The third of the four qualification races for the 2018 Velka Pardubicka was run at Pardubice last Saturday - like the previous two qualification races, in hot, dry conditions. The racecourse was a strange sight. The racing line of the parts of the crosscountry races that are run on grass had been watered enough to be green. The ploughed fields had presumably been turned over to provide reasonably good going, and the rest of the racecourse area was parched. The going was 2.7 (firm).

Two of the 12 declared runners for the qualification race were withdrawn, including Tzigane du Berlais, whose owner, Jiří Charvát was reportedly not best pleased that his horse was again not given a chance to qualify for the big race on October 14th. He had also been withdrawn from the June qualification race, after failing to act in the dry conditions in the May qualification race. A total of six of the declared runners are still unqualified, and three more showed, as expected, that they are not good enough to run in the big race. Only the first two finishers impressed, and they had already achieved the qualification conditions.

Outsiders Artistmontot, Eldorado and Sisi Merble led the field, with Buonarroti also towards the head of the field. Val de Guye was dropping off the modest pace when he fell in mid-race. Sisi Merble was also clearly out of her class, and was pulled up soon after they appeared from behind the copse for the second time. Izynka mysteriously ran into the side of the 25th fence, but the mare and her rider appeared to be OK. At Havel’s fence, Buonarroti, which had already made a couple of mistakes, took a fall, and failed to qualify for the VP, to the chagrin of trainer Josef Vána, senior, who rates this horse highly, and no doubt to the chagrin of his son, Josef junior, who was riding.

This left only two of the fancied horses, last year’s VP winner, No Time To Lose, and Theophilos, both trained by Josef Váňa, and four slow horses. After the second last, the Vána horses showed their class, and also their aggression. Both pairs of horse and rider badly wanted to win the race, while the trainer’s body language suggested that he would have been happier if they had strolled home together, in either order. No Time to Lose and Jan Kratochvíl fought their way past Theophilos and Josef Bartoš. Eldorado finished a distance back in third place, and there was a further wait for Kasim, then Artistmontot and, finally Mileryt, which had run the whole race at his own slow pace. The horse and his rider, Jan Mach, must have swallowed a lot of dust, which billowed up and swirled around in remarkable quantities behind the other horses after they crossed the ploughed fields, and was still swirling when poor Mileryt finally arrived. Nevertheless, there was a prize of CzK16 000 for 6th place in the race, and also a place in the field for the Velka Pardubicka on October 14^th. I hope Mileryt will be spared the ordeal of being outclassed again in that event.

Earlier in the afternoon, Zarif, trained by Josef Váňa and ridden by Josef Bartoš, ran an impressive VP trial race, giving weight all round and winning comfortably. Josef Bartoš rode three winners in the afternoon.

The final qualification race at Pardubice will be on Saturday, September 8th. Some quite serious contenders have yet to qualify for the race, specifically Buonarroti, Tzigane du Berlais and Izynka. Val de Guye has twice failed to get round, and Sisi Merble has even failed in each of the three qualification races. I hope that more suitable races will be found for these Category IV horses in future.

                                                                            6^th race, start 17:13
Chládek & Tintěra, Pardubice, a.s. Stakes – 3^rd qualification race for the 128^th running of the Velka Pardubicka with Česká pojišťovna
Steeplechase crosscountry National Listed - 5800 metres, Stakes, 5-y-o and older

CzK 400 000 (160 000 – 88 000 – 56 000 – 40 000 – 28 000 – 16 000 – 12 000)
entries:CzK 4000 + 8000 Kč

Non-runners: TZIGANE DU BERLAIS(FR), VAJGAROS
Time: 07:31,99,  
Verdict: battle -1½ lengths – distance - 13 lengths – distance - distance

Owner: DS Paragan, Trainer: Váňa Josef, snr., Breeder: Carmel Stud