The 119th Velka Pardubicka was won in stunning fashion by TIUMEN ridden by his trainer fifty seven year old Josef Vana. Vana who is a local legend was riding his fifth winner and training his seventh and is I believe the worlds oldest jump jockey. A small figure, battered and bruised over the years he once lost a lung and was nearly killed in a fall at Baden Baden (he still rode in the Velka that year) in the early nineties and was having his twenty third ride in the race. (I was still at school when he first rode in the race in 1985). There were many who questioned his decision to ride in the race again having announced his retirement from the saddle following his third place on Juventus last year. I, along with many Czech commentators were surprised to see him return to the sadddle at Albertovec in July when he rode Welldancer in the Albertovec Steeplechase. On that occassion the pair finished a long way last and I admit that I was fairly down on the idea of Vana riding in another Velka. Indeed my comments on TIUMEN in this years form guide read "his chances have been scuppered by his choice of rider". Never has a correspondent been so wrong and so Josef Vana on behalf of this website I apologise profusely for daring to suggest that you should not be riding. I have watched the Velka three times so far and this was a masterly piece of riding. This was no fluke, TIUMEN won on merit. Always handy with two fences to go he had joined SIXTEEN, POCCI (who ran out of his skin) and long time leader NUMERO DUE and swept past them with ease. The red hot favourite SIXTEEN was simply not good enough. I say it again this was a marvellous performance by horse and rider. My only regret is that I will not be able to tell my grandchildren that I was there. Other notable performances were RED DANCER who made most of the early running for Italian champion Romano Raffaele and DERBY SHARP who was with the leaders throughout until both faded in the closig stages. RED DANCER has thriled us over the years with his bold front running displays but now at the age of thirteen I hope an honourable retirement beckons. It was a strong British challenge this year yet none made the frame or played any part in the race. SUPER LORD did best to finish seventh but MR BIG was never in contention and both LUCKY NELLERIE and LUCKY LUK failed to finish. The former was leading when he took a dislike to Popkovives Turn, ran out and unseated Keith Mercer. Fortunately unlike in 1998 when a similar thing happened to Paul Carberry and Jenny Pitmans Superior Finish he did not cause any problems to those behind him. In fact as far as fallers were concerned it was a remarkably incident free race. I say remarkably because with a maiximun field of twenty five and some very moderate looking animals running I was expecting chaos. Yet only HIRSCH came down at the Taxis and with twenty two horses still in the race at haf way the field made a splendid sight as they cleared the fences with ease. In the end a record eighteen horses finished and the French finally got a finisher with JUFUL TENNIS in eighth place. Sadly SHIRLEY broke a leg at the final water continuing the Albetrtovec studs wretched luck in recent runnings.

As for me Velka afternoon was somewhat frustrating. Having been able to watch all the qualifier at Pardubice this season thanks to Czech TVs excellent "On Line service" at 12.10 BST I sat down at my computer with a bottle of Czech Lager at my side (if you can`t get to the Czech Republic bring a little bit of the Czech Republic to you). With the wife and children packed off to a friends orchard for an afternoons applepicking I was ready. Imagine my disappointment at being greeted with a blank orange screen telling me in Czech and English that the programme content was not available in my "territory" due to "Limited Copywright". Why this was the case when last years race was available is a mystery and so by post time my family had returned and I found myself peeling and coreing dozens of apples. Not exactly how I planned to spend the race. All I can say is thank goodness for Youtube and the nice Czech Lady who had uploaded a copy by 8.00pm. I still haven`t seen the supporting races but am pleased to note that I tipped four of the winners PUSHYANTUS in the Gold Brooch Hurdle for three year olds, LIFE IS LIFE in the Vltavy Prize, BREMEM PLAN in the Labe and ROYAL MOUGHIS in the Paramo. Watch out for BREMEN PLAN in next years Velka - he has already won three different races at this meeting throughout his short career.

