William Whitaker claims second Derby title after clash of former champions

Britain’s William Whitaker joined the illustrious ranks of the two-time Hickstead Derby winners today, with a long-awaited win on Flamboyant III.

The Al Shira’aa Derby saw a strong contingent of 30 horse-and-rider combinations come forward to compete for their share of the €120,000 prize fund. But in the end only two of those 30 could jump clear around the famously challenging track, and both of those were former winners.

The first of the clears came from the 2023 champions, David Simpson (IRE) and Pjotr Van De Kruishoeve, who survived a few near-misses during their faultless – the first at the wall at fence five, and then when the top pole of the final part of the Devil’s Dyke flew up into the air but landed back in the cups.

Next into the arena was William Whitaker, a winner of this class exactly 10 years ago with Glenavadra Brilliant. Having finished runner-up for the past two years with the scopey Flamboyant III, William knew he was more than capable of jumping a clear round, and they duly delivered one in textbook style.

In the jump-off, David and the 11-year-old Pjotr set off at pace, determined to put the pressure on William. This time Simpson’s luck ran out in the Devil’s Dyke, when the middle part fell, but their fast time of 86.26sec piled pressure on his rival.

Whitaker was left in a tricky predicament – did he try to match David’s pace, or aim for a steady clear with the 16-year-old? “On the way to the ring I had about ten different Whitakers giving me information and telling me what the plan was, and each of them said something different!” joked William afterwards. “I knew Dave’s horse was naturally quicker than mine, so I thought if I had one down early on, then I’d just throw caution to the wind.”

But after missing out in the jump-offs in both 2024 and 2025, this time the pair left all the fences standing to take the title. “He’s come so close for the past few years, and he really deserved to win a Derby,” William added.

William first picked up the ride on Flamboyant III in 2022, when usual rider Elliott Smith broke his leg in a fall after crossing the finish line in the Derby Trial. Hickstead Director Lizzie Bunn suggested William Whitaker took over the ride that year, and the pair went on to finish sixth in the Al Shira’aa Derby, and they secured another top 10 finish the following year.

The horse spends most of the year with the Smith family, before returning to William for the Al Shira’aa Derby. “So much preparation goes into it, and that’s not just from me, I only have him part of the year – Elliott Smith and his family do so much work with him behind the scenes. So to get it done after coming so close the last few years is definitely a relief.”

While Simpson was disappointed not to net his second Derby title, he gave credit to the horse for jumping two super rounds. “Pjotr loves it here at Hickstead, and I was delighted with how he was today. His next target is to come back here in July for the Nations Cup and the Grand Rrix. That’s the good thing about him, he can do Derbies, he can do five-star Grands Prix. I’m very lucky to have him.”

Once again Sammie-Jo Coffin was the leading lady rider, finishing joint third with four faults on the consistent Derby performer Chaccomo Blue. Ireland’s Stephan Dubsky and C The Stars were unlucky to knock down the final fence to finish joint third with Sammie-Jo, along with Derek McCoppin, who left all the fences standing but got a toe in the water to collect four faults.

Six riders finished on eight faults apiece, including Guy Williams (BH Gringos Legacy); Shane Breen (Eristov); Jessica Hewitt (Kann Be Lucky) and Commandant Geoff Curran (Hawthornhill); along with five-star event riders Gemma Stevens (Envoy Merelsnest Z) and Alexander Bragg (Hegglelane Houston).

Earlier in the day, Iwan Carpenter enjoyed his first International Arena win when claiming the Doney Championship with Mike Smith’s seven-year-old Ramiro Dollar. The pair impressed with a comfortable 2sec to spare over the UAE’s Mabkhout Alkarbi and Cassalcina Z.

The pair will be heading back to Hickstead for the Agria Royal International Horse Show, having qualified for the SEIB Winter Novice Final.

“As she’s here in a couple of weeks, I thought it would be a nice class for her to go in and qualify and see the big arena, because some don’t take to it well. Obviously she coped with it perfectly! She always exceeds my expectations,” said Iwan, who has been riding her for six months.

Today brought the Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby Meeting to a close, with the international action continuing at Hickstead next month for the five-str Agria Royal International Horse Show (22-26 July).

For full results click here