The series of four qualification races for the 133rd running of the Velka Pardubicka with Slavia Insurance has got under way. The hero of the first act is Chelmsford, a 7-year-old chestnut, ridden by Jan Kratochvíl and trained by Josef Váňa senior. All seven finishers fulfilled the new qualification criteria. From this year, the first five past the post qualify for the big race automatically, but there is now a time limit of 20 seconds behind the winner for any other finishers to qualify.

The following interview appeared on January 14^th, 2023 in Czech language on the Fitmin & Turf Magazín website Fitmin & TURF Magazín - S prezidentem Jockey Clubu Josefem Bečvářem nejen o financování českých dostihů.

Jiřina Vodehnalová Andrésová won the first race she ever rode in, on Serious Ness, in April 1999. Since that time, she has established herself as a reliable lightweight rider who can still ride at 49 kg. Until this year, however, she had never ridden more than 11 winners in a season, and she had accumulated a total of just 77 winners.

October 20^th, 2022 is the 70^th birthday of Josef Váňa, the most successful jockey and trainer in the history of the Velka Pardubicka. He won the race 8 times as a jockey, and he has also won it 11 times as a trainer. His first win as a jockey was in 1987 on Železník, on which he won the race four times. His other wins were on Vronsky and three times on Tiumen. His last win on Tiumen was in 2011, shortly before his 59^th birthday. His first win as a trainer was in 1996, with Cipísek, and his most recent win was in 2017 with Theophilos.

Vendula Jirčáková is the trainer of Dulcar de Sivola, the biggest outsider in the field for the 132^nd running of the Velka Pardubicka. In this interview with Jana Šejnohová, which first appeared on this website on October 7th, Vendula Jirčáková answers questions about her career in equestrian sport, and how she sees Czech horse racing in these difficult times

(provided by Dostihový spolek, organiser of events at Pardubice racecourse)

By tradition, the second Sunday in October belongs to the Velka Pardubicka, and this year is no exception. Fifteen horses will go down to the start of our greatest race, including last year’s winner, Talent. He is the current favourite, but according to the odds offered by Tipsport, the high point of our crosscountry steeplechase season  is a very open race.

 Czech flat racing jockeys' championship - leaders as of October 3rd, 2022

In the course of his long career, Jan Rája rode in more than three thousand races and won 523 times. He was three times the Czech champion jockey on the flat, rode the winner of nine classic races, including the Czech Derby in 2011 on Roches Cross. He also rode three times in the Velka Pardubicka, in which his best finish was in eighth place on Fahrenheit in 2003.