So another Velka and another year of Czech racing passes. The season continues for another month and I will continue to comb the Czech TV archive but this is likely to be the last posting for the season. It was a season that started dreadfully with the pointless loss of MONING LET and I also silently mourned ARCHEA too but Vana ensured that we had a high to go out on. To absent friends....thanks for the memories. Josef Vana... I salute you

An incredible 26 horses have been declared for the Velka Pardubicka. The maximum field allowed is 25 so the Czech outsider RUBIN is a reserve. The field size is unprecedented for recent years where fields of between 14 and 17 have been the norm. Of course anything can happen in a week and all entrants will have to pass a vetinary examination on the morning of the race but if they all make it to the start it will be the third biggest field in the races history (the record is 29 in 1990). Since modifications to the course in 1993 we have only had fields sizes in excess of 20 three times , when 21 went to post in 1996 and 2001 and 22 in 1998. With such a large number of Czech horses having qualified for the race a big field was expected but this is quite something. The Pardubice executive will also be pleased with the five foreign challengers, three from the UK, one from Ireland and one from France (their first challenger since 2001). The only disappointment is that none of the Italians including FATAL MAC have been declared. Both Charlie Mann and Ferdy Murphy who are good friends of Pardubice send over MR BIG & LUCKY NELLERIE respectively and both have excellent chances as the Czech challenge whilst big on quantity is somewhat lacking in quality. Kim Bailey who saddled Supreme Charm in 2001 sends over LUCKY LUK who will be an outsider. The Irish send over veteran IL EN REVE who has run over seventy times and the French JUFUL TENNIS who has twice run over (but not completed ) the Cheltenham cross country course. Both these can be discounted and it should be remembered that Risk of Thunders second in 1999 apart the Irish and French have a terrible record in the Velka. The international flavour is also extended to the jockeys with Australian Paul Michael Hamblin booked to ride outsider MARATH, Italian champion Raffaele Romano engaged for RED DANCER and I note that Thomas Boyer (nationality unknown to me) who rides in Italy is on board ROOSEVELT. Of those missing AMANT GRIS is the main absentee but this was expected as all has not been well with him this year and he has not been seen out since the May qualifier. I am also sorry that LIGRETA has not been asked to take her chance. One qualifier KORRINKA has opted for the slightly easier option of the Labe Prize.

As usuall the Velka will be the eigth and final race on the card with post time for the first race 11.10 so get there early.

The form guide for the Velka will be posted on Wednesday at the latest.

The final Velka qualifier, the Velka cena Bargiela was run at Pardubice on 12th September. Usually the final qualifier is a fairly meaningless event with most of the main contenders already safely qualified but this year saw two horses still desperately trying to qualify. Most notable was NUMERO DUE who had fallen in two earlier qualifiers and the sole remaining Wrbna entry RED DANCER. In the event both qualified, NUMERO DUE put up a sound display of jumping to finish second (definitely eased in the closing stages) whilst RED DANCER finished in his own time and is really not the force of old. The winner was the seven year old GAWAIN who as yet does not hold a Velka entry. Connections are said to want to wait a year but do not be surprised if one of the big players (Wrbna or Dr Charvart who is also without a Velka runner this year) make a move. There are still two supplemental entry dates for the Velka on Thursday 24th September & Friday 2nd October. GAWAIN would have a sound each way chance if he is supplemented having chased home SIXTEEN in the August qualifier.

With all four qualifiers now having been run it now gets exciting as we try and work out the likely Velka field. A bumper crop of foreign runners are being prepared for a tilt at the Velka but first of all let us look at the home challenge.

We can rule out the following : -

Not entered in any qualifiers : BLIZZARD, DANDYS, DUERO, HASTAVEN, NERGOS, NIKODEM, PLAYLETTA & VODORYS.

Not qualified : BAGGIO, GERMAN MALT, MARKA & PURPUR.

Qualified but confirmed non runner : JUVENTUS

Qualified but doubtful : WELLDANCER & AMANT GRIS

That leaves us with 25 locally trained horses : BACCARAT, CLAUDIO, DEL SOLE, DERBY SHARP, FLORESTANO, HIRSCH, JUNG, KORINKA, LAKREG, LIGRETA, LIRAIN, MANDARINO, MARATH, MONTGOMERY, MR LAND, NUMERO DUE, POCCI, PROFIL, RED DANCER, ROOSEVELT, RUBIN, SHIRLEY, SIXTEEN, TIUMEN & TOMIS.

