April 2010 newsletter
I have delayed the April newsletter slightly, not out of lethargy but because the pre-season press conference is on April 1st, and there may be some announcements. I hope so, because there is not so much else to write about. As far as lethargy is concerned, our bodies are adapting to an abrupt change in the weather after the long, cold winter. Not much before the middle of March, we suddenly began to enjoy warm sunny days. Last Friday, in particular, I had visitors from Ireland and we were able to spend several hours enjoying the sights of Prague under blue skies, with temperatures in the upper 20s in the shade. By the way, I recommend a visit to the beautiful city of Prague, combined with some horseracing, to all readers of this newsletter. The weather was too good to last, of course. April weather, as in the UK, is typically very changeable here.
Whether the horses will be feeling lethargic after the changes in the weather remains to be seen on Sunday April 4th, when the new season begins at Prague Velka Chuchle. No doubt I will be able to put down the performances of some of my tips to “not being up for it”, and/or “in need of a run”.
I expect to hear at the press conference, an hour from now, that the grass at Velka Chuchle is in good condition. In reality, it will probably be only moderately good after such a hard winter. The course was under snow for about 10 weeks. At the press conference, I also expect to be told about the new business partner of Velka Chuchle racecourse. This is Auto Hase, the Volvo agent in the Czech Republic. In addition, we will be told about the new course watering systems at Lysa and Slusovice racecourses, provided with support from the Jockey Club. Both of these courses are on the up. Lysa plans 5 meetings this season, and Slusovice plans 4. Both courses will no longer be dependent on rain to provide good ground in the summer months, and will be able in the long term to improve their turf. Lysa has very sandy soil with sparse turf; Slosivice, as I understand it, was set up on boggy ground, with a big pond in the middle of the course that provides excessively effective drainage. The capability to transfer water from the pond back on to the course should be a major improvement, and will make midsummer meetings possible.
In general, I expect Vaclav Luka, long-time president of the Jockey Club to inform us that the main aim has been to maintain Czech racing at its recent level, and to avoid the declines that have been observed in Germany, Austria and Italy in recent seasons. The racing calendar and prize money is expected to be very similar to last season and other recent seasons. Owners will continue to cover most of the costs of the sport, with high entry fees and low prize money. At least, he will say, this provides stability, and enables a certain amount of money to be spent on maintaining and improving the facilities at the courses.
Czech Television, Channel 4, seems to have good intentions for the coming Czech racing season. It has a very strong racing team of journalists who know racing very well, love the sport, but are not afraid to ask some challenging questions, too. They also have excellent camerapersons. The Josef Vana saga, in particular, has drawn attention to the sport, and Vana himself is an accomplished television personality. Some trainers and former jockeys appear to advantage on the screen, but it might be a good idea to teach the current jockeys how to present themselves in front of the cameras. Among the leading jockeys, only Josef Bartos seems to me a good and interesting interviewee.
Our trainers have had difficulty preparing their horses this winter, and fewer Czech-trained horses than usual have been running abroad. We finally had our first winner of the season, in a small race over hurdles at Pisa on March 30th. The horse was Listek, trained by Jozef Piruch and ridden by Petr Tuma. Listek had won his only other race over hurdles, at Topolcianky in Slovakia two years ago. Jozef Piruch has a small stable, right next to the Slovak border. He will start the season with high hopes, as Listek could be useful, and Jiri Charvat purchased a horse in France in the late autumn, listed as unnamed, which Jozef Piruch will train. The purchase price of this horse was a multiple of the price of the typical horse trained by a small Czech trainer. I go on at some length about Jozef Piruch as he is one of the most fluent English speakers in Czech racing and is known to several hardcore readers of this newsletter.
Petr Tuma’s success as a rider is also notable. In each of the last two seasons, Petr has ridden seven winners, about equally split between flat and jumps racing. We need new steeplechase jockeys to emerge, and he could well come through this year.
Having predicted what will be said in the press conference, I can perhaps post this newsletter now, and adapt it later in the day in the unlikely event of sensational announcements. However, my record of forecasting what is going to be said at Czech racing press conferences is very much better than my record of forecasting what is going to win the two o’clock at Velka Chuchle. At least this press conference is being held in a hotel that I have not visited before, the Park Inn, which is also listed as a partner of Velka Chuchle racecourse and therefore deserves a mention.
I do not expect doom and gloom at the press conference, and on bright April morning, with the season starting in three days, there seems to be good enough reason for the optimism that brings owners, trainers, jockeys and racing fans back another year of Czech racing.