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hurlingham polo association magazine
AUTUMN 2006 £5.00
polo association magazine
AUTUMN 2006
MONGOLIAN MYSTERY [the land that time forgot] SWIMMING WITH SHARKS [the ultimate adventure] JIMMY NEWMAN [my life in polo] RALPH L AUREN [polo on the catwalk]
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December 2005 South Africa Kurland International
The greatest luxury in life is time. Savour every second.
England beat South Africa 13 - 9 February 2006 New Zealand International England beat New Zealand 14 - 13 February 2006 Australia England beat Victoria 10 – 8 June 2006 Argentine Club Cup England beat New Zealand 101/2 - 10
THE HURLINGHAM POLO ASSOCIATION After a successful season would like to thank all of its sponsors and supporters
July 2006 Cartier International Day The Coronation Cup England beat New Zealand 9 - 7 James Beim Mark Tomlinson Henry Brett Luke Tomlinson June 2006 Evolution Test Match Argentina beat England 10 - 4 July 2006 John Cowdray Trophy Young South Africa beat Young England 9 - 41/2 August 2006 BPE, Coworth England beat the Rest of the World 7 - 5 August 2006 Cowdray Test Match England beat South Africa 11 - 9
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THE FLYING B
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foreword BY DAVID WOODD, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE HPA
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Welcome to the new edition of Hurlingham magazine. You will notice that we have had a redesign, and I hope you will agree with me that the result is a sharper, more modern-looking publication. This is fitting, as polo establishes itself in the early years of the twenty-first century as an increasingly popular sport with genuine potential for a wide and youthful appeal. Looking back at the summer of 2006, the number of clubs, grounds and players continues to increase and with it the competitiveness of polo at all levels. The return of Ellerston introduced a new edge to the high goal but most of the 20 teams entered in the Gold Cup were highly competitive. All considered justifiably that they could get to the semi finals. Although the established teams were successful, a large number of games were won either in the closing seconds of the final chukka or in extra time. Inevitably, this puts huge pressure on the umpires as any foul awarded towards the end of a match, and especially in extra time, is not the way in which anyone would like to see a game finish. On the international front, it’s a credit to our players that the England team is no longer dependent on a few individuals, and that all our leading players are keen to represent England both here and overseas. The development of the England squad has been possible thanks to support from Audi in particular but also Cadenza, Hayley Conference Centres, Tony Lutwyche and Crew Clothing. Inevitably, an Argentine team centred on Cambiaso was going to present a serious challenge, especially when played open, but the Evolution Test match presented an opportunity for our players to compete against the best in the world and that is not an opportunity to be turned down lightly. In the other two matches – for the Coronation Cup on Cartier International Day against a strong New Zealand side, and at Cowdray against a lower handicapped but stronger South African team than in 2005 – two very different England teams (with James Beim the only one to play in both matches) won both by two goals. Meanwhile, competition amongst the 127 Pony Club teams to qualify for Cowdray was intense and with polo becoming a part of more and more schools’ sports curriculums the demand for grounds and junior polo is growing rapidly. The season has of course been marred hugely by the tragic death of Catherine Yates, who died from injuries sustained following a fall in the Pony Club tournament at Cirencester. Our sympathies go to her family, who showed huge courage at her funeral, which more or less coincided with what should have been her 21st birthday. In addition Bryan Morrison, the owner of the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club and a Steward of the HPA, remains in a coma following a fall during an exhibition match in July. This too has been a great shock to the whole polo community and we all pray that he will make a good recovery. The only other serious injury sustained this season was to Urs Schwarzenbach who was unconscious for nearly half an hour and suffered several broken ribs following a fall in the Queen’s Cup. It is a great relief to all that he is in the process of making a full recovery. On a more cheerful note, our heartiest congratulations are due to Urs’ Black Bears team which went on to win the Gold Cup with his son, Guy, substituting.
Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, no responsibility can be accepted for any errors or omissions. All the information contained in this publication is correct at the time of going to press. HURLINGHAM (ISSN 1750-0486) is published quarterly by Hurlingham Media, distributed in the USA by DSW, 75 Aberdeen Road, Emigsville PA 17318-0437. Periodicals postage paid at Emigsville PA. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Hurlingham, c/o PO Box 437, Emigsville PA 17318-0437. Hurlingham magazine is designed and produced on behalf of Hurlingham Media by Show Media Ltd. Hurlingham magazine is published on behalf of the Hurlingham Polo Association by Hurlingham Media. The products and services advertised are not necessarily endorsed by or connected with the publisher or the Hurlingham Polo association. The editorial opinions expressed in this publication are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of the publisher or the Hurlingham Polo Association. Hurlingham magazine welcome feedback from readers. www.hurlinghammedia.com
contributors Scotsman Gordon Roddick was off trekking in South America when his wife, Anita, founded The Body Shop in Brighton. Thirty years on, the couple have sold their now world-famous brand and, with business pressures off, Gordon – who writes movingly about Mongolia on page 32 – will have more time to play friendly chukkas in West Sussex and roam the world in search of adventure. Photographer Alice Gipps shoots major events for Hurlingham and has her work published in newspapers and magazines around the world. But she doesn’t always have a camera in her hands. Alice is also a keen and talented artist. And she handles a pony and polo stick with considerable skill. She plays at Fifield Polo Club where this summer she held an exhibition, with sales benefiting The Polo Charity Trust. Sarah Eakin became polo correspondent to The Independent aged just 24, and went on to be correspondent for The Daily Telegraph. After marrying her polo player husband, Gary Eakin, they bought a farm in Aiken, South Carolina, where they live with their five-year-old son James. For Hurlingham, Sarah tracked down player model, Nacho Figueras (page 28) and player-pilot, Al Micallef (page 36). The closest watch journalist Maria Doulton, proud owner of a pink-strapped Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso, has been to polo action, is as a spectator at Smith’s Lawn. Maria, whose writing appears regularly in the Financial Times, Wallpaper and The Times, writes for Hurlingham on the origins of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s classic sporting timepiece on page 16.
HURLINGHAM MAGAZINE Editor in Chief and Publisher Roderick Vere Nicoll Editor Mark Palmer Deputy Editor Herbert Spencer Contributing Editor Sarah Eakin Hurlingham Media 47-49 Chelsea Manor St, London SW3 5RZ +44 (0) 207 870 3170 hurlingham@hpa-polo.co.uk www.hurlinghammedia.com SHOW MEDIA Editorial Managing Director Peter Howarth Art Director Ciara Walshe Designer Stuart Tolley Sub Editors Mike Johnson, Kathy Levy Show Media 1-2 Ravey Street, London EC2A 4QP + 44 (0) 203 222 0101 info@showmedia.net www.showmedia.net
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Ponylines What this season’s hottest players are up to, on and off the pitch, plus news and offers
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Talk The brave new world of breeding, players’ insurance, and polo’s prefered timepiece
18 First person Players get the glamour, but polo manager is the world’s best job says Jimmy Newman
20 Special report Polo’s military history brought the sport to England, and attracted recruits into the ranks. Now the royal princes are in the call of duty, army teams are going from strength to strength
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Adventure Meeting the world’s most spectacular predators is an awesome experience, says Tarquin Cooper, so it’s no surprise that more and more tourists are keen to go swimming with sharks
26 Dynasty How the best polo talent is born and bred, plus a look at polo’s greatest families
26 Fashion Argentine polo player Nacho Figueras is the face of Ralph Lauren. Just don’t call him a model
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Travel Mongolia is one of the most remote countries on earth, but with native riding talent, a few visiting ambassadors, and two horses for every inhabitant, polo is making a big hit
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Toys Polo patron Al Micallef takes to the sky in his magnificent flying machines
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The Action Results, reports, and action photos from the season’s most important fixtures, including the Cartier International, Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup, and the Pacific Coast Open
On the cover: Franck Dubarry, president of TechnoMarine watches, plays polo in Mongolia
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From the archive How Steve McQueen reigned in a polo pony for 1968’s The Thomas Crown Affair
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ponylines [news]A Swiss patron’s son takes the reins [views]Accidents prompt a safety debate [gossip]England’s polo ‘Oscars’ debut at the Dorchester
ONE TO WATCH: BEST AMATEUR Guy Schwarzenbach’s outstanding performance during his first season of highgoal polo impressed everyone in England, not least Hurlingham, which has named him Amateur Player for this issue. But the 24-year-old Swiss businessman’s spectacular introduction to the top end of the sport came about entirely by accident. Guy, son of Urs Schwarzenbach, patron of the powerhouse Black Bears team in England, learned to play at the Packers’ Ellerston club in Australia. He normally plays low-goal polo in Zurich, and enjoyed some medium-goal experience in Sotogrande, but had yet to join his father in high goal. This season, after Urs was injured in the Queen’s Cup, Guy flew over from Switzerland to take his place with the Black Bears, playing in Queen’s, the Warwickshire Cup and the British Open for the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup. His debut at the 22-goal level is described in the high-goal roundup in The Action section of this issue (p40). HERBERT SPENCER
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jumbo attraction If you can’t wait for the 25th World Elephant Polo Championships in Nepal this year, get a preview of this eccentric sport by stopping off in Rajasthan the week before. The championships take place from 26 November to 2 December in Nepal’s Royal Chitwan National Park, where the Chivas Regal team of the 13th Duke of Argyll will defend its 2005 title. Before the championships, Cartier is staging an elephant polo exhibition in India’s Pink City of Jaipur, on 18 November. Watch for an interesting mix of international celebrities trying their luck at this more ponderous version of the equine sport. HS
SADDLE UP WITH... GEORGE MEYRICK Nationality English Age 18 Handicap 3 George Meyrick played his first season of high-goal polo this year for Ali Albwardy’s Dubai team, winning the Queen’s Cup. He was chosen by the HPA as its Best Young Player for 2006.
