Records set to tumble at Hickstead’s first anniversary meeting

The British Jumping Derby Meeting, which opens at Hickstead tomorrow (Thursday), boasts the highest number of entries for years.

 

Showing entries are running at the same level as last year, but entries in showjumping classes are 20 per cent higher than in 2009 with over 1,000 horses entered.

 

Five members of the Whitaker family will be at the meeting, the first in Hickstead’s Golden Anniversary year. They are Ellen, Joe, Michael, Steven and William. William Funnell is also entered, intent on entering the exclusive record book by achieving a record four DFS Derby wins on the same horse, something only done once in the competition’s history by Eddie Macken in the 1970s.

 

Advance ticket sales for the meeting are also up, recording so far a record 12 per cent increase on previous years.