Vaclav Luka, president of the Czech Jockey Club since 1997, did not stand for re-election this year. His place has been taken by Aleša Jakub.

In recent months, both the Czech Association of Thoroughbred Breeders and Racehorse Owners (ČSCHPMDK) and the Czech Steeplechase Association (ČASCH) have been taken over by a group that has been campaigning for change. As ČSCHPMDK and ČASCH command a majority of votes in the board of the Jockey Club, it was clear that they could nominate their own president of the Jockey Club at the meeting on January 16^th.

It had become clear that neither newly-elected ČASCH president Čestmír Olehla nor recently-elected ČSCHPMDK president Jiří Trávníček, nor any of the other personalities that had led campaign for change, would make time to be president of the Jockey Club. Aleša Jakub is not a well-known figure in Czech racing. He very recently joined ČSCHPMDK and was co-opted to the board. I understand that he is a member of a syndicate of owners. 

While Vaclav Luka has been a dominant figure in Czech racing for the last 17 years, the new president of the Jockey Club seems likely to wield less power than the leading figures in the associations that put him forward, ČSCHPMDK and ČASCH.