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Any family background in polo? My grandfather played and was manager of Kirtlington Park Polo Club in Oxfordshire. My father played a bit and my brothers Thomas and James also play. What got you started? I have ridden all my life and started playing polo in the Pony Club for the Hursley. What support did you have? I was lucky to benefit from The HPA programme of Fast Track Scholarships, which enabled me to travel to Sotogrande, Dubai and Argentina. They really helped my polo. You played high goal at Sotogrande this year. How did you do? I played for Camilo Bautista’s Las Monjitas. We won the Silver Cup, beating Loro Piana in the final. Then we lost in the Gold Cup quarter-finals to Taladracas. The best match you’ve ever played in? It has to be the Queen’s Cup Final when we defeated Broncos. It was a really close game and a fantastic opportunity for me. And the best you’ve ever watched? Last year’s Argentine Open final between La Dolfina and Ellerstina, which went to nine chukkas before Adolfo Cambiaso scored the golden goal. Who are you playing for in the high goal next season? Dubai again, but the line-up will change. Lucas Monteverde, who plays with Adolfo Cambiaso for La Dolfina, will be joining the Dubai team. What do you do away from polo? I enjoy running. I have already done a couple of half-marathons and would like to do the London Marathon next year. I am also starting to play golf. HS
VESTEY WEDDING Polo’s wedding of the year united two of the sport’s prominent families in September. Nina Vestey, 24, one of England’s leading lady players, married New Zealand’s 8-goaler John Paul Clarkin, 28, who captained the Kiwis in this year’s Coronation Cup match. The couple tied the knot at Withington Parish Church near Foxcote, Gloucestershire, the estate of Nina’s parents, Mark and Rosie Vestey; Mark is a former chairman of the Hurlingham Polo Association and now a vicechairman. South African player Steve Evans was Clarkin’s best man. After the wedding and a reception at Foxcote, the couple left in Rosie Vestey’s vintage Mini to spend a few days at the Vesteys’ Scottish estate on the Isle of Jura. Then they flew to New Zealand for a wedding blessing and festivities with the Clarkin family and friends. HS
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RISKY BUSINESS Safety is under ongoing review in a sport that will always carry some risk, but minds will be even more focused on player protection after accidents that left one polo competitor dead and another in a coma this summer. This season, unusually, three serious incidents occurred within weeks of one another. In June, Urs Schwarzenbach, patron of Black Bears, fell during a Queen’s Cup league match, his pony rolled on him and he is still recovering. On July 16, during a friendly match at his club, the Royal County of Berkshire, HPA steward Bryan Morrison’s pony tripped and he came off, breaking ribs and suffering a head injury. At press time the 64-year-old was still in a coma in hospital, with no certain prognosis for his recovery. On August 3, Catherine Yates, 20, fell during a Pony Club Polo match at Cirencester Park Polo Club and died of her injuries six days later. This was English polo’s second death since the war: New Zealand’s Paul Clarkin was killed at Cirencester Park in 2004. Catherine Yates had just graduated from Cambridge and had been playing polo in the Pony Clubs for several years, representing Cambridge. Hers was the first fatality in 48 years of Pony Club Polo. Bryan Morrison is one of English polo’s most colourful characters, well-known in the music world as a promoter and publisher. After his accident, messages of concern and sympathy poured in from fellow players in Europe and the USA, as well as from the Prince of Wales and the Crown Prince of Pahang in Malaysia. HS
HPA POLO OSCARS England’s first polo ‘Oscars’ drew almost 400 guests to a glamorous black-tie dinner in the ballroom of London’s Dorchester Hotel. The inaugural Audi Polo Awards were organised by former England captain Andrew Hine and his brother Nicholas. Polo commentator Hamish McLachlan flew in from Australia to MC the ceremonies. Topping the awards were posthumous Lifetime Achievement recognitions for Lord Cowdray, who led the revival of polo in Britain after the war, and Australia’s Kerry Packer, whose massive investment stimulated improvements in grounds and ponies. The function also raised more than £100,000 for popular pony trainer and umpire Andrew Seavill, wheelchair-bound after a road accident. Later in the season a rare 40-40 exhibition match (featured in the enclosed DVD), post-game dinner and auction at the former Packer grounds in West Sussex netted another £250,000 to benefit Seavill. HS
open invitation Anyone attending the Argentine Open might want to take note of a new hotel offering five-star luxury in the heart of the capital. The Palacio Duhau – Park Hyatt Buenos Aires is open for business in the fashionable Recoleta shopping and residential district. It combines a restored palace with the new Posadas building, and no expense has been spared. The original palace was built in 1934 by French architect León Dourge and stands in 4,400 square metres of lush gardens. When things are quiet on the polo field, guests can wander around exclusive designer boutiques such as Fendi, Emporio Armani, Ralph Lauren and Escada, all on the doorstep. Rooms are huge, there are restaurants and bars galore, plus a stunning spa, fitness studio and pool. Visit www.buenosaires.park.hyatt.com MARK PALMER
This was a record year for polo on television, with coverage of major events beamed to massive potential audiences. In England, Blue Tuna covered several events, which SkySports beamed to 10m UK households, and Eurosport aired to 2.5m subscribers on the Continent. In the Americas, programmes were aired by ESPN, while print media saw the publication by The Times of a special supplement, The Sport of Polo, on which Hurlingham Media was consultant. To view the supplement, go to www.mediaplanet.se/uk/pdf/polo.pdf
MUMM’S COOL MOVE In 2004, Hurlingham contributor Alastair Vere Nicoll took part in the Invesco Perpetual Trans-Antarctica Challenge. The trip was sponsored by Champagne G.H. Mumm, who have asked designer Bill Amberg to create an expedition kit that can keep your bubbly cool for up to 12 hours. The leather rucksack features a cooling system, a bottle of G.H. Mumm Grand Cru, two unbreakable flutes, Leatherman, compass, serving mat and expedition journal. Available exclusively from Selfridges, priced £275.
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world cup buzz builds in mexico Organisers appear well on the way to making next year’s World Cup of the Federation of International Polo (FIP) one of the most impressive ever, with opening ceremonies and first matches in the heart of Mexico City. The final stage of the 14-goal world championships, the 8th held by FIP, will start on November 1, 2007, with 2004 champions Brazil defending the title. The grand opening will be in the polo stadium of the Campo Deportivo Militar Marte, adjacent to the city’s famous Chapultepec Park. The action will then move to the three grounds of Club de Polo Tecamac, an hour’s drive from the capital. According to Patricio Mujico, of Mexican organisers Pro Polo, almost half the 240 pool ponies required for competition have already been collected. During the run-up to the World Cup, zone playoffs will take place from February to May in Uruguay, New Zealand, Spain and Mexico. HS
HOOKED ON POLO Canadian sports star Larry Robinson, 55, won the Stanley Cup six times as a professional ice hockey player during a high-profile career with the Montreal Canadiens, and three times as a coach. He was inducted into the hockey Hall of Fame and currenly plays polo at the Sarasota Polo Club, Florida.
