Funnell joins select group at Hickstead

The most famous derbies in the world include Great Britain’s Hickstead Derby, in June, and the equally difficult Hamburg Derby. The French mount their own derby competitions on specially prepared courses in stadiums in La Baule and Dinard. Indeed, in Europe, each country has a traditional venue on which this very difficult discipline, designed for the bravest riders and the bravest horses, is played out. And the difficulty of competing at West Sussex’s Hickstead Derby is evidenced by the fact that having arrived at its 58th edition – and despite the fact that so many top riders on the planet have started the course – only 61 clear runs had been recorded at this exceptional event to date.

Competing in the Hickstead Derby is a dream for riders from the British Isles, and indeed from other continents. The Derby winner gains lifetime fame. And if he wins this famous competition four times, he becomes a living legend of the sport. Up until this year, the elite club of four-time winners had been made up of a British trio: Harvey Smith, the brothers John and Michael Whitaker (who replicated the famous Hickstead Derby Bank in their own training square) as well as the legendary Irish rider Eddie Macken, who triumphed non-stop from 1976–1979 on the legendary Boomerang.

This year, that elite club grew by a fifth member, with the addition of 52-year-old British representative William Funnell, husband of the famous Eventing rider Pippa, the only woman in the world to have won the Grand Slam of CCI4* competitions in Lexington, Badminton and Burghley. William Funell previously won the Hickstead Derby in 2006, 2008 and 2009, on Cortaflex Mondriaan. This time Funnell’s four-legged partner in the Derby was the 10-year-old gelding Billy Buckingham, with the pair edging out Holly Smith and Quality Old Joker in an exciting equestrian showdown.