Michael Whitaker won the Derby Trial at Hickstead for a fifth time and then tipped William Funnell to write himself into the record books in the main event tomorrow.

Funnell and Cortaflex Mondriaan go for a record-equalling fourth Derby win in tomorrow's climax to the British Jumping Derby Meeting at the Sussex showground.

Whitaker, the 50-year-old former world No. 1, has won the Derby four times himself on two different horses, once on Owen Gregory in 1980 and three times consecutively on Mon Santa in the 1990s.

Eddie Macken and Boomerang remain the only combination to achieve the feat on four occasions but Whitaker belives Funnell can match that.

Whitaker will have two horses entered himself tomorrow but not yesterday's winner GIG Amai. He said: "It is a nice feeling to win this (the Trial) for a fifth time, especially with a horse going like that.

"He's probably been my best horse for six months now. He is a bit short of experience in these big rings so he is not entered for the Derby.

"To be honest I think he would have a really good chance but I have got to aim for the Nations Cups and World Championships with him. The Derby is not the ideal preparation for that but maybe next year, because he coped with it ever so well.

"William and Mondriaan are definitely the favourites. I can't see them slipping up that much."

Whitaker had both his Derby entries, Trappist and Pilgrim, in action yesterday but each had one fence down.

GIG Amai, a ten-year-old gelding, showed them how it was done to claim the £6,000 first prize.

The Derby Trial is seen as an indicator to Sunday's main event, although in truth only two previous Trial winners have gone on to win the Derby in the same year.

Yesterday's event provided some world class showjumping with nine combinations out of 51 going clear in the first round, compared to just two 12 months ago.

Germany's Andre Thieme was the quickest but he ducked out of the jump-off to concentrate on tomorrow's big event – the Derby, that is, not the World Cup clash with England.

Funnell did the same with Mondriaan, who is still being treated carefully after a recent bout of colic, but Funnell's other mount, Billy Congo, did make it through to the seven-horse jump-off.

Whitaker, who was the youngest ever winner of the Derby aged 20 in 1980, went first and immediately set the standard with another clear in 57.53.

It proved a time no one was able to beat despite both Funnell and Robert Smith on Talan each going clear again.

Shane Breen, Cpt David O'Brien and Whitaker's nephew Joe each had one fence down and Tina Fletcher did the same while also incurring a time penalty, leaving Whitaker as the Derby Trial winner for the first time since 1998.

It was a good day for the Whitaker family as Michael's nephew William triumphed in the second international class of the day, the Hickstead Master's Challenge.

This was a new competition which involved a speed section before finishing with a line of four fences to clear.

Whitaker had one fence down in the speed section but that did not matter as he cleared the four gates to win in a fastest time of 65.78.

Guy Williams threatened to snatch victory in the penultimate ride but, having set a faster time than Whitaker, he had the final fence down.

There were a total of five clear rounds with Belgium's Guido Hornesch taking second on Concorde and Nicole Pavitt third on Maestro De Rend Peine.