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‘My dad always had some kind of a horse on our farm. We would jump on bareback and there was no stopping or turning – you just hung on if there was a corner. So I never really learned to ride properly. Now I play polo, I’m fascinated by the horse. My goal is to become a better rider, so my game will be better. ‘Polo was the first sport I found that was a lot like hockey. I came across it by accident and took it up while still playing in the National Hockey League. My wife said at the time: “Why couldn’t you play tennis, or boules, or golf or something? I’ve got to watch you for 20 years playing hockey and now you have to take up another dangerous sport.” ‘Polo is hockey on horseback in everything except the horse. When you watch the 40-goal you can really see the similarities: the passes they make, the places that they go, the way they take the man out and cover the man. It’s very similar. That’s probably what made it most frustrating for me, because when I started playing polo I could see the plays but I couldn’t get there on my own feet.’ SARAH EAKIN
For more information on hurlingham magazine, visit www.hurlinghammedia.com DVD ACTION
For live action from the season, see the enclosed DVD or visit our website to buy a complete copy of the game
SHOT IN THE ARM FOR VIRGINIA Polo in Virginia, USA will receive a huge boost from a $4 million campaign sponsored by Virginia Polo Inc, which supports University of Virginia collegiate, high-school and adult polo in Charlottesville. Chairman Rob Rinehart made the announcement at the International Polo Club in Wellington, Florida, at an event hosted by Steve Orthwein, parent of two University of Virginia polo players. Mr Rinehart emphasised that Virginia Polo is not funded by the University of Virginia and must rely on its alumni and friends to support its many programmes. He said the aim of the campaign was to raise $3.5 million in endowment funds, the income from which would be used to support programmes, and $500,000 to build and maintain a student caretaker cottage at the 75-acre Virginia Polo Center. Go to vpolo@aol.com for information about the endowment
FOCUSING ON THE ACTION ‘I’ve been using binoculars for about 15 years,’ says David Morley, the renowned polo pony expert. ‘They make all the difference. Most of the time, the polo you watch is played quite far away. I want to know how a pony is moving and how a player is swinging – and for that you need binoculars.’ This pair, the Ultravid 8 x 20BL by Leica, the famous camera maker, is the finest of the compacts in their new range. Ultra-light and boasting uncanny ergonomics, they fit well in your hands or trouser pocket and provide outstanding imaging performance. MP
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mountbatten’s dream It’s taken more than 70 years, but it looks as though the late Lord Mountbatten’s dream of having just one set of rules for polo worldwide is about to become a reality. It was Mountbatten who, in the 1930s, first tried to get all national polo associations to integrate their regulations. After many false starts, the three biggest associations – in the United Kingdom, United States and Argentina – and the Federation of International Polo (FIP), appear to be on the verge of a breakthrough. David Woodd, chief executive of the Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA), has been busy drafting new international rules after agreements in principle were reached in meetings in Buenos Aires. As Hurlingham went to press, officials were meeting in Aiken, South Carolina to approve the draft in advance of formal ratification. ‘If all goes well, we should be playing under the new rules in 2007,’ Woodd said. HS
REX; CORBIS
ARRIVING SHIPSHAPE With the aid of Argentine 4-goaler Francisco Pizarro, Gethin Maddocks has already brought almost three dozen ponies to England by boat – from Buenos Aires via the Azores – at almost half the cost per pony as air transport. ‘It struck me how expensive air transport is in relation to the price of a polo pony in Argentina,’ says Maddocks, 37, who is the animal welfare officer at Woolmers Park Polo Club. ‘Flying them in also reduces the number of ponies being imported, so dealers look for higher margins to cover their expenses. A more costeffective method of transport is the obvious alternative.’ Maddocks travels regularly to Argentina to vet low-goal ponies, and knows the lie of the land. ‘I researched different methods of shipping horses, including accounts from the Boer War, when 250,000 were moved from Argentina to South Africa,’ he says. Clearly Maddocks’ idea was not revolutionary: before the advent of air freight, polo ponies were always shipped by sea. ‘The main problem was to get a group of people willing to invest in the project,’ says the vet. ‘Most of the players I spoke to did not want to be involved with the maiden voyage, and we also had to find a shipping company with vessels and routes suitable for the task.’ Finally, with a financial package in place, the first Atlantic crossing got under way. ‘We used a system of loose boxes on deck – made by converting shipping containers,’ Maddocks explains, ‘so the ponies had plenty of room to move around and lie down.’ During the 12 days at sea not one pony had a major problem, he says, and even before they were landed in Britain, those ponies not already spoken for had been sold. Maddocks says his aim is ‘to develop a system to move the ponies with as little stress as possible’. It costs about one-third less to transport horses by sea than by air, and Maddocks believes this method is better both for the welfare of the ponies and the pockets of their owners. No wonder he’s hoping to take to the seas again soon. Email contact@seahorseltd.co.uk for further information. MATT WARMAN
THE LOVE OF MY LIFE… Pony’s name Age Sex Colour Height Origin
Toro 7 Gelding White 15.1hh Argentina
Tariq Albwardy, 18 (handicap 1), is the son of Ali Albwardy, owner of the championship Dubai team for which Tariq plays, alternating with his father. Last year Tariq became the youngest player ever to win the British Open Championship, just short of his 17th birthday. This year he won the high-goal Queen’s Cup and Prince of Wales Trophy.
‘Toro must be the cheapest pony in the Dubai string, which many people say is the best in English high-goal polo. For me, and the way I play, Toro is the best of the lot. My father bought him in Argentina, really cheap, and brought him over to our club in Dubai, where he played low-goal on him. None of us ever thought Toro would make a great pony. Then three years ago my father gave him to me, and I brought him to England to play in my first high-goal, the 2004 Gold Cup.
‘I played Toro in the Gold Cup last year, and this year every match in the Queen’s Cup and Prince of Wales Trophy, usually in the third and the fifth or sixth chukka. I know just how quickly Toro can stop and turn, how fast he is, how solid he is in a ride-off and what a steady platform he is for hitting the ball. Of course, I’ll never forget Mahbooba, the half-Arabian, halfthoroughbred mare on which my father taught me to play when I was 14, but now Toro is the real love of my life.’ HS
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After driving a couple of hours south of Buenos Aires over roads pitted with holes so deep they could swallow your car whole, you come to a nondescript crossroads. Here there’s a turn on to a dusty lane that leads to just about the most perfect polo estancia imaginable, created by the Sultan of Brunei. I’m here. My guide, a veteran high-goal Argentine player named Marcelo Monteverde, takes me past the endless snooker-tablesmooth polo fields until at last we finally reach a line of stables that could easily be mistaken for a luxury health spa. We halt in front of a stall and my guide points his finger into the sweet-smelling shadows. ‘Beautiful pony,’ he says. ‘Speed of a rocket. Perfection,’ he whistles enviously in the direction of a sleek though smallish mare. Then he drops his voice further: ‘You know how much she is worth? You won’t believe me if I tell you. More than $100,000.’ Polo has never sold itself as a cheap game, but it will come as a shock to the uninitiated that a single animal can be worth such an enormous sum of money. And although this scene took place in the heart of Argentina, it could as easily have been in Australia, where the Packer-owned Ellerston operation has recently been snapping up ponies for up to $150,000. You could spend even more money on a half-decent yearling racehorse, of course, but on a polo pony? British players will tell you that an exceptional young animal can usually be had at home for no more than £20,000. The reason for this discrepancy in cost can be summed up in just one word:
breeding is believing It’s only three years since the birth of the first cloned horse, but a revolution is underway. So just how much progress has been made among the brave new attempts to produce the perfect polo pony? WORDS SANDY MITCHELL
breeding. And the breeding of ponies such as the prime specimen in the Brunei estancia is undergoing a revolution driven entirely by science. We’re looking at a near-future where cloning and sex selection will produce the ultimate in highly sought-after polo ponies. Professor ‘Twink’ Allen, Britain’s leading equine reproduction expert and director of Newmarket’s Equine Fertility Unit, explains the difference science is already making: ‘The Argentines realised that you just can’t rely on throw-out racehorses to produce a decent polo pony. You need an animal bred and especially selected for the job.’ The solution was to invest in biotechnology so that eggs could be harvested from the most promising donor mares, fertilised artificially with the semen of a very carefully chosen stallion, and the resulting embryos grown in the wombs of workaday recipient mares. ‘As soon as their major competition ends in Buenos Aires, all the good mares go straight off to stud for three or four months, where their embryos are collected and then transferred. They’re doing embryo transfers
in very large numbers,’ says Professor Allen. And the Argentines are not alone. There are breeders in several other countries, such as Australia, who have developed their own embryo-transfer operations on a vast scale. This is only the beginning of the new wave of changes in reproductive technology that will transform breeding and widen the gap yet further between the best polo ponies and the average in Britain. Sex-selection using new spinning-semen techniques to produce foals of the desired gender are already possible with around 95 per cent accuracy, and genetic cloning to reproduce treasured ponies has finally arrived. Yet it’s been a bare three years since Professor Pieraz Pioggia Cesare successfully cloned the first horse to international acclaim. The foal, named Prometea, and produced in Italy by a university-based reproductive technology laboratory, was a carbon copy of its mother – a Haflinger mare. Back then, cloning techniques were far from reliable: out of more than 800 embryos involved in the experiment, only Promotea
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hurlingham [ talk] Overleaf One of the first foals born this spring by embryo transfer at New Bridge Embryo, South Carolina This page Professor Pieraz Pioggia Cesare, who cloned the first ever horse, pictured with a foster mare, Pioggia and her cloned foal, Pieraz II
If you breed from a prize mare by embryo transfer there is no risk of her succumbing to complications, since it is another mare that acts as the birth mother 12
survived the whole process through to birth. And now? A company based in Texas has recently launched the first fully commercial cloning operation aimed at sport horses in the UK, including polo ponies. ‘What we can offer is a cloning service, so we can create an identical twin pony, regardless of gender,’ boasts Brian Bruner, the sales and marketing manager for ViaGen Inc. ‘If the animal we are cloning is a gelding, our techniques would enable us to produce an intact colt.’ ViaGen acknowledges cloning is still not 100 per cent successful, yet it says an initial group of 20 cloned competition horses is due to be born this spring and that so far, all the pregnancies appear to be perfectly normal. ‘Somatic cell nuclear transfer’, as the company’s technique is known, starts with a very simple tissue biopsy. A piece of flesh, about the size of a pea, is taken from the chosen animal and then broken down into individual cells. Next, an unfertilised egg is removed from a donor mare and replaced with the genetic material from the animal to be cloned. The final stage is to implant the egg in a surrogate mare. Cloning does not come cheap. ViaGen is currently charging around $150,000 for each cloned animal, although this figure is sure to lower as the technique is improved. There may be another obstacle to the appearance of cloned ponies on the polo field, however. In the horse-racing world, foals bred via such an established technique as artificial insemination, are banned by the Jockey Club from competition, so could it be that polo’s governing body would disqualify cloned ponies from tournaments? Every
indication at this early stage is that the Hurlingham Polo Association is unlikely to impose any restrictions. ‘If the cloned product was deemed fit and healthy to play, I don’t see that we’d have any trouble with it at all,’ says David Morley, chairman of the association’s pony welfare committee. In the meantime, a rather different type of cutting-edge technique has also begun to impact on pony breeding: sex selection. Again, it’s the Argentines who are using a machine enabling them to ‘spin’ semen and turn out filly after filly with a high degree of reliability so that breeders can benefit from the great premium they attract. At the same time, an American company called XY Inc has established the global rights to what it asserts is the most accurate and ‘only proven method of gender selection’. The so-called flow cytometry process involves staining the DNA of the spermatozoa with a dye and separating out the more fluorescent Xchromosome-bearing [filly] spermatozoa. But what do these new techniques offer polo players? Certainly, embryo transfer has huge advantages over breeding naturally. If you breed from a prize mare by embryo transfer there is no risk of her succumbing to complications during pregnancy or birth, since it is another mare altogether that acts as the birth mother. Which means, of course, that you can continue to play polo on the donor mare, breeding from her all the while. You quickly start to wonder why such a proven method is not more widely used in Britain. It’s not as if our polo industry is starved of money, and our biotechnology industry is certainly not backward in any
way. Yet amazingly, there is only one laboratory dedicated to breeding polo ponies in England, and that’s the Beaufort Polo Club Equine Embryo Transfer Unit near Tetbury. This laboratory produces 25 to 30 foals a year using a non-surgical technique. It’s run by Emma Tomlinson (a Cambridge-trained vet from the celebrated polo clan) in conjunction with Argentine breeding specialist, Fernando Riera. ‘Embryo transfers mean you can focus your breeding on to better bloodlines and shorten the generations,’ says Tomlinson. ‘Slowly, the price of young ponies in Britain is increasing, and the availability of good ones decreasing, so that is bound to create interest in breeding via embryo transfer.’ So if the rest of the polo-playing world is making full use of this technology, is British polo in danger of being left behind? Professor Allen, for one, thinks so: ‘The majority of today’s top-class polo ponies have been begotten by embryo transfer, which has shown there’s a much better chance of getting a high-quality result. I’m utterly disillusioned by the pathetically amateurish British attitude to breeding.’ But Professor Allen’s fiercest disdain is reserved not for British breeders, rather its for the Home Office, which turned down his Fertility Centre’s application for a licence to implant mares with cloned embryos. Cloning is arguably of much greater significance in other competitive horse sports; polo players generally prefer to play on fillies since geldings are thought to be slightly more timid, and can take an extra year to ‘make’. However, the cloning of geldings to produce stud animals could still be hugely important in the polo field, as Andrew Seavill’s experience suggests. ‘I have a particularly good gelding at the moment. I cut him, and since then he’s shaping up to be a really nice pony. I’d be kicking myself if it turns out I can’t breed from him. If I could clone this gelding, he’d be a perfect complement to our stallion,’ says Seavill rather wistfully. So is this advanced technique likely to become a major influence on polo-pony breeding? Emma Tomlinson’s answer is wholly unexpected. ‘Unfortunately, yes. I’m sure it’ll take off. There’s only so much you want to muck around with nature. If you attack it too much it bites back.’ Her pained comment raises the thought that the old-fashioned, ‘amateurish’ British way of breeding may have its merits after all. Maybe, just maybe, our breeders and polo players will one day be able to congratulate themselves on cussedly sticking to the natural way, and thereby avoiding the pitfalls set to befall their more daring and forward-thinking competitors.
