Riding the eight-year-old bay gelding Torino, Michael was more than half a second faster than Simon Crippen, who finished runner-up. “It's my second time competing at Hickstead and my second win here so if we keep up this trend I'll be happy,” said 19-year-old Michael, who also won the All England Grand Prix last September.
 
Michael is originally from Co Galway but moved to Hickstead last summer to be the stable jockey for Shane Breen. He moved yards recently but remains close to the All England Jumping Course, being based a few miles down the road in Bolney, West Sussex.
 
Scottish rider Douglas Duffin made an 11-hour drive to Hickstead worthwhile by scoring a double of wins in the International Arena.
 
Earlier this morning Douglas won the Hickstead Novice Championship with Aslan II, then he also won the big class of the afternoon – the Bunn Leisure Derby Tankard – with Quidam B Z.
 
“His rideability is improving all the time, he’s got all the talent and he’s super careful too,” he said of the nine-year-old bay stallion, who finished four seconds faster than Tina Fletcher and Hello Sailor.
 
“I pushed him as fast as I felt he was comfortable with. It was the horse’s first time in the main ring – a lot of horses can go in there and back off and lose a little bit of scope but he didn’t,” Douglas added.
 
“Hickstead’s always been my favourite show to compete at. I’ve won here a few times and that’s why I keep coming back.”

Last year’s winner Phillip Miller hopes to make it two in a row riding Caritiar Z, the horse who took him to victory 12 months ago. Horses who have won the Derby once statistically have a good chance of a repeat victory, and Phillip believes the grey gelding is capable of producing another clear round on Sunday. But the reigning Derby champion, who is currently ranked 14^th in Britain, faces stiff competition from a number of other former winners.
 
The 2010 Derby champion Guy Williams is back with Skip Two Ramiro, a horse with a superb record in Derbies. The chestnut gelding, who is now 18 years old, has been placed in Hickstead’s most famous class every year bar one since 2003, under three different riders. With such consistency, it would not be a surprise to see Guy and ‘Skippy’ back in contention this weekend.
 
William Funnell – who won the Derby in 2006, 2008 and 2009 with Cortaflex Mondriaan – has the homebred Billy Onslow at this year’s meeting. The pair came second at the Eindhoven Derby earlier this month so they’ve arrived at Hickstead in good form.
 
The last lady rider to win the Derby was Tina Fletcher, who partnered Promised Land to a brilliant victory in 2011. She’s hoping to jump Unique IX in Sunday’s feature class – a horse who has previously won the Queen Elizabeth II Cup here at Hickstead. Geoff Billington, the 2007 winner, has brought three horses with him for the international classes this weekend, and he could be another to watch come Sunday afternoon.
 
Irish rider Trevor Breen has made no secret about the fact he would love to win the Equestrian.com Derby, having come so close several times. This year he’s back with the one-eyed horse Adventure de Kannan, who came third in 2012 and second last year. Trevor also has a new ride in Patricia Brown's 2012 winner, Loughnatousa WB – it’s a new partnership but both horse and rider have proved themselves capable of doing well round the Derby course.
 
The younger generation of Whitakers are on great form at the moment, with William winning the main class at the recent Bolesworth International, and cousin Robert victorious at the Royal Windsor Grand Prix. Other young riders to look out for include Harriet Nuttall, Matt Sampson and Joe Clayton.
 
But first all the riders have to qualify in the Bunn Leisure Derby Trial, the main class tomorrow, which gets underway at 11.30am.  
 
To purchase tickets for the Equestrian.com Hickstead Derby Meeting, or to join the Hickstead Derby Community, visit www.hickstead.co.uk.