Yet another memorable Velka Pardubicka

The second Sunday of October was a brilliantly sunny Indian summer day, and produced one of a long succession of memorable renewals of the Velka Pardubicka. A very large crowd had gathered, thanks partly to the lovely weather, but mainly to see whether Josef Vana senior could add to his six wins in the race as a jockey, or at least to his seven wins as a trainer. Vana's mount, Tiumen, was backed down to favourite, but probably mainly due to the stakes of those who have a bet only once a year, on the Velka Pardubicka.

Straight after the start, well-fancied Bremen Plan went to the lead, setting a good pace. He led the field over the Taxis, which again claimed only one faller. This time it was the promising young Valldemoso that unseated his rider, Dusan Andres, who had also last year been the only one to fail to negotiate the famous fence successfully. Bremen Plan led over the Irish Bank, which also caused few problems, and round the Popkovice Turn. At this point, Tiumen and Josef Vana were toward the rear of the field. Bremen Plan had fallen at the English Fence, No. 7, in the May qualification race this year, and now he took the fence too short. Jockey Jiri Kousek will have been disappointed that he was unable to remain in the saddle, and this was the end of a disappointing afternoon for him. His choice of the ride on Bremen Plan instead of Dr Jiri Charvat's Aspirant had cost him rides on two short-priced favourites owned by Jiri Charvat, Chenonceau and Royal Mougins, both of which had won very comfortably earlier in the afternoon. Martina Ruzickova and Rubin also parted company at the fence, behind the trees.

The lead was taken over by Bejrut, with Amant Gris in pursuit. These two set the pace until the crucial stage in the race. It was, as so often, the two stretches of ploughed field before and after the 4th from home, Havlov's Fence, that sorted out the contenders. In this space, in some mysterious way, Josef Vana senior ghosted Tiumen from midfield to the head of the field, and Josef Bartos also ensured that Sixteen had every chance. Meanwhile, some of the others fell back, with a number losing ground at Havel's fence. Both of Jiri Charvat's horses hit the fence hard. Bejrut was probably tiring, but Aspirant had appeared to be making a challenge. However, he hit the fence, and Jan Faltejsek did well to remain on board. Aspirant's blunder put an end to his chances in the race.

As they turned on to the grass track with three fences to go, Tiumen was alongside Amant Gris. As they came to the last fence, Amant Gris was slightly ahead on the inside. Tiumen took the last fence better, and he seemed in charge in the run in. Well inside the last 200 metres, Tiumen was about a length and a half ahead, and went over on to the rail in front of Amant Gris. Vana seemed to relax, and dropped his hands as if the race were already won. However, Amant Gris, ridden by Marek Stromsky, rallied and came up on the outside. At the post, the margin was a win by only a nose for Tiumen and Vana.

The connections of Amant Gris then lodged an objection on the grounds of crossing. Among the large British contingent, noone thought that British stewards would have taken the race away from Vana. We thought he rode hard and tough, but within our rules. The Pardubice stewards agreed with us, and Tiumen kept the race. Some have suggested that the Pardubice stewards did not dare to take the race away from the nation's hero, but in my view the outcome was correct.

Sixteen took 3rd place, following her 1st place in 2007 and 2008 and her 2nd place in 2009. Her jockey, Josef Bartos, said she had gone well, but had not shown much form all season. Mandarino was 4th, as he had been in 2009, and 5th place went to Teviot. Lirain and Aspirant wwere not far behind in 6th and 7th places. The other finishers trailed in in the rear: Kobuz, Lakreg, Juventus, Bejrut and Mr Big.

Mr Big, trained in England by Charlie Mann jumped the fences too high and made a major mistake at the Snake Ditch, but was above all not good enough.

After the race, Ivo Koehler, owner of Tiumen, praised the runner-up and said he would not have been too disappointed if the result had been reversed. This was yet another let down for the connections of Amant Gris. Their horse was disqualified after being first past the post in 2008, and the connections have had a series of good horses killed in the race: Shirley in 2009, Klip in 2008 and Cieszymir in 2007. Jan Hajek has taken over his father's mission to restore the Albertovec stud, and he continues to put on a race meeting at Albertovec each year in July. A win for him would have been richly deserved and very popular in the Czech horseracing community.

