At the opening meeting of the 2017 season at Pardubice on Monday, May 8th, Charles Sheehan, ambassador of the Republic of Ireland to the Czech Republic will accept the position of Patron of the 5th obstacle in the Velka Pardubicka crosscountry steeplechase, the Irish Bank.

The main races of the day will be the Irish Ambassador’s Gold Cup supported by EASYFIX, and the Town of Pardubice Stakes Opening Crosscountry Steeplechase. These are both Category I races. The Ambassador’s Cup is a classical oval track steeplechase, and will not include the Irish Bank. However, the Bank will feature as the fifth obstacle in the Opening Crosscountry Steeplechase.

EasyFix is an Irish company that produces hurdles and fences made of artificial materials that are widely used on racecourses and in training yards in most of the main countries where steeplechasing takes place. Martin Korba and Jiří Janda, from Dostihový spolek, organisers of events at Pardubice racecourse, returned from a recent visit to Ireland full of enthusiasm for EasyFix hurdles and fences. I have given a more nuanced opinion on safe steeplechase fences, towards the end of the May 2017 Newsletter on this site http://www.dostihovy-svet.cz/en/node/7129.

The first race on Monday, May 8th is at 1 p.m. There are 8 races on the card. One hundred horses have been declared to run in the races, with at least 9 declared runners in each race.