Not For The Faint Hearted

The Velká Pardubická is the highlight of the season at Pardubice and could be considered the greatest test for a steeplechaser and jockey.

Pardubice Racecourse is found east of Prague in the East Bohemia region of the Czech Republic. It’s an area well-known for its admiration of horses, which even feature on the city of Pardubice's crest.

The Velká Pardubická is the highlight of the season at Pardubice and could be considered the greatest test for a steeplechaser and jockey. The race was first run on the 4th of November 1874 and takes place every year on the second Sunday in October.

The course is made up of 31 obstacles, set over four miles and two furlongs (6,900m), on a surface that’s made up of a mixture of turf and ploughed fields.

The names of the fences alone are enough to strike fear into many a jockey; they include Snake Ditch, Big Water Jump and Popler's Jump. The latter is so named because the jockey Rudolf Popler died there in a race back in 1932.

And of course… Velky Taxisuv Prikop or Great Taxis Ditch: the most difficult and dreaded fence in the course, it's jumped only once a year early on in the Velka. It can't be jumped in training or any of the qualifying races. The daunting obstacle has been there since the start, despite many riders lobbying for it to be removed. A group of racegoers led by Count Egun Thurn-Taxis persuaded the organisers to keep it.

The Velká was nicknamed ‘The Devil’s Race’ for its notoriously tricky twists and turns. Amant Gris crossed the line ahead of the field in 2008 but was disqualified for getting it wrong.

A horse called Zeleznik set the record, winning the race four times underneath Josef Váña, the most successful jockey in the history of the race. Váña won it eight times out of 28 runs. He now also has ten winners to his name as a trainer. A bronze statue of his likeness was unveiled outside the course in 2010.

The record time to complete the race was set in 2015 by Ribelino, who managed to get round in 8 minutes and 56 seconds.

Few British jockeys have been brave enough to compete in the race, and while some have become victims of the tough course, there are a few that have managed to complete it.

Modifications were only made to the obstacles in the early 1990s after the public protesting of animal rights campaigners. The criteria for both horse and jockey to qualify for the race were also made more difficult, increasing the entry standard.

Will you be watching this year? Perhaps through your fingers?