A conversation with Martin Pecka, manager of Prague Velká Chuchle racecourse

At the end of last year, the family of leading Czech developer and real estate magnate Radovan Vítek bought a majority holding in Turf Holding. Turf Holding is the majority shareholder of Turf Praha a.s., which owns the main part of Prague Velká Chuchle racecourse (the remaining part belongs to the Czech state). Through a daughter company, TMM s.r.o., Turf Praha is the organiser of horseracing [and other events] at the racecourse. As manager of TMM, Radovan Vítek appointed Martin Pecka, formerly manager of the Equitana Resort in Martinice [a health farm and ranch about an hour south of Prague]. I spoke with him a few days after the Czech Derby about the racecourse area and its future.


You have the first half of the season as the manager of the association organising racing at Velká Chuchle behind you. How would you summarize it? Has it met the expectations that you had when you took on the job?

 

I’d divide your question into two parts. With regard to the whole racecourse area and the state that it’s  in, the situation has turned out to be worse than I’d expected when I arrived. It’s not just a matter of things that racegoers can see and that active participants in racing can see in the racecourse environment. There’s also the way everything functions, which is somewhat reminiscent of the 1960s. It can be seen that nothing basic has been done with the grounds and the facilities for a number of years. There’s a lack of facilities for the staff, for the participants in the the races, etcetera. In general, the whole situation is very dismal, and something needs to be done about it quickly. There are so many problems that you don’t know where to begin. So we began in the middle, with the places where racegoers congregate and move about. This of course meant reconstructing the catering area on the first floor of the grandstand [i.e., the floor above the ground floor]. Now we have to clean up around the stables and the waste tips, so that the trainers don’t have to be afraid to let their horses move around. Finding out how things really were shattered my illusions about being able to make changes quickly. However, I now have a lot more information about the whole site, and every change should be for the better.


As far as racing itself is concerned, and funding for racing, Velká Chuchle has given me a good feeling. I think there is considerable potential for developing something here. The Derby is behind us, and now I want to start work on getting funding for future seasons, because a number of companies will already be finalizing their calculations for next year in September.

At a press conference before the Derby, you presented how the Velká Chuchle racecourse area may look in the future. For your people, however, large-scale reconstruction is linked with the acquisition of plots which, after the completion of many years of bankruptcy proceedings, now belong to the Prague Racecourse state company, which is owned by the state, and last November Marian Jurečka, who was the minister of agriculture at that time, refused. What measures will you take if you are unable to obtain these plots?


What Minister Jurečka said at the time was, and I quote: “I have decided we will not sell off the state racecourse property, due to its size and its importance to the organization of horseracing in the capital city. We want to set up conditions such that future generations will still be able to use the racecourse sports area” That raises the question, What conditions will his successor, and not he himself, set in order to ensure that there will still be racing at Velká Chuchle 20 years from now. The agreement set up between Dostihové závodiště Praha s.p., as it was at that time, and Turf Praha a.s., on the basis of which the joint-stock company was able to organize racing on lands that did not belong to it, makes it impossible to put up any objective encumbrances [věcná břemena, I do not know what these Czech words imply, but it may not be what Martin Pecka suggests here], and in these circumstances it is not possible to make any major investment. It is a stalemate situation. At this time, we think that some understanding should be shown in official places, because the technical state of the racecourse area is dismal, and some investment is needed. For the owners [i.e. Turf Holding?], this would be feasible only if they also obtain the land.

Via Turf Holding, which the Víteks bought at the turn of the year, you obtained a majority holding in Turf Praha a.s., which owns the buildings and some of the land at Velká Chuchle. Alongside Turf Holding, however, the Jockey Club of the Czech Republic also has a share. Is it your intention to obtain its share?


We have declared to the Jockey Club of the Czech Republic that we are not at this moment in time going to change the ownership structure of the association, particularly because of the current negotiations about the lands.


I’m asking because Jockey Club president Jiří Charvát stated in a conversation that he is considering exchanging the Jockey Club’s share in Turf Praha a.s. for TOTO CZ [the association that organizes on-course betting on Czech racing], which you have gained control of.


As I said before, we aren’t currently making any moves with the ownership structure.


Can we stay with TOTO CZ for a moment? Do you intend to develop the gambling association, and perhaps come back with a proposal for the small racecourses, where you’ve no longer been accepting bets this year?


The stop on taking bets at certain racecourses has been in connection with the lack of technical facilities at the courses. It’s a matter of fulfilling the legal conditions for a gambling operation. Unfortunately, as of 1.1.2018, the transition period in which certain exceptions were made came to an end. After 1.1.2018, we just ascertained that, at certain racecourses, it was no longer possible to accept bets in accordance with the valid legislation. This fact has nothing to do with any wish to develop the gambling office in the future. We consider betting to be an integral part of the world of horseracing, and that will be our position in the future. It’ll  be necessary to apply for a new licence, because the original licence expires on 31.3.2019. According to the new conditions, an applicant for a licence must, among other things, own property worth EUR 2 million, which is about 52 million crowns. That is the basic limit. We are currently beginning to take action on all these things.

