The Czech horseracing season got off to a good start on the Easter Monday public holiday at Lysá

The 2018 Czech horseracing season is due to start on Easter Monday at Lysá-nad-Labem, 30 km east of Prague.

Czech-trained crosscounty chasers have participated only sporadically in the Crystal Cup international series of crosscountry races. They have run in the Crystal Cup races at Merano and at Pardubice (the Velka Pardubicka counts as a Crystal Cup race), and in last-year’s first Crystal Cup race at Wroclaw. These courses are nowadays fully integrated into the programmes of our leading trainers over fences.

(Luka Racing press release)

Less than five weeks before the beginning of our racing season, it would be reasonable to assume that preparations are under way and excitement is building. However, February has been a really cold month here this year, as it has been over a large part of Europe. Very cold, but cloudless for the last three weeks, so we have been spared snow and ice here in Prague.

A few years ago, Eliška Kubinová went abroad as an almost unknown graduate of the School for Apprentices at Prague Velká Chuchle. It was some time before she got a licence to ride in the USA, but when she started riding in Oregon she very soon developed into a massively successful jockey. Many Czech girl riders dream of following in her footsteps. Lenka Helmecká is just starting out.

As was reported here in mid-December, http://www.dostihovy-sv

The best Czech sprinter of the past years, Mikesh (Majestic Missile), has ended his racing career. The nine-year-old won eight of his 41 races and has earned EUR 65,000. Besides winning easily all major races in his home country over six furlongs, he scored four black-type places in Germany and Italy. He was the first Czech-trained horse to race in the Gr.2 Goldene Peitsche at Baden Baden, but his most favourite track was the straight course at Hoppegarten, Berlin, where he placed four years in a row in a listed race.

The 23^rd annual Czech horseracing gala evening