Fourteen horses lined up for the 121st running of the Velka Pardubicka, after Teviot was withdrawn due to injury. Following substantial rain on the previous day, the going was good to soft, and on a cool afternoon the conditions were good for steeplechasing. Zulejka did not get far, coming down at the second fence. As they approached the Taxis, Sixteen was surprisingly in the lead. Karlsbad came down at the Taxis. His jockey, Marcel Novak, explained that he had not got a good run in to the fence, and that you do not get over the Taxis without enough momentum. Tiumen made a mistake at the Taxis, and was at this point 5 lengths behind the field. Sixteen remained in the lead, setting a pace that all the others were able to keep up with. Flambion and Bremen Plan were prominent. Tiumen gradually made up ground, and nothing dramatic happened until the Big Water Jump. Here Klaus, which had been backed in to a rather short-priced second favourite, put a foot in, and unseated jockey Jaroslav Myska. The jockey was frustrated as his horse had not made any mistakes prior to that, and was going well. The next to go was at Havel´s fence. Trezor, which had not settled well in the first half of the race, had been started going better by this point, and his jockey, Bohuslav Matl, had begun to hope he might achieve a good finish. However, a fall put an end to his race. Sixteen was still in the lead, and by the second from home it became clear that there were only three left in with a chance. Sixteen was closely followed by Valldemoso, with Tiumen moving up ominously. They came to the last fence in that order, and Sixteen and Vallldemoso put in a rather better jump than Tiumen.

Fifteen runners and riders will go to the start for the 121st running of the Česká pojišťovna Velka Pardubicka, which will be run on Sunday, October 9th. There will be no four-legged international participants. Only Swiss-based jockey Julien Lemée and Slovak jockey Jiří Kousek, who was born in Brno, will represent the rest of the world.

The names of fifteen horses appear on the list of declared runners for the 121st Česká pojišťovna Velka Pardubicka. The most important race of the season over fences, which will like last year be the most richly sponsored race in the Crystal Cup 2011 international  crosscountry steeplechase series, will be run on Sunday, October 9th. The list published on September 30th contains only horses trained in the Czech Republic. It includes the names of the winners of the last four renewals of the race, double winners Sixteen and Tiumen. Tiumen will be going for a hat trick of wins, having succeeded in 2009 and 2010, and Sixteen will also be going for her third win in the race.

The last race meeting at Pardubice before Velka Pardubice weekend was held on a pleasant September Saturday. After frequent rains all summer and in the week before the meeting, the course was muddy in places, specially on the ploughed fields behind the copse, but generally the going was good to soft. Some obstacles were not safe for use, and were either replaced by an adjacent obstacle or were left out.  The feature race was the France Car Prize, the fourth and final qualification race for the Velka Pardubicka.

The last of the four qualification races for the 2011 Velka Pardubicka, sponsored by FRANCE CAR, will be the feature race on French Day at Pardubice on Saturday, September 10th. Eleven horses are entered.

The winning team from the last two Velka Pardubickas made their mark on last Saturday’s Slovak Day at Pardubice racecourse. 10-y-o bay gelding Tiumen, ridden by Josef Váňa senior, won the third qualification race for this year's 121st running of the high point of the Czech steeplechasing season in October. Köi Dent’s representative won the ELTODO Grand Prix convincingly, even though he ended up only a neck in front of second-placed Klaus. "It went well, and I got a good ride today. After the last fence, Tiumen accelerated nicely, and I am happy that we beat such a high-quality field," declared Josef Váňa senior, seven-time winner of the Česká pojišťovna Velka Pardubicka.

On August 20th at Pardubice racecourse, once again all the talk was about Josef Vana. The fact that he would ride in two races, on Welldancer and on Tiumen, attracted the attention of those who normally only follow Velka Pardubicka day. Earlier in the afternoon, he had a winner, Belmont, as trainer. But what made the headlines was his winning ride in the 3rd Velka Pardubicka qualification race, sponsored at the last moment by the Eltodo Group.

The first qualification for the Grand Pardubice won Baggio with the jockey Jaroslav Myška. Valldemoso finished second and the third was Aspirant. Nine horses completed the race.

The first of the four qualification races for the 2011 Velka Pardubicka - to be run on Sunday October 9th - has attracted a really strong field. It includes the winners of all four of the 2010 qualification races: Mandarino, Bremen Plan, Aspirant and Valldemoso. Other runners include 2007 and 2008 VP winner Sixteen, Labe Prize winner on VP day 2010 Wavelight Laser and runner-up Trezor. Lirain finished 6th in the 2010 Velka Pardubicka. 6-y-o Zulejka dead-heated for first place in the First of May Chase at Lysa-nad-Labem recently, with Baggio on third place.

Entries for the Velka Pardubicka closed at midday on May 12th. Forty-eight horses are entered, fewer than usual. All the expected Czech long-distance cross-country horses are there, including 2009 and 2010 winner Tiumen and 2007 and 2008 winner Sixteen. Six horses trained abroad are on the list.

Unbelievable Josef Vana became a Winter  of Velka Pardubicka  for sevents time. Record breaking 57 yo Vana  took the victory by shortest of the margins Annin on Tiumen by a nose from  Amant Gris. Tiumen  and Vana  were winners in 2009 and are celebrating big victory again.