The dust has just about settled at the showground after the craziness of the last week has finally subsided. But what a week it was.

On both Saturday and Sunday we enjoyed record numbers of visitors, as people flocked to the showground in their thousands to watch the Derbies.

Saturday’s speed Derby was very tense, and whilst everyone in the know had their money - and in my case actual hard cash at the bookies - on last year’s winner Shane Breen to lift the trophy again, it was in fact his brother Trevor who took home the red rosette. Trevor has been studiously examining the dvd’s of last year’s class at home over the winter, to see where he went wrong and Shane went right, and we have been mercilessly taking the mickey out of him for months about it. But boy did it pay off. A stunningly fast round and a very well deserved win… after getting well and truly stuck in to his prize Pommery champagne afterwards, Trev did let slip that the win was made just that tiny bit sweeter by the fact that he beat Shane!

Sunday was of course the big day, with the DFS Derby, the jewel in the crown of British showjumping, still boasting the richest prize fund in the UK. Before that however, the crowd were treated to the amazing spectacle of Major Phil Packer successfully completing his equestrian challenge with Jodie Kidd, parading around the international arena. The admiration for him was almost tangible and it was incredibly touching to witness the continuous applause and standing ovation that accompanied him around the entire arena.

The hot contenders in the DFS Derby were William Funnell, Geoff Billington and Shane Breen, but as was proved yet again by the end result, anything can happen. Shane finished on 12 faults with both his rides, and poor Geoffrey retired after a disappointing start, and no doubt the memory of a particular spectacular fall in the Derby Trial on Friday. So, the way was cleared for some new Derby talent to emerge, and both Guy Williams and William Whitaker jumped brilliant rounds for just 4 faults – no mean feat in the Derby, and a score good enough to have won outright in the past.

Having started at rather a sedate pace, the Derby was proving to be one of the most exciting ever: Second to last in was Guy on his second ride, who was having another great round until he was unceremoniously deposited onto his bad shoulder jumping into the Devil’s Dyke. You could have cut the tension with a knife when it looked like the jump off would be off, but the crowd went wild when he got back up and dusted himself off, waving his shoulder around to prove that nothing but his pride was too badly bruised.

Last in the ring was William Funnell, on the legendary Mondriaan. Could he do it a third time? The whole showground was silent, and even the notoriously loquacious commentators couldn’t bear to say anything for fear of jinxing him. Haunted by the fact that he has never jumped a clear in the first round, despite having taken home the Boomerang trophy twice before, Mondriaan jumped his socks off – to such an extent that he nearly un-seated William over the privet hedge – and jumped an absolutely beautiful round to storm home with Boomerang once again.

William himself was ecstatic, he’d ‘broken the clear round duck’ as he put it, and couldn’t stop exclaiming what a wonderful horse he has in Mondriaan. A bittersweet triumph for William, who remarked how odd it was not seeing Dad up on his balcony, but an amazing achievement and an all-time career high none the less.

A fabulous show, with some excellent headlines; now the question on everyone’s lips is can William do it again next year, and be only the second person in history to achieve the Golden Four?