Pardubice: Disastrous qualifying race

Disastrous first qualifying race

With the winners of all four of the 2008 VP qualifying races running in the Town of Pardubice Prize, the first qualifying race for the 2009 Velka Pardubicka, there were high hopes of an exciting race on May 23rd at Pardubice. It was a fine afternoon, but unfortunately most of the rain that had lashed Bohemiathe day before, including much of the Pardubice region, bypassed the racecourse. The going was distinctly hard for steeplechasing, though it was officially given as 3.9, i.e., good. All went fine until the Havel Fence, fourth from home. Moning Let had set a reasonable pace. Juventus and Amant Gris did not go particularly well, but they were still there. Jan Fatejsek on Moning Let attacked the Havel Jump, but was unseated, interfering with Derby Sharp and Juventus. which also lost their riders. Moning Let then made his way off to the right, and soon ended up in the ditch that runs across the course, where the water jumps are. He stumbled in, broke a leg, and later had to be put down.

When such a star as Moning Let meets with disaster, there is of course plenty of criticism of the jockey and of the course. Jan Faltejsek had three wins in the course of the afternoon, a heavy fall on Red Dancer and he pulled Moneymaker up. Some expressed the view that he paid insufficient respect to the fences, while others opined that the fences have got easier but the races are run faster, resulting in plenty of nasty accidents. More about this in the monthly newsletter later this week.

Back to the qualifying race. There was a well-fought finish, in which the half-bred Tomis, winner of the Labe Prize on Velka Pardubicka day 2008, won by half a length from Mandarino, double winner of the May the First Prize at Lysa-nad-Labem, which made a very good first appearance over the Pardubice crosscountry course. Third place went to Pocci, winner of the September qualifying race in 2008. The other finishers were Lakreg, Florestano, Amant Gris and Shirley. Amant Gris was far from his best, and appeared to be ridden very cautiously by Petr Tuma, who was subsitituting for Marek Stromsky. Marek, who rode Amant Gris when he was disqualified in the 2008 VP after being first past the post, is expected to ride the horse again this year, but he was serving a suspension on Saturday. Juventus, Moning Let, Derby Sharp and Lirain did not get round, and did not qualify for the 119th Ceska Pojistovna Velka Pardubicka.

Sunny Sundays and large crowds at Velka Chuchle

Each of the eight Sunday afternoons since the beginning of the 2009 season at Prague Velka Chuchle has been bright and sunny, yet not excessively hot, and very good crowds have descended on the course each week. Thanks to a heavy storm on the previous Friday, there was good going for the meeting on May 24th. The main race, the 60th running of the Great May Prize, Listed, 1600 metres, for older horses, was won by the favourite, Sharpour, who beat the record time for the race. 5-y-o Sharpour had previously won the Rigips Prize here at the end of April.
He is the best miler to have run here this year, and a meeting with 2008 champion miler Blue Coral will be an event to look forward to.
Irish-bred Sharpour is by Desert Sun out of a Darshaan mare. He is owned by YOKO, trained by Zdeno Koplik, and was ridden by Vaclav Janacek. For a change, our champion jockey had only this one winning ride, and it was Jiri Chaloupka who rode three winners.

Sunday May 31st: the main Derby Trial

The main race on Sunday May 31st will be the 58th running of the June Grand Prix, National Listed, 3-y-o, 2200 metres. Although this trial race is run just three weeks before the Czech Derby, it is the first really serious Derby trial of the year at Velka Chuchle, and it is likely to provide information about colts that may stay the distance of the big race. None of the 14 entries has yet shown convincing form, but several were expensively bought and carry high hopes of their connections. The appearance of Irish-bred Mariydi, owned by Jiri Charvat and trained by Frantisek Holcak, will be closely watched. Ivan Poddubny, by Saddler*s Wells, owned by Giterman Estates and trained by Arslangirej Savujev, was a very disappointing expensive purchase when he was well beaten here in April. None of the runners on Sunday yet has a high enough rating to be sure of a place in the Derby field, which is restricted to 16, so this will be a key race for the connections of every horse in the race. The first race will be at the normal time, Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.