William Funnell seeking to extend Hickstead Derby record

William Funnell is aiming to extend his record in the Al Shira’aa Derby by winning for a sixth time.

The Surrey rider set a new record last June when he became the first five-time winner of the class. Now William plans to return with Dublon for this year’s Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby Meeting (19-22 June), in the hope of extending his winning record.

Hickstead was William Funnell’s local showground growing up, and the Derby was a class he had always wanted to win – but it took him two decades to achieve his goal. After making his Derby debut as a teenager, he came close to winning the class on a number of occasions over the years, but victory kept eluding him. One year that particularly stood out was in 2004, when William was injured and had to miss the ride on Buddy Bunn at the last minute, and John Whitaker took on the ride and ended up winning.

But Funnell didn’t have to wait much longer for that coveted first Hickstead Derby title, riding Mondriaan to victory in 2006 and repeating the win in 2008 and 2009. “It was lovely to win a fifth Derby last summer, but actually winning the first one was the most difficult. At times it felt like it was never going to happen,” said William.

He added a fourth win in 2018 with the homebred Billy Buckingham to join Harvey Smith, John and Michael Whitaker, and Eddie Macken, all of whom had won Hickstead’s most iconic class four times apiece. Then last summer’s win saw William supersede the others as the only five-time winner. “It's lovely being out on my own and winning it five times, but having won four times was still a dream, to be honest,” he added.

It's a record that is sure to stay for some time, unless 69-year-old John Whitaker decides to have another crack at competing in the Derby. “It would be nice to just to get one more this year to make it really difficult for everyone!” added William.  

There had been some speculation that last summer’s record-breaking win might lead to William retiring from competing, as he has scaled back his riding career in the past few years to concentrate on his role as team manager for the UAE team. But this year he has continued to combine his team duties with his riding career and his role at the Billy Stud, and he is currently busy preparing Dublon for this year’s Al Shira’aa Derby.

“Dublon did his first show in Abu Dhabi in April, and I'm going to try the Hamburg Derby with him so I’m currently getting him fit and training for that,” William said. “Then he’ll have a bit of a break, before hopefully having him on top form for Hickstead again.”

As a five-time champion, does he feel a bit less pressure to win this summer? “There's pressure every year in some way, I know I'm going into the Derby with a horse capable of winning it, and that's when you get more nervous about making a mistake as a rider, because you don't want to let your horse down. In any Derby, you still need a little bit of luck on your side,” William added.

The Al Shira’aa Derby takes place on the final Sunday of the Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby Meeting, 19-22 June 2025. Tickets are on sale now.