With the rumours of AMANT GRIS having suffered a setback (he has not been seen out since the May qualifier) when one analyses the local challenge it appears a little thin on quality. PROFIL & TOMIS have been surprise winners of qualifiers this year and POCCI has shown good form but these are not the best Czech cross country chasers and whilst NUMERO DUE is considered a class horse his jumping has been a major cause for concern this season. SIXTEENs performance in the August qualifier stands heads and shoulders above the rest of the local form this year and at this stage she does look to be the only local runner capable of repelling the expected strong foreign challenge in October.

SIXTEEN ran away with the third Velka qualifier, the Velka Cena Skanska at Pardubice last Saturday winning by eleven lengths from perennial runner up MANDARINO who has now finished second in seven of his last eight starts ! Whilst the grey mare will be looking for a third Velka win in October she has not been lauded as much as some of the recent multiple winners and the conclusion has always been that she has been nothing more than a "good" rather than great winner. In 2007 she beat a substandard field and last year won in the stewards room having been beaten by the better horse on the day. However, this was a devastating performance , taking the lead at the Snake Ditch water jump and winning as she liked. This is the best performance we have seen in the Czech Republic this year and she will go into October with a favourites chance. This was a good field although the likes of NUMERO DUE and BAGGIO failed to qualify. NUMERO DUE came down at Popkoviskes Turn with PURPUR whilst BAGGIO fell when beaten at Havels Jump. In all nine of the thirteen completed meaning that with one qualifier to go we have twenty five Czech horses qualified although Josef Vana has announced that the 2006 Velka runner up JUVENTUS has had a setback and will not run in October. As for NUMERO DUE this was his third fall at Pardubice this yearand his second in a qualifier. He jumped round riderless seemingly none the worse for his odeal but connections perhaps should take the hint that this is not his year. I was pleased to see LIGRETA qualify in fifth place. She was very useful as a six year old winning the September qualifier and also won the Vltavy Prize on Velka day. Now nine it does look as if her best chance has come and gone but she does deserve her chance in the Velka. One to forget though is the ex-German grey ROOSEVELT. I accept that I have been too generous to this handsome but very slow grey who finished tailed off. Other Velka prospects were also in action in a very competetive card that saw one hundred and nine horses take part in nine races in miserable wet conditions. The first four races all broadcast on Czech TVs on- line service saw a number of fallers not least in the Cat 2 race which saw Velka hopeful DEL SOLE take a horrible looking fall on the approach to the Irish Bank. In that race MR LAND finished last of only four finishers. Another Velka qualifier DERBY SHARP could only finish seventh in the opening Cat 4 race although he and others were lucky not to slip on the bend approaching Poplars Rails.

The second Velka Qualifier , the Paramo Prize was a much better affair than the tragic first one with a field that combined both quality and quantity. Eighteen runners went to post including SIXTEEN , making her seasonal debut, the up and coming DEL SOLE, WELLDANCER and NUMERO DUE. Run in glorious sunshine the race went to the outsider PROFIL who just beat DEL SOLE in a driving finish. SIXTEEN ran on to finish third having been held up throughout whilst MR LAND (who is now with trainer Pavel Slozil) ran a superb race to finish fourth just touching off WELLDANCER who was eased to finish fifth. These five finished fourteen lengths ahead of the others. In all a very healthy total of thirteen finished which means that we already have twenty home trained horses qualified for the Velka. I would expect the first five to run in the Velka although I doubt if PROFIL will be good enough to repeat this victory. It was nice to see PROFIL`s rider Michal Kohl in the winners enclosure. Formally one of the leading Czech jockeys he has had a quiet copule of seasons and this was his first winner this year from a handful of rides. The hard luck story of the race was undoubtably NUMERO DUE who ran a superb race and was in a clear lead and looking all over the winner when he came down at Havels Jump, the fourth last. Czech TV were concentrating on backmarkers at the time so the fall was not initially picked up by the commentator. I have no doubt that he would have won had he stood up and he remains not qualified. This has been his second fall in as many starts this season. Of the other non qualifiers GERMAN MALT came down at the second water whilst RED DANCER took a crashing fall at the Big Water when leading. Like NUMERO DUE he has now failed to complete in both starts this season and it may be that connections will conclude that at thirteen his best days are long past.

