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 favourite will be two-time winner of this race TIUMEN (ridden by Josef Váňa), which showed excellent form in winning the August qualification race, beating three horses, KLAUS (ridden by Myška), ASPIRANT(ridden by Lemée) and ZULEJKA (ridden by Šimůnek) by the narrowest of margins. These four horses should be the main contenders.

Among the rest of the field, there will be some support for TEVIOT (ridden by Havelka), which finished 5th last year, for LIRAIN (ridden by Josef Váňa junior), which finished 6th last year, and for September qualification race winner VALLDEMOSO (ridden by Andrés).

WAVELIGHT LASER (ridden by Kousek) and TREZOR (ridden by Mátl) will also be expected to do well. They are both quite experienced, and they showed their quality a year ago, when they finished 1st and 2nd in the Labe Prize, WAVELIGHT LASER winning by just a nose.

BREMEN PLAN (ridden by Korpas) has been very successful at Pardubice in past years, and may be back to his best form.

The recent bright stars, AMANT GRIS (ridden by Stromský), MANDARINO (ridden by Kašný) and two-time Velka Pardubicka winner SIXTEEN (ridden by Bartoš), have lost a lot of their lustre this year, and probably will not be among the favourites. That does not mean, however, that they come into the race without a chance. One of them may have found some good form in the last few weeks, and could have a big say in the final reckoning.

FLAMBION (ridden by Sovka) and KARLSBAD (ridden by Novák) will be outsiders, but FLAMBION, in particular, might spring a surprise by finishing well placed.

The Velka Pardubicka will be the eighth and final race on the card, and will be run at 4.25 pm.

In the course of the lengthy history of the Velka Pardubicka, 998 horses have run in the race, so that, according to numbers that the horses will carry in the race this year, we can consider horse no. 2 to be the one thousandth horse to run in the race. TREZOR  will have this honour.

Most of the support races have good fields, but some of the stars are saving their strength for battles on the Italian front. Among our top crosscountry chasers, only those that are unfit are missing. In addition to several very good Slovak chasers, we will see two horses from Germany, brought over by Czech-born Pavel Bradík, who has been working on the far side of the western border for many years.

Tips:
I. SORBON - HANDSOME JACK - HEGNUS
II. SORTINA - CHERWICK - PERLA
III. RONINO - SILVER REGENT - IMÁGO
IV. SOKOL - EL MONDRI - DEKO
V. URSAN - CARDAM - MIRAINO
VI. BELMONT - TOMIS - IGNACIO
VII. RABBIT WELL - GEJZIR - PALM ISLAND
VIII. TIUMEN - ASPIRANT - KLAUS - ZULEJKA - LIRAIN
Milan Tůma

121st Česká pojišťovna Velka Pardubicka
October 7th - 9th, 2011 – Pardubice Racecourse

Friday, October 7th – 4th Central European Thoroughbred Sale
10.00: inspection of horses for the sale
13.00: beginning of the sale 

Saturday, October 8th, 2011 – DOMEC with Czech Radio Pardubice Grand Prix
Programme: 8 flat races
12.00 midday: first race – amateur riders’ race 
3.40 p.m: main race - DOMEC with Czech Radio Pardubice Grand Prix 

Sunday, October 9th, 2011 – 121st Česká pojišťovna Velka Pardubicka
Timetable:
8.00: Veterinary acceptance of horses for the 121st Česká pojišťovna Velka Pardubicka - paddock
11.00: Opening ceremony 
11.45: Chládek & Tintěra Pardubice a.s. Prize – Gold Brooch for 3-year-olds
accompanying programme: pony race - Malá Pardubická for Ponies
12:20 HP Česká republika Grand Prix - Czech Steeplechase Association Prize
accompanying programme: polo demonstration
12:55 Governor of the Pardubice Region’s Prize - Vltava Prize
accompanying programme: a performance by the PM STARS majorettes
13:30 Crystal Cup - Reader’s Digest Magazine Prize
14:05  Popler Memorial - Dominik Hašek Prize
accompanying programme: polo demonstration
14.45 Labe Prize - VCES a.s. Prize
accompanying programme - a performance by the PM STARS majorettes 
15.25 Silver Trophy - A.S.A. Group Prize
accompanying programme: AUTO IN competition announcement
16.25 121st running of the Česká pojišťovna Velka Pardubicka
16.45 121st Velka Pardubicka winners’ ceremony

Racecourse area opening times:
On Saturday, October 8th, the racecourse area will be open from 8 a.m.
On Sunday, October 9th, the racecourse area will be open from 8 a.m.
On Saturday, October 8th and on Sunday, October 9th, a mobile ATM bankomat will be available. 

Parking for visitors on Sunday, October 9th, 2011
Three car parking areas will be available for visitors:
- Pardubice airport
- area of the former District Military Administration opposite the main entrance to the airport (car -  Kč 150, bus - Kč 200, motorcycle - Kč 50)
- Road R1/37 (ring road from the Paramo overpass to the Dražkovice junction) -  Kč 150

From the airport parking area and from the District Military Administration there will be a free shuttle service. Buses will transfer visitors to the main entrance to the racecourse. The buses will go only in this one direction!
After the end of the races, a shuttle service will run to the former District Military Administration.
The parking areas will be open from 7.30 a.m. 

Ticket sales
Tickets for the meeting on October 8th
- price: Kč 90, children under the age of 15, free of charge.
- racing programme: Kč 60
Tickets for the meeting on October 9th
- admission to the racecourse only: Kč 150
- seats: the only tickets remaining on sale are for the uncovered stands (Kč 200 - 300) and in covered grandstand A, second floor (Kč 2800)
- entry for children up to the age of 10 is free-of-charge (if you want a seat of his/her own for a child below the age of 10, it is necessary to purchase a ticket)
- tickets will be on sale at the cash desks at the races on Saturday, October 8th. Tickets are also on sale on working days at the main Dostihový spolek office in Pardubice.
- racing programme: Kč 110