Filip Minařík (10 March 1975 – 4 September 2023) was a Czech jockey who was active in German

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

Early life and career

Filip Minařík was born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

on 10 March 1975. Minařík won the German Jockey Championship in 2005, 2011, 2016, and 2017 (together with ). After a serious fall during a horse race in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

in July 2020, Minařík was in a coma for four weeks. This incident accelerated his plans to leave jockeying and contribute to the sport in other ways. BollowMinarik

After retiring from his career as a jockey, Minařík was active as an ambassador for galloping.

Important victories

At the highest level,

Group I Group 1 may refer to: * Alkali metal, a chemical element classification for Alkali metal * Group 1 (racing), a historic (until 1981) classification for Touring car racing, applied to standard touring cars. Comparable to modern FIA Group N * Group On ...

, Minařík achieved many victories in Germany: *

Preis von Europa The Preis von Europa is a Group 1 flat horse race in Germany open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Cologne over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it is scheduled to take place eac ...

(2005 at ''Gonbarda'' at Weidenpescher Park in Cologne) * Deutschlandpreis (2005 at ''Gonbarda'' at Galopprennbahn Grafenberg in Düsseldorf) * 4× Großer Preis von Baden (2006 at ''Prince Flori'', 2010 at ''Night Magic'', 2014 at ''Ivanhowe'', 2017 at ''Guignol'' jeweils at Rennplatz Iffezheim in Baden-Baden) *

Preis der Diana The Preis der Diana is a Group 1 flat horse race in Germany open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Düsseldorf over a distance of 2,200 metres (about 1 mile and 3 furlongs), and it is scheduled to take pl ...

(2012 at ''Salomina'', 2018 at ''Well Timed'' in Galopprennbahn Grafenberg in Düsseldorf) * 3× Großer Preis von Bayern (2012 at ''Temida'', 2014 at Galopprennbahn Riem in München-Riem, 2017 at ''Ito'') *

Bayerisches Zuchtrennen The Bayerisches Zuchtrennen is a Group 1 flat horse race in Germany open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Munich over a distance of 2,000 metres (about 1¼ miles), and it is scheduled to take place each year on the last Sun ...

(2015 at ''Guiliani'' in Galopprennbahn Riem in München-Riem) * 3×

Mehl-Mülhens-Rennen The Mehl-Mülhens-Rennen is a Group 2 flat horse race in Germany open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Cologne over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile), and it is scheduled to take place ...

(2009 at ''Irian'', 2018 at ''Ancient Spirit'' at Cologne-Weidenpesch Racecourse)

Personal life and death

Filip Minařík was married to Katja Minařík and had a daughter. His father was the two-time Czech jockey champion and later trainer . His brother Ferdinand Jr. is also active in horse racing. On 4 September 2023, Minařík committed suicide at the age of 48. The media reported that Minařík suffered from severe depression.

References

External links

Filip Minařík auf Turf-Times.de

* Interviews mit Filip Minarik auf Galopp-Online.de 1975 births 2023 deaths 2023 suicides Czech male equestrians German male equestrians Czech jockeys Czech emigrants to Germany Sportspeople from Prague Suicides in Germany {{Horseracing-bio-stub