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rough justice We all know that life has become more and more litigious. We also know that polo is a dangerous sport. Something needs to be done to keep lawyers off the pitch – and it needs to be done fast WORDS RORY KNIGHT BRUCE
DAVID LOMINSKA
It is often possible to view personal liability insurance like a gloomy postilion on Mr Pickwick’s coach, while inside, hipflasks and stoles are keeping out the snowflakes. Accidents are quite simply something that happen to other people. In polo, the whole ethos of the game – combative elegance, gleaming ponies and closely cut lawns – does not readily want to be intruded upon by injury or litigation. One high-profile case, involving former England Captain Howard Hipwood, spent eight years in the French courts. It resulted in a settlement of £5 million paid to Alain Bernard, plus £60,000 in legal fees paid for by the Royal Sun Alliance. The claim was met by the insurance scheme of the sport’s governing body, the Hurlingham Polo Association, to which players must belong. It was a normal summer’s day for Hipwood as he prepared to compete in the Lancel Cup at Deauville. It ended with Bernard, the wealthy French banker and tournament sponsor, in a coma. ‘We were involved in a “ride-off” situation,’ says Hipwood, 55. ‘Alain’s pony stumbled and fell and consequently he fell badly too.’ The relationship between professional polo players like Hipwood and amateurs is one of regard. ‘There is no need to go in hard on them,’ says Hipwood. ‘That is not in the spirit of the game. And it’s not just because they sponsor us, you simply don’t need to muscle in.’ Of his relationship with Bernard, he volunteers: ‘He was a sporting acquaintance, we were on friendly terms.’ What followed, however, was anything
but friendly, as Hipwood found himself being sued by Bernard for in excess of £5 million. Originally this was thrown out by the French courts, mainly because neither umpire considered that a foul had been committed. It also emerged that Bernard had apparently suffered concussion on several occasions previously, as a result of falls. Bernard’s case also exposed an anomaly in the rules of polo, which are at variance in different countries. In France, a claim is more likely to succeed if the injured party – as was the case here – is ridden off by a player on a larger pony. Also, in France, a professional is not allowed to ride-off an amateur. But alarms bells are ringing, not only among HPA officials, but with wealthy players, too, who fear they may be wrongly or actively sued if involved in an accident. ‘Players are unlikely to sue you or me because they won’t get very far, but for the super rich it could be a different story,’ says Chris Bethell, polo manager at Cowdray Park. Yet the whole notion of one player suing another goes against the spirit of the game. There is a tacit acceptance when you get on a polo pony, you take on the attendant dangers that go with it. As things stand, adults pay
Alarm bells are ringing among wealthy players who fear they may be wrongly or actively sued if in an accident
£95 a year for insurance as part of their membership of the HPA and students pay a more modest £35. This includes public liability insurance. But Chris Bethell believes that additional player-to-player insurance will have to come too. ‘The problem for professionals is they need affordable insurance,’ says Bethell. Professionals struggle enough, he adds, to balance the books and earn a living. The more people taking out insurance and making claims, the more expensive it’ll be. It is a problem being addressed by Piers Plunkett of City specialist equine insurers, Hamilton and Partners. He believes polo has to adapt to a form of bespoke insurance similar to that which operates in the thoroughbred world. ‘Sadly, it is only a matter of time before someone gets “T-boned” by a big patron and decides to go after him for compensation,’ says Plunkett. He feels that players must understand the risks of the game and should take out personal liability insurance commensurate with their financial circumstances. He accepts that, in insurance terms, polo ponies cannot be viewed as if they were machines. ‘A certain amount of risk must be accepted, as it is in racing with jockeys, by those who get up and ride.’ Balanced against this is the litigious climate that he sees rolling into Britain from America. To this end, he will shortly propose to the HPA that they examine player-to-player insurance in addition to the existing blanket third party insurance for property damage and bodily injury. He also believes that a worldwide standardisation of the rules of polo would avoid such anomalies as the Hipwood case. So what would individually tailored, comprehensive player-to-player insurance cost and would it be within the financial reach of both professional players and teenagers increasingly being drawn to the sport? Plunkett thinks it should be geared to age and handicap, starting at £30 per £50,000 insured for teenagers, and rising to £90 per £50,000 for adults. Whatever happens, the insurance debate in polo has a long way to run. Left: It was in a similar ride-off situation as this, between an amateur team patron and a pro, that caused banker Alain Bernard to successfully sue former England Captain Howard Hipwood, for over £5 million
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back to the future To mark the 75th anniversary of its invention, Swiss watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre has relaunched its classic Reverso polo watch WORDS MARIA DALTON
Figure this (above, left) The original designs for the Reverso show how detailed the workings had to be. One to watch (top, right) The new Reverso Squadra Hometime, from £3,250, is a sophisticated update on the original. Out of time (bottom, right) The Reverso has been a favourite among polo players since the 1930s.
The Reverso was born of necessity and, 75 years on, its success proves that function-led design can be the elixir of eternal youth. In the early 1930s, during the days of British Colonial rule in India, and before the invention of resilient crystal, officers found their watches being shattered by errant polo-balls during particularly rambunctious chukkas. The problem of the polo player’s watch came to the attention of César de Trey, who was visiting India. Returning to Europe with tales of elephants, maharajas and a smashed watch in his pocket, he worked with his business partner and watchmaker, Jacques-David LeCoultre, to develop a timepiece capable of withstanding great impact. Ever inventive, LeCoultre looked beyond the serene and isolated Vallée de joux for a solution more ingenious than simply a watch with a cover. Paris, in full Art Deco swing, was where he turned and commissioned the French engineer René-Alfred Chauvot to create a solution. And so the Reverso, perhaps the world’s first purpose-built sports watch, was launched. The solution was brilliant in its simplicity. The rectangular case slides along a track on ball-bearings to swivel 180 degrees and return to its casing, face down. Thus the watch could be safely worn while playing polo. Then simply swivel and click and its dials are back up for G&T time. The success of this newfangled timepiece was probably as much to do with its practicality and built-in fiddle appeal as its streamlined Art Deco looks and cosmopolitan air. Even though the arrival of unbreakable
glass a few years later made the original use for the Reverso redundant, such was its acceptance amongst the non-polo playing crowd, it remained a favourite and an icon. Taken up by many watch manufacturers as a new style, the Reverso has proved very adaptable. From the simplest engraving on the blank steel back to elaborate works of art in enamel, the style has afforded watchmakers many ways to add pleasure and intimacy to the daily act of strapping on a watch. Since its invention, the rectangular case has been enriched with a dozen watch complications, having double the space for ingenuity. The minute repeater, tourbillon and perpetual calendar are just some of the complications the world of high horology has introduced to this sports watch. Women, too, have adopted the Reverso and many like the idea of the “two-in-one” watch (a Duetto), where an elegant watch for the day can be transformed into a bejewelled face for the evening, or a bracelet with yellow-diamond butterflies fluttering across a gold canvas. Today, the Reverso looks as fresh as the day it was born and now comes in a resilient square case to keep up with trends in horology design: this year, Jaeger-LeCoultre launched three new square models (known as the Squadra), all of which offer different time-zone functions that polo-players will find particularly useful. Whether to check the time at home when playing away, or to see if it’s a reasonable hour in Buenos Aires to call the trainer, this vital piece of polo kit is as relevant today as it was to those chukka-happy officers in India all those years ago.
