Scan the list of runners for this year’s Velka Pardubicka and be surprised to see a smattering of Irish, British and American riders. Four of the 15 runners in fact. This is no anomaly however; there is a shortage of Czech jockeys which is encouraging Czech trainers to look further afield.

Whilst 3 of the foreign contingent have been engaged by their Irish trainers, a fourth is the enterprising James Best, who has built a loyal following of Czech handlers keen to use his horsemanship around Pardubice’s twists and turns. Best is back for a fourth ride in the famous race on Sunday, courtesy of a chance introduction to Stanislav Kovář, who trains from the centre at Doubravice.

“I’ve had a number of rides at Pardubice,” explained the likeable Englishman, now in his 17th season riding under Rules. “It came about quite by chance; I was in a WhatsApp group with Tom Garner (now training chasers in the USA), who used to ride a fair bit in the eastern European courses like Bratislava, Pardubice and at Merano in Italy, where the summer programme is much stronger than back home. He put me up for a ride in 2018 for Stanislav Kovář, where I completed in 10th. It was a unique experience I wanted to try again”.

And so he did. David Pipe ran Rathlin Rose the following year, capitalizing on Best’s previous knowledge of the course. Indeed, winners are generally to be found among Course and Distance winners, and a jockey who knows his way around is worth his weight in gold (or should one say Czech koruna). There was no fairytale, but they paid their travel expenses with a sixth place finish.

Best was back again in 2023 on the 4th placed Lombergini for Stanislav Popelka and again last October on Zataro for Marion Stangel, down the field. This year he rides Zarate for Veronika Lempochnerová, third in a shorter race over much the same course at Pardubice this time last year.

Zarate is no outsider; his preparation for this great old race has included a 2 1/2l third to last year’s winner Sexy Lord here at Pardubice in May, a race in which several of Sunday’s runners finished well behind. He has every chance given a fair run.

“I’m hoping for a good spin,” said Best yesterday. “Stumptown is the quality horse in the field, and I’ll likely follow Keith (Donoghue) or Jan (Faltejsek) around then see how the race plays out.”

The first 30 years of the race saw 18 British riders succeed around Pardubice, but British interest waned from the 1930s until amateur Chris Collins won for Arthur Stephenson in 1973, and Charlie Mann 22 years later. Ironically, there’s plenty of room for experienced steeplechase jockeys to make their talents useful here.

Let’s hope Best can use that experience to good effect on Sunday to fly the flag.

Find the runners here.