Mild, sunny spring weather in Bohemia began precisely on Easter Monday, the day when our horseracing season began at Lysá, and it has continued until the present time. The meetings at Most and at Prague Velká Chuchle last weekend were held in pleasant conditions, though there was some bite in the wind on top of the huge expertly revitalized slag heap where Most racecourse is located.

Most is my favourite Czech racecourse, so I was a bit taken aback when informed that my loyalty card (everybody’s loyalty card) is no longer valid. Can my loyalty be invalidated at a stroke? A quick look at the terms and conditions on the back of the card showed that it can, and even that my loyalty card belongs to Hipodrom Most, and not to me. Does that mean I am not allowed to throw it away? My loyalty to Most racecourse is undiminished, and I look forward to going there again on May 12th.

When I went to  Prague Velká Chuchle racecourse the following day, I wondered whether the real estate developer who has bought the racecourse might not also have introduced some revenue-augmenting measures. However, he had not – not yet. In fact, the first floor of the grandstand has had some overdue refurbishment, and the access of ordinary racegoers to the terraced seating facing the last 100 metres, and to some shelter between the races, is unchanged, and remains very good.

The traditional season-opening Gomba Handicap, over 1200 metres, was won again by last year’s winner, Master of Gold, trained by Greg Wroblewski and ridden by Polish champion jockey Szczepan Mazur. Szczepan Mazur, who had also ridden Master of Gold to victory in last year’s Gomba Handicap, had won another race earlier in the afternoon. However, the star rider of the afternoon was David Liška, who rode four winners, three of them for trainer Václav Luka. The assured riding of this apprentice rider, in addition to his 2.5 kg allowance, makes him a formidable opponent. David Liška (picture) is without doubt the best apprentice we have had since Václav Janáček. Indeed, if he works hard, and forgets about showboating, he could be even better than Janáček.

The planned meeting at Kolesa next Saturday has been cancelled ‘for technical reasons’. I do not know what that refers to. However, Kolesa is inaccessible by public transport, so I would not have gone there in any case. The meeting at Prague Velká Chuchle next Sunday features two Category I races, the April Grand Prix, 1800 m., for older horses, and the Rudolf Dejl Memorial, 1400 m., for 3-y-o fillies, a preparatory race for the Czech One Thousand Guineas. The first race on Sunday is at 2 p.m.

The new season has got off to a good start for us racegoers – as far as owners, trainers, jockeys, tipsters, bloodstock agents and others are concerned, a few have been doing well, while others can hope that their turn will come soon.