Velká pardubická

The race was first run in 1874 in Pardubice, a town long known in the horse racing world, as some trainers and jockeys from England came there to work. The current steeplechase course was established in 1856, however the course first took its present-day form in the years just after the Second World War.[1]

The course of the race has been changed several times, most recently in 1998 when the direction of the final phase of the race was changed to accommodate the new grandstand. The surface of the racecourse is mainly grass, but one-quarter of the race is run through ploughed fields, which used to take almost half of the race in the past. Some obstacles have also been changed, mostly to improve safety, although the difficulty of the race is said to have suffered as a result.[1]

Horses must negotiate a total of 31 obstacles.[2] These are:

• 1 - Hedge (1.2m)
• 2 - Hedge with ditch (1.3m, with a 60 cm ditch on the other side)
• 3 - Small water jump (3m long)
• 4 - Taxis ditch. This is the most famous obstacle in the race, and it is jumped just once. 28 horses have died at this obstacle. In the past it consisted of a 2 m deep and 5 m long ditch hidden behind a 1.5 m high hedge. Nowadays, it is a 1 m deep and 4 m long ditch with a 1.5 m high hedge. This obstacle is used only for the Velká pardubická, and horses are not permitted to use it for training.
• 5 - Irish bank. This unusual obstacle requires the horses to shimmy up and down a steep artificial bank.
• 6 - Popkovic ditch. (1.3m hedge with a 2m long ditch on the other side)
• 7 - French jump. A pair of closely spaced hedges, 1.2m and 1.3m in height, which must be jumped as one.
• 8 & 9 - Small gardens. A pair of hedges, 1.25m and 1.3m in height, which are jumped in quick succession.
• 10 - English jump. (1.2m hedge with a ditch on the takeoff side)
• 10a - Extended taxis ditch. (Small hedge, about 1.1m tall, which joins with the main taxis ditch)
• 11 - Hedge with ditch. (1.3m, with a ditch on the landing side)

Historically, the most successful horse in the race was Železník. The horse won the race four times (from 1987 to 1989 and again in 1991).

Josef Váňa Sr. is the most successful jockey, having achieved eight victories, and he is also a very well known celebrity in the Czech Republic. There is a 2012 movie about him (Váňa, directed by Jakub Wagner). He has also trained 10 winners of the Velká Pardubická and six horses which have finished in second place.

The first (and only woman) to have won the race as of 2019 is Countess Lata Brandisová (1896-1981), who won in 1937 with her mare, Norma - seven lengths ahead of the professional jockey Willibald Schlagbaum in second place. Only 10 of the 15 runners finished. She was the first woman to enter the race in 1927 (falling five times and remounting to finish fifth). In later years she came in fourth, third and second on Norma.[3]

The 1937 Grand Pardubice was the last race held for nearly a decade. The 1938 race was called off following the Munich agreement and not run during World War II.

• Racing Post:
  • 2012, 2013, 2014

• Official website
• Official website of Pardubice Racecourse