Václav Janáček will ride some top horses at Lysá on Monday

The opening race day of our season at Lysá-nad-Labem on Monday has attracted disappointingly few declared runners, a total of just 41 in the seven races. Nevertheless, the two Category II races have remarkably high-quality fields, and Václav Janáček (photo) will be riding in all six flat races. Janáček spent some time in Qatar this winter but, unlike Czech jockey Tomáš Lukášek, he did not achieve the breakthrough he had hoped for. He has therefore already returned to Spain, where he again won the jockeys’ championship in 2017. Václav Janáček takes every opportunity to return to central Europe, and his presence at Lysá on Easter Monday will be very popular with racegoers.

 

Janáček will be on several red-hot favourites, as race day sponsor Josef Dufek (Statek Blata Český ráj) has engaged him to ride in four races.

 

The main races on Monday are at Category II, but both races have attracted small but very high-quality fields. In the fourth race, over 1700 metres, Janáček will be on Tamarind Cove, by Galileo, one of our best milers in recent years. They should win, but the other four runners, especially Saša and Dominique, which both ran in our Derby last year, have to be beaten. In the race over 2200 metres, Statek Blata Český ráj will run both of its Czech Derby winners, Timekeeper (2016) and Touch of Genius (2015). Slovak-trained Mooreen just might challenge these two Derby winners, both by Galileo. Janáček has chosen to ride Timekeeper, but Touch of Genius, ridden by Jan Verner, will be receiving 4 kg from him.

 

Note that the first race on Monday is at 1 p.m.