Two major spring three-days are left on the North American eventing calendar: Jersey (this weekend) and Bromont (June 10-13). Looking at Jersey, there are only 55 entries between the CCI2*, CIC3*, and CCI3* combined. The Jersey CCI3* only has 22 entries.
Link: Jersey Entry List, Tentative Schedule
In some sense, the presence of the CIC3* decreases the CCI3* entries because rather than getting their CIC3* qualifier at The Fork and shooting for Jersey, some riders are getting qualified at Jersey and targeting Bromont. I applaud Jersey for having the CIC because it gives riders the ability to take their time early in the spring.
Bromont has not released their entry list yet, but the USA is potentially facing an unsettling reality of having about the same number of 3* horses as 4* horses. At one point, Rolex had 45 USA entries — at Jersey, there are fewer than 20 US entries in the CCI3*. With the attrition of horses moving up the ranks, we would like to see a larger crop of 3* horses if we want our 4* ranks to keep growing. Great Britain might have sent more entries into Badminton than the US will send to three-stars and four-stars combined this spring.
As an aside, Tru Luck and Connaught were entered in the Jersey CIC3* last week, but only Tru Luck remains.
Update: A commenter inquired how the entry list this year stacks up to last year. Last year there were 85 starters in the CCI2*, CIC3*, and the CCI3* combined, and there were 29 CCI3* starters. Assuming all of this year’s entries start, that’s a 35% decrease in total entries since 2009. In 2008, Jersey only held the CCI2* and CCI3*, but there were 77 starters for those two divisions and 38 CCI3* starters. The CCI3* entries have decreased just over 40% since 2008. The decrease in overall Jersey entries is more about the growth of Bromont than anything else. 2009 Jersey results, 2008 results
