Press release from Hickstead

British rider Will Edwards won the feature class on Thursday at the Al Shira’aa Hickstead Derby Meeting, the ClipMyHorse.TV Derby Tankard. 

Riding the 14-year-old mare SHW Candies B (Chacco-Blue x Heartbreaker), Will produced a speedy round in the six-strong jump-off to finish more than 2sec quicker than Jessica Hewitt and Arbitrage (Vitaal G x Rufus Z).

“The mare has been amazing for so many years – she's come here for the last four years and been placed in so many classes, but to finally win one is fantastic,” said Shropshire-based Will. “It was a tough jump-off – but it’s always tough, when you’re at this level.”

Edwards piled praise on SHW Candies B following the victory. “She’s just an out-and-out athlete. She’s been amazing since day one. We’ve had her since a three-year-old and always, from day one, she’s wanted to win. She’s always gone well here and she’s naturally very competitive.”

Earlier in the day, Guy Williams added another Hickstead victory to his collection, winning the Stoner Jewellers Vase with the 12-year-old mare Hanne Umonia (Tolan R x Lord Z). “I’ve had her a couple of weeks and she's been knocking on the door a little bit,” said Guy, who took over the ride from Germany’s Daniel Lahmann. “She jumped really well, and I’m very pleased with her.”

The pair topped a large class with 69 horses and riders, crossing the finishing in 58.88sec, with Nicole Lockhead Anderson and Mecoblue PS (Messenger x Chacco-Blue) second with 59.15sec.