‘The horse deserved to win’: William Whitaker wins second Hickstead Derby – 10 years after his first
William Whitaker ended a 10-year wait for a second Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby title in fabulous style, with two perfect clear rounds – and joked that he hopes he won’t have to wait another 10 years to do it again.
William, who won the Boomerang trophy with Glenavadra Brilliant in 2016, and the mighty Flamboyant III, whom he first rode in the Derby as a catch ride four years ago, and has come second for the last two years, triumphed in a jump-off over 2023 winners David Simpson and Pjotr Van De Kruishoeve.
David had predicted a jump-off of five or six horses after he and Miriam Rohr’s 11-year-old won the Derby trial. But in the end it was just these two warriors who went head to head.
“When you’ve got a horse who’s come so close the last few years – before today, the horse deserved to win a Derby from the rounds he’d already jumped,” Will said.
“But obviously, you only get one shot a year, and you’re just hoping and praying that your preparation – not just me, [owners] Elliot Smith and his family do so much work as well with him – so to finally get it done is a huge relief. I’m absolutely delighted.”
There were 31 starters this year including some very strong competition, but one by one they fell by the wayside as the sun blazed over the International Arena. Hot contenders Stephan Dubsky held the lead briefly on four faults – heartbreakingly clipping the very last pole – and last year’s podium finishers Sammie-Jo Coffin and Chaccomo Blue scored the same, just lowering the rail after the bank.
Then David and his powerhouse stallion came in. They jumped a beautiful round, and carried their luck with them; they knocked a brick in the wall but not enough to dislodge it, then rattled the last element of the Devil’s Dyke so the pole bounced clear out of its cups – but landed safely back in them. They came home without another murmur, to a roar from the crowd.
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And as was the case in the previous day’s speed Derby, once one had a clear round, they all wanted one. Next in was William and the imposing 16-year-old gelding, who jumped what looked like an exhibition round, calm, composed and perfect to secure a jump-off.
Derek McCoppin came closest to joining the two clears; he and the fabulous Capital Levubu, who had gone clear in Friday’s trial, looked set to do the same, the big scopey grey jumping for fun to leave everything up – but a splash of blue as they jumped the water ended their dream.
“He’s just an amazing horse,” Derek said. “He loves it in there; he jumped everything, just maybe I was a bit steady and should have kept the tempo up. But he just gets better and better and is still feeling as fresh as a daisy. If you’d told me last week I’d go round for four, I’d have been absolutely delighted. We’ll be back next year.”
So the stage was set for the showdown, and David was in first. A quick pat, and off they went, moving up a gear. They jumped the second on a curve, and rode a beautiful curve to the privet hedge, and back on themselves to the dyke. But the luck that had been on their side in the first round deserted them, and this time it was the middle element that fell.
They flew the rest to finish in 86.26sec but the pressure was on Will, as if he and Flamboyant could just leave everything up, the title was theirs.
The silence was almost absolute as they cleared the Cornishman for the second time. Over the second, the black gate, the wall, the hedge and the dyke; coming out clear to a brief cheer, quickly shushed as they approached the water. Then the rails, round to the last line – and a mighty roar of approval from the crowd.
2026 Hickstead Derby winner
“Flamboyant felt great,” Will said. “He was a bit sharper than I would have liked in the collecting ring but actually went in and settled down and gave me a fantastic feeling all the way round. He just let me do what I needed to do to make it as easy as possible for him.”
Asked what he was thinking as he rode into the ring, Will said: “I had about 10 Whitakers in the chute on the way up to the ring, all giving me information and telling me what the plan was, and each one of them was saying a different thing.
“Steven said ‘You’ve got to go slow’, Michael said ‘You’ve got to go fast’. Robert said ‘You might as well just have a go, and if you have one down, you might still win’. I thought ‘Goodness me, I don’t know what to do now!’
“David’s is a naturally quicker horse so I thought I just had to do my round and if I had one down early, I’d have to just throw caution to the winds. That was the plan, and luckily I didn’t have to do the second part of it.”
David said that as Pjotr is the faster horse, he knew a clear round should be enough to win.
“I didn’t see him knocking out the middle element of the dyke, but the luck I had in the first round ran out for the jump-off,” he said. “He loves it here at Hickstead; I’m delighted with how he was today.
“Will’s a great pal of mine and one day he’s going to win, one day I’m going to win. You just go in, do your job, and whoever’s day it is, it’s their day.”
David said Pjotr felt “amazing”, but that jumping the Derby is all about the rhythm, and for some reason he couldn’t find one at first in his opening round.
“Until I jumped the wall, I couldn’t find one, and luckily he helped me,” he said.
“I actually wasn’t too happy, but then took the first distance to the hedge, and everything came together.
“And in the jump-off, even with the heat and everything, he actually felt better again. I couldn’t be happier with him.”
Credit to the home teams
Both riders paid tribute to their horses’ teams; the grooms, owners and all those at home, who “allow us to deliver these results”, David said.
Sammie-Jo said she was delighted with her 16-year-old superstar, whom she owns with Brian O’Malley, and who was clearly enjoying every second of his Derby trip.
“I had more control coming down the bank than last year!” she said. “He just touched it, he didn’t mean to, but he was amazing; to do that in the Derby. He was a little bit wild – he knows where he’s going now – but it was amazing.”
Six combinations shared sixth place on eight faults apiece: Jessica Hewett (Kann Be Lucky), Shane Breen (Eristov), Gemma Stevens (Envoy Merelsnest Z), Commandant Geoff Curran (Hawthornhill), Alex Bragg (Hegglelane Houston) and Guy Williams (BH Gringos Legacy).
The 2024 champions William Funnell and Dublon jumped the trial but retired, and an overreach ruled them out of the Derby. Mark Edwards and Dillinger NE were bidding to make history as the first combination to win the speed Derby and Derby in the same year but luck was not with them and they finished with 24 faults.
Hickstead director Edward Bunn paid tribute to all who had contributed to a “wonderful” week of sport at the 2026 Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby meeting.
“I think we’ve had the busiest equestrian participation, more than 2,000 horses have competed in showjumping this week, 4,800 competition rounds, and it’s been phenomenal,” he said.
“I’d just like to thank Al Shira’aa Stables, Al Shira’aa, Sheika Fatima and Sammy for the support they continue to show this meeting because without them and our other sponsors Agria and others, we wouldn’t be able to put these shows on. That’s from everybody, the Bunn family and our Hickstead family, which you are all a part of.”
“And what a Derby,” he added. “I think it was another classic Derby; they’re always classics. “There were lots and lots of good rounds and it shows that this class is still important, still special, to us, to Hickstead and to the world to produce fantastic sport like this.”
But the last word went to William, whose wife Elisabeth has been riding Flamboyant.
“We did the Hamburg Derby and then I was lucky enough to get selected to go to St Gallen, where Dave was as well,” he said. “Then I went to Poland for two weeks with Millfield Quickstep on Nations Cups, and Elisabeth said, because he’s a bit of a strong horse, ‘Who’s going to be riding Flamboyant?’ I said, ‘You are!’ You’ve done a fantastic job love, well done.”
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.