At the beginning of November, as usual, the Czech racecourses began their five-month winter break. As usual, the racing websites and Facebook sites noted that there was a race meeting at Dresden, north of Prague and with a similar climate, almost three weeks after our final race day in the Czech Republic. Would it not have been possible to extend our season? The answer is that November here is rarely frostbound or waterlogged, and this year again, racing would have been possible. Indeed, there would have been opportunities for horses to run on soft ground, and for late-developing 2-y-os to have a couple of races. However, our racecourses are not interested. Why should they go searching for sponsors, when only a small crowd would turn out on a chilly afternoon, and when there is no betting industry here that would be prepared to subsidize racing in November?  

Of course, if we had an all-weather track at a racecourse with winter facilities, it would be possible to have a year-round racing industry here. However, there is no prospect of that happening in the foreseeable future. Every winter, Czech sports fans go into winter mode. All winter sports are very popular here, and a large proportion of the population looks forward to putting on its skis. Crosscountry skiing and also skating are part of the winter tradition here. Snowboarding and downhill skiing are for a younger and more internationally-minded set. The nearby Alps and Dolomites are very attractive alternatives to the less well equipped Czech resorts - many of the most famous winter sport centres in the world are not far from the Czech Republic. Ice hockey is a major spectator sport here, with a very competitive professional league. The Czech football league is taking a shorter winter break than in the past – but I imagine the crowds on freezing cold days will be even tinier than on warmer days. Betting and television may mean that the longer season benefits the Czech football industry. 

Our jockeys and stable staff can find winter employment in the EU countries and in the Gulf States. Trainers’ incomes drop in the winter months, and it is difficult for them to keep their facilities running. On the one hand, they are relieved if some of their staff can find alternative employment through the winter, but on the other hand they have to be anxious about key staff not returning when spring comes around.  

Our most enterprising trainers do not settle for a five-month winter break. More and more of them run their horses abroad until they are snowed in. Throughout November, considerable numbers of Czech-trained horses ran, in Italy, mainly over fences, and in France, mainly on the flat. Josef Váňa trained 8 winners, mainly in Italy and mainly for Italian owners, in November. That late November meeting at Dresden also attracted a number of Czech-trained runners. Josef Váňa junior, who rides almost exclusively for his father, is contending with Josef Bartoš for the Italian jumps jockeys’ championship. Bartoš rides mainly for Italian-based trainers

Our two main races courses issued press releases this month. Pardubice announced that the insurance company Česká pojišt’ovna will no longer be the main sponsor for the Velka Pardubicka in 2019, after a period of 26 years. It seems that Česká pojišt’ovna is not planning to break off its links with Pardubice racecourse altogether. 

The Velka Pardubicka has a very high profile in the Czech Republic, and gets a lot of media attention, not only in October. I am far from being fascinated by marketing, but I think new sponsorship arrangements could be an opportunity, rather than a threat, for Dostihový spolek. It is probably time for a new or revised approach, after all these years with Česká pojišt’ovna.

The new owners-managers of Prague Velká Chuchle racecourse organized a press conference in mid November, held at the Konírna restaurant near to Smíchovské nádraží. At these events, those of us who write about Czech racing because we are fans of the sport know that we are not the real target audience. The real aim of the event is to get some positive publicity from the mass media, which this year had again gleefully featured the horse killed at the Taxis in the Velka Pardubicka.

At these press conferences, we all receive press release material, which, it is hoped, we will publish verbatim. Alternatively, a journalist takes the well-designed soundbites from the press releases and easily makes them into an article that is published under his name. The Czech racing websites and other pages have simply posted the publicity materials, with or without comments. Job done, as far as the Czech horseracing community is concerned. 

It is hoped that the mass media journalists will also ask a few questions at the press conference, even take an interview or two, have a nice coffee and a decent snack - this was a mid-morning press conference - and then present something positive that might capture the interest of their readers.  

But what about me! It would be lovely to have been sent an English version of the text, and to post it for you to read and interpret for yourselves. I will try to make time to translate and then post at least part of the materials that we were given, which fall into three categories. 

First, there was a report on the 2018 season at Prague Velká Chuchle that covered the main points well. The new management again claimed, as it has throughout the season, that there were 20% more paying customers at Velká Chuchle this year than last year. Maybe it is true, and maybe the counting method has changed. Perhaps there have been fewer non-paying customers this year. I hope it is true that there have been considerably more paying racegoers this year than last year, but the numbers of spectators at Prague Velká Chuchle seem to me to have been pretty stable for a number of years. 

Second, there is news about a more exciting year at Velká Chuchle in 2019. There will be a wider range of equestrian events. Currently, we have just flat racing, a small number of races over hurdles, and irregular trotting meetings, which are not organized in conjunction with flat racing. Next year, there is to be a wider and more integrated range of equestrian sport. There are to be 14 race meetings, 3 of them in conjunction with trotting. There will also be 4 showjumping events, a day of polo combined with trotting, and 4 more days of trotting. And, of course, there will be things to entertain the kiddies. 

Third, there is news about new structures to be built and old structures that are being repaired and reconstructed at the racecourse. Some major new and renovated stables and an indoor arena are to be built where the upper stables are now, in the area between the racetrack and the railway line. There will also be a new showjumping arena inside the race circuit.  

The plans will certainly diversify the range of equestrian sport that will be offered at Velká Chuchle – but at the expense of horseracing, not in addition to horseracing. We will have just 14 racedays in 2019, three of them shared with trotting. The One Thousand Guineas is to be moved to Most racecourse, and the Oaks will remain at Karlovy Vary. Czech Derby day at Velká Chuchle is set for Saturday, June 22^nd, and European Jockeys’ Cup day, at Velká Chuchle, will be on Saturday, September 28^th. Another change is the introduction of a raceday at Velká Chuchle in July, on a Friday evening, and a season-ending meeting on Saturday, November 9^th.

The considerable reduction in the number of meetings in Prague is not pleasing for the racing community. Some season ticket prices have even been raised. The fact is, however, that the number of runners per race has gone down in recent years in the Czech Republic, due to reduced numbers of horses in training here, together with the big increase in the numbers of Czech-trained horses that run abroad. It is hard to argue for more races when field sizes are down.  

The new and improved structures on the slightly higher ground near to the railway line are probably to be welcomed. However, I have misgivings about new structures in the middle of the racecourse. Firstly, the middle of the racecourse was flooded even during the small flood in 2013, and was under deep water in 2002. It is used to accommodate floodwaters, and to save the historical centre of Prague from disaster. The showjumping arena will not be a major obstruction. We were told that the seating would be ‘removable’. The plans showed a lot of nice little ornamental trees, the kind that architects like to put into their sketches. However, like other nice little things, ornamental shrubs and trees threaten to grow into monsters, not at all what is needed in the middle of a racecourse – or in the middle of an emergency reservoir. 

It is never easy to weigh up a Czech horseracing press conference. It is usually a mix of PR, hopeful talk and exaggeration, and what is not said is often more interesting than what is said. I think the best thing will be to translate parts of the texts that we were given, by the organisers both at Velká Chuchle and at Pardubice, and you will be able to reach your own conclusions.

I will also ask the Fitmin - Turf website for permission to translate two interviews, both taken by Michaela Zemanová. Michaela recently interviewed our new jumps jockeys’ champion, Sertash Ferhanov, who is from Bulgaria. She also asked Velká Chuchle racecourse manager Martin Pecka some pertinent questions after the press conference discussed above. Note, however, that I have not said when I will get round to doing these translations