March 2010 Newsletter
As February comes towards its end, the snows that arrived at the end of 2009 are finally thawing. Here in Prague, the main problems for city dwellers are the dirty state of the thawed water, the large amounts of grit and salt that were spread to protect us from falling down too often, and seven weeks worth of dogshit, if that is the word I am looking for. It is a quite mess, and the city authorities and their work force will be busy for some time putting everything back in order, and it will be unpleasant work.
Out in the countryside, and even just down the way at Velka Chuchle racecourse, trainers will be knee deep in mud and wondering how they are going to get their horses ready for the first meeting of the season, on Sunday, April 4th. This is a perennial problem. As far as I know, none of our trainers have access to much in the way of all-weather facilities for galloping their horses.
Now that the thaw has finally arrived, it is possible to imagine that the racing season will begin in five weeks, and to start making plans for going racing. The Czech Jockey Club has already posted the racing calendar until the end of August. http://www.dostihyjc.cz/dostihy.php The big dates are as expected: the Velka Pardubicka is on the second Sunday in October, and the Derby is on the fourth Sunday in June.
Every racecourse used last year is planning meetings for 2010, including Radslavice. The exception is Svetla Hora - I have not heard any explanation for why this course is missing from the list. The two-day meeting at Mimon was a big success last year, with a visit by the president of the Republic, and with Vaclav Janacek smashing through the record number of wins by a flat jockey in a season. There will again be a two-day meeting there in August 2010.
Two weekends stand out for readers thinking about coming racing in the Czech Republic. Velka Pardubicka weekend, of course. There will again be a two-day meeting at Pardubice, with one of our major days of flat racing on the Saturday. The Derby weekend used to feature the rustic meeting at Netolice on the Saturday, but that has been brought forward a week. This year there will be a meeting at Pardubice on the Saturday, followed by Derby day at Prague Velka Chuchle on the Sunday.
Another attractive weekend is the fourth in July. The Saturday will feature the Oaks and the Velka Mostecka Steeplechase at Most, and on the Sunday, on the other side of the country, there will be the Albertovska Crosscountry Steeplechase at Albertovec. These two meetings clashed with each other last year. May 1st is a Saturday this year. The popular meeting at Lysa-nad-Labem, followed by flat racing at Prague Velka Chuchle on the Sunday is also worth thinking about.
The spring meetings at Pardubice are different from last year. One of the early May meetings has been moved to the end of May, and Gold Cup day is Saturday June 26th, the day before the Czech Derby.
http://www.pardubice-racecourse.cz/calendar-of-events-2010.html?lang=en
This time last year, these Newsletters tended to speak of the “so-called economic crisis” and of how it seemed not to be impacting the Czech racing calendar. In recent months I have seen plenty of very talented young people struggling to find a job, and I conclude that a crisis really has been created out there in the real world. Or do I mean the “so-called” real world?
In spite of the difficulties, the Czech Jockey Club is again expecting to be able to offer a full racing calendar this year, with all courses continuing to function. Svetla Hora as a training centre will still be a going concern. Many owners grumble, with justification, that they have to pay too much in entries and other fees, which only go up because of the repeated crises and never come back down after the crisis passes. They certainly have a point, but is not racehorse ownership a tax-efficient way of dealing with excessive wealth, arguably more fun than leaving it all to one’s ungrateful children?
This is a good time to start planning a second trip to Czech racing this summer. We will meet again, of course, for the Velka Pardubicka, but why not also Lysa plus Velka Chuchle; the Derby plus Pardubice; Most plus Albertovec?
Seeing the sun shining, feeling the warmth, watching the snow thawing, and then writing this Newsletter, has all filled me with hope that spring is now coming and an enjoyable horseracing season lies not far ahead.