A former cart horse, plucked from obscurity on the streets of Rio de Janeiro when his jumping ability was discovered, carried Brazil's Carlos Ribas to victory in the Hickstead Salver on the opening day of the Derby meeting at the Sussex showgrounds yesterday.
The diminutive, coloured horse, Van Gansenwinkel Mumu, started out life as a work horse, used to transport pig slurry, but after a spell in a riding school his speed and agility marked him apart and he was taken on by 25-year-old Ribas, who is now based in Belgium with the legendary Nelson Pessoa.
The Brazilian's foot-perfect circuit of the 10-fence speed class track yesterday afternoon brought him through the finish flags in 65.27, over two seconds quicker than Ireland's Captain John Ledingham and Millstreet Ruby, last year's winners.
However Ledingham, a threetime winner of both the Derby and the speed Derby at this venue, will have kept plenty in the tank for the remainder of the fixture, and on Sunday will bid to equal the record of four Hickstead Derby wins currently jointly held by Eddie Macken, Harvey Smith and Michael Whitaker.
Earlier yesterday the Derby Tankard, the final trial for the British team for the World Equestrian Games, went to a two-horse jump-off, with Michael Whitaker (Virtual Village Ashley) the only one to retain his clean sheet in the timed round, at the expense of Di Lampard and the Irish-bred Abbervail Dream.
