New opportunities for young riders and novice horses to compete at Hickstead
Monday 09 April 2018
Entries are now open for the Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby Meeting (20-24 June), with more opportunities to compete at the famous All England Jumping Course than ever before.
The Hickstead Under-25 Masters will feature two qualifying legs – one in the International Arena on Thursday and a second in Ring Three on Friday, with a final taking place on Saturday morning. The winner of Saturday’s final will qualify for this year’s Queen Elizabeth II Cup on the Saturday of the BHS Royal International Horse Show.
Showjumping classes will now start at 90cm in height with the addition of KBIS Insurance British Novice level to the schedule. “We always aim to encourage novice horses and grassroots competitors, which is why we’re pleased to be able to offer British Novice classes at this year’s international shows,” says Hickstead Director Lizzie Bunn. “These new classes will allow even more riders the chance to compete at a prestigious international event and to enjoy the experience of riding at Hickstead.”
Furthering Hickstead’s support of amateur riders, Harcour are sponsoring the Amateur classes across all three shows at the All England Jumping Course this season. The first Championship of this series, the Harcour Hickstead Amateur Championship, with a prize fund of £1500, will take place on the Saturday of the Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby Meeting.
Other schedule changes include the Beethoven 7 & 8 Year Old championship moving to Sunday, ahead of the Al Shira’aa Derby, while the £22,400 Tom Hudson Trophy will be run as the Hickstead Small Grand Prix on Saturday morning.
Showing classes include sections for cobs, riding horses, small hunters, mountain and moorlands, ridden hunters and coloured horses, as well as the prestigious RoR Tattersalls Show Series Championship for retrained racehorses.
New to the schedule for this June is the Science Supplements Novice Working Hunter class, which will not exceed 1m in height.
The showcase international jumping classes of each day are the Bunn Leisure Derby Tankard on Thursday, the Bunn Leisure Derby Trial on Friday, Saturday’s British Speed Derby and, of course, Sunday’s Al Shira’aa Derby. There is special entertainment on Saturday night with the return of the racing donkeys in the Celebrity Derby Challenge.
Entries and schedules can be found at www.hickstead.co.uk. The deadline for entries is Monday 14 May 2018.
