Velká pardubická 2026: Half a Length Denies Godfrey and Faltejsek Josef Váňa’s Record

On Sunday 11 October 2026, in Pardubice, Czech Republic, the 136th Velká pardubická was decided by half a length. Final Orders, a ten-year-old Irish gelding ridden by Keith Donoghue, held off Godfrey and Jan Faltejsek after 6,900 metres (about 4 miles 1 furlong) and 31 fences. Those few feet were worth far more than a place: with a win, Faltejsek would have equalled Josef Váňa’s eight victories, the all-time record in the race. He remains on seven. And for the second year running, Europe’s most feared steeplechase heads to Ireland.

Velká pardubická 2026: the result and a finish decided by half a length

Only ten runners went to post, the smallest field since 1993. Just six horses saw the winning post. The official result:

1. Final Orders, ridden by Keith Donoghue, trained in Ireland by Gavin Cromwell.
2. Godfrey, ridden by Jan Faltejsek, half a length behind.
3. Angkor Wat, ridden by Jan Odložil, six lengths back.
4. Sacamiro, the 2023 winner, ridden by Lenka Neprašová.
5. Greek Dessert, ridden by James Best.
6. High In The Sky, ridden by Ondřej Velek.

Total prize money reached 5 million Czech koruna, of which 2 million went to the winner, roughly €80,000 (about £68,000). Final Orders went off joint favourite with Godfrey in the Czech bookmakers’ lists. The favourite lived up to the billing, but he had to be driven out all the way to the last stride.

Godfrey and Jan Faltejsek, two years after the first dead heat in the race’s history

Godfrey is no ordinary runner-up. In 2024, this French-bred horse crossed the line at exactly the same moment as Sexy Lord and Jaroslav Myška. The stewards studied the photo-finish at length before ruling it a dead heat. For the first time in 150 years of history, the Velká pardubická had two winners.

That dead heat gave Jan Faltejsek his seventh win in the race, a year after his 2023 victory on Sacamiro. The Czech jockey was then one step away from Josef Váňa, the local legend and eight-time winner. Since then, the eighth has stayed out of reach. In 2025, an Irish runner, Stumptown, won. In 2026, Godfrey gave everything, and this time the photo had nothing to separate: half a length is plain to the naked eye.

Váňa’s record therefore stands for another season. Faltejsek remains the active jockey closest to matching it, provided he finds a horse of this calibre again next year.

Keith Donoghue and Final Orders: the Irish jockey who wins the Velká pardubická two years running

Keith Donoghue first discovered Pardubice in 2025 and won at the first attempt with Stumptown, also for Gavin Cromwell. He returns a year later and doubles up with another horse from the same yard. Few foreign jockeys have mastered this course so quickly.

The choice of Final Orders was no accident. This ten-year-old gelding made his name over the cross-country course at Cheltenham, in England, where he won the Glenfarclas Crystal Cup, again with Donoghue and for Cromwell. Donoghue himself drew the comparison: it is not the same race, but it is the closest thing to Pardubice. Natural hedges, banks, ditches, changes of direction: a horse who knows how to look after himself on this kind of ground has an enormous advantage over a conventional hurdler.

After the finish, the jockey admitted to a tricky moment at the Taxis, before joking about the rain. Final Orders cleared the fence like the nine others, which does not happen every year.

The Taxis ditch, the fence that made the Pardubice steeplechase famous

If the Velká pardubická is known far beyond the Czech Republic, it is because of a single obstacle. The Taxis is a hedge of nearly 5 feet (1.5 metres) with a ditch behind it that the horse only sees at the last moment. Originally, the ditch was 6 ft 7 in (2 metres) deep and 16 ft 5 in (5 metres) long. It was softened once before 1994, then again for the 2021 edition: it is now 2 ft 6 in (75 centimetres) deep and 16 ft 5 in (5 metres) long, with a hedge of 4 ft 5 in to 4 ft 9 in (1.35 to 1.45 metres).

There is a reason for these changes. Twenty-eight horses have died at the Taxis since the race was founded in 1874. Every year the question returns: should a steeplechase of this kind still be run? The organisers chose to reduce the danger rather than remove the fence, which remains the image of the event. This year all ten horses cleared it. Four nevertheless pulled up later, on a course of 31 fences that does not forgive tiredness.

To put this risk in perspective against other disciplines, our feature on the most dangerous equestrian discipline weighs up the risks of different sports, from eventing to racing.

Lenka Neprašová, rider of Sacamiro, and the only woman to win the Velká pardubická

Sacamiro’s fourth place deserves a closer look. At 13, the former winner was ridden by 22-year-old Lenka Neprašová, the only woman in the field. She is just the ninth woman to line up for the race in more than 150 years. She cleared the Taxis without trouble and finished in the leading group.

Only one woman has won the Velká pardubická: Countess Lata Brandisová, in 1937, on her mare Norma. She was in her forties. Almost ninety years later, nobody has repeated the feat. Neprašová has time on her side.

What we still do not know after the 2026 Velká pardubická

Several points remain open as we write, on 13 October. The winner’s official time was not published in the reports we consulted. We found no reliable detail on the four horses that did not finish, or on their condition after the race. Finally, Godfrey’s connections have announced nothing for 2027: at ten, the horse can still return, and Faltejsek with him, for an eighth attempt.

The great steeplechases carry sporting prestige, but their winners rarely sell for the prices of top Flat stars, the kind you will find in our ranking of the most expensive horse in the world. To compare with other great jump races, also read the story of Red Rum and the Grand National, or discover the breed that runs in all these steeplechases, the Thoroughbred.