Christophe Soumillon wins the EJC competition

Belgian born French-based jockey Christophe Soumillon (photo), the biggest star jockey to ride at Prague Velká Chuchle racecourse in the modern era, won the EJC competition on September 28th. He won the Gerscha Memorial for 2-y-os very easily on Rate, and he won the decisive final race of the competition, the EJC Middle, easily enough on Wireless, to clinch victory in the competition.

The main race, the EJC Long, over 2 400 metres, was won by Adrie de Vries on Montpi, trained in Germany by Günther Richter. Veteran jockey Adrie de Vries is from the Netherlands, but has been a top jockey in Germany, winning the German jockeys’ championship multiple times.

The main race, the EJC Million, was won by German-based Panamanian jockey Eduardo Pedroso on Zock. This horse was formerly trained in the Czech Republic, but is now trained in France by Frédéric Rossi.

The two minor races that formed part of the competition were won by Czech jockey Jiří Palík, on Orssio, and by Adrie de Vries on Orleano.

EJC day was followed by an enthusiastic but only medium-sized crowd on a pleasantly mild September afternoon. The racecourse was in good condition, and the event was very well organized. Christophe Soumillon was very complementary about the racecourse and about his visit to Prague in an interview that I will translate at an unspecified future date.

A special pleasure for Czech racegoers was to see all our top jockeys racing against each other in the Czech Republic. Filip Minarík has been a top jockey in Germany for twenty years, and is only rarely free to ride here. Václav Janáček is based in Spain, but he never misses an opportunity to ride in central Europe. Jiří Palík rides more in Germany and in Slovakia than here nowadays. These are the three Czechs that have ridden more winners than any other Czech jockeys in history. Kazakh-born Bauyrzhan Murzabayev won our jockeys’ championship three times before moving on to Germany last year – and this year he is well ahead in the German jockeys’ championship. To see these four fine jockeys all riding here, and our 2018 champion, the highly promising teenager David Liška, lining up beside them, was something to remember.    

The fifth EJC raceday was a fine advertisement for Czech horseracing and an enjoyable afternoon for those who found their way to the racecourse. A larger crowd and some tight finishes involving top international jockeys would have made the afternoon perfect. As it was, the star jockey, who was engaged to ride particularly good horses, won the competition!