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Sporting occasion needing a long weekend (5-3,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

three-day event

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'long weekend' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how one could define the other.

'sporting occasion needing a' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'occasion' could be 'event' (I've seen this before) and 'event' is located in the answer.
'a' is found in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for three-day event that I've seen before include "Equestrian competition involving several skills" , "Dressage, cross-country and showjumping" , "Horse-riding competition" , "Equestrian competition comprising several disciplines" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.
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