2013, TURF Praha, owners of the racecourse area, announced that offers from potential new organizers of racing at Velka Chuchle were invited. You can read the details, and my comments, in http://www.dostihovy-svet.cz/en/node/2109. I have not read about any applications by new management teams, though I heard a rumour a month ago that a certain person was considering making an offer. The management of Velka Chuchle is of course very important for our flat racing, and I hope to be able to report within the next few weeks that the situation is satisfactorily resolved, and that arrangements are being made for the 2014 season.

There has been some news about other racecourses within the last month. There is some discussion about setting up a racecourse in Olomouc, and also about refurbishing the buildings at Svetla Hora and perhaps holding more than one meeting there each season. If anything comes of this, it will be good news for racing in the Olomouc region, and for all of us.  

When winter comes, there is suddenly - in my opinion - only a limited amount that is worth covering for the English-language follower of Czech and Central European racing. Analysis of the previous season’s racing needs to be shared out rather thinly over five off-season months. I hope there will not be too many new dramas, crises and conflicts to be reported on before the next season begins.

For this December newsletter, I will limit my survey of the 2013 season to some comments on some statistical information from an article by Petr Malik in the Galopp Reporter website, under the title Some numbers from the Czech 2013 season http://www.galopp-reporter.cz/aktuality/nekolik-cisel-tuzemske-sezony-2013.

479      The number of races run in the Czech Republic this year. This is well below the average, which is 513. A considerable part of the shortfall is accounted for by the meetings cancelled due to frost at the beginning of April and due to the floods in June.

321      The number of flat races run this year, which is the second lowest in recent years. The reasons are mainly that the cancelled meetings offered only flat races. This year, for the first time, “bumpers” were raced. There were 14 of them, and they are officially classified as flat races. The average number of flat races per season run here is 353.

158      The number of jumps races this season. This is just below the long-term average. There was an increase in the number of hurdles races, and a reduction in the number of classical steeplechases.

42 981 400 The number of crowns paid out in prize money. This is about the long-term average amount - provided we do not take inflation into account.

89 732 The average prize money, in crowns, per race in 2013. This is equivalent to about €3 500

65 141 The average prize money, in crowns, per race, if we remove the 8 best endowed races of the season (four of the flat classics, and four over fences). This is equivalent to about €2 500

1255    The number of horses that ran in our races. This is the lowest number since 1997. The highest ever number was in 2006, when 1399 horses ran in the Czech Republic.

685      The number of Czech-bred horses that ran in our races. This is also a record low number, and a record low proportion. As recently as 2002, there were 1014 Czech-bred runners here.

134      The number of 2-y-os to appear on our courses. This is the lowest number since records began. In 2006, there were 228 two-year-old runners.

115      The number of riders in flat races – the same as last year. However, there were 259 riders in 1997, and the number did not drop below 200 until 2003.

71        The numbers of riders in jumps races. This number has been static for the last 6 seasons. However, if we were to take the average age of our leading jockeys, it would be a worrying statistic.

374      The number of registered racehorse owners. This number has been falling gradually in recent years.

As the statistics indicate, our racing is far from flourishing. Times have been quite hard for longer than anyone can remember. Since the1930s, one way and another!

On a dull, cold day at the end of November, it is easy to imagine further hard times ahead. However, but when April comes round, Czech racing should still be in existence, and there should still be a sufficient number of people who care enough to keep the sport going.