Away from the Velka meeting this is one of the big jumping days in the Czech Republic and the bumper crowd enjoyed nine well supported races. The other highlight on the card was the Cat 1 Valecnik Prize over the minmum 3300m distance which went to NUMERO DUES stable companion ARCHEA in an error strewn performance and on this evidence I do not think he will be reversing the form in the Poplar Prize on Velka Day with ARCHANDEL. GERNIA ran a big race in second place and there is definately a prize for this one. In the Cat 4 race I was delighted to see BLIZZARD romping to victory in his first start for new conections. This was his first performance for nearly two years and I hope to see him in the August or September qualifier with NUMEROO DUE who really has to sort out his jumping.

56 horses have been entered for the 2009 Velka Pardubicka which will be run at Pardubice on Sunday 11th October. This is thirteen down from last year but still a very respectable number. Once again there are interesting challengers from abroad notably the inclusion of the 2007 Grand National winner SILVER BIRCH. To have a Grand National winner in a Velka would be very special indeed and whilst I am often a little dismissive of the annual Irish challenge I am fairly confident that SILVER BIRCH will be allowed to take his chance as I recall that owner Brian Walsh originally bought him with this race in mind. There are four Irish entries in total, a larger than usual eight from the UK, two from France and two from Italy.

I will deal with the home challenge first and this year will look at them on a trainer by trainer basis as it should be remembered that since the course was modified in 1994 only six trainers have actually trained the Velka winner and all but Lenka Horakova (who trained the legendary Peruan to three victories from 1998-2000) are represented again this year.

Josef Vana (won with Cipisek 1996, Vronsky 1997, Chalco 2001, Decent Fellow 2006, Sixteen 2007 & 2008) heads the trainers with seven entries starting with his French bred grey mare SIXTEEN the reigning champion. Whilst she was lucky to be awarded the race in the stewards room she did very little wrong last year and she is considered the one they all have to beat come October. Time may be catching up with JUVENTUS, runner up in 2006. He ran well to finish third in 2008 but has not won for some time and was behind when he came down in the May qualifier last weekend. His connections may be more confident with the up and coming seven year old DEL SOLE who won a good race at Pardubices last meeting of 2008 and lifted the valuable Italy Prize at the first meeting this year. On that occassion he had four Velka enrtries behind him. MR LAND has just won twice in a career of twenty seven races but they included the 2008 Italy Prize and he rounded off a good season with a credible sixth in last years Velka. Despite this he will still be one of Vanas outsiders should he line up. POCCI, an ex German trained horse won the September qualifier in 2008 but bypassed the Velka in favour of the Labe Prize where he was just touched off in a close finish. He finished third in the May qualifier and would have each way claims at best. TIUMEN has won three races in a ten race career but does not appear good enough but I do like the seven year old WELLDANCER who like DEL SOLE has already entered the winners enclosure at Pardubice this year and impressed me with his two wins at Pardubice in 2008. My one concern is he may not stay as he is yet to race further than 5200m. He is on my Ten to Follow list so I hope he does.

Radek Holcak (Maskul 2002) has five entries headed by NUMERO DUE, a Bratsilava specialist he has won eight races and beat WELLDANCER over 5200m in August. Fourth in the 2008 Velka he uncharacteristically unseated his rider in a supporting race last weekend. He is probably not good enough to win but I hope he will run another solid race. NIKODEM who runs in the same colours is an interesting entry. More of a hurdler/conventional steeplechsaser he has won at Merano and won the Crystal Cup over hurdles on Velka day in 2006. BLIZZARD is a recent addition to the Holcak stable. He was a very good horse in 2006 winning a Category 1 Chase at Velka Chucle and there were high hopes for him in 2007. Sadly these were not fulfilled and he has not seen a racecourse since September 07. If fit and back to his best this would be a very interesting runner. DERBY SHARP has won five races from thirty two starts and was running well in the May qualifier before he took a horrific looking fall on the plough when he was brought down by a prostrate jockey. This one could run into a place. Finally Holcak saddles SHIRLEY who runs in the same colours as AMANT GRIS but is not as good. He finished the May qualifier a distant last in his own time.