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head honcho A polo manager is key to the smooth running of the game at every club. Veteran Jimmy Newman looks back on his 30 years in the business, including riding herd on no fewer than 16 US Opens ILLUSTRATION JAMES TAYLOR
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The job of polo manager has to be the best one going in the sport. You get involved in every single aspect of the game when you’re running it for a club, and you get to know the players really well in the process. Many of the close friendships you make in the world of polo are friendships for life. Over the past three decades, I’ve been privileged to serve as polo manager, or to help organise tournaments, at several of the biggest and best clubs in the world: Retama Polo Center in Texas, Palm Beach Polo & Country Club in Florida and, more recently, Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club in California and International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPCPB), where this past winter I was involved in my 16th US Open Championship. The era between the wars is often referred to as the ‘golden age of polo’, with legendary players like Tommy Hitchcock and Cecil Smith; team patrons such as Jock and CV Whitney; 40,000 spectators in the stands at Meadow Brook on Long Island; and polo in the Olympics. But for my money, the last quarter of the 20th century and where we are now in the 21st century have been even more impressive for the sport. We have more countries involved in polo, more players, more and bigger polo clubs. The fields are better, as are the quality of the ponies, and there are more teams than ever playing in the major tournaments. We’ve had our share of superstars too, like Juan Carlos Harriott Jnr and Adolfo Cambiaso, not forgetting to mention enthusiastic patrons like John Goodman,
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Peter Brant, and the Packers in Australia. I was the first in my family to be involved with the sport. My grandfather and father were tavern keepers in Ohio, where I was born. I learned a bit about horses as a boy; the father of a school friend had racing stables and we used to help out there, mucking out the stalls and tacking up the thoroughbreds. But I wasn’t really a rider then. It was in Boca Raton, Florida that I first got into polo. An uncle by marriage, Don Beveridge, was running the old Royal Palm Polo Club in Boca. I was 18 and broke, trying to put myself through junior college, and Don was short of help, so he took me on. Because I found working with horses more interesting than doing odd jobs, I started grooming. Bennie Gutiérrez, a great horseman who became an 8-goal player, took me under his wing. He taught me how to play polo and to ride properly. I switched to nightschool so I could play at Gulfstream up the road from Boca, and eventually started travelling to scratch a living from playing professionally (although I never got higher than a 3-goal handicap), but mostly from training and selling ponies. Along the way I found myself working several summers for Bill Ylvisaker up in Chicago. Bill was not only the highest handicapped amateur player of his day at seven goals, but also a driving force behind polo. He was chairman of the US Polo Association (USPA) and the first man to offer big prize money in tournaments. He developed Palm Beach Polo, which was the centre of high goal in the country for years. John Goodman honoured Bill by naming a tournament after him at IPCPB. When I was caught up in the Vietnam draft in 1970, I got really lucky with a posting, serving as a medical technician at the army’s main medical facility at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. That meant I could spend all my off-time from the army playing polo with the guys at San Antonio Polo Club. Then it was straight out of khakis and back into polo whites full time. I got my first crack at being a polo manager in 1975, organising the games at the small Iowa City Polo Club. But my first big break came when Steve and Marty Gose took me on at Retama outside San Antonio. I became their polo manager in ’77. Over the next 10 years Retama grew to be the biggest polo facility in the world, with 16 fields, of which six were the best anywhere. We hosted the last Cup of the Americas that was played, USA v Argentina, and eight US Opens. After the Goses sold up in 1987, I stayed on for another nine years with the new owners, but the place was never quite the same again. My years in Texas, at the San Antonio club and then Retama, were some of the happiest I’ve spent in polo. We had players like Tommy Wayman, Owen Rinehart and Mike Azzaro, who went on to become 10-goalers, and hands like the Barrys, the ‘cowboys’, who were all master horsemen. Why were none
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Safety is always uppermost in a polo manager’s mind. This can be a dangerous sport, to which I can personally testify, having broken no fewer than 11 bones playing polo over the years. You have to watch the whole scene like a hawk
of the Barrys or other great American 9-goalers of the ’70s, like Billy Linfoot, ever raised to 10? In those days Argentina’s 10-goaler Juan Carlos Harriott Jnr was in his prime, the greatest player of all time, some say, worth 12 goals or more. I think the USPA felt that none of our American players could compare with such a master. During the 1960s and early 1970s, very few top Argentine players competed in the USA. Polo’s handicapping system is tricky at the best of times. I’ve been on USPA handicap committees for years, as well as being a governor of the association, and I think we sometimes award handicaps for the wrong reasons. There seems to be a tendency to raise some professionals after they have won a big tournament rather than looking closely at their performance throughout the whole season. From Texas I moved on to Palm Beach Polo, helping to organise the Open there with Cali Garcia. Then in 2003 I became the first polo manager at IPCPB, which has replaced Palm Beach Polo as the premier high-goal club in the US. I work there in the winter and in the summer help organise polo at John Goodman’s ranch outside Houston and at the Johnstons’ spread in Wyoming. Last year I also took on the role of tournament director for the USPA Gold Cup in Aiken, South Carolina. My one great sadness in 30 years as a polo manager was losing my son Jimmer. He was a good 1-goal player and played some high goal, but realised he would never make it as a pro, so looked instead at getting into the managing business like I did. I succumbed to nepotism and took him on during the 2004 winter season at IPCPB. He worked really hard at it, so I made him my assistant at Santa Barbara that summer, organising low-goal tournaments. ‘Dad, I think I’m getting pretty good at
this,’ he said, and I agreed. Then he went out clubbing with his friends one night and died. He was just 24 and with a great future before him. I’m proud that IPCPB now plays a high-goal Jimmer Newman Memorial tournament in his honour. A lot of a polo manager’s time is taken up with the business of organising and running tournaments, but safety — for players, ponies and spectators alike — is always uppermost in his mind. This can be a dangerous sport, to which I can personally testify, having broken no fewer than 11 bones playing polo over the years. You have to watch the whole scene like a hawk. For example, a polo field has crucial safety zones around it. Grooms had a habit of ignoring this and riding spare ponies between the boards and spectators to be close when a player wanted to change in mid-chukka. A few years ago a pony got loose when a player dismounted at the boards and three ponies went down. Now we make it a requirement for a player to ride to the safety zone behind the goal if he wants to change during a chukka. The late Henryk de Kwiatkowski, patron of the Kennelot team, used to get all suited up and ride around the grounds on his Appolosa pony while other matches were being played. At Palm Beach one day, I spotted him parading dangerously in the safety zone behind the goal, an accident waiting to happen, but he ignored my instructions to leave the area. A couple of minutes later, Mickey Tarnapol of Revlon galloped over the backline, didn’t see Henryk and slammed into him. It was just lucky neither was hurt. Players who ignore the rules are a danger to themselves and others. As polo manager, I try not to think of players in terms of ‘personalities’. When an issue comes up, I contact each team as soon as I can so that everyone involved has the information. It’s not good for one team to hear something ‘on the street’, so to speak. The 20 or so high-goal patrons we have at IPCPB, for example, put a great deal of effort, time and money into the sport, and they want to have a voice in the polo they are paying for. If someone is upset about something – a certain call in a game, say, or an issue with the club – then I want to know about it. Maybe I can’t solve the issue, but it’s always going to be my job to try. Years ago, as a player at another club, I witnessed a situation where a patron asked the club why something was done a certain way. He was told, ‘Oh, that’s just the way we do it here, and you have to do it that way if you want to play polo here.’ I’m not saying I can change everything to suit everyone, but I can hear them out, and, who knows, their suggestions may be something that will help us all in the future. Managing the game is a challenge, but looking back, I wouldn’t swap my job even for that of a highly paid top professional player, and all the glory that goes with it.
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hurlingham [special report]
duty calls The game’s proud tradition among the army’s officer corps can only be boosted now that Prince William and Prince Harry have fallen into line WORDS ADAM EDWARDS
The army is chuffed. A new generation of senior royals has chosen an assault rifle in preference to an aircraft carrier. Princes William and Harry both opted for square-bashing over sea legs, Sandhurst rather than Dartmouth. They have not followed their grandfather, father or uncle into the dark blue of the navy. Instead, they have linked up with younger fashionable army officers, men like Captain Mark Dollar and Lieutenant Ben Vestey, who have fought with guns on the front line and battled with mallets on the polo field. The army loves polo. The game belongs to it and it belongs to the game. There’s no other profession or trade in Britain that so clearly identifies itself with a single sport, with the possible exception of clergymen and croquet. ‘There is something very special about horse sports: they deliver good officers,’ says Major General Arthur Denaro, a Gulf War veteran, and current president of the Army Polo Association. ‘Polo requires a quick eye, quick reactions, the ability to think laterally
and to get stuck in. Galloping flat out with a ball requires considerable bravery. Good polo players tend to make good officers.’ He is not the first to conclude that if you can hit a small ball with a long stick as you perch on a leather bag of bones that twists and turns like a lap dancer, then enemy insurgents are a mere bagatelle. Mark Dollar, for example, a captain in the Blues and Royals who served in Bosnia and is now secretary of the Army Polo Association, joined the army not just because he didn’t want a desk job. He wanted the thrill and excitement of soldiering but polo also played its part in his decision. ‘It was a choice between a helicopter or cavalry regiment,’ he said. ‘I decided to join a regiment with which I shared values. I’d played polo at Windsor all my life and it helped that the Blues and Royals were based there.’ Polo has always been army. It is arguably the oldest recorded team sport in history, with the first matches played in Persia over 2,500 years ago as training for the king’s cavalry.
