ON his very first trip around the Hickstead Derby, then 19-year-old Mikey Pender broke Michael Whitaker record by becoming the youngest ever winner of the class. Remarkably, it also the first time around the Derby for the 12-year-old gelding Hearton Du Bois Halleux, owned by Paul Van Den Bosch.

“The Hickstead Derby is a class you grow up watching on television. Since I was young, I always wanted to jump it in. It’s like the Aga Khan, one of those classes you want to do,” Pender said this week.