THE U.S. EVENTING ASSOCIATION (USEA) Board of Governors voted March 26 to mirror the dates decided by US Equestrian (USEF) for suspending recognizing competitions and educational activities.
Boyd Martin winning Arena Eventing at Devon H.S.The USEA will extend its suspension of recognizing events under its direct jurisdiction through May 3.
The suspension extends also to USEA recognized educational activities, Young Event Horse, Future Event Horse, and New Event Horse competitions.
The USEA is closely monitoring the recommendations of the CDC as well as federal, state, and local guidelines and will continue to communicate with our members throughout this trying time.
The USEA strongly recommends competitors NOT attend events before May 3 and that organizers NOT offer any type of competitions or activities at this time.
Competitions that choose to run before May 3 will do so without USEA recognition or liability insurance coverage.
COMPETITORS attending those events will not be able to earn year-end or leaderboard points, USEA Classic Series qualifications, or USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) qualifications.
As the May 3 deadline approaches the USEA Board of Governors will reconvene to reassess the situation.
A formal process is being put into place to reschedule competitions affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
All competitions will be notified when the process commences, however, if any competition would like to reschedule the organizer needs to notify Katlynn Sacco at the USEF of their intentions along with dates and levels and copy their Area Chair.
The USEA appreciates the patience of organizers while the process is formalized.
The USEA will refund organizers' registration fees to all organizers that were already paid to the USEA for events that were scheduled to take place between March 16 and May 3.
USEA starter fees are to be refunded to entered competitors by competition organizers.
The USEA is also committed to giving competitors an adequate amount of notice to safely prepare horses for when eventing resumes.
The USEA staff continues to be available for our members. Please contact us with any questions.
For questions about the USEA’s decision please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
AQUEDUCT will be re-purposed as a temporary hospital, and racing will not resume there again at the winter or spring meets, according to a press release from the New York Racing Association on March 28.
Belmont stakes 2017 (Photo by Horsephotos)When racing does resume, it is expected to be at Belmont Park, which is currently scheduled to open Apr. 24.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has set a goal for New York State to provide COVID-19 patient overflow facilities in each New York City borough as well as Westchester, Rockland, Nassau and Suffolk counties.
On Saturday, Governor Cuomo announced that New York State had received the approval to move forward with the temporary hospital at Aqueduct Racetrack as well as locations in Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Bronx.
Following the approval of Aqueduct Racetrack as a temporary hospital site, NYRA said they would focus efforts on preparing for live racing at Belmont Park.
The $750,000 GII Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino, previously slated for April 4 at Aqueduct, has been postponed to a date yet to be determined.
The 152nd running of the $1.5 million GI Belmont S., is currently slated for Saturday, June 6.
NYRA-operated racetracks have been used in prior emergency situations, including in 2012 when NYRA donated the use of the Aqueduct parking lot to the American Red Cross to operate a mobile feeding kitchen and relief supplies staging area in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.
In 2001, Belmont Park served as one of the staging areas for emergency vehicles and personnel in the days following 9/11.
UPDATE TO ALL OF OUR CHESHIRE SUPPORTERS-
As all of you are, the Cheshire Race Committee is closely watching the news of COVID-19 and following the instructions given by Pennsylvania State and Chester County leadership to stay calm, stay home, and stay safe.
We care about the safety and health of our community, horsemen, volunteers, spectators and sponsors; that is why we have postponed our March Race Meet and our Pre-Race Cocktail Party to a later date to do our part to flatten the curve.
While we had postponed the Pre-Race Cocktail Party to a date in May, we have since determined that it is best to further postpone to a later date this summer or early fall when it is safe to gather and celebrate.
We will announce when that will be as soon as circumstances allow.
We are meeting regularly over the phone to contingency plan so that if conditions improve over the coming months, we are ready to safely hold a race meet this spring; something we all very much want to do!
Times are uncertain right now and we thank you in advance for your continued patience and support as we monitor conditions to determine when we can safely get together to race and to celebrate the Cheshire Races.
We're all in this together so please stay calm, stay home and stay safe!
~ Cheshire Race Committee
