Václav Janáček rides his 1 000th winner

Thirty-three-year-old Czech jockey Václav Janáček rode his 1 000th winner on Friday, August 10th, when he won the last race of the afternoon at the traditional three-day meeting on the beach at Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a resort in southern Spain. He is only the second Czech jockey ever to have reached a four-figure number of winners, and he reached this mark on a 6-y-o gelding, Mind the Gap. 

 

He did not ride his first winner until his 41st ride, on Verior at Karlovy Vary on 5 July 2003. Since then, he has ridden winners ever more frequently. When he rode his 50th winner and gained his title as a “jockey”, on April 17th, 2005 he was the youngest Czech rider ever to reach that mark (19 years, 268 days). He was also the youngest to reach the 100, 500 and 1 000 winners mark (21 years, 27 years, 33 years) and he still holds each of these records. 

 

The most successful jockey in the history of Czech horseracing is Filip Minařík, who has won the German Jockeys’ championship four times. He has currently ridden 1 673 winners, and Václav Janáček is in second place.

 

Václav Janáček’s championship titles

5x Czech, 5x Spanish, 1x Slovak, 2x Czech apprentice
2003 Czech champion apprentice 10 winners
2004 Czech champion apprentice   8 winners
2006 Czech champion jockey       42 winners
2007 Czech champion jockey       48 winners
2008 Czech champion jockey       36 winners
2009 Czech champion jockey       82 winners (record number of winners in a season in the Czech Republic)
2010 Czech champion jockey       65 winners
and   Slovak champion jockey      17 winners
2012 Spanish champion jockey    65 winners

2013 Spanish champion jockey    73 winners
2014 Spanish champion jockey    66 winners
2015 Spanish champion jockey    46 winners
2017 Spanish champion jockey    75 winners


Jiří Zlámaný

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This article first appeared on the Fitmin - Turf website. Written by Jiří Zlámaný. Translated by Robin.