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.

Eleven horses lined up for the start, nine of them serious contenders to win this race and, indeed, the Velka Pardubicka itself, which will be run on Sunday October 9th. After a very rainy few weeks, the going was good-to-soft, and the day was sunny but cool, by the standards of August. Bremen Plan made the pace, while Amant Gris and Klaus ran prominently. Tiumen and Sixteen were both kept towards the rear of the field. Nothing dramatic happened in the first half of the race, though Bremen Plan made a mistake early on and Jan Korpas did well to remain in the saddle. The two outsiders, Korinka and Flambion, were pulled up when they went behind the trees for the second time. As so often, there was important action on the ploughed field before and after the 4th from home. Bremen Plan, Amant Gris and Caland dropped back. Tiumen began to move up, but Sixteen appeared to lack acceleration. Teviot, which had not run since his splendid 5th place in VP 2010, led them in to the third last. They were five in a line over the second last: Teviot, Klaus, Aspirant, Zulejka and, on the outside, Josef Vana senior on 2009 and 2010 VP winner, Tiumen. Tiumen put in the best jump at the last, and half way down the finishing straight, Vana decided not to give him a hard race, and rode him home without using the whip. It was not exactly the 2010 VP all over again. On that occasion, Vana took Tiumen into the lead about 250 metres from home, crossed on the the rail, dropped his hands and let Amant Gris attack again. On that occasion, Tiumen won by a short head. This time, Tiumen won by as much as a neck from Klaus, with Aspirant a head away in third place and Zulejka a head further back in fourth place. Teviot was 4 lengths behind in 5th place, and Caland, Amant Gris, Bremen Plan and Sixteen were all distanced. Needless to say, if Klaus, Aspirant or Zulejka had found a bit more of a finish, any one of them could have won. At one point it looked as if Aspirant might get up, but Vana was able to shrug his shoulders and smile as he was being interviewed on TV. When Tiumen's owner, Ivo Koehler, was interviewed, immediately afterwards, there was not the same sang froid.

There is little doubt that the best horse won, and he has already proved twice that the extra distance of the VP favours his chances. All of the first five produced fine performances. Klaus is not entered for the VP. He is owned by Wrbna Racing and trained by Cestmir Olehla, and this partnership already has Baggio and Ronino qualified. 6-y-o Klaus had won twice earlier this season at Pardubice, but was taking on the elite for the first time. If he is not supplemented for the VP this year, he is one to remember for future years. Aspirant won the August qualification race in 2010, and is clearly a contender. He has recently been moved to Jiri Janda's yard, and was ridden by Swiss-based French jockey Julien Lemee, who did well in his first race at Pardubice - not at all an easy course to learn. 6-y-o Zulejka has produced a number of good runs in the last couple of years, and this was her best yet. In last year's VP, Teviot, now 8-y-o, marked himself out as one to watch, and he confirmed his promise in this race.

12-y-o Amant Gris has not shown much in his three runs this year, but his past record in the VP means that he should not be ignored. 11-year-old Sixteen has also shown very little in three starts so far this year. She may be past her best, but 3rd, 2nd, 1st and 1st in the last four VPs is a record to be respected. Bremen Plan seemed to have a very bright future when he won the June 2010 VP qualification race in great style. He disappointed again here, but, at 8-y-o, he may still be capable of beating them all on his day. Caland, winner of the June 2011 qualification race, is not highly rated by his trainer, Josef Vana, as a horse for the VP. If the trainer has his way, and he usually does, Caland will run in one of the shorter races on VP day.

In the Category II SECA and Mr Bujnoch Prize, 5200 metres, the finish was between three VP entries. Belmont won for the third time this season at Pardubice. He has not yet run in a VP qualification race, and owner Jiri Charvat has two good horses, Aspirant and Chenonceau, expected to run on October 9th. We will see if Belmont is entered for the final qualification race, on September 10th. Second place went to Lirain, also trained by Josef Vana. Third past the post was Chenonceau, which was then disqualified because Jiri Kousek was unseated as they came over the Irish bank in the 'wrong' direction. The jockey got to the top of the bank before the horse did, and leapt back on to him. It was rather splendid, but against the rules in the Czech Republic. Kousek explained afterwards that he knew the rule, but Chenonceau needed a good pipe-opener 7 weeks before the VP.

Mandarino, which finished in the prize money in VP 2009 and in VP 2010, could finish only 7th in a Category III race, and seems to be only a shadow of his former self.

We now have our favourite for the VP. That will be Tiumen, with the extraordinary Josef Vana senior on board. The final qualification race is at Pardubice on September 10th. This year, there are 4 weeks between the September meeting and the VP meeting, so this meeting could figure in the warm-up plans of some trainers and owners of VP entries. Nevertheless, most of the evidence on the Czech-trained runners is now in.

Supplementary entries can be made by September 1st, September 15th and September 29th. Declaration to run is on September 30th. No news has yet reached me about the 6 foreign entries - 4 from Ireland, 1 from Switzerland and 1 from France.