Just a few days ago, Josef Váňa junior was fighting with Josef Bartoš for the Italian jumps jockeys’ championship. Now, however, he is fully dedicated to a new role as the next step in his career. The four times winner of the Czech jumps jockeys’ title, who in 2017 won the Italian championship, obtained a trainer’s licence from the Jockey Club of the Czech Republic a few days ago, and he  now already has 37 horses in his yard (not including new reinforcements), all of them previously trained by his father, Josef Váňa senior. All the horses belong to Italian owner Scuderia Aichner.

"My father and I came to an agreement, and Mr Aichner was in favour," is how Josef Váňa junior explained the changes at the most successful training centre in the Czech Republic. "I want to go into training, and I’d like to start up gradually. So we decided that I’d take over Mr Aichner’s horses. It’s connected with the fact that I’d like to start taking horses to France a lot more often, because I think we definitely have the right horses for that. In addition, for some of the race meetings there a trainer must already have had at least 100 runners. With 37 horses in training, we can soon get to that point, and we might be able to spend next winter in Cagnes-sur-Mer."

However, that is not the only change. The four times Czech jumps jockeys’ champion is finishing his career as a jockey. "I want to devote myself 100% to one thing, and not to be thinking about my weight, possible injuries, etc., in addition to training. I want to have enough time to find the best programme for our horses, maybe even better than in the past," he explains. Josef Váňa’s decision to retire from riding was made much easier by the fact that he has found an exceptionally high-quality replacement for himself. "Pepa [Josef] Bartoš will be the no. 1 jockey for Mr Aichner, and also the first jockey for all of our  training centre’s races abroad,” Váňa states. "He will also ride work for us 2-3 times a week to get used to the horses," he adds.

According to Váňa, the present team will continue to work with the runners in the Czech Republic, and Jan Kratochvíl, winner of the 2017 Velka Pardubicka on No Time To Lose, will also retain the same position as before.

Josef Váňa junior will have his first runners as a trainer early in the new year. He has entered three horses for the meeting at Cagnes-sur-Mer [on the French Riviera] on January 7^th: 4-y-o National Velvet (Sinndar), 7-y-o Karelcytica (High Rock), and 8-y-o Nanda (Hernando), which finished 4^th in the Gran Premio di Merano in October 2018. (miv)

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This article first appeared on the Fitmin Turf website, and was written by Miloslav Vlček. Translated by Robin, who will comment on this major development in the upcoming January 2019 Newsletter, on this website. Photo of Josef Váňa junior, by Petr Guth.