Prince Of Wales Trophy

The Prince of Wales

England’s fi rst high-goal tournament of the season was a testing time for both players and ponies

When the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club (RCBPC), newest of England’s ‘big four’ clubs, was founded 20 years ago, the only slot available in the high-goal calendar was May. So the club’s Prince of Wales Trophy tournament became the fi rst 22-goal competition on the fi xtures list each year.

With the Queens Cup, Warwickshire Cup and British Open scheduled in June and July, some teams prefer to skip the RCBPC tournament and stay fresh for the coming battles. Others see the Prince of Wales as a chance to test their mettle before going on to the later high-goal contests. e healthy turnout of eight teams this year included three squads that pundits had predicted would do well throughout the season. Italian Stefano Marsaglia’s Azzurra

Main pic: Azzurra’s 10-goal star Bautista Heguy on the ball.

Opposite: VIP guests gather at RCBPC’s royal box to watch tournament fi nal.

Right: Club owner Bryan Morrison presents the trophy to Azzurra patron Stefano Marsaglia, also last year’s winner.

YNDICATION S / I P C+ S E / HOR S MEEK TREVOR won the Prince of Wales last year and went on to win the 2004 British Open. Ali Albwardy’s Dubai, with 10-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso, was a past winner of the Open and a fi nalist last year. Italian Alfi o Marchini’s Loro Piana was considered one of the strongest teams in the series of 26-goal tournaments, including the US Open, during the 2005 Florida season.

Azzurra, with one of the strongest pony strings in England, had to change its line-up before the tournament. eir star player, 10-goaler Marcos Heguy, was still in rehab after suff ering from a pinched nerve in his neck during the Argentine season. His place was taken by brother Bautista, also 10 goals. e team won each of their three preliminaries by only one goal. Loro Piana fell to Azzurra in the quarterfi nals and Azzurra knocked out Dubai in the semis to gain a place in the fi nals.

Frenchman Fabian Pictet’s Emerging also went through to the fi nals, played on a soggy ground in gusty wind in the middle of the old racetrack – the venue was a racing training stud before becoming a polo club. ‘We got more rain this morning than we got all winter,’ said club chairman Bryan Morrison. e conditions slowed the game.

It was the skills of Bautista Heguy, superior teamwork and greater pony power that brought Azzurra its convincing 9-4 win over Emerging – and its only major cup of the season. at fi rst of the high-goal tournaments also gave a foretaste of how tough the HPA’s professional umpires would be throughout the coming months in enforcing the rules of the game. Even with the fi nal already decided, emerging patron Pictet was sent off 20 seconds before the match ended on a technical foul: arguing with the umpires. ■