The 2018 Velka Pardubicka was run on a remarkably sunny, pleasantly warm mid-October afternoon. The bright weather had brought out the largest crowd, by some margin, that I have seen at Pardubice racecourse over a period of 25 years. The course had been affected by a long, very hot and very dry summer, but it had been watered quite extensively. Earlier in the day, the surface had been a bit slippery, but by 4.40 p.m., jockeys reported, the track was in remarkably good condition, though the ploughed fields were very dusty   

Two of the declared horses, Theophilos and Sztorm, were non-runners. Felix de Giles took the ride on Templář. Ján Mach took an awful fall on Smajlík in the 4th race. He was dragged along for a very long distance before being stopped by a tree. He suffered concussion and, according to some reports, a couple of broken arms, and no doubt a lot of street rash. It could have been fatal. Ján Mach thus missed the opportunity to ride in the Velka Pardubicka on Mileryt, a horse that he part-owns and trains. Michal Kubík replaced him.

 2017 VP winner No Time To Lose started out as 20:10 favourite with Betino, which is the only company offering on-course betting at Pardubice racecourse. Other fancied horses were Ange Guardian 35:10 , Tzigane Du Berlais 50:10, Hegnus 70:10, Vicody 130:10; Zarif 150:10; Nikas 170:10, Bridgeur 250:10, and 500:10 bar seven. (20:10 means a return of 20 crowns, including your stake, for a stake of 10 crowns. In other terminology, even money). No doubt, somewhat longer odds were on offer elsewhere.

As expected, Bridgeur went to the front and remained there until he was overtaken, almost 9 minutes later. Nothing much happened before the Taxis, which is obstacle no 4. Though the horses spread out along the fence, there was a group that came together a bit on the right and probably interfered with each other. Vicody, Templář and Universe of Gracie all fell. Vicody broke a leg, and had to be put down. His jockey, Josef Bartoš, reported that he simply did not put in a big enough jump. On the left side of the Taxis, Ter Mill slipped on landing and, as he was recovering, two backmarkers that had been tracking him tried unsuccessfully to avoid him. They collided with him on either side and brought jockey Jan Odližil off. Ter Mill and Templář are half-brothers, and are both trained by Antonín Novák, whose direct interest in the race thus came to an end early and abruptly. At the fifth obstacle, the Irish Bank, Leighton Aspell and Vajgaros parted company, and at the sixth, the Popkovice Turn, Delight My Fire fell. Her Swedish jockey Niklas Lovén reported that neither the mare nor he had enjoyed a good view of the fence due to the dust kicked into their mouths and faces up by the horses in front. Kasim unseated his rider before the same fence, and only 13 of the original 20 runners remained in the race.

As usual, the race settled down at this point, and there were no further falls. Quite soon, the last three began to get detached. For Mileryt and Artistmontot, it was a matter of being outclassed. They struggled along for quite a long way before they were both pulled up. The other laggard was Pareto, which had made some mistakes. He soldiered on, moved away from the backmarkers, and finished 10^th of the 11 horses that completed the race.

Ange Guardian put in good jumps at the Taxis and at the Irish Bank, and jockey Jiří Kousek was never able to tuck him away towards the back of the field and come with a late run, and had been planned. Other horses that ran prominently were Hegnus, Zarif, Stretton and, surprisingly, Nikas, which had been the only remaining 13-y-o since Kasim dropped out at the 7th. The favourite, No Time To Lose, followed the same tactics as last year, being held back for a late run. Jan Faltejsek also rode a waiting race on Tzigane du Berlais.  Vandual and Ribelino appeared to be going OK, but they both ran out of steam when they were crossing the infield after fence no. 22. Vandual finished 8th, and Ribelino was tailed off in last place, which may have fulfilled an ambition for British jockey James Best, but it was a humiliating end for the horse that, after all, holds the record winning time for the Velka Pardubicka.

As usual, the battle for the Velka started at about the 25^th fence. Bridgeur was still setting the pace, but the main contenders were Hegnus, Ange Guardian, Zarif and Stretton. No Time to Lose and Tzigane Du Berlais were still in the race, but seemed to have quite a lot to do. As they came to the last, Hegnus looked best placed, but Ange Guardian, Stretton and Zarif were still there. Tzigane Du Berlais was still only fifth some way after the last fence, but he was being prepared for a run down the middle of the course. Unlike twelve months earlier, No Time to Lose did not find a finish this year. When Tzigane Du Berlais made his attack, none of the others could go with him, and in the end he won comfortably enough by three lengths from Hegnus, which beat Stretton by a head. Then came the three Váňa-trained horses. Zarif finished 4^th, No Time to Lose was 5^th, and Ange Guardian was 6th. After leading the field for almost nine minutes, Bridgeur led over the last fence. However, he was making as much upward movement as forward movement in the run in. This brave but one-paced horse collected the prizemoney for 7th place, deservedly, as he had the previous year, with a very similar performance.

The jockeys of all the first 7 finishers gave their horses every chance. Jiří Kousek might ask himself if Ange Guardian would not have done better if he had managed to tuck the horse away early in the race. However, it was generally conceded that Tzigane Du Berlais was the best horse on the day, and that Jan Faltejsek had given him a masterly ride.

Jan Faltejsek has now ridden the winner of 5 of the last 7 runnings of the Velka Pardubicka. Only Josef Váňa, with 8 winning rides, has had more success in the race.

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Photo by Petr Guth