September 24^th was the highpoint of the Italian steeplechasing season at Merano, and the Gran Premio Merano Alto Adige was again won by a Czech-trained horse. This time, the winner was not trained by the team around Josef Váňa. The race was won by Al Bustan, trained by Stanislav Popelka (picture) for Lokotrans. Al Bustan, ridden by Jan  Faltejsek, overcame French-trained favourite Marinas, which finished second, in the finishing straight. Broughton, the best of the four Váňa-trained runner, finished in a close third place, ridden Josef Váňa junior.

Al Bustan is the first horse to have won the top races in Sweden and in Italy, winning the Swedish Grand National in June, and now the Gran Premio at Merano.

***

 Translated from the Czech-language pages of Dostihový svět, written by Petr Guth.