Where There's A Willa...

WILLA NEWTON enjoyed a golden weekend with a hat-trick of wins from her rising stars and an established campaigner.

- Lucy Elder

The Leicestershire-based rider piloted Caja 20 to victory in the open intermediate by 0.2 of a penalty ahead of Piggy French and Calling Card.

Caja 20, an 11-year-old mare who won Blenheim’s eight- and nine-year-olds in 2017, produced a smart test to sit joint third after dressage on a score of 27.5.

The time was tight across Alec Lochore’s challenging intermediate cross-country track, with nobody finishing inside. Willa and Caja were among the quickest in their section, coming home 13 seconds over the optimum time to add 5.2 time penalties to their clean jumping sheet and gain the top spot.

“It was just so nice that she felt back to her old self,” said Willa of the German-bred mare, who is owned by her father Joey and Lady Sarah McCorquodale. “She’s not an easy one to manage, so it has been great for her owner, who has been incredibly patient. She was always quite tricky as a young horse in the warm-up and she hasn’t really been like that recently, but today she was back to being cheeky and naughty.”

Willa said they have tried a host of different ways of managing the mare and have found that living out is suiting her well.

The 29-year-old rider also won an intermediate section with the talented seven-year-old Cock A Doodle Do, who will head to Osberton and then Le Lion.