Radeks father Frantisek Holcak (Erudit 1994, Maskul 2005) has three entries the best being GERMAN MALT who is owned by the Czech Republics leading owner Dr Jiri Charvat who owned the recently retired Czech legend Decent Fellow. A lightly raced eight year old he finished third behind DEL SOLE in the Italy Prize and I doubt if he is going to be as good as Decent Fellow.PLAYLETA is a strange entry as he has been running on the flat lately and has run in one race over fences in two years. ROOSEVELT is another dashing grey of the AMANT GRIS/SIXTEEN mould and has had good form in Germany and Italy. However the winner of last years Albertovec Chase is getting on now and will not be featuring in the shake up.

Cestmir Olehla (Registana 2003 & 2004) has suffered a bitter blow with the loss of MONING LET whom he described as "irreplaceable" and indeed the Olehla/Wrbna team is struggling to find that replacement. BAGGIO is a surpise entry although he has shown ability over the cross country course with his win over AMANT GRIS in the 2007 Vlatavy Prize on Velka day. However, he had just the one run in 2008 and has been off the course for over a year. I was expecting MASINI to be entered but he is missing and Olehla has plumped for experience with old warriors RED DANCER & HASTAVEN. Both have proven form over the course (HASTAVEN has won three qualifiers in his time) but at thirteen and fourteen respectively they are simply too old to mount a serious challenge.

Away from the big four , trainer Hana Kabelkova who has trained just five steeplechase winners in her six year training career has three entries. BACCARAT is probably the best and won a small race at Pardubice in May. DANDYS is not experienced enough and PURPUR has not been seen out since winning a chase at Milan two years ago. All can be ignored.

Milan Theimer send out AMANT GRIS last years "winner" of the Velka who lost the race in the stewards room. A quiet run in this years May qualifier where he finished sixth can be discounted as he will be up with the market leaders in October. The best of the Czechs in my view.

Keep an eye put for Marcel Novaks entry TOMIS who is very much on the up winning seven in total and his last four. Won the valuable Labe Prize on Velka day and a convincing winner of the May qualifier. Will come into the reckoning. Novaks other entry MARKA has no chance.

Six year olds are eligile this year but only one FLORESTANO has been entered. Trained by Jaroslav Votova he is quite inexperienced having missed all of last year. His one win has come at Merano. Not experienced enough. His other entrant VODORYS has been running in minor races and is outclassed.

Vit Hrabacek enters LIGRETA who is possibly the forgotten horse in the field. As a five year old he won the Vlatavy Prize and at six he won the September Velka qualifier and there were very high hopes for him . Then it all went wrong and he has been very lightly raced and shown abosolutely nothing since.

Veteran trainer Frantisek Zobal has entered CLAUDIO who won two small races last year and failed to qualilfy for the 2007 Velka. Zdenek Semenka enters LAKREG who finished a credible fourth in the May qualifier. Pavel Kinsky runs MARATH who unseated at the second water in the Velka last year and has juist one win under his belt. He has already been soundly beaten at Pardubice this year and makes no appeal. Champion Jockey Jaroslav Myska also trains this years First of May Chase winner NERGOS who may be the best of those coming from smaller stables.PROFIL from the Jiri Janda stable has three wins from eleven starts over fences but was another to unseat in last years race. Paulina Bastova has entered JUNG who unseated at the "Drop" in the Velka last year. Three wins from seventeen starts is not Velka form. Two that can be completely ignored are LIRAIN trained by Jaromir Hrudka who has so far sent out two of the worst horses ever to run in a Velka and this one is not much better and RUBIN trained by Martina Ruzickova who is still a maiden after twenty six attempts Stansialv Popelka has entered three horses. Veteran HIRSCH (Stanislav Popelka) ran the race of his life to finish second last year but has not won since 2006. His other entrant KORINKA has won three races none at Pardubice and his jumping sometimes lets him down. His best chance is dual First Of May Chase winner MANDARINO who finished second in the May qualifier and is one of the most versatile horses in training as he has excellent form over conventional fences and hurdles. This is the "dark horse" of the field.

Polish trainer Greg Wroblewski has entered the talented DUERO who has winning form over hurdles at Pardubice but has done most of his racing in Italy where his trainer has been based for the past two seasosns. I beleieve Greg may be training in the Czech Republic now. He has had useful chasers in the past most notably Swedish Grand National winner Fanti Dancer and whilst not as good DUERO has proved himself in the past most notably when finishing fourth in last years Gran Premio di Merano.

