Ludvik Raimond, winning VP jockey in 1954, dies

The death of Ludvík Raimond, winning rider of the Velka Pardubicka in 1956, was announced on December 18th. He was born on December 13th, 1928 in Lazne Bohdanec, just outside Pardubice. He was introduced to riding as a child, and first rode in the Velka Pardubicka in 1951. In 1954 he won the race on Unkas. Later, he took up show jumping, and was a member of the Czechoslovak national team.  As a pensioner, he took up horse breeding. Until 2011, he was a regularly seen at the racecourse, rarely missing a meeting at Prague Velka Chuchle.Ludvík Raimond suffered a tragedy at the end of October this year, when his wooden house in Horní Počernice, on the outskirts of Prague, burned down. He escaped uninjured.