For 57-year-old Josef Vana, this was his 7th win in the race as a jockey and his 8th as a trainer. He has won the race in each of the last 5 seasons. On television he said "Sedm a dost - Seven, and that is enough" but few believe he will not be back next year. The Paddock Revue website has asked its readers what they think, and over 80% think he will be back again next year. Vana's ride on Tiumen this year was as masterly as his ride in last year's race. There is currently no greater personality in horse racing.

Josef Vana
Josef Vana is quite simply a legend in his own lifetime, and on Velka Pardubicka day 2010 a statue to him was unveiled at the racecourse. He is depicted pointing his whip at the Taxis.

Josef Vana’s name is synonymous with the Velka Pardubicka. When he rode Tiumen to victory in 2009, a few days before his 57th birthday, he was rightly acclaimed by the nation, and even won third place in the Czech Sports Personality of the Year competition. He has now won again in 2010, on the same horse.

Many experts had expressed the view before the race in 2009 that he should have retired long ago, and were amazed and impressed by his superb winning ride. In 2010, following that brilliant ride on Tiumen in 2009 and also his masterly ride on Lirain in the September 2010 VP qualification race at Pardubice, all accepted that he remains a formidable rider, even as he approaches the age of 58, and that we were watching one of the truly legendary figures in sport.

Josef Vana’s route into horse racing was not straightforward. He was expelled from the apprentices’ school for fighting – for the honour of a lady, he claims. He then took jobs as a construction worker and in mountain rescue – he is an expert skier. During his military service he took up bodybuilding and at one time weighed as much 80 kg. He was 28 years old before he got into horse racing and started riding as an amateur. His first ride in the Velka was on Paramon, on which he finished 2nd, just a couple of weeks before his 33rd birthday! He soon had the first of his four Velka Pardubicka wins on Zeleznik. Since then he has gone on to beat most of the VP records, both as a jockey and as a trainer, though he is not yet the oldest rider to have won the race. Not yet.

Vana is famous for the major injuries he has suffered to almost all parts of his body. The most serious was at Baden Baden in June 1994, when he suffered multiple broken bones and his heart stopped beating more than once on the way to the hospital. The day after leaving hospital he rode a horse, less than 10 weeks after the accident he rode in a race, and in October he rode in the Velka. His leg injuries prevent him running in his training regime, but he keeps fit by riding horses, cycling, swimming and, in winter, by skiing.

Vana has long been the leading trainer in the Czech Republic, achieving success on the flat as well as over fences. He races his horses all over central Europe. Nowadays the main target abroad is Italy, but he was also once champion jumps trainer in Germany.

Josef Vana is an engaging, lively and sociable character who makes time to talk to everyone. He is often interviewed and his opinions are always forthright and well worth listening to, lively and entertaining. He has been sought out to enter local and national politics, and has considered both very seriously, though it is hard to imagine him giving up racehorses for the less fascinating company of politicians. He has been deputy mayor of Chyse, which lies to the left of the road from Prague to Karlovy Vary, for the period up to mid October 2010, and there can be little doubt that he will be re-elected to the post.

In race programmes, Vana is referred to as Josef Vana 2. His son is Josef Vana 3. Still a teenager, Josef junior is our best young jockey. He won the jumps jockeys’ championship in 2009, and is practically certain to win the championship again in 2010.

The second Sunday of October was a brilliantly sunny Indian summer day, and produced one of a long succession of memorable renewals of the Velka Pardubicka. A very large crowd had gathered, thanks partly to the lovely weather, but mainly to see whether Josef Vana senior could add to his six wins in the race as a jockey, or at least to his seven wins as a trainer. Vana's mount, Tiumen, was backed down to favourite, but probably mainly due to the stakes of those who have a bet only once a year, on the Velka Pardubicka.

Past winners of the VP ..... download here