Hickstead's Press Officer Victoria Goff takes a look at some of the standout moments from the Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby Meeting
Well – what can we say? Last week’s Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby Meeting was simply Hickstead at its best. Lovely weather, packed crowds, superb jumping and more than a few twists in the tale to make it all super exciting!
If there’s one thing we’ve come to realise is that in the Al Shira’aa Derby, truly anything can happen, and that was certainly the case for this year’s renewal. First of all we had William Funnell making history by producing two clear rounds on two different horses, Equine America Billy Diamo and Dublon – something no rider has ever done in 60 years of Derbies. William looked like an odds-on certainty to produce a historic fifth win, until David Simpson added a third clear round on the eight-year-old Pjotr Van De Kruishoeve and then came out fastest in the three-way jump-off.
We’re pretty sure William will be back for another crack at that record-breaking title, but for now can we just say what an absolute super star David has in Pjotr Van De Kruishoeve? One year ago the stallion was winning the 7&8 Year Old championship at Hickstead, and last week he jumped round the most famous course in showjumping and somehow made it look easy. To put it into context, not many first-timers go clear, let alone win, and he is the youngest horse in modern showjumping to claim the Al Shira’aa Derby. As the record books often show, once a horse wins the Derby once they often have a good shot of repeating their win, and here’s a horse we could genuinely see winning again and again.
And what a worthy winner we had in David Simpson, the young Irish lad who came for three months’ training with Shane Breen and ended up staying at Hickstead for seven years. Shane has had some serious rider talents going through his ranks but when asked who impressed him it was David who he named first. Both Simpson and his winning ride Pjotr are rather photogenic, David speaks so eloquently and passionately about his horses and his sport – plus he’s still based locally to the showground, so Hickstead can definitely claim him as one of our own. It was also nice to see David give immediate credit to his wife Louise (nee Pavitt), who produced Pjotr up through the ranks. “She’s a better rider than me,” David said in the press conference afterwards. Between them, the Simpsons have certainly racked up a vast swathe of Hickstead titles. The couple have four sons, and with showjumping genes like those we expect to see lots of little Simpsons contesting Derbies in a few years’ time!
The Irish were on fine form in the Derby, and eye-catchers this year were Jordan Coyle (Eristov) and debutant Daniel McAlinden (Keatingstown Z Wellie Two), who shared fourth place on four faults. It was brilliant to have 2014 and 2015 Derby winner Trevor Breen back in the line-up with the fabulous Gonzalo, who jumped a great round for six faults. This pair were fourth in the Longines King George V Gold Cup, and the 12-year-old gelding looked every inch a Derby horse too. Definite ones to watch in 2024.
This year was the year of the event riders, with former World Champion Sandra Auffarth finishing the best of the Germans in 7th equal with Nupafeed’s La Vista, and her team mate Kai Ruder in 12th with Cross Keys. A special mention for Gemma Stevens, who had a brilliant first trip round the course on Shirley Light’s Envoy Merelsnest Z to finish equal 12th. “Is it as good as jumping round Badminton and Burghley? It absolutely is!” said Gemma about the experience. Two former eventers, Paul Sims and Stephan Dubsky, also impressed with their rounds, finishing 9th equal with 12 faults, alongside William Whitaker and Flamboyant.
We also have to say a massive well done to Sammie-Jo Coffin, who jumped round for nine faults on another debutante Chaccomo Blue – despite having had a baby just eight weeks earlier! Incredible.
Talking of twists in the tale, who could have predicted the outcome of the British Speed Derby? Harriet Biddick was on track to win for a fourth time when a tack malfunction caused Silver Lift’s bridle to come off. Somewhat amazingly they jumped through the tricky treble of Hickstead planks and for a second it looked like Silver Lift might continue on to jump the final spread – in fairness, he probably knows the course pretty well by now. But unfortunately he cantered past the last fence and Harriet lifted her hands in a shrug that perfectly reflected how we were all feeling too – it was an absolute WTF moment. The video of the incident very quickly went viral, with an astounding 26 million views across Facebook and Instagram in the space of a week, and the vast majority of commenters poured praise on Harriet’s balance and poise.
Instead it was Ella Dalton and Quality Rubies N Diamonds who stole the show in the Speed Derby, another pairing who were making their first appearance in the class. Here’s a young rider who has won in the show ring and evented up to three-star level, who is now winning in Hickstead’s International Arena. Impressive stuff.
In the Agria Derby Trial, it was a case of history repeating itself with two riders sharing the prize for the second year in a row. Britain’s Robert Whitaker and Brazil’s Carlos Ribas produced the only two clear rounds, but opted to split the prizemoney rather than jump-off against the clock. It was great to have Agria on board as the sponsor of a number of our feature classes this year. If you missed our video featuring their equine mascot Anton jumping the Derby course, then definitely check it out.
Nicole Lockhead-Anderson started and ended the show with victories in the ClipMyHorse.TV Derby Tankard and the Senior Foxhunter Second Round, and this young Scot seems to really shine at Hickstead. And a shout out to Jay Halim who won the Doney Championship on the Sunday and came third in the British Speed Derby, though he did take a tumble in the same class on his second ride. Showjumping is undoubtedly a sport of ups and downs.
In the show ring, Wonga Swinger and Tori Cannon did the double in the RoR Tattersalls Ridden Show Series Finals, winning both the amateurs and the Open titles. Katie Jerram-Hunnable and Sunbeam gave King Charles III his first Hickstead championship in the Supreme Coloured, while it was nice to see a new name coming through in the show producer ranks, with young talent Will Morton winning the Supreme Hunter title with the aptly-named Kilcarna Brilliant.
We’ve now got to wait 12 months for next year’s Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby Meeting, and we’re already looking forward to it! But thankfully we’ve got more exciting international showjumping and championship showing to come this summer, with the Longines Royal International Horse Show. Roll on show week!
* Missed any of the show? You can watch On Demand by subscribing to ClipMyHorse.TV
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