THE SOUTH AFRICAN DERBY

OVER 50 YEARS OF HISTORY

The South African Derby is the most popular event on the equestrian calendar, attracting not only horse lovers but also those non-horsey members of the public. This has been the case for well over 50 years, and with the United Aviation South African Derby kicking off today, we couldn’t be more excited!

But before we put all of our focus on the United Aviation South African Derby 2022, let’s take a walk down memory lane to learn a bit more about the history of this special event.

THE EARLY DAYS

The Derby was first held at Inanda Club on their cricket field(!) in the spring of 1965. John Glennie, who founded Inanda Club, took on the massive task of turning the cricket field into a showjumping arena that could meet international standards. He based his ideas for the show on the Hickstead Derby in England, wanting the course to be testing but also have massive value for spectators.

John Glennie spoke to Hickstead founder and course designer Douglas Bunn to make this dream a reality. Douglas Bunn accepted the challenge and transformed the cricket pitch into a course full of walls, water jumps, stiles and the famous bank. All the hard work was worth it, and the firstever South African Derby was held in 1965.

On the back of this success, Inanda Club allowed the course builders to make some of the features of the course permanent. Certain jumps, like the dyke, tabletop, water jump and bank, were made permanent features on the now repurposed cricket pitch, and some can still be seen when you visit Inanda Club today.

Dressage joined the Derby in 1968 and was won in its first two years by Ernst Holtz and his horse Bandit. Carriage driving and the unique Compleat Horse were added in 1972, and the Show Horse Class was introduced in 1984, attracting even more riders!

KYALAMI PARK CLUB

In 2000, the Derby moved from Inanda Club and its current location at Kyalami Park Club (KPC). This allowed for larger courses to be built, and because there were eight competition arenas, there was plenty of space for the other disciplines.

Alan Stacey was the man given the job of designing the new Derby course, again based closely on the Hickstead Derby course.

THE UNIQUE CLASSES OF DERBY

THE SHOWJUMPING DERBY

The Showjumping Derby, held on Sunday afternoon, is considered to be the ultimate showjumping test in South Africa, testing the ability, courage, strength and endurance of both horse and rider. Today the course consists of 18 jumps at an average height of 1.55m, with the wall standing at a massive 1.7m and the incredible Derby bank, down which the horses have to slide, standing at 3m! There are qualifying classes during the week, and 24 riders qualify to compete in the Bob Charter arena on the Sunday.

THE DRESSAGE DERBY

In the Dressage Derby, the three top horse and rider combinations qualify by competing in events earlier in the show. On the final day, each rider has to ride all three horses, and each horse and rider receives points during each test. The highest scoring horse and highest scoring rider are then determined by adding up all the points. Therefore, the winning rider is not necessarily the owner of the winning horse.

THE COMPLEAT HORSE

‘Compleat’ is from the Shakespearean form of the word ‘complete’, and this set of classes really puts the horses through their paces. The horses have to do six separate tests to determine the winner! First off, the horses have to be presented for conformation judging, and they are then ridden by the judge. They also have to perform a utility test. The top 15 then go forward to ride a dressage test and jump a showjumping round. The best five from this set of horse and rider combinations get to perform a free test in the main arena on the Sunday afternoon. A winner is chosen based on this performance!