Career
Born in Zlín, Váňa spent his childhood is Slopné. He began his career as a horse breeder and keeper in Tlumačov. Later he moved to Hrubý Jeseník, where he worked as a construction worker at the Praděd television tower and administrator of a ski center.
He took part in his first horse race in 1979 in Boskovice with a mare Kalina.
At the age of 28 he resumed his horse racing activities in Czechoslovakia and Germany and soon after that, in 1985, he competed in his first Velká pardubická steeplechase with Paramon. He finished second. He managed to finish the race in 9 minutes 56.13 secretary and became the first who finished the race inside 10 minutes.
According to the statistics of the Czechoslovakian 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, when he fell at the first fence. He managed to overcome the clinical death and two months after it he competed in his next race. Železník Vronsky Tiumen.