To conclude, the flying greys SIXTEEN & AMANT GRIS and BAGGIO are probably the best of the Czechs. TOMIS and DEL SOLE are on the way up and must be considered. WELLDANCER needs to prove he can stay. NUMERO DUE & JUVENTUS are not good enough to win but shoud run well. MANDARINO, DUERO and NERGOS deserve respect. BLIZZARD is the best of the rest but has a lot to prove. RED DANCER & HASTAVEN are past their sell by dates. Forget the rest.

UK entries - Charlie Mann and Ferdy Murphy have been good to Pardubice over the years and both have an entry apiece with LUCKY MELLERIE and MR BIG respectively. I have to admit I know nothing about either although I have since found out that LUCKY MELLERIE won the Durham National at Sedgefield on his last start and has five wins from twenty two starts over fences. MR BIG has won four times and last season won at Uttoxeter, Folkestone and Chepstow. Kim Bailey has entered LUCKY LUK who has won three chases in a twenty six race career. Jim Old who is yet to have a Velka runner has entered two SUPER LORD and TEAM CHASER . The former has shown very little recently pulling up in three of his last four starts and I cannot get too excited about the latter who has just has nine starts over fences and won once.Charlie Egertons DARKNESS is the most interesting of the British challenge having finished thirteenth in the Grand National last time out. Eight wins from eighteen starts would give him a favourites chance if he lined up come October. The other two entries BURNTOAKBOY and BOYS HURRAH remind me of the amateur challengers of the eighties and early nineties. Both have been running in point to points recently having shown very little over rules although I note that in his younger days BOYS HURRAH completed the course in the Topham Chase over the National fences in 2005. To be frank it is not the strongest of challenges DARKNESS stands out and anything sent to Pardubice by Charlie Mann and Ferdy Murphy must be respected but I would rule out the others.

Irish entries - Last year despite many entries none travelled to Pardubice. SILVER BIRCH (Gordon Elliott) would be a hot favourite if he were to run. As well as the 2007 he won the Becher Chase and Welsh National in his younger days when trained by Paul Nicholls. Bought with the Velka in mind as well as his National victory he has also run well over the Banks course at Punchestown and the Cheltenham Cross Country course. This is by far and away the best Irish entry since Risk of Thunder in 1999. WONDERKID (Tony Martin) also would have a great chance although he was entered last year and didn`t run. He has won over the Cheltenham Cross County course in 2007 and also over the Punchestown banks course. There are three other entries, Gordon Elliott also sends out DUBLIN HUNTER who was last seen out when puling up over the banks at Punchestown in May. SPARE CHANGE (P J Rothwell) has won a chase and two hurdles. IL EN REVE (Olive McKiernan) is the most experienced entry with six wins in seventy starts. He last won in June 2006. These three would be big outsiders if they lined up in October.

French entries - Just two this year and neither have come to the attention of British racegoers. Both L`ANGE DU BOULAY (P.Priollet) and NADOU (Phillipe Peltier) are cross country horses who have been running in the French provinces. L`ANGE DU BOULAY will at least stay as he has run three times in the Loire-Anjou Chalenge which is the worlds longest steeplechase over 7200m. However it should be remembered that the French have not lined up since 2001.

Italian entries - Champion jumps trainer Paolo Favero has entered two. POGGIO TORSELLINI has won six out of seventeen runs winning last time a steeplechase at Merano in May. KANDINSKY (ten from thirty one) is a good cross country horse in Italy but realistically neither are as good as the two Italian runners at Pardubice last year. It is a strong possibility that these may be replaced by other entries in due course.

Another Grand National, another National Hunt season and once again come May I turn my sights Eastwards to that other great steeplechase the Velka Pardubicka which this year will be run on Sunday 10th October. For the 2009 running there there is to be a major change to the race conditions in that for the first time since 1997 six year olds will now be eligible to run. The initial change was made to bring the Velka in line with the Grand National. Ironically a year later Aintree changed their rules allowing six year olds to run. Now ten years later both races finally have the same conditions. There was some rumblings over the winter that the four qualifying races would be scrapped but I believe that this is no longer the case. I have to say that this is good news as far as this site is concerned as I do like to work out throughout the year which horses are likely to run in the Velka, who has qualified and who has not.

