News from Prague, Bratislava, Milano, Paris and Pardubice,
Greek and Cyprus Day at Velka Chuchle collects 99 000 crowns for charity
On a lovely summer day, a large crowd gathered for Greek and Cypriot Day at Auto Hase Park Velka Chuchle Prague Racecourse. The singing and dancing began at 11 am and continued through the afternoon. The car park was full long before the first race, at 2 pm. Greek and Cypriot Day was organised by the Venus Trade and Tours travel agency, which was celebrating its 20th anniversary. VTT director Demetrios Lambrou coordinated a major event to which a wide range of Czech, Cyprus and Greek based companies, as well as dance groups and musicians, had contributed. A tombola was organised, with a lot of attractive prizes, and 99 000 crowns – about €4 000 - was collected and presented to the Tereza Maxova Foundation. The aim of this foundation is to enable every child to grow up in a family.
Talgado wins the Derby Trial
The main race at Velka Chuchle on Greek and Cyprus Day, July 6th, was the 59th running of the June Grand Prix 20th Anniversary of Venus Trade and Tours, the main Derby Trial (National Listed, 2240 metres, 3-y-o). The race was won quite convincingly by Talgado, which had finished 4th in the Czech Two Thousand Guineas here. Talgado, by Lomitas, is owned by Lider Racing Stable, trained by Filip Neuberg, and was ridden by Vendula Koreckova, whose biggest career win this was.
Last Derby Trial on Sunday
There are just two more meetings at Auto Hase Park Velka Chuchle Prague Racecourse before the summer break. On Sunday, July 13th, the main event is the 8th running of the Agrobyškovice June Cup, Category I, 2400 metres, 3-y-o. There are some interesting contenders, including Rabbit Gibraltar, which beat Lev, Talgado and Fabregas in his only race so far. Lev and Fabregas will take him on again here, and Talgado went on to win the June Grand Prix on June 6th. June 27th, is Fortuna Derby Day at Velka Chuchle. Please note that there is no meeting in Prague on June 20th.
Corcovada wins at Milano
Corcovada is a filly that won a Listed race for 2-y-os at the Curragh in Ireland last September. There was some surprised that such a filly should be available for purchase at a price accessible to a new Czech owner, DAR. Corcovada is now trained in the Czech Republic by Vaclav Luka, and on June 6th in her first outing this year, she won the Listed Premio Nogara, 1400 metres, at Milano.
Favourites win at Bratislava
The Turf Gala meeting at Bratislava on June 6th brought further victories hot favourites: Hungarian winning machine Steady as a Rock, Czech-trained 2009 triple crown winner Age of Jape, and Slovak-trained Bribon in the Derby Trial. Bribon is now quoted by Betino as favourite for the Czech Derby.
Shamalgan disappoints in the French Derby
After his very promising 3rd place in the French Two Thousand Guineas, Czech racing had hoped that Savujev-trained Shamalgan could do well in the French Derby. However, he finished only 13th, after not getting the best of runs.Perhaps he will now take his chance in the Czech Derby, which is run at Prague Velka Chuchle on Sunday June 27th.
Racing at Pardubice on Saturday, June 12th
The fourth meeting of the 2010 season at Pardubice will be held next Saturday. Please note that the first race at this meeting and at the meeting on June 26th will be at 3 pm, not at the usual time. The time change is due to the football World Cup schedules. The main race on June 12th is the second Velka Pardubicka qualifying race. Sixteen is entered, and so is Amant Gris, though he is for some reason listed as “unqualified”. Presumably some payment has not be made – let us hope this fine horse will be allowed to run on Saturday. As usual, the June qualifying race has attracted a good field. For example, Bremen Plan, Del Sole, Pocci and Profil are also entered.
Note that there is a particularly attracted weekend of racing on offer in the Czech Republic on June 26th and 27th. On the Saturday, there is the Gold Cup meeting at Pardubice, and Sunday is Fortuna Czech Derby day.