Even though the Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event won’t have its 4-star Long division starting in 2023, the Horse Park of New Jersey trustees “enthusiastically” have voted to stage the event in 2022–“so long as we can obtain the necessary sponsorship funding to run the show to the standard that we have set for ourselves,” board president Adam Furlong said today.
Over the weekend, it was learned that the event was not granted a CCI 4-star Long division by the U.S. Equestrian Federation for 2023 through 2027. There is, however, a possibility Jersey Fresh can run in 2023 without the 4 Star L if it gets the 4-star Short and 3-Star Long and Short, which will not be awarded until next month.
But it does have the 4-star Long and Short and 3-star Long and Short for 2022, just as it did this year, when it drew more than 160 entries, breaking its record set in 2019. The key to whether JFI 2022 happens will be what the sponsors want to do, knowing that it might not be held in 2023, or if it is, it would be a different event than in the past. Adam’s family business, B.W Furlong & Associates, is a longtime Jersey Fresh sponsor.
The iconic Jersey Fresh jump standards. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
The decisions of the sponsors “ultimately will impact the size and scale of the event,” Adam said.
“We want to send Jersey Fresh off in the best light possible. In order to do that, we need to make sure we have the necessary revenue and income to run it the way we want, so when everyone leaves they’re like, `Wow, it’s really impressive what Jersey Fresh has done over the last several years and we can’t wait to see what they have in store for us in 2028’,” which would be the start of the next five-year cycle.
“Even if Jersey Fresh runs in 2023 absent the 4-star L, every year we try to raise the bar for ourselves as far as rider expectations and the quality of the event,” Adam said. He noted that Jersey Fresh for years has been a selection/observation trials for the Olympics, as it was this year, and also for the world championships. The championships are coming up next year in Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy, but it is too soon to know if Jersey Fresh will get the nod as a trial in 2022.
“The final list of selection trials will be confirmed once the selection procedures are published. As for when the selection procedures will be published, the FEI has not yet confirmed the qualification criteria for Pratoni, so we are currently playing a waiting game,” stated Jenni Autry, the USEF’s managing director for eventing.
Should Jersey Fresh get the nod to be a world championships selection trial, Adam noted, “if we have that as a selling point for the event for 2022, I would hope that would be considered a valuable commodity to sponsors.”
The cross-country at Jersey Fresh always draws tailgaters.
In 2023, even if it gets the 4-Star Short and the two 3-Star sections, Jersey Fresh would, not be able to run on its usual mid-May weekend because North Carolina’s Tryon International 4-Star L will be held then, drawing from the same pool of competitors as Jersey Fresh. Tryon is one of the six events that will host 4-Star Longs from 2023-2027.
“It’s going to be a complicated dance to try to figure out, can we do that with all the other events the Horse Park hosts in any given year?” said Adam in regard to finding a new date.
“We’re very fortunate our spring and early summer schedules are pretty jam-packed, so it would be kind of them (USEF) if they would give us a pretty early heads-up on when they’re going to tell us what their decision is.”
All of the venues that were awarded 4-Star Long divisions have state-of-the-art footing in their arenas, something the Horse Park lacks, though it is trying to raise money for that purpose.
Doug Payne, the highest-placing American in the eventing at the Tokyo Olympics, was a Jersey Fresh winner in 2019 with Starr Witness. A native of New Jersey who now lives in North Carolina, he has ridden many times at the park and his family’s Applewood Farm is a regular sponsor of cross-country fences for Jersey Fresh.
Doug Payne and Starr Witness were winners at Jersey Fresh in 2019. (Photo © 2019 by Nancy Jaffer)
“I think they’ve made such a massive effort in recent years, working so hard to improve, that it’s definitely a hard pill to swallow,” he said about the park’s loss of the 4-Star L.
“The cross-country has made great strides to improve and the footing there, regardless of weather, generally is quite good. It’s unfortunate their rings are not quite top-tier quality at the moment,” he said.
“The Horse Park has done an admirable job trying to improve and make the most of everything they’ve got and you would like to see them back at some point.”
Adam said while the board is “disappointed” that USEF didn’t award Jersey Fresh the 4-star L for 2023-’27, “rather than getting too hung up on the negatives, the appropriate way forward is to use this as an opportunity to give us a couple of years to really pursue some of the necessary funding to underwrite the capital improvement expenses and investments that we’ve talked about for quite some time. Our hope and desire is that when the 2028 bid cycle opens up, we have established ourselves as a very well-suited venue to host an international-caliber event and will be very excited to hopefully get that event and that weekend back to the Horse Park of New Jersey.”
The park has a footing fund that paid for a partial overhaul of the grand prix ring in 2019, which cost just under $100,000. Eventually, the trustees want to overhaul all the rings, which would cost about $2 million.But the key project is to re-do the surfaces of the grand prix ring and its warm-up arena, which would require 2,200 tons of new footing and cost about $500,000.
“We want to add (synthetic) material to create a softer and more consistent feel…to get it to the standard that riders expect from us these days,” said Adam.
“While we are trying to meet the standards of one of a number of different types of competition we host at the park, we know these investments will be incredibly appreciated and valuable to all the other sports that utilize the park,” Adam said.
Those who want to help the park are encouraged to donate to the footing fund on the park’s website at.https://horseparkofnewjersey.com/hpnjfootingfund.
None of the events that got a 4-Star L for 2023-’27 are in the Northeast.
“Eventing has been migrating south for quit a long time,” said Doug, noting Area I (New England) was “the hub of it all” for quite a long time.
“We saw the writing on the wall and it was part of the motivation for us to move where we did,” he said.
He noted it’s important to have major events in order to encourage the growth of eventing in a region.
“Growing up, we had Pony Club camp at the USET (in Gladstone). Being around it and seeing it is without a doubt a motivating factor.
“If it’s not around you and you’re not aware of it, it’s hard not to start looking somewhere else, another discipline or another sport. It’s encouraging “If you have top-class sport in your backyard and see the best of the best competing frequently.”
