Blue ribbon from Prague to Poland after four decades

The 104th Westminster Czech Derby was run in front of more than four thousand spectators, a record attendance for this season, on Sunday 23rd June at the Chuchle Arena Prague. Thanks to a crushing finish, the winner of the most prestigious classic test was the only foreign participant, Polish guest Naughty Peter, who was superbly supported by British jockey Richard Kingscote. Naughty Peter, representing the stable of the race's sponsor Westminster Race Horses, won the Czech Derby exactly forty years after the Prague Derby-triumph of the great Polish Juror.

The favourite for the 104th Westminster Czech Derby (Gd-3, 2400m, 2 mio CZK, 3 yo) was the CONSEQ San Sebastian Spring Grand Prix winner, but he did not make a good position and finished eighth. Midway down the home straight, Slovakian Spring Grand Prix winner Gabon took the lead and managed to keep the attacking Pirlo behind him, and with no onslaught from any of his other rivals, he headed towards the finish with high hopes. However, Naughty Peter emerged from third in the final two hundred metres and rocketed closer to the leader. In the final metres he got ahead of him and after a neck and neck battle he triumphed. Gabon held on to second place by half a length from Pirlo, with the best of the quartet of fillies in the field, Squadron Zero, finishing fourth and Cheeky Boy completing the top five.

Naughty Peter, defending the colours of the Westminster Race Horses stable, is the ward of the reigning vice-champion Polish trainer Maciej Jodlowski and he brought the Czech laurel wreath with the blue ribbon to our northern neighbours exactly four decades after Juror's 1984 triumph. British jockey Richard Kingscote, owner of more than 1,500 victories in England, including winning last year's English Derby, did an outstanding job on Naughty Peter in his Central European debut.

Westminster Race Horses is not only the owner but also the breeder of Naughty Peter, and as he was born and bred in the Napajedel stud farm, the winner of this year's Czech Derby is also a Czech-bred horse.

The traditional framework programme included three more races of the highest category. V 65. Prima CNN Gold Cup - Filip Minarik Memorial (2400 m, 150k CZK, 4 yo+). After his successes in the April Grand Prix and the Slovak Grand Prix, the six-year-old bay stallion of the Drag Consulting stable Rex of Thunder fulfilled the role of the hot favourite and, in the saddle with his trainer Michal Dem, completed two clean hat-tricks.

Galerie Cermak Eisenkraft Sprinter Stakes (I. cat., 1200 m, 150k CZK, 3 yo+) brought its first triple winning horse. In its twentieth anniversary year, the role of the favourite was confirmed by the triumphant from 2021 and 2022, the eight-year-old gelding of Vasury Kolesa's stable, Štěpánka Myšková's charge Worth Choice. Under two-time and reigning champion jockey David Liška, similarly Rex of Thunder's ninth career and fourth Prague success, he followed up his previous win in Bratislava, where he dominated the MPaRV Slovakia Prize three weeks ago. In addition, with a time of 1:09.79 Worth Choice set a new Sprinter's Award record.

The race record was also changed in the case of the Tattersalls Mile (1600 m, 150k CZK, 3 yo+), the twenty-first edition of which, unexpectedly given the previous last place from the Grand Prix in May, was conquered by the four-year-old bay Charpentier. He recorded his third lifetime victory, after winning last year's Grand Prix of June, the second Prague prize. The representative of the Joly stable clocked 1:36.38 to end the wait for the jockey Peter Foret, who has already won the most domestic Grade 1 races in a season among all riders seven times in his career, for his first number one hit of the year. Since last summer, Charpentier has been trained directly in Velká Chuchle by the oldest active Czech trainer Jaroslav Drlík, who has been victorious on the top stage for thirteen years.