report_gold_cup

There are four competitions in the East:

*Red Hills Horse Trials, March 12-14, Florida
Fair Hill International Horse Trials, April 2-4, Maryland
Stuart Horse Trials, July 23-25, New York
*Over The Walls Horse Trials, August 6-9, Massachusetts

There are three competitions in the West:

*Galway Downs Horse Trials, March 26-28, California
*The Event at Rebecca Farm, July 23-24, Montana
The Event at Jackson Hole, August 27-29, Wyoming

* These competitions are also FEI World Cup Qualifiers (CIC-W***) for 2004.

Below is information received from Sean Brescia of the USEA Sport Development.

"In August, the President appointed a special task force to develop criteria, evaluate and select competitions and determine an overall structure for the USEA Gold Cup Series. From the beginning, there was a great desire to balance the Series evenly between the east and west. In the interest of not diluting the Series and its prize money first year, it was vital to restrict the number of competitions and divisions involved. It was also crucial to expedite the selection process as effectively as possible in order to get the Series off the ground for 2004 in such a very narrow timeframe. All USEA recognized Advanced level horse trials were considered and the task force narrowed the list based on the following criteria (and keeping in mind the geographical balance):

"Prospective competitions for inclusion in the Gold Cup Series should attract high caliber competitors and boast a large potential for public interest and sponsor exposure. The organizers should be well adept at promoting their venue regionally to the public and local media and should be capable of drawing significant corporate sponsor support to underwrite operational and infrastructure costs associated with running a caliber of competition that is a suitable representation of the sport at a national level. These competitions are intended to be a “showcase” of eventing and accordingly they must:

promote their event to spectators.
be able to accommodate large numbers of spectators
have a plan and demonstrated ability to successfully work with local media
be most presentable venues
have the best courses
have consistently good footing
have stringent 'adverse incident' protocols in operation
run according to standard USEA Policies and USEA/USA Equestrian rules

"The chosen competitions were asked to provide a detailed application package then evaluated in depth against these criteria, among other factors. Ultimately, it is our goal to expand the Series through multiple levels and to increasing numbers of competitions that strive to meet these standards for showcasing the sport to the public. As public interest and sponsorship grow, so will the Series and its benefits to competitors, organizers and sponsors. As the Series grows, we will develop an application process for incorporating additional competitions.

"The Series prize money is being acquired through the development of corporate sponsorship. We will be allocating a sum of money to each individual competition as well as establishing a year-end grand prize purse. In addition, we will be providing trophies to be awarded at each of the events and the coveted USEA Gold Cup Championship grand prize trophy to be awarded at the USEA Convention each year. The specific prize money allocated to the events and the grand prize purse will be determined by the level of sponsorship raised. The money allocated to each event will simply be added to their existing purse and distributed according to the formula they currently have in place. As for the overlap of the World Cup and Gold Cup: The prize money for CIC divisions will be allocated according to FEI regulations- We’re simply adding to the total.".

Sean was also kind enough to answer the following questions posed by eventingetc.com:

1) Who were/are the members of the "Special Task Force?

"The task force was appointed by the President (Charles Lloyd, III) and included the President (Charles Lloyd, III), the VP of Strategic Planning (Roger Secrist), the VP of Competitions (Kyra Stuart) , the Executive Director (Jo Whitehouse) , the Liaison for Sport Development Initiatives (Sean Brescia) and the Director of Competitions (Sharon Gallagher)."

2) Am I to read this that the competitions were CHOSEN FIRST and then asked to apply?

"As I stated previously, time is of the essence and in the interest of making this Series a viable endeavor for 2004 in the limited time window available to us, this was very much a selective process first time around. We chose for our Series the competitions that boast the greatest potential for public interest and spectator attendance, that have proactive media relations and promotions, and that ultimately are the most marketable to prospective sponsors. It is absolutely our intention to expand this project as resources grow and to include an increasing number of “showcase” events that meet the standard of most positively representing our sport to the public. We are currently developing an application packet that will soon be submitted to all organizers and will give them an opportunity to apply for inclusion in 2005."

3) Exactly how much prize money has the Gold Cup Series provided to the member competitions?… How much to each competition?... When will you know?

"Sponsorship development is actively ongoing at this point and we will not finalize the level of prize money allocated to Gold Cup events until early next year. Our intent is obviously to acquire as much money as possible prior to those events. This also applies to the final level of the year-end purse. I’ll likely be able to finalize prize money during the month of February and make an update to the public at that time."

4) Do the FEI regulations call for $10,000 in prize money per CIC-W***?

"Some of the USEA Gold Cup Series events are also FEI World Cup Qualifiers. This is simply an instance where two separate initiatives were focusing on the same criteria and caliber of event. The World Cup and Gold Cup are entirely separate projects, and although some events are included in both and these two initiatives certainly both add value to these competitions, they are mutually exclusive of each other. The CIC-W status of some events is absolutely irrelevant to the Gold Cup Series. As for the issue of prize money, those events that are World Cup events have met the minimum FEI requirement for prize money. Details on FEI minimum requirements and formulas for distribution of prize money can be found in the FEI rulebook."

Editor's Note: Sherry Frank, Coordinator of International Services of USAEq (as of December 1st, the US Equestrian Federation) states that, "The FEI would like to see..." FEI World Cup Qualifiers offer $15,000 in prize money, in 2004; $20,000, in 2005; and $30,000, in 2006.

Neither Red Hills CIC-W*** nor Galway Downs CIC-W***, the first two US Qualifiers for the 2004 FEI Eventing World Cup, offers $15,000 in prize money. Each offers $10,000 in prize money for their respective CIC-W*** competitions. Both Red Hills and Galway Downs are also members of the USEA Gold Cup Series.