Josef Váňa (born 20 October 1952) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

steeplechase SteepleChase Records is a jazz record company and label based in Copenhagen, Denmark. SteepleChase was founded in 1972 by Nils Winther, who was a student at Copenhagen University at the time. He began recording concerts at Jazzhus Montmartre, ...

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

horse breeder Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in ...

and trainer. As the eight-time winner of the

Velká pardubická Velká pardubická (Grand Pardubice Steeplechase) is a cross-country ( point to point) steeplechase run in Pardubice, Czech Republic since 1874. It takes place every year on the second Sunday in October. The length of the steeplechase is , with 3 ...

steeplechase, he is considered one of the greatest personalities of the horse racing sport. In 2016 he unsuccessfully ran for a seat in

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as candidate of

ANO 2011 ANO (), registered as ANO 2011, is a right-wing populist political party in the Czech Republic, led by businessman Andrej Babiš, who served as Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. Formed in 2011, the party finished second i ...

Biography

Váňa was born and spent his childhood is

Slopné Slopné is a municipality and village in Zlín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. Slopné lies approximately south-east of Zlín and south-east of Prague. Demographics Notable people *Josef Váň ...

in the

Zlín Region Zlín Region () is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the south-eastern part of the historical region of Moravia. It is named after its capital Zlín. Together with the Olomouc Region it forms a cohesion area of Central M ...

. He began his career as a horse breeder and keeper in Tlumačov. Later he moved to

Hrubý Jeseník Hrubý Jeseník (sometimes called High Ash Mountains in English; or ''Hohes Gesenke'', ) is a mountain range and geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is located in the east of the country in the Olomouc and Moravian-Silesian r ...

, where he worked as a construction worker at the

Praděd TV tower Praděd (; ; ; literally "great grandfather") () is the highest mountain of the Hrubý Jeseník mountains, Moravia, Czech Silesia and Upper Silesia and is the fifth-highest mountain of the Czech Republic. The highest point of Moravia is located ...

and administrator of a ski center. He took part in his first horse race in 1979 in

Boskovice Boskovice (; ) is a town in Blansko District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 13,000 inhabitants. The area of the historic town centre, Jewish quarter, château complex and castle ruin is well preserved and is protec ...

with a mare ''Kalina''. It was also the first win of his career. At the age of 28 he resumed his horse racing activities in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

and

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and soon after that, in 1985, he competed in his first ''Velká pardubická'' steeplechase with ''Paramon''. He finished second. Váňa won his first ''Velká pardubická'' steeplechase in 1987, on a Czech racehorse Železník. He managed to finish the race in 9 minutes 56.13 sec. and became the first who finished the race under 10 minutes. Váňa, together with Železník, also won ''Velká pardubická'' in 1988, 1989, 1991. In 1997 he achieved his fifth victory on ''Vronsky''. Váňa won ''Velká pardubická'' on ''Tiumen'' three times in a row in 2009, in 2010 and in 2011 (at the age of 58). In addition to his eight wins in the saddle, he also won Velká pardubická ten times as a trainer. According to the statistics of the ''Czech Jockey Club'', Váňa competed in 631 races with 183 wins. During his career, he suffered several serious injuries. According to his own words, he ''"broke almost every bone in his body"''. The most serious injury he suffered was in June 1994 in Germany

Iffezheim Iffezheim is a town in the district of Rastatt in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It lies close to the Rhine river, where the Lock Iffezheim is also situated. Iffezheim is also known for the horse races, which takes place three times a year. Poli ...

, when he fell at the first fence. He managed to overcome the

clinical death Clinical death is the medical term for cessation of blood circulation and breathing, the two criteria necessary to sustain the lives of human beings and of many other organisms. It occurs when the heart stops beating in a regular rhythm, a condit ...

and two months after it he competed in his next race.

Major racing wins

steeplechase **with Železník (1987, 1988, 1989, 1991) **with Vronsky (1997) **with Tiumen (2009, 2010, 2011)

References

External links

*
FilmVana.cz - The biggest race is life itself (movie site in english)Velká Pardubická Steeplechase
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vana, Josef 1952 births Living people Czech jockeys Horse racing in the Czech Republic ANO (political party) politicians Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) People from Zlín District