Apologies that it has taken me longer than usual to post the Ten to Follow. I have finally had to come to the conclusion that Bagdad (one run in three years) and Dellan (not seen out for nearly two years) are not going to hit the heights I so confidentally predicted for them in previous lists and that, away from Most Alberto is a complete "nutter" who should be treated with extreme caution. I have also deliberately left out JUVENTUS and SIXTEEN who are expected to have more success but who will not be winning the Velka this year. As this is a Velka loving web-site there is of course a leaning towards to the long distance cross country horses but as always there are a couple of "dark horses" included.

AMANT GRIS (Trainer : Milan Theimer) - Forget the stewards enquiry and subseqent disqualification this is the "true" Velka winner. Amant Gris finished first past the post in the 2008 Velka Pardubicka and this is the best "grey" steeplechaser in the Czech Republic. Any doubts about his stamina were dispelled last year and I firmly believe he will finally write his name on the Velka honours board this autumn.

BREMEN PLAN (Radek Holcak) - Runs in the "Nyznerov" colours made famous by dual Velka winner Maskul who has now earnt a very well deserved retirement. Now six years old I expect him to be entered in the Velka as his replacement. He has only won two races in his career but both have been in supporting races on Velka day. In 2006 he won the Gold Brooch Hurdle as a three year old and last year the Vltavy Prize over the cross country course last year. That was a very competetive affair. He loves the course and is the best of his age group.

COLOR MAN (Cestmir Olehla) - The best hurdler in the Czech Republic with three wins in his first season over timber last year. He won the Slovak Champion Hurdle at Bratislava on his hurdling debut and was then a little disappointing in his next two starts. Ignored by me when he romped home to win the Crystal Cup on Velka day he followed that with another Category 1 win this time at Velka Chucle in November. I fully expect him to go on to greater things this year possibly in Italy.

CYRIL (Lenka Syslova) - This years "dark" horse. Two runs and two very easy wins over fences in minor races at Brno and Slusovice in the Autumn. Ridden both times by his trainer. She had a lovely grey horse called Sater a couple of years ago (who I always quietly rated) and I hope that Ms Syslova has some more success with this four year old.

MASINI (Cestmir Olehla) - What next for Masini ? The one time leading Czech steeplechaser and prize money earner his victory in the Gran Premio di Merano and his attempt at the Grand Steeplechase de Paris now seem a very long time ago. A serious attack of colic in 2007 nearly ended his careeer (and his life) and his efforts in last years Merano showpiece show that his options are looking limited. He has only run twice over the cross country course in 2006 (with mixed results) but if last years injury to Moning Let has taught his connections aynything it will be not to have all your eggs ino one basket. I expect his stable companions Babie Loto and Baggio to be aimed at the top Italian prizes so Masini is my idea of the Wrbna stables number two Velka runner. He has already won at Bratislava this year.

MONING LET (Cestmir Olehla) - If only the six year old rule had been in place in 2007 Moning Let now be looking for a second Velka victory. The most exiting chasing prospect in 2006 things went horribly wrong last year starting with a nasty fall at the Irish Bank in the first qualifier and ending with a foot injury which ruled him out of the Velka. In between there was an effortless victory in the June qualifier. At eight time is still on his side and we await his seasonal debut with anticipation.

NUMERO DUE (Radek Holcak) - Won his first race at Pardubice in August beating the very well thought of Welldancer. Finished fourth in the Velka itself and has a good record at Bratislava. I am not expecting him to win the Velka but he should continue to do well and I expect him to pick up more races.

POCCI (Josef Vana) - Ex-German trained he has done very little wrong since coming to the Czech Republic. Won the August qualifier and was re-routed to the Labe Prize on Velka day which he won before being demoted to third place in the stewards room. Another for the Velka short list.

ROYAL MOUGINS (Radek Holcak) - I doubt whether the best conventional chaser in the Czech Republic (and Italy & Central Europe for that matter) will be tried over the Cross Country Course at Pardubice despite some rumours. However, I do expect him to continue his amazing run (just one defeat in his last ten starts) in Italy and gain his third win in Pardubices two top chases, the valuable Gold Cup (run in late June) and Richard Davis Memorial on Velka day.

WELLDANCER (Josef Vana) - Not seen out after finishing second behind Numero Due in August Welldancer had earlier put up two excellent performances at Pardubice winning a Catergory 1 race in June. Another interesting seven year old.