Veteran Mormill won the Gomba Handicap

On Good Friday, April 7, the 2023 racing season began in Chuchle Arena Prague. Despite the cold weather, a large number of spectators arrived and the program of the first eight races took place in a great atmosphere. The traditional opening test, the 96th Tipsport Gomba Handicap (Class A hdcp, 6f, 4-y-o+) was won by the ten-year-old gelding Mormill, the 65th April Stakes (Class A, 9f, 4-y-o+) was easily won by the six-year-old mare Zariyannka.

Mormill achieved his seventh career triumph, became only the second ten-year-old winner in the race's nearly century-long history (after Cyrillus in 1944) and brought his owner, the former amateur rider from Austria, Bernard Lischka, the first win in Class A race. Trainer Jaroslav Jelen, who works in Pěčín in South Bohemia, entered the list of winners for the second time, a long 29 years after his success with Santalino. The jockey Martina Havelková also won the traditional opening race of the year for the second time, seventeen years after the first win with German Malt.

Winner of Czech Oaks 2020 Zariyanka won easily by four and a half lengths. The star of the LOKOTRANS Slovakia CZ stable recorded the third triumph of her life, but she has another almost two dozen places in elite races to her credit. Her trainer Zdeno Koplík won the April Stakes for the third time, jockey Petr Foret defended last year's win (with Vert Liberte). Petr Foret, the most successful jockey of the last season in Chuchle Arena Prague and also the jockey with the best one in Czech Class A races, achieved two wins (45th career's double).

Results