William Whitaker Wins the Hickstead Derby; Dubsky Takes a Strong Third Place

The Hickstead Derby is considered almost as difficult as the one in Hamburg. If you ask Marvin Jüngel and Balou’s Erbin, it might even be a bit more challenging, because in Hamburg the pair has already won twice and finished ninth this year, but today in Hickstead they completed the course with 27 penalty points. They were the only German pair competing in the class—but not the only pair from Germany.

Things went much better, in fact, for the “German Irishman” Stephan Dubsky, who has lived in Germany for over 30 years and runs a training and commercial stable in Lower Saxony. Riding his four-legged Derby specialist, the 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding C the Stars, he finished third with the fastest four-fault round in the competition. And this came just a few weeks after they had placed fourth in the Hamburg Derby.

British Winner

Two pairs had completed the standard course without any faults, but only one pair managed to keep all the poles up twice: Briton William Whitaker riding the 16-year-old Cardento son Flamboyant III, another Derby specialist who, among other achievements, placed sixth in Hamburg this year and took second place at Hickstead in 2024/25. Today, the pair secured their first victory.

The Irishman David Simpson and Pjotr van den Kruishoeve crossed the finish line faster, though with one penalty, taking second place.

Helping Horses Grow Through Challenges

Stephan Dubsky, who celebrated his 50th birthday a few days ago, came to Germany at the age of 18 to train as a horse manager. Today, the show jumping and eventing rider is considered a true horseman.

He once said in an interview that both the derby and cross-country riding are examples of how the sport is also there for the horses: “The riders gain more confidence, the horses gain more confidence, and they enjoy it, too. They grow with the challenges they face.” Provided, of course, that you introduce them to these challenges properly—and that’s something Dubsky is particularly good at.

You can find all the results from Hickstead here.