The story
Velka Pardubicka in Pardubice
Velka Pardubicka has run as a 6.9-kilometre, thirty-one-obstacle cross-country steeplechase since 1874, built around the Taxis jump, an obstacle used exclusively for this race and never available for training, historically linked to the deaths of twenty-eight horses. Safety modifications before the 1994 and 2021 races have reduced the ditch's depth while preserving its reputation as the hardest jump in the world, run each October at the Pardubice racecourse.
Velka Pardubicka has run as a cross-country steeplechase since 1874, making it one of the oldest continuously staged horse races in continental Europe, covering 6.9 kilometres and thirty-one obstacles that combine genuine agricultural terrain features with purpose-built jumps rather than a flat, uniform racing surface.