USA Federation Puts Off Decision on New CCI4* Event, But Spurns Tryon as Future Host Despite New MultiMillion Dollar Course for World Games
8 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on USA Federation Puts Off Decision on New CCI4* Event, But Spurns Tryon as Future Host Despite New MultiMillion Dollar Course for World Games
LEXINGTON, Kentucky, Jan. 18, 2017–The United States Equestrian Federation announced Tuesday it put off selecting a venue for a proposed new eventing CCI4*, one of seven in the world, but chose two sites for future consideration while spurning Tryon International Equestrian Center that is spending millions of dollars on a new course for the World Equestrian Games in 2018.
The USEF) board of directors named Fair Hill in Maryland and Great Meadow in Virginia to a short list of host venues for the new CCI4* eventing competition.
“Following extensive review and analysis of each proposal by the CCI4* Task Force, the Eventing Committee, the International Disciplines Council and the Board of Directors, it was concluded that, due to changes in location and date related to the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games, the inaugural CCI4* event will be held in the autumn of 2019,” the USEF said in a statement.
“The USEF appreciates the very positive response from eventing organizers and the detail provided in each of the applications. The objective of the application process was to select a venue and management team that is capable of conducting and prioritizing a competition at the CCI4* level, and to ensure that the event fits into the training and competition calendar for the eventing discipline.”
If selected by the FEI, the International Equestrian Federation, the new autumn CCI4* event would join the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented as the only two CCI4*s in the Western Hemisphere and would mark the seventh CCI4* on the global calendar.
Both Fair Hill and Great Meadow have hosted international events over the years.
Tryon in North Carolina, in its third year as an international equestrian center, hosted the American Eventing Championships last year and is spending millions of dollars to extend the course designed by Mark Phllips in preparation for the World Games next year. Tryon was the only venue in the world willing to host the quadrennial showcase of international horse sports after Bromont in Canada was dropped out last summer.
The organizers for Tryon will host an Eventing Showcase for the third year at the Global Dressage Festival grounds in Wellington next month with prize money of $100,000 that is one of the largest purses for the sport.
