Sunny weather and exciting racing attracted 35 000 people to Pardubice over the weekend

Pardubice, October 18^th, 2018 – The weather forecast several days before the 128^th running of the Velka Pardubicka with Česká pojišťovna indicated that this year’s renewal of the legendary race at Pardubice racecourse could be watched by several tens of thousands of people. These assumptions were met, and in the course of the whole weekend racing festival featuring the 128^th running of the Velka Pardubicka with Česká pojišťovna about 35 000 people came to the racecourse. On television, the Velka Pardubicka with Česká pojišťovna was watched by 2 100 000 viewers.

The sunny weather on Saturday attracted an interesting number of spectators, but the Sunday raceday was the greater attraction. The gates of Pardubice racecourse were opened at 8 in the morning, and from 9.30 impatient fans were able to watch the veterinary inspection of the horses running in the 128th Velka Pardubicka with Česká pojišťovna. The racecourse area gradually filled as the opening ceremony for the meeting approached. 

“The fine weather contributed to the higher number of spectators than last year. However, we should be very cautious about talking of record attendances. In the past, and specifically in the 1950s, when Major Miloš Svoboda won the race, there were crowds of up to 60 000 people. At that time, there also stands on the far side of the racecourse. Nevertheless, this year’s figures were among the best in recent times, and we are very grateful to the spectators for coming,” says Martin Korba, deputy chairman of the board and executive manager of Dostihový spolek a.s., organisers of events at Pardubice racecourse.

On television screens, and specifically on two of the channels of Česká televize (Czech Television), the Velka Pardubicka itself was watched by      2 100 000 viewers. The ČT Sport channel offered seven-hour-long coverage, and ČT 1 [the “serious” channel] joined in the coverage for a period of three hours. Further viewers watched the race online, and, for example, Racing UK offered coverage with a commentary.

Racegoers at this year’s meeting staked more than CZK 6 000 000 [EUR 220 000] at the on-course terminals of the Betino betting office, and they wagered CzK 2 645 000 [EUR 220 000] on the Velka Pardubicka. The biggest winning bets were paid out on the tricast, for the first three past the post, in the correct order, in the 128^th running of the Velka Pardubicka with Česká Pojišťovna, i.e. Tzigane du Berlais – Hegnus – Stretton. A jackpot of CZK 72 080 crowns was divided between two winning ticketholder, who each won 36 040 crowns for a stake of CZK 20. The largest number of bets were placed on No Time to Lose, followed by Ange Guardian and Tzigane du Berlais.

The biggest proportion of racegoers came to the racecourse in their own cars, and several thousand used the strengthened service offered by Czech Rail and the Pardubice Town Transport Company.

“We apologize to racegoers who stood still in traffic jams. At the airport, which served as the parking area with the greatest capacity, a vehicle caught fire, and access to the parking area had to be shut down for some time. It was the kind of situation that couldn’t have been anticipated. We thank drivers for their patience and for their understanding. I’d like to thank the fire services for dealing with the situation quite quickly,” Martin Korba added.