August 2017 has been mainly a month of looking forward and looking outward. As expected, the here and now inside the Czech Republic has been less interesting. Just six race meetings were held in the Czech Republic in August: two at Karlovy Vary, one at Most, one at Pardubice, one at Kolesa and one at Mimoň.

Perhaps the meeting at Most was the best of the month. It celebrated, somewhat prematurely, the twentieth anniversary of racing at Most, on the recultivated Velebudice slag heap. Recultivated slag heaps take a long time to become fine racecourses, but Most racecourse is now a verdant place - very pleasant on a mild August afternoon. The main event over fences at Most on August 26^th was the PH HYDRAULIK Velká Mostecká Steeplechase. Among the six runners, Sundara and Theophilos, both trained by Josef Váňa, were very hotly fancied, to the exclusion of the other four. Both of these horses had won Category I races this year at Lysá nad Labem, and Sundara had gone on to win the Category I Silver Trophy on the classical steeplechase course at Pardubice. Half way through the race, Sundara scarcely took off at the Grandstand Fence, and fell heavily. He was OK, fortunately, and rejoined the race, without his rider, Jan Kratochvíl. From that point on, Sundara, running loose, was a threat to one and all, especially to his stablemate. At one point, Josef Bartoš did very well to stay on board as Sundara ran across Theophilos and pushed him to the outside of the track.

At the second last fence, it nevertheless seemed that Theophilos would win, but Pavel Kašný surprised himself and everybody else by producing a winning run on Catch Life. Theophilos is owned by a large consortium of racing fans put together by Tomáš Janda, and his owners are living in exciting times.

Sundara’s jockey, Jan Kratochvíl, took a heavy fall, but he stood up, shook himself down, and rode in the next race, like the true steeplechase jockey that he is. However, he took a wrong turn in that race, and was fined for not knowing the course. Then he decided he had better not to ride in the last race. I hope he is OK.

I mentioned looking forward and looking outward above. We are all looking forward to the third running of European Jockeys Cup day on Saturday, September 2nd. A tremendous amount of effort has gone into finding sponsors and persuading top jockeys to come to Prague. Czech owners have loyally entered their horses to run in the races, though they might have found an easier race somewhere abroad with similar or higher prize money. The main partners of the event, Leram and Lokotrans, have put up some good prize money. Many others have contributed to the event in bigger or smaller ways. This has been the finest feature of EJC: all squabbles within the racing community have been set aside, and we have all worked together to make this a great race day. May I offer this piece of advice to racing fans and organizers of racing: Set up a major, ambitious annual event in a way that requires everyone in the community to contribute in some way to its success, and leaves noone feeling left out. It is magical.

As I write this, EJC day is tomorrow. We are hoping that the rain will hold off, and that a large crowd will come to Prague Velká Chuchle and enjoy a great event. The arrangements appear to be fine, though the organizers had considerable difficulty getting a good squad of international jockeys together. There is a major race in Turkey tomorrow, which had not been taken into account, and a couple of big-name jockeys were required at short notice to go there instead of coming to Prague. Good-quality replacements have been found, but it is not possible, for examply, to replace Gérald Mossé with an equivalent personality.

Personally, I am looking forward to the appearance of Panagiotis Dimitsanis, the outstanding Greek jockey of the last twenty years. My Greek wife has been organizing the Greek community in Prague to turn out in force, with flags, to make their presence felt and mark the occasion. Unfortunately, Dimitsanis has not drawn good horses to ride - we must hope that he will produce some of the magic that he is famous for at Markopoulou racecourse, outside Athens

Looking outward: there were a limited number of interesting races for our trainers to prepare for in the Czech Republic in August. Nevertheless, there has been plenty of interesting racing abroad, and a lot of participation by Czech-trained horses. Czech-trained horses ran at 48 different meetings at 16 different racecourses abroad in the course of the month: in France, at Deauville, Vichy, Clairefontaine, Montier-en-Der, Vittel, Dieppe and Aurillac; in Germany, at Bad Doberan, Berlin Hoppegarten and Baden Baden; in Slovakia, at Bratislava and Senice; in Italy, at Merano; in Poland, at Wroclaw, and in Sweden, at Jägersro. Remarkably, Czech-trained horses ran at Deauville on thirteen different race days in the month of August!

In 2016, Czech trainers smashed their previous record for prize money won at racecourses abroad, and we pundits thought the record would last for a long time. However, the record was beaten by the end of July 2017, and is now being taken into new territory. At least three things seem to be happening: 1) Czech owners are buying better horses, and are increasingly interested in running them abroad, where the prize money is better - especially in France, and 2) The single European market in racehorse training is taking shape, and foreign owners see that they can have their horses expertly and inexpensively trained in the Czech Republic, and then driven as far as Deauville to race. In addition, 3) the Schengen area, the open borders, the unified veterinary requirements and the widespread use of the Euro have made travel across western, central and northern Europe very easy. Oh dear, we Brits seem to be leaving the EU just as it is getting interesting.

Looking forward, part II. We are looking forward above all to the EJC meeting tomorrow. However, September and October should be good months for horse racing in central Europe. This is when the steeplechasing season at Wroclaw, Merano and Pardubice reaches its peak. For details, see http://www.dostihovy-svet.cz/en/node/7470.

September 16th is St Leger Day at Vienna Freudenau, a very welcome return of racing to this beautiful racecourse, after several years.

There will be good racing, mainly on the flat, at Prague Velká Chuchle every Sunday from September 10th until the end of October, with the first race at 2 pm in September and at 1 pm in October.

The Velka Pardubicka will be run at Pardubice on Sunday, October 8^th. The last of the four VP qualification races will be run at Pardubice on Saturday, September 9^th. None of the ten entries for the September qualification race looks to me like a contender for the big race, though Power Zar, Makléř or Salam just might make a case for himself next Saturday.

No doubt some readers are looking at the mess at Arsenal football club, and at the folly in British politics, and are wondering if the good times are not over for ever, or at least for the forseeable future. I can se why you are depressed, but the fact is that good times can still be found, but perhaps they will not be found exactly where you are currently sitting.