How have you been cooperating with the Jockey Club?


I think that our cooperation is just beginning. I hope so. The Jockey Club is not all-powerful. Its powers and its jurisdiction are laid out in regulations that we respect. What is missing is a conceptual solution for racing and for its future. I’d also be happy if it used its powers to rationalize the racing calendar, and to ensure there is no repetition of the situation early in June, when there was racing at the PMU meeting at Most on the Friday, at Mimoň on the Saturday, and at Velká Chuchle on the Sunday. The current drop in the number of horses in training was reflected in the numbers of runners in the races.

The Víteks bought the racecourse area thanks above all to the fact that their daughters are into showjumping. They have not hidden their intention to bring other equestrian disciplines to Velká Chuchle. The horseracing community can be concerned that this might be at the expense of racing. How do you see the extent of horseracing in the future?


We are aware that a certain number of major races should be run at Velká Chuchle, because it is the most suitable course for them in the country. This number of races must be maintained. However, the way in which the whole calendar is put together is something for future discussion. The way it is put together now is burdensome for us, especially because of the quick succession of racedays following each other.
[The racing season at Velká Chuchle has consisted of a succession of Sunday afternoons in April - June and again in September – October. This has made it possible to carry out only minor works in spring and autumn.] We’re aware of the importance of preparatory races and trials for the big races, and the way they follow on from each other, etcetera. In brief, it won’t be easy to put together a calendar - but it also isn’t easy now. We’ll certainly be thinking over whether we want racing only on Sundays, and not perhaps on Friday afternoons, leaving the weekends open for the other racecourses, where the weekend is the most convenient time and in practice the only possible time for racing. We’re also considering two-day meetings, which would feature something special on the Sunday. I also don’t like having no races at Velká Chuchle in July and August. We have a seven-month season, but we only make use of five months. We’d like to try some midsummer racing, but we don’t want to clash, for example, with the programme at Karlovy Vary. Something at the end of July, perhaps.


But let me answer your question. We are not at the moment planning any major reduction in our horseracing operations. However, the overall numbers of horses in our races has been dropping, and I don’t see any reason why we should extend the number of races. And rather than reducing the number of races at Velká Chuchle, I envisage changes in the structure. For this purpose, we’ve been pressing for a meeting of racing organisers this summer to start working on the new racing calendar well in advance. A key thing for us is to anchor the Czech Derby, whereby an important factor for the date of the race is the possibility of having it shown live on television [
the traditional date at the end of June clashes badly in alternate years with World Cup or European Cup football]. We’ve been negotiating with Mr. Jiří Ponikelský at Czech Television, and he’s confirmed that there is interest in such races under certain circumstances. We’d be happy if the level and the extent of television coverage of the Czech Derby could approach the coverage of the Velka Pardubicka, and if it could attract viewers who  are new to the sport [Unlike the Czech Derby, the VP is a major national event, and is treated as such by the Czech media.] We want the Czech Derby in 2019 to be on the third or fourth Sunday in June, and we’ll be discussing the other days in collaboration with the other organisers. Of course, we have to take the classics into account, and also traditional dates like the First of May steeplechase, and the as yet unknown dates for the PMU days. However, we’d like a meeting to decide on the main dates, and who will make way for whom, so that we can come to an agreement. In the end, there might be fewer days of racing, but better arranged, so that the organisers can have at least one more horse running in each race.

Can we come back to the planned reconstruction of Velká Chuchle, which you estimate will take one-and-a-half to two years. When your plans are issued and are implemented, will that mean that horseracing will be interrupted and moved to other courses? People with a longer memory recall when a part of a season was moved to Karlovy Vary, and then a 5-year period of special arrangements during the construction of the new grandstand at Velká Chuchle in the 1980s.


We’ve already stated that we will be looking for a solution that’ll have as little impact as possible on racecourse operations. A long break also wouldn’t be good for us. General reconstruction is in general a very demanding thing. However, there are nowadays new construction technologies that make reconstruction much more efficient, and shorten the timeframe. We don’t yet know how demanding the reconstruction will be. We don’t yet have documentation about the grandstand, and we don’t know if the drawings correspond with the real situation. The final decision will be a long process of analyses and revealing what the situation really is. There’ll  be some major restrictions in the building, but priority will be given to the key half of the grandstand, to ensure that horseracing will be restricted as little as possible. It may be that a half of the betting hall will be closed for a longer time, but I think racegoers will accept that as evidence that something is happening at Velká Chuchle, and that a more pleasant and smarter environment is being prepared for them.

Miloslav Vlček

 

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This interview was published two weeks ago on the Fitmin – Turf webpages, and was taken by Fitmin – Turf editor, Miloslav Vlček, who kindly gave permission for this English translation to appear on the Dostihový svět webpages. The translation is by Robin, who will also comment extensively on the content of this conversation on this website, either in an article or in the upcoming August newsletter.