Royal moves (above) Princes William and Harry both chose the army over the navy, learning to master guns alongside mallets on the polo field Lead on (opposite page, top) A young Winston Churchill played polo as a cavalry officer, often writing to his mother begging her for money to buy ponies Charge (opposite page, below) Major General Arthur Denaro, pictured in a tank during the Gulf War, led 58 tanks into Iraq – and also made it his duty to revive the game of polo for the military
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Those matches resembled battles with up to 100 men a side, and the game soon spread through Asia Minor, China and the Indian subcontinent as warring emperors, kings, shahs and sultans adopted it. Two millennia and a few centuries later it arrived on the playing fields of England, thanks to the British army. Polo was flourishing in several Indian provinces in the middle of the 19th century, especially in Manipur, where Captain Robert Stewart and Lieutenant (later Major General) Joe Sherer were entranced. In 1859, the two officers held the inaugural meeting of the first polo club and four years later the Calcutta Polo Club, the oldest polo club in the world, was founded. And when Captain Edward ‘Chicken’ Hartopp, of the 10th Hussars, read about it in a sporting journal in England, he encouraged his men to start playing makeshift games as well. By 1869, the first official polo match was organised on Hounslow Heath. The following year polo was a standard part of a British cavalry officer’s training. The Royal Engineers took the game to Argentina while Lieutenant Colonel Thomas St Quintin, also of the 10th Hussars, introduced it to Australia. It is no surprise that the young Winston Churchill learned the game as a cavalry officer and wrote to his mother begging for money to buy polo ponies or ‘I’ll give up the game, which would be dreadful.’ His army team was good enough to win India’s prestigious interregimental tournament in 1899, even though he played throughout his career with a bad shoulder. He finally retired at the age of 52. Money has been an unspoken part of the game. My grandfather, a colonel with the Royal Engineers stationed in northern India in the late Twenties and early Thirties, was a keen player. He requested posts that kept him in the subcontinent because it was the only way he could afford to play. In England, in 1931, the average weekly wage was £3.50 when polo was estimated to cost a minimum of 50p an hour. The regiments, particularly the cavalry regiments, financially supported polo and the game continued to flourish in Britain and her colonies. Only after World War II, when Britain was flat broke, did the future look grim. The cavalry – the traditional nursery for new polo players – had been mechanised and there was a sombre mood of national austerity. And yet, ironically, the Cold War kept the game alive. ‘The majority of the cavalry regiments were based in Germany in readiness for an attack from the Soviet Union,’ said Arthur Denaro. ‘Although the regiments were on duty, they were never far from a polo ground. It allowed the tradition of army and polo to flourish.’ But, just a few years later, when the Iron Curtain finally fell, and latterly when the army was involved in the Gulf War, Bosnia and Kosovo, polo became a casualty of conflict. ‘When I started playing in the early Nineties the army was still the dominant force in polo,’ said Dollar. ‘But its operational commitments of late have taken their toll on the sport.’ Ironically, polo was flourishing outside the services and yet it was getting harder for
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soldiers on active duty not only to find the time and place to play, but to pay for the upkeep of horses. An officer who, for example, had invested in a couple of ponies might suddenly be sent away at short notice for months. Officers ended up playing bicycle polo behind the battle lines, pedalling Raleighs in the grey Slavic dust rather than racing ponies on soft, green Berkshire grass. ‘As the tempo of operations accelerated, so polo began to play less of a part in army life,’ said Denaro, who led 58 tanks of Desert Rats into Iraq and fought three major engagements without losing a single tank. It is Denaro who can claim credit for reviving the game for the military in 1998 as Commandant of Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. ‘Polo retains an important place in the cavalry regiment, but for the first time in its history – excepting the two world wars – it was on the wane in the army,’ he said. ‘But polo for the army is more than just a game. It’s a team sport and the polo player must depend on teamwork to win. If a young officer learns to look after things other than himself, if he looks after his men, his horse and only then himself, then he is learning to be a good officer. It’s the same with polo.’ It hasn’t been easy to maintain army polo. The major general was forced to put up with a number of brickbats before reintroducing polo at Sandhurst. In the process, many of the army polo rules were restructured. For example, laws that insisted on owning one’s own ponies, or only serving officers playing for their own regiment, had to be abandoned. ‘Time has moved on,’ says Dollar. ‘And now the APA is trying to encourage the sport, the royal connection has been hugely supportive and has certainly boosted interest. Next year we are looking for sponsorship.’ Denaro adds proudly: ‘There were more cadets in the polo club at Sandhurst in 2005 than in any other sports club at the academy. I believe it is still more important to the army than cricket or rugby.’
Polo requires a quick eye, quick reactions, the ability to think laterally and to get stuck in. Galloping flat out with a ball requires considerable bravery. Good polo players make good officers
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on life at the shark end You don’t have to be crazy to enjoy swimming with one of the world’s scariest predators – but it might help. Our intrepid scribe holds his breath and dives into the deep WORDS TARQUIN COOPER
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hurlingham [ adventure ]
appears from the abyss. More expletives start to follow as the full might of the ocean’s greatest hunter turns and heads straight towards me. Coming closer and closer, its giant, toothsome mouth opening and closing as if in anticipation, this is Carcharodon carcharias, the Great White Shark. All that’s between me and the infamous teeth, now 12 inches from my face, is the mesh of the cage. I’m transfixed, eyes like saucers. But it’s awe, induced by wonder. ‘People expect to find a mindless eating machine that just attacks everything and everyone,’ says Morné Hardenberg, our shark-diving guide. ‘But they go away with a different perception.’ The Great White is an incredible creature. Over 400 million years, it has evolved into the ocean’s largest predator, a sleek, torpedo-shaped hunting machine equipped with sensors that can pick up the electromagnetic pulses that every living thing beneath the sea produces. Its colouring is ideal for the hunter. It’s surely no accident that it has been copied by military aircraft: the light underbelly to blend with the surface, the darker steel-blue top side that makes it hard to spot from above and broken lines of contrast which cunningly complete the camouflage. Anyone who appreciates the grace and beauty of riding nature’s greatest athlete
The shark cage is lowered into the water and fastened to the boat at four points. I can’t help noticing that a couple of the steel mesh bars are bent
Shark alley Just off Gansbaai, about 120 miles east of Cape Town, is an island that’s home to a colony of 50,000 seals. It’s also a feeding ground for hundreds of migrating Great Whites
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Of all the things to enjoy in South Africa, lowering yourself into shark-infested waters probably isn’t top of the list. Driving around Cape Town’s spectacular peninsula in a convertible? Definitely. Touring the lush, green wine region of Stellenbosch, stopping for the obligatory lunch at a 17thcentury vineyard? Absolutely. Now, what about eyeballing nature’s number one predator? Not an appealing prospect? Start humming the theme tune to Jaws and think of that cold, dead eye stalking you, the broken teeth dripping with rotting flesh. Still not tempted? Shark diving is one of the latest ‘got-todo’ activities – a test of manhood, part of a wildlife tour – and guaranteed to provide rich fodder for anecdotes, just so long as you don’t become fodder yourself. It’s popular in the Bahamas, where if you’re feeling brave, like the Broncos’ George Milford Haven, you can witness ‘feeding time’. Jack Kidd is another polo man to reveal a taste for shark diving. I’m following in the wake of Brad Pitt and Prince Harry to see the mother of all sharks, the Great White. The place to do it is South Africa. My wife, perhaps quite unsurprisingly, given the presence of our three-month-old son, was not so keen to join me, not even on the boat. We moor in a place known as ‘shark alley’ off Gansbaai, about 120 miles east of Cape Town. It’s a narrow channel between two islands, both about a mile offshore, one of which is home to a colony of 50,000 seals. It’s also a favourite feeding ground for hundreds of migrating Great Whites. After dropping anchor, the process of ‘chumming’ begins. Parts of tuna and other fish are tossed overboard to attract the sharks. Suddenly the excitement onboard is palpable; the first shark has been spotted and is circling us. The shark cage is lowered into the water and fastened to the boat at four points. I can’t help noticing that a couple of the steel mesh bars are bent. Now is the time to jump in. The water is cold, reaching up to my neck. The cage is large enough for five of us. We’re then briefed: the skipper and crew will lure sharks with the bait and shout, ‘Down!’ when one approaches. None of us has scuba gear; we just hold our breath and go under. Unlike the film Jaws, where the cage dangles at the end of a cable, ours doesn’t move. It remains wedded to the boat. This is infinitely safer. It means, should anything go wrong, the crew can grab and haul you back on board. This happened only recently to a British tourist, we’re told, when a shark bit through the cage’s flotation device. My heart is already pumping and the adrenaline is coursing through my body when I hear the command I’ve been waiting for: ‘Down! Down! Down!’ shouts the skipper. Sometimes only a four-letter word will do, and this is one of those times. I mutter it silently to myself as the predator
