"As we approach our 50th year, you would have thought we'd have got used to the show season springing up on us, seemingly without warning, EVERY year.

However, clearly we haven't! I have only just stopped laughing at the alarming shade of green that Catherine in Sponsorship has just managed to turn herself with the realisation that the Derby begins in just 14 days from now; that was after a tirade of abuse and accusations that I was lying and winding her up on purpose and that it was still three weeks to go! Her (greening) face, upon examination of her calendar, was nothing short of priceless!

But 14 days it is, and the showground is a hive of activity. Due to the very seasonal nature of our job, a lot of the immediate preparations for the shows cannot begin until the fortnight before, so what was just a relatively peaceful corner of the Sussex countryside on Sunday evening, has nearly been transformed into a marquee covered metropolis, as we ready our trade village. Likewise, Rocky (Royal Concorde, Shane Breen's winner of the 2008 Hickstead Bunn Leisure Speed Derby) is looking most put out that his winter grazing and favourite field now has nigh on 1000 temporary stables covering it.

As all Hickstead regulars will concede, our highly efficient, well-oiled super machine of a Secretary's Office, can at times resemble a slightly chaotic Piccadilly Circus at rush-hour. This seems to have begun slightly earlier than normal this year as Emma, Amanda, Ada and co. get to grips with our very snazzy new online entries system.

At times it's hard to tell whether Emma's flushed complexion is still as a result of a particuarly nasty case of sunburn last weekend, or because she is about to deposit her computer system into the sprinklers in the main ring. We are delighted to be the first show now completely up and running with online entries, and despite a few initial teething problems, the sytem is running very well and heralds a very modern new era in show organisation - one that is hopefully more efficient and less time consuming for both organisers and competitors alike.

A few of the old (sorry boys!) Hickstead favourites have popped in over the last few days, bearing flowers and chocolates and pretending they've just come for a visit. Naming no names (Geoffrey Billington, William Funnell and Shane Breen - who really has no excuse as he lives about four minutes from the office!) we saw through them immediately and realised that they were just buttering us up because none of them had remembered to do their entries on time. You can rest assured that they are now all entered and this year's rivalry promises to be fiercer than ever, with more than just a little banter already being directed at William for his - shall we say - 'graceful dismount' at the bottom of the Hamburg derby bank this year.

So, stay tuned in for the exciting lead up to the Derby over the next few weeks, and I hope that many of you will be able to attend the meeting itself (tickets still available online at our website below), or if not be able to watch it on H&C TV. In the next few days, I should have more information about a very exciting project lined up with the amazing Phil Packer, who recently completed the London marathon having been injured in Iraq, and confirm the line up for this year's celebrity scurry."