"Day two… another corker! Hotter even than yesterday, we were delighted with the record turn out today. Busier than I can remember in years, we’re wondering whether Sunday’s football and people changing their Derby plans might be responsible, but we’re loving it either way.

Our first ever day of the Friday of the Derby being televised was brilliant. Catherine and I spent ages in the OB truck trying to suss out the best camera angles, and the slow motion cameras quite spectacular. For those of you watching on Sunday you will be amazed… Talk about seeing the Derby as its never been seen before! There are ground level water jump cameras, cameras at the bottom of the bank, helmet cameras… It's going to be amazing!

Michael Whitaker proved there’s still life in the old dog yet with a brilliant Bunn Leisure Derby Trial win. A six horse jump off – William Funnell having withdrawn Cortaflex Mondriaan to save him for Sunday, who had jumped a stunning clear round to prove his form- Michael went in first and set a time that couldn’t be beaten by either William on his second ride, or a flat-out Robert Smith, who came in third, both a good three seconds behind Michael’s lighting fast time.

It was another Whitaker win for the main class of the day when William Whitaker became the inaugural winner of the Hickstead Master’s Challenge. A newly conceived class this year, specially designed to add a feature class to our three day television schedule and provide some variety to the two weekend Derbys, it is named in honour of Dad, fondly known as the Master of Hickstead, as he would have loved it, himself a master innovator. In two sections, and against the clock, the second section finished with a line of four successively bigger gates. The crowd loved it, and I was delighted to see William win as I do call him Favourite Whitaker – he’s by far the most charming, and the only one even remotely tall enough for me, so we’ve decided we might marry one day, just for the party of a Whitaker-Bunn wedding!

Must be off as have champagne prizes to organise for tomorrow night’s Falcon Equine Feeds Derby Polo Challenge – one of the highlights of the year as the crème de la crème of the showjumping world, make a hilarious attempt at playing polo!

Until tomorrow…"