January 2010 Newsletter

We had some wintry weather in December 2009. A few years ago, we would have expected nothing else, but nowadays who can tell. Northern Europe, of course, could make good use of quite a lot of warming, on a local scale. Unfortunately, it seems to come only with some unwanted global impacts.

At the end of the year, the Czech Sports Personality of the Year is announced. This year, racing won a place on the podium for the first time. Josef Vana took third place, on the basis of his outstanding ride in the Velka Pardubicka. Josef Vana has done enough in the course of his career to deserve great honours, and his ride on October 12th was fantastic. The leading sports personalities in the Czech Republic have tended to be world stars from highly popular sports, like footballers Pavel Nedved and Petr Cech, ice-hockey superstars like Dominik Hasek and Jaromir Jagr, or athletics multiple gold medallists, Jan Zelezny and Roman Sebrle. Top crosscountry skier Katerina Neumannova, now retired, was also a national treasure. In 2009, the national football team failed to qualify for South Africa, the ice hockey team has been eclipsed, and the athletics team achieved nothing much in the European championships. The smaller sports had their chance. The vote went to speedskater Martina Sablikova, perhaps in the hope that it will inspire her to win a gold medal in the Vancouver winter Olympics, where she will start as favourite over 5000 metres.

A month ago, I awarded my vote for Czech racing personality of the year to record-breaking champion flat jockey Vaclav Janacek, with Josef Vana in second place. The latest news I have of Vaclav Janacek - of course taken from the Czech-language web pages of Paddock Revue - is that he is returning to Switzerland for the winter. Last winter he rode in several White Ice races, and even rode over hurdles. This winter he is going to a different trainer at Dielsdorf, to a trainer specialising in jumps races. The reason: "It is quite well-paid, good work, but my main motive is that I want to try to make my mark again in the races at Arosa and St Moritz." No Czech trainer has yet announced that she or he will be taking horses to race on the snow in Switzerland, and Janacek will be trying to get rides for Swiss owners. He does not exclude anything, and is ready to ride over hurdles or fences. He intends to spend two months in Switzerland.     

Further news about a jockey is that Dusan Andres is to follow trainer Greg Wroblewski to the Pegas stables at Zhori. Pegas appears to be making a serious attempt to be a leading jumps stable, with one of our leading jumps jockeys based at the stable. Andres and Wroblewski were together at the Rabbit stable in 2009. 

Our long winter break means that we easily find time for more than just Czech racing. We will watch out for Czech horses running abroad, mainly in Italy. First news of new foals is imminent. There are a couple of places where people gather to watch At the Races from England. I regret that I did not make the effort to see Kauto Star's recent victory at Kempton. Even on video, knowing the result in advance, it must have been an impressive performance.

I have failed to get excited in recent newsletters about the Crystal Cup crosscountry championship. There are big cultural differences between the countries in which crosscountry steeplechasing is practised, and I would have liked to see a greater effort at harmonization prior to starting up the championship. Most of the races in this year's championships are existing races, and they retain their old dates in the racing calendar. It is hard to see Czech owners, who aim their best crosscountry chasers at the Velka Pardubicka, aiming at the Crystal Cup instead. And if the horses are being aimed at the VP, it is hard to see where the Crystal Cup events fit in to this preparation. My interview with Ivo Koehler, owner of 2009 VP winner, Tiumen, was very short. "Will Tiumen be competing in the Crystal Cup?" I asked. "No," he replied. Not to be defeated, I asked what his plans are for 2010. Tiumen will be aimed at the Velka Pardubicka and will not run outside the country, Ivo answered. I am not suggesting that no Czech horse will go for any of the Crystal Cup races. I just doubt whether it is currently in the work plan of any of the major contenders for the 2010 Velka Pardubicka.

Some of the races, for example the Gran Premio at Merano, are quite different from the VP, and will attract Czech entries. The Gran Premio is only three weeks before the VP, and it is not likely that horses will run in both (though Decent Fellow was placed in both races, 4 years ago). The other races are quite a long way away, and several are held when our training centres are frozen in. We will see what happens, and we will hope that some intrepid owner and trainer decide to send a horse to Punchestown, to Cheltenham, or at least to one of the French courses for a race in the series.

There is one small advantage in sending a horse for one of the Crystal Cup races: the races have been declared VP qualifying races. For some reason, the Czech Steeplechase Association again would not agree to have the same qualifying conditions for Czech-trained and non Czech-trained runners in the VP. I am sure the Steeplechase Association has the best interests of Czech steeplechasing at heart, though I do not understand why they insist on slightly more stringent conditions for Czech runners.

I hope 2010 will be a good year for everyone. Nevertheless, I recognize that racing is a sport of winners and losers - more losers than winners. This year, I hope the good guys and gals will keep winning, and that the bookmakers will come to the end of their long, long winning streak.