Dalibor Török leaves Pegas, and is replaced by Čestmír Olehla  

 

I have to admit that I have given less than my full attention to Czech racing since the end of our racing season at the beginning of November. The change of trainer for Pegas had slipped my notice. The Pegas training establishment at Zhoř, in the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, near Jihlava, is very well equipped, and the owner (Mr Jiří Travníček) invests quite heavily in thoroughbreds for racing and for breeding. It is the top job, or one of a very small number of top jobs, for a private trainer in the Czech Republic.

In mid November, it emerged that trainer Dalibor Török would leave Zhoř at thd end of the month, and would be replaced by Čestmír Olehla. Török trained at Zhoř for two years, quite successfully, as it appears to me. He was a flat jockey, who worked in stables abroad when he finished riding, then he worked with Václav Luka on sending horses to run in France, and then he was Czech Television’s racing expert, a role he fulfilled well. Dalibor Török has said that he will not be looking for a new job in Czech racing, as any move could only be in a downward direction, and that he has been offered a job outside racing.

Čestmír Olehla qualified as a vet, and is an acknowledged expert on theoretical and practical aspects of equine health and performance. When he graduated, he wanted very much to get into horseracing, and within a few years, in the mid 1980s, he got the job as trainer for the Bruntál-Světlá Hora State Farm in north Moravia (and a certain Josef Váňa worked for him). Almost immediately, he trained the winner of the Velka Pardicka, Železník, which went on to win the Velka in, 1987. 1988, 1989 and 1991, ridden on each occasion by Josef Váňa.

After the changes in 1989, Olehla got the chance to be the private trainer for Wrbna Racing, which invested a lot of money in steeplechasing and, at some stage, bought the training centre at Světlá Hora. From the mid 1990s until 8 or 10 years ago, Wrbna Racing and Čestmír Olehla had a lot of success, with Registana, Duce, Masini, and others. Then Wrbna Racing began to fade away. As I understand it, several years ago, Olehla ceased to be a direct employee of Wrbna Racing. He set up as a public trainer, though he continued to have a few Wrbna-owned horses in the yard. In recent years, his success rate has dipped somewhat, though only against his own previously very high levels. Neverthless, he has continued to be a highly respected figure in great demand for horseracing associations, committees and commissions. He has for a long time headed the group that puts on a splendid festival and raceday each year at Světlá Hora.

Now, after well over 30 years at Světlá Hora, Čestmír Olehla has accepted a big challenge to be the trainer at Zhoř. He is still only in his early sixties, and looks younger than that. It is a big adventure for him!

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Photo of Čestmír Olehla, by Petr Guth