Xander Brett takes in the racing experience in the Czech Republic

It’s a bright afternoon in early October. At Pardubice, 100km east of Prague, cheers are floating across a well-kept cross-country course. I’m standing beside the infamous Taxis ditch, in the centre of lush parkland, and a tartan-clad photographer is arranging his camera angle, preparing for the cavalry charge to arrive at component four of the Velká Pardubická, that world-famous test of equine stamina, taking in 31 obstacles, and a total distance of just over four miles.
Patrick Mullins is here...