Local duo celebrate eventing wins at Belsay International Horse Trials

Two of the international classes were won by Leicestershire and Rutland-based riders.

Willa Newton, who runs an eventing yard at her family home in Stonesfield, near Melton, triumphed in the Hambro Sport Horses CCI3*-S on a new ride, Hartacker.

The pair started the day with a dressage mark of 26.6, showjumped clear and picked up only 0.8 time-faults round Adrian Ditcham’s challenging and varied cross-country track.

Willa said: “I rode a young horse for Camilla (Behrens, Hartacker’s owner) last year.

“Hartacker had had quite a lot of time off with an injury and she was toying with what to do with him.

“It’s an amazing opportunity for me because I don’t have very many older horses, so I’m feeling very lucky to have him.

“He’s quirky, and was very on his toes before his dressage, but he’s lovely.

“He felt amazing in the cross-country. The plan was to come to Belsay for a qualification, but the ground was fantastic and I couldn’t not give it a go.

“The course was big and bold, and I feel I’ve got to know him more as a result. “I’d love to take him to Boekelo at the end of the season, but we’ll take each day as it comes and enjoy it.”

Japanese riders have taken the sport of eventing by storm in recent years, and the newest star in their firmament, Rutland-based Yuya Segawa, shone at Belsay by scoring his first European international victory in the NIS Group Services/Encon Technical Solutions CIC2*-S.

Riding Vegas De L’Elfe JRA, 25-year-old Yuya showjumped clear and added just 1.2 cross-country time-faults to his second-placed dressage mark of 30.2 to take the competitive class by less than a penalty from Scotland’s Louisa Milne Home.

Yuya, who has recently moved to base himself with Richard and Victoria Jones at South Luffenham, near Oakham and whose ambition is to represent Japan at the Olympics, only took over the ride on 16-year-old Vegas De L’Elfe from fellow Japanese rider Shunto Takahashi in April.

“He is a great horse who has a lot of experience and knows his job and I think I will learn a lot from him,” said Yuya.

“He felt very confident across country and it was fun to ride him.”

Other Leicestershire riders who did well at Belsay included Eliza Bell, second in the Barbour CCI2*-L on Macgyver, owned by Clive Stoddart, Susan Kerfoot and Charlotte Hignett.

Eliza has a competition yard on the Rolleston estate near Billesdon.

Willa and Yuya now have a flying start in the 2025 Northumberland Challenge, which offers a huge prize-pot of £61,000 to riders who win or are placed in the CCI2*-S, CCI3*-S and BE100 at the three Northumbrian international events of Belsay, Alnwick Ford (18th-22nd June) and Burgham (24th-27th July).