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will appreciate this. Shark diving trades on being an ‘extreme’ experience, but really it isn’t so different from viewing big game on safari – with one exception. You won’t struggle with a pair of binoculars, as one does in the bush, when a guide points out a lion in the grass: ‘Where? Where? I can’t see it…’ Here the experience is intense and close up, the fear more imagined than real. You are more likely to die falling down the stairs than from an encounter with a Great White. Before he died, earlier this year, Peter Benchley, the author of Jaws, regretted his demonisation of the creature in his book and campaigned for its conservation. ‘Shark diving plays a truly vital role in re-educating the public and protecting the Great White,’ says Michael Rutzen, owner of Shark Diving Unlimited. ‘We believe we have to show people these sharks, to ensure their survival. It’s no different to viewing leopards or lions out in the bush.’ Since it began, about 10 years ago, cage diving has become more and more popular. But not everyone is so enthusiastic. Many locals accuse the South African diving operators of encouraging sharks to enter waters where humans usually swim by the chumming or baiting process. Although attacks are rare (about four a year for the whole of South Africa), they do happen. A few weeks before my arrival a British surfer nearly lost his leg to a shark in Cape Town, and two years ago an elderly swimmer was killed by a shark in the same bay. But diving operators say chumming only attracts sharks that are already in the area. ‘Chumming has got nothing to do with it,’ says Rutzen, ‘We chum with animals that occur naturally. Chum where there are no sharks and you don’t get any.’ Some locals may disagree but it’s a view supported by many shark environmentalists. Incredible as it is, seeing the Great White isn’t the only shark-diving experience out there. To be honest, it can often feel a little contrived, like viewing game alongside dozens of open-topped Land Rovers. And it can get busy on the water, with several cage operators out there at once. Seeing sharks while actually diving can provide far greater excitement. I recall the shock-and-wow factor of being overtaken by a dozen reef sharks off the coast of Mozambique a few years ago. I nearly consumed my entire oxygen supply on the spot. The Bahamas are also a good place to see sharks in their natural environment. George Milford Haven can vouch for this, having experienced ‘feeding time’ off Nassau with an American friend. After picking up the ‘shark feeder’, who was dressed in a full chain-mail suit, they dropped anchor at Stuart Cove. ‘The feeder told us to dive down, kneel on the bottom and put our hands underneath our armpits because they look like bits of food to sharks. “I’ll be down in a minute,” the guy told us. It was pretty alarming. I didn’t know what to expect. I
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had to get in the water with all these sharks circling below. God, my heart was beating fast!’ recalls Milford Haven. His wife Clare remained onboard, and after putting the final touches to his chain suit, the feeder jumped in holding a crate filled with dead fish. ‘He descended like a bullet,’ recalls Milford Haven. ‘He knelt 10 feet in front of us and put out his hands with the dead fish. Within seconds we had 40 sharks circling around us going crazy. It was an extraordinary experience. You could feel the power of them going past and the force of the displaced water.’ The sharks were mostly Whitetip Reef sharks, six to eight feet long. ‘Fortunately,’ adds Milford Haven, ‘the sharks were only interested in the food.’ But at one point curiosity got the better of him, and against advice he touched one of the sharks. It was just like sandpaper,’ he says. The same happens to me in Cape Town. A shark swims past our cage and I can’t resist touching its rubbery skin. We surface to a strict telling off. ‘No touching,’ shouts skipper Frank, ‘they are not puppy dogs.’ I don’t need reminding with the next shark. It heads right for me, bashes the cage and starts chomping on the bars, inches away. Scared? Too right I am – I can’t hug the back of the cage hard enough.
DETAILS The best time to see Great Whites
in Gansbaai is from April to September. A day’s shark-cage diving costs £100 with Shark Diving Unlimited, tel: 0027 28 384 2787; www.sharkdivingunlimited.com To try shark diving in the Bahamas, contact Stuart Cove’s Dive Bahamas, tel: 001 954 524 5755; www.stuartcove.com (cost £75). The following companies also offer shark diving: www.sharkbookings.com; tel: 0871 474 1821 (worldwide); www.downhilladventures.com; tel: 00 27 21 422 0388 (Gansbaai); www.planetdive.co.uk; tel: 0870 749 1959 (worldwide); www.divequest.co.uk; tel: 01254 826 322 (worldwide)
Nose for adventure Close encounter of the Great White kind, from behind the bars of a safety cage (above) Going down George Milford Haven gets a little closer. But watch out for those hands – divers are advised to keep them tucked away, as to sharks they look like tasty snacks (left)
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hurlingham [dynasty]
in the family way Few sports produce dynasties as strong as those in polo. Long lines of families make their mark on the game, proving that hereditary skill is something to be celebrated WORDS ALISTAIR VERE NICOLL
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Babies of polo players should be advised that they are being born into a team rather than a family. When Bautista, the fourth and last son of the great Horacio A. Heguy, arrived on this earth there must have been triumphant cries from the banks of aficionados at Palermo. Forget blankets, he must have been immediately swaddled in the vacant number one shirt. His first words were probably abierto and cola, in reference to the tail-shot, of course, rather than the drink. Polo is undeniably a dynastical sport. A dynasty is essentially a rich and influential family; either kings in title or kings in sport, commerce or society. The history of polo is full of them, from the Whitneys to the Windsors. The game of the Tang and Mughal emperors is now played by Princes William and Harry, who’ve been bequeathed a love of horses, speed and danger through the royal line of Prince Philip and Prince Charles. Of all the great polo families, and there are lots to choose, the Heguys must be foremost. Perhaps the greatest ever polo team was Coronel Suárez in the 1970s. It was the first ever 40-goal team in the Argentine Open and was composed of two sets of brothers: Alfredo Juan Carlos Harriott and Alfredo P. and Horacio A. Heguy.
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There followed a brief hiatus in the Heguy hegemony while the family nurtured their brood, and La Espadaña, the second team to win the Argentine Open with a 40-goal team, enjoyed a brief period of dominance. As fitting successors to the Coronel Suárez team, this side also included brothers, the inestimable Piereses; Gonzalo and Alfonso. The Heguys, however, were not to be denied for long. Indeed, the ebb and flow of the different rival families that compete in the Argentine Open bears all the hallmarks of a classic dynastical power struggle. Perhaps that is also why the tournament means so much. In polo, the skill of the father is visited on the son. The brilliance of the two Heguy brothers was passed on to their children. In an era that proved the most startling for sibling statistics, Horacio’s sons, four swashbuckling musketeers: Marcos, Horacio jun., Gonzalo and Bautista, combined to form the third (and final) 40-goal team to play in the Open. Then, Alfredo’s sons, Ignacio, Pepe and Eduardo had their turn, defeating their cousins in the final in 2004. What is not widely known about this extraordinary family is that grandfather Heguy, Antonio, also won the Open in 1958, this time not with a sibling but with his own son, Horacio. Other sports also feature family combinations: Damon Hill followed his father Graham to motor racing’s greatest prize, as did Jacques Villeneuve. Ralf drives against his brother, former world champion Michael Schumacher. Twins Steve and Mark Waugh, for over a decade, were mainstays of the Australian cricket team and the Williams sisters swept all before them on the tennis court. But these examples are the exceptions, whereas for polo, family is the rule. At both a high-goal and a recreational level, you will find teams of brothers, sisters, parents and cousins. You only have to look at the Novillo Astradas: Eduardo, Ignacio, Javier and Miguel, who won the Argentine Open in 2003. Then consider the Merlos family, the Alberdis, the Gracidas, the MacDonoughs, the Menditeguys, the Duggans. Why, then, are so many families involved in the game? The easy answer is opportunity. The barriers to entry are high, and relative wealth, so often inherited, is necessary to play at the top level. It is such a demanding sport, that a true and complete facility with its multiple challenges is seldom acquired unless a player can ride before he can walk and hit a ball before he can feed himself.
POLOLINE
Name game (top, right) The scoreboard at this year’s 73rd Jockey Club Open, where Gonzalo Pieres Snr and his three sons beat Loro Piana 13-9 in the final Family affair (opposite) The Novillo Astrada clan gathers at La Aguada in 2004. (Left to right) Julio (jnr), Nacho, Eduardo, Alejandro, Julio (Yayo), Taio, Santiago, Miguel, Javier and Julio (father of Julio and Santiago)
If the oldest habits are the hardest to give up, for those born to polo, it stands to reason they can’t escape it. Polo isn’t just played by families, it has insinuated itself into the fabric of that institution so deeply, it’s indivisible. Management consultants, professors, renowned sports psychologists and coaches are all paid a fortune to pontificate on the ingredients of a successful team but perhaps they should be scrutinizing the families that are successful at polo. Considering that for many years, casual chukkas on a lazy weekend morning at the Heguy family estancia will have constituted a higher level than any other tournament in the world, it is less of a surprise that the family has produced such superstars. After all, if you continually train by running uphill, eventually the flat track will seem easy. It is said that it’s impossible to please all the world and one’s father. When your profession is polo and your father is a Heguy, then the world will be happy. But it takes a healthy rivalry to encourage excellence. McEnroe’s greatness was defined because he had Borg – imagine how good he’d have been if he’d been playing him since birth? There’s an even simpler answer, however: polo is incredible fun. People slave to earn a fortune just to play it. If it’s presented on a plate, why would you want to do anything else? It’s difficult to decide whether or not the children of polo players ever have a choice or whether it is made for them. I’m sure Antonio Heguy must have advised his dynasty to play polo. As Harry Truman observed, the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it. Whereas most fathers stick energetic children in a swing, in polo circles they’re made to swing a stick. Polo players never know their left and right but they have a nose for what’s ‘near’ and what’s ‘off’. In the unlikely event their girls aren’t into the rough and tumble, instead of being brought up holding dolls and threading needles they’ll be treading in, mixing Pimm’s and holding sticks. Argentina has always been a country whose people exude characteristics of both South America and Europe. Although the British game has never had quite the same lavish extravagance of blood, one needs only consider a handful of examples to see that the same trend applies. While Coronel Suárez were dominating the Argentine Open, the Vestey brothers, Mark and Sam, whether as Foxcote or Stowell Park, dominated the Gold Cup. Now, Mark’s children, Nina, Ben and Tamara, have taken up the mantle. The English Piereses – the Hipwoods – Howard and Julian, dominated the English high-goal scene for many seasons before passing the sceptre to Ollie. The sibling theme has been continued by the England pair, Luke and Mark Tomlinson, who further the traditions of their mother, Claire, and cousins, the Lucases. Consistently, at every level, knotted together like strands of DNA, polo and family intertwine, in a list as long as the HPA
Polo isn’t just played by families, it has insinuated itself into the fabric of that institution so deeply, it’s indivisable.
