August 19^th at Pardubice was a pleasantly warm summer day, the going was good, and the ploughed fields were neither dusty nor muddy. The two major races both had bearing on the Velka Pardubicka (October 8^th). The Peruán Stakes, Category II, 5 200 metres crosscountry steeplechase, commemorated the life of Peruán, three-time winner of the Velka Pardubicka. Peruán had died a couple of days before the race at the age of 29. He was one of the greatest and most popular competitors in the history of the Velka.

The Peruán Stakes produced a well-contested race, won by 6-y-o Tzigane du Berlais, owned by Jiří Charvát. He is not expected to attempt to qualify for the 2017 Velka, but will be a contender for the Labe Stakes on October 8th, and for the Velka in years to come. Two horses already qualified for the Velka had an outing in this race. Ter Mill finished a good third, following his third place in the May VP qualification race. Kasim, 4^th in VP 2013, 5^th in VP 2014 and VP 2015, and 4^th in the May qualification race, after missing the VP 2016, set the pace, but faded towards the end and was not given a hard race, finishing in 5^th place. Neither Ter Mill nor Kasim is a major contender for VP 2017, but both are experienced and dependable stayers who have finished in the prize money in the VP in the past, and can do so again.

The third Velka Pardubicka qualification race, Listed, 5 800 metres, crosscountry steeplechase, was sponsored by Chládek & Tintěra, Pardubice a.s., a major Pardubice-based construction company and a long-term sponsor of steeplechasing at Pardubice racecoursehttps://www.cht-pce.cz/en/. There were 14 runners, including the first three in VP 2016, Charme Look, Ange Guardian and Zarif. Charme Look led all the way round. No Time to Lose, which had finished a good 2^nd in the May qualification race, was brought alongside Charme Look at the last fence, but Charme Look had something left for the run-in, and won fairly comfortably by 1¼ lengths. Third place went to Reaper, son of Registana. Reaper had also finished third in the May qualification race. Zarif, winner of the May qualification race, second in VP 2015 and third in VP 2016, finished in fourth place.

Charme Look was impressive. Zarif had a pretty good run. The two 8-y-os, No Time to Lose and Reaper, confirmed that they are serious contenders for October 8^th and for future years. Stretton, ridden by Niklas Lovén, took a creditable 5th place. He is not yet entered for the VP. Templář, 6th, Ange Guardian, 7th, and Broker, 8th, were well beaten. Tarant, 9th, Nikas, 10th, Aucun Soucis, 11th, and Mileryt, 12th, were all tailed off.

Jan Faltejsek had a hat-trick of wins in the afternoon, including both Tzigane du Berlais and Charme Look. It is strange indeed that owners and trainers in the UK are not competing to offer rides to this good and experienced jockey!

Martina Růžičková,Charme Look’s trainer, modestly but no doubt correctly gives a lot of credit for Charme Look’s success to Barbora Málková. Bára rode him when he won the Labe Stakes on VP day 2015, and was to have ridden him in VP 2016. However, she was hurt in a fall last August, and dedicated herself instead to preparing the horse for the race and leading him round the parade ring. This year she has again suffered an injury. I do not know if she is hoping to be ready for October 8th.

There is one more meeting at Pardubice before the two-day Velka Pardubicka festival meeting on October 7^th and 8^th. The main race on Saturday, September 9^th will be the 4^th qualification race for the Velka Pardubicka.