Tag: derby meeting

 

We spent some quality time bonding with a venue from our childhood dreams, the legendary Hickstead, for their iconic Derby meet. The rest, as they say, is history. Scroll on for our takeaway points for next year, and browse our visual diary of our visit below.

 

What: Hickstead Derby Meet 2015

Key knowledge points: Get conversational in your knowledge of Eddie Macken’s Boomerang. The pair won four consecutive Hickstead Derbies (1976 to 1979), an accomplishment yet to be matched. They also won like, everything. Anyway, Boomerang. Big deal. They’ve named everything after him. Quote to drop into casual conversation:

“…take my speed horse Boomerang for the time being until you get something better.”

Paul Schockemöhle, after Macken’s top horse, Easter Parade, suffered a

freak fatal accident in 1975. Boomerang and Eddie went on to top

the world rankings for 1976-1979, winning over £911,000 in 2007 money

Do: Bring a picnic. Put it in an adorable wicker box. Pop out some tables and plop your children on the top of the Land Rover. Pimms. Champagne. Cheese. Comfortable shoes; it’s all grass. We suggest a nice pair of Sperrys. The vibe is chill; do not look like you are trying too hard. Natural waves ladies, save the irons for Ladies Day at Longines. Extra points awarded to rainwear that is chic and un-fussed, because obviously it will rain.

Don’t: Skip the Speed Derby. The 1.60m gets all the attention, but the British Speed Derby on the Saturday is big enough at 1.45m, and with time penalties awarded for rails in lieu of faults, things get hectic real quick. You might casually mention at the 2016 meeting that Guy Williams set the speed record this year. Oh, and under no circumstances are you to fail to book your taxi prior to the presentation on the Sunday. Getting out of that place is a terror and cabs are hot currency. Better yet, drive. In fact, just rock up VIP and get ideal parking. You have a year to set that up, start soon, probably.