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Horse racing is ever more popular

Horse racing takes place in the Czech Republic almost every Saturday and Sunday from the beginning of April until the end of October at one of a dozen racecourses, each of which has its own special character. Winter in Central Europe is too cold for training horses or for going to the racecourse. A typical race day offers eight races and may include flat racing, cross country steeplechase and hurdles races. Trotting also takes place in the Czech Republic, but separately from racing. Several of the racecourses are used for show jumping, three-day eventing, western racing, four-in-hand and other kinds of equestrian events.

The headquarters for flat racing is at Velka Chuchle, in the southwestern suburbs of Prague. It is wedged between a railway line and main road, with the Vltava River flowing just beyond the main road and the Berounka River joining the Vltava only a kilometer upstream from the far end of the course. In August 2002, when Prague suffered catastrophic floods, it was the racecourse that was the most dramatically inundated place of all. The whole course, all the stables, the apprentice school and even the grandstand were under three meters of water for more than a week. The course re-opened in April 2003. Most of the main races are held here on the good oval track and in front of the large grandstand, a legacy of the final years of Communist rule. Racing is held in Prague every Sunday afternoon, from the beginning of April until the end of June, and from the end of August until the end of October, with the first race at 2 p.m.

Steeplechase racing also has a long tradition in the Czech lands. The national headquarters for steeplechasing is at Pardubice, where the famous Velká pardubická Cross-country Steeplechase has been held since 1874. Records of horse racing at Pardubice go back to 1842. Most steeplechases in Europe today involve horses running an oval circuit with artificially constructed fences that have a more or less standard format. In cross-country steeplechasing, the horses and riders must deal with a wide range of obstacles including double fences, Irish banks, brick walls, ploughed fields, drops and jumps into water. The race winds its way around and across the course and at Pardubice behind a small wood! The horses need to be able to turn well and make adjustments in addition to galloping fast.

The Velká pardubická, held each year on the second Sunday in October, used to cultivate the reputation of being the longest, hardest, most dangerous horse race in the world. In modern times, such a reputation is no longer acceptable. The group of local people who took over management of the course in 1992 set about making the race much safer, though without destroying the color and atmosphere of this historic race. It remains the second longest race in the world at 6,900 meters (only the Grand National in Liverpool is longer). The landings after the fences have been made as safe as possible. The famous Taxis Jump (No. 4) used to have a drop of more than five meters from the top of the fence to the bottom of the narrow ditch beyond it, and uneven grass for the horses to land on. The Taxis is still a wide and challenging fence, but the danger for horse and rider has been much reduced. Velká pardubická Day has become a major social event and the cream of Czech society congregates some one hundred kilometers east of Prague for the afternoon.

There are three other "Category A" courses. The course at Karlovy Vary is set in lovely surroundings in the suburbs of this beautiful and famous spa town. It has a fine old wooden grandstand built at the beginning of the twentieth century. Both the town and the racecourse are well worth visiting, and can be reached in less than two hours from Prague.

The Most racecourse lies 100 kilometers north of Prague. Under the Communist regime, the old town of Most was demolished in order to mine the layer of low-grade brown coal that it had been built on. After the Velvet Revolution, a racecourse was constructed there as a part of major land reclamation projects. The landscape still looks unreal, as does the Communist town of Most with its concrete panel blocks of flats on the far side of the course. We hope it will develop into a major course.

Finally, there is Slušovice racecourse in the far east of the country. It is in a fairly remote location, but one that has long been connected with horse breeding and horse training. Like many Czech racecourses, stud farms and training centers, Slušovice has struggled since the changes in 1989 with long disputes over land ownership and rents. Another long-term post-Communist problem is the dilapidated state of the facilities. Communism was not good at maintaining buildings and facilities and all racecourse managers (except those at the new course in Most) have had to struggle with the problem of finding money for reconstruction.
There are, at any time, about eight functioning Category C racecourses in the Czech Republic. These are typically training centers where, once or twice a year, a race day is put together by local enthusiasts. The facilities may be basic, but the racing is as competitive as at Ascot or at Nakayama and there is always plenty to eat and drink. It is for this atmosphere that many of us like these small courses best of all!

Whether or not racing is an "aristocratic" sport, it certainly flourishes at times when there are rich private owners, companies willing to provide sponsorship and pay for corporate entertainment, and a population with leisure time and money to spend. There are many hopeful signs that such a society is once again developing in the Czech Republic. The twenty-first century should be better for Czech horse racing - and for the Czech people - than the twentieth century was.

Robin Healey

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