membership: from the Hanburys to the Graces, the Williamses to the Wades. Let us not forget the horses, too, in this paean to the family. Bloodlines of top equine dynasties are also nurtured and preserved so dams and sires, ridden by fathers and uncles who triumphed in the Opens of yesteryear, then produced the pony power that strives wholeheartedly for today’s band of brothers. The family unit, even though it can have its differences, is essentially one of peace, stability and support. A love of polo, its values and the people who play it, for example, stood undisturbed by a war between Great Britain and Argentina. In my own family, my grandfather (who inspired my father to play and then me, in a reverberation of the traditional polo model), posted in Singapore, was invited to play polo in the Philippines in 1939. He had no option but to catch a lift with an Italian ship in order to make the game. American supremo, General Douglas MacArthur, commented that it could only be for polo that an Englishman would board an enemy ship on the brink of war. And so it is, for even if rivalry and conflict are integral to the game, it is also about beauty, passion and teamwork – and they always win over. But a family affair isn’t all sweetness. The ante is definitely upped. If you beat one team comfortably in a tournament, beware the next one – you might be playing someone in the same family. Remember that there’s no ride-off as fierce as that of the player whose brother has just been dispossessed, no skill like that of the son whose father is watching and no fury like that of the patron whose daughter you have just chatted up.
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model missionary Argentine Nacho Figueras is the face of Ralph Lauren. He’s also head of Neil Hirsch’s Black Watch high-goal team. Here he explains how the catwalk can spread the word about polo WORDS SARAH EAKIN
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[ fashion] hurlingham
First of all, I don’t consider myself a model. I’m a polo player who represents a brand in Ralph Lauren. I think Ralph saw in me a person who represented what he sells, and what he dreams about as the essence of ‘Ralph Lauren’. For me, the word model is just a little lame; not bad, but lame. I am more than that. I am a personality, not just a face. There are more than a hundred thousand faces like mine in the world, but I think he chose me because of everything that Ralph Lauren means. Ralph Lauren has an image that goes with mine. If somebody asked me whether I would be the face of something that I didn’t feel represented me, or I didn’t feel comfortable with, I don’t know whether I would do it. When I was a little kid, 11 or 12 years old, my uncle, who lived in the States, bought me a Ralph Lauren shirt. That was always my most precious shirt, the one that I kept only for very special occasions. Twenty years later, to be the face of the brand is a very big thing. Fashion is an art. For me, Ralph is like a great painter or a musician – it takes inspiration , creativity, and lots of hard work to put clothes together. Representing Ralph Lauren gives me a lot of recognition and a chance to speak to people about polo. I see it as an opportunity to work with a great fashion company. But also, when my face is in every airport, it gives me the power to tell people all over the world that there is a wonderful sport called polo and also to represent my country. It’s not only a nice thing to do, but a responsibility which I take as
seriously as each polo match that I play. I’ve been interviewed by magazines and newspapers worldwide in the last six months, and they want a story, not just a face that just sells fragrances. Being a polo player really helps me put some meaning into interviews. At the beginning, my friends tended to mock me a bit. But now that it has become something bigger and more serious, they don’t any more. This could be one of the bridges to make polo bigger and allow players to make more endorsements in the way that golf players and tennis players do. My role might have opened some eyes, and that’s a great thing. My friends respect what I do. Bruce Weber, the photographer for Ralph Lauren, is an inspirational person who has become a great friend. He always told me to be a polo player and to be myself. That shows in the camera. Amazing as that might sound, that’s what I try to do, and I guess it works. They know my polo schedule is busy, and they respect that and work around it. I know Ralph, his kids, his wife, his family. We stay in touch and we see each other once in a while. He’s a wonderful person, very humble, and he loves his family. I feel a connection with him. He’s a great leader in his company. Everybody who works there loves him, so that really tells you something. He started from scratch. He sold ties in the street 38 years ago and now his company is worth $10 billion. I hope I can do something to bring polo and Ralph Lauren closer together.
When my face is in every airport, I can tell people all over the world that there is this wonderful sport
Star and stripes Nacho Figueras and model Jaquetta Wheeler pose for Ralph Lauren to advertise Ralph Lauren Blue Label. Nacho is also currently the face of Ralph Lauren’s Polo Black fragrance (left) On the runway Modelling Ralph Lauren’s autumn/winter 2006 menwear collection in New York In the saddle Getting into the swing playing polo at Palm Beach
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hurlingham [ travel ]
the last frontier A well-known adventurer and polo enthusiast tells how he fell in love with the steppes of Mongolia, its hardy nomadic people and millions of native horses. But would he still feel the same after saddling up to try the locals’ rough-and-ready version of the sport? WORDS GORDON RODDICK
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hurlingham [ travel ]
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During my travels I have marvelled at the big skies over the Masai Mara in East Africa, the pampas in Argentina and the plains of Texas. And yet none of these can compare with the vaulting of blue over the boundless steppes of Mongolia, that Alaska-sized country between Russia and China from which, eight centuries ago, Genghis Khan and his fierce warriors rode out to forge the largest land empire in history. Since ancient times, Mongolians have called their land Khukh Mongol – Blue Mongolia – after the bright sky above the high plateau that comprises almost 80 per cent of the country. At dawn, women emerge from their nomadic dwellings – domed gers, better known as yurts in the West – to fling freshly brewed tea with milk to the heavens in reverence to their sky. I got my first look at the eternal blue sky and the horses of the Mongolian steppes as I drove towards the Orkhon Valley after a visit to reindeer country up on the Siberian frontier. The rolling grasslands stretch as far as the eye can see. In the distance were a solitary ger and a lone horseman, riding straight and tall in the saddle – the Mongolians are arguably the best horsemen on the planet. In my mind’s eye I could see the conquering hordes of Genghis Khan gathering to gallop westward into Europe and south into China and the Near East. This is the most sparsely populated country on Earth, and has more horses than humans: an estimated five million equine inhabitants, averaging nearly two for every man, woman and child. Around 40 per cent of the country’s population lives a nomadic life, and a family group may have anything up to 100 horses. Mongolians use their horses for herding livestock and for transporting their gers in traditional migrations across the steppes. Today’s Mongolian horses, like many others, are descended from the Takh, which is one of the world’s six original species of prehistoric horses that once roamed free in vast numbers across the steppes. The Takh, with zebra-like characteristics, is better known in the West as Przewalski’s Horse after the Russian who ‘discovered’ it early in the early 20th century and began capturing foals for Western zoos. The species in the wild died out completely in the 1960s, but has now been reintroduced from zoos into well-protected reserves in Mongolia. My interest in horses and polo is what took me to the Orkhon Valley. There is no evidence that polo was played in Mongolia in antiquity, although descendants of Genghis Khan were key players in the spread of this 3,000-year-old game. During the Mogul conquests of the 16th century, the warriors took polo from Persia to the Indian subcontinent, where the English first learned to play in the 19th century before taking the game around the world. It was an Englishman, Jim Edwards, who introduced modern polo to Mongolia in 1997. Since then the game has been growing in popularity, and looks to becoming a national pastime like wrestling, archery and chess. One sees wrestling everywhere, not just at big festivals between Olympic contenders but daily as young lads take a break for impromptu
matches. And archery competitions, for both men and women, are held frequently all across the country. The distinctive and powerful Mongolian bow can be fired on foot or from horseback and this deadly shot was the main weapon in Ghengis Khan’s historic arsenal. Chess provides the evening’s entertainment for nomadic families, and both young and old are expert and avid players. One day, when we had stopped for tea on the road, a strapping Mongolian rider galloped menacingly up to our van. A brigand? No. He jumped off his horse, pulled a chess set from his saddlebags and challenged me to a game on the spot. My first experience of riding the nomads’ horses – and playing their rough-and-ready style of polo – came when I reached the ger encampment of Christoph Giercke in the Orkhon Valley. Christoph, a German film-maker who married a Mongolian princess, Enkhe,
Material difference (previous page, left) The entrances to these nomadic dwellings, known as gers, are always colourfully decorated Warrior spirit (previous page, right) A Mongolian player stands tall in his replica Ghengis Khan ensemble – worn over contemporary polo kit Not-so-easy rider (below) The terrain is rough and the saddles – made of wood with a high front and back – are distinctly uncomfortable for Westerners Talking tactics (right) Ghengis Kahn Polo Club players relax before a tournament out on the steppes
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I got my first look at eternal blue sky and the horses of the Mongolian steppes as I drove towards the Orkhon Valley after a visit to reindeer country up on the Siberian frontier founded the Chinggis Khaan Polo Club in 1998, and since then has helped organise polo in the country, including the annual national polo championships that took place while I was there. Mongolian horses are small animals, just 12.2 hands high on average, which is similar in size to polