Outsider Blessed Kiss wins the Czech Derby impressively

The 98th Czech Derby was run over 2 400 metres at Prague Velká Chuchle on June 24th, for prizemoney of CzK 2 500 000 (EUR 100 000) on a cool afternoon, on good ground. Even more than usual, this was a race of immature horses over a distance that was likely to be too far for most of the runners. For no particular reason, the favourite was Thisisthekey, closely followed by Saul, winner of the main Derby trial, and German trained Poldis Liebling, which had some very good 2-y-o form, but had had a setback and had not yet raced as a three-year-old. All 16 stalls were filled.

Golden Alighieri set the pace from the start, but jockey Jan Verner had difficulty getting him to turn right into the first bend. This led to a bit of a scrummage behind him, which provided an excuse for the connections of some of the beaten horses. Golden Alighieri continued to lead into the back straight, but then Black Bard took over. The riders vied for a good position on the last bend, and 600 metres from home, after they had entered the straight, there were horses spread across the course. It seemed that the horse that stayed best was going to win, and that is how it turned out. The non-stayers began to drop back, and outsider Blessed Kiss and Poldi’s Liebling hit the front. Both stayed on well, and there was a tight finish, Blessed Kiss prevailing by a neck. Poldi’s Liebling finished two lengths further ahead of Mon Cheri. Half a length behind him was Carmella. Then there was a gap of three-and-a-half lengths to Darkolva, Dragon and Res Judicata, which took the prizemoney for 5th, 6th, and 7th place.

The filly, Blessed Kiss, started as a 30:1 outsider. She ran towards the rear of the field until the last bend, when she moved up rapidly on the outside of the field, and took the lead 400 metres from home. Poldi’s Liebling, on the other hand, had run in second or third place from the beginning, and had a good run on the inside on the last bend. He looked a likely winner 300 metres from home, but Blessed Kiss stayed on really well and  would not not let him pass.

Blessed Kiss is a French-bred filly by Kentucky Dynamite (USA) out of Blanc Sur Blanc (IRE) (Hold That Tiger (USA)). She is owned by Yerbol Baizhasrkinov, and is trained at Velká Chuchle by Igor Endaltsev. Igor Endaltsev runs his horses mainly in France, and this was Blessed Kiss’s first run at her home racecourse. She was ridden by German-based Russian jockey Wladimir Panov.

Four of the first five past the post were ridden by foreign jockeys, Wladimir Panov, Eddy Hardouin (Poldi’s Liebling), Carmella (4th, Jack Mitchell) and Darkolva (5th, Jimmy Quinn).

Three races on Derby day were won by horses trained by Helena Vocasková and ridden by Czech-based Bulgarian rider Beysim Ferhanov.