Blue Coral takes on Sharpour and Ediggio

Blue Coral supplemented for the Rigips Prize!

There will be a real buzz for the Rigips Prize at Prague Velka Chuchle on April 25th. Owner Dr Jiri Charvat has made a late entry for Blue Coral, our champion miler in recent years, to take on the pretender to his crown, Sharpour. Blue Coral was quite well beaten by Sharpour when they last met at Velka Chuchle in September 2009.  Sharpour and Blue Coral are expected to run mainly in Group races abroad this year. This sporting challenge by Blue Coral's owner, exposing his champion to a tough field, shows that Czech racing is not all about maximizing returns. Also in the field is last year's champion sprinter, Ediggio, voted the best Czech-bred horse of 2009, and last year's Oaks winner Rabbit Zamindar. The race is over 1400 metres.

Early start at Karlovy Vary on Saturday

Please note that the first race at Karlovy Vary on Saturday April 24th is at 10.15 am. The town of Karlovy Vary and the racecourse are well worth visiting, even if it means an early start.

Champion jockeys going from strength to strength

Last year's champion jockey on the flat, Vaclav Janacek, has begun this season with a flourish, riding 10 winners in the first three meetings of the season at Prague Velka Chuchle (Auto Hase Park). Jumps champion Josef Vana jnr, still a teenager, has now earned his jockey title by riding  50 winners. He won his jockey title at Lysa-nad-Labem on Saturday April 17th, on Grillias, trained by his father, then went by road to Treviso and rode three winners there on Sunday April 18th. Two of his three winners in Italy, Budapest, in a Listed steeplechase, and Priory Bay, are trained by Josef snr.

Pardubice poised to win ice hockey play offs

HC Eaton Pardubice are leading Ostrava team Vitkovice 3-0 in the best-of-seven finals of the play-offs for the Czech hockey championship  http://www.hcpce.cz/. 45-year-old goaltender Dominik Hasek "the Dominator" returned home to Pardubice this season after a long and great career in the NHL. Links between steeplechasing and ice hockey in Pardubice are always strong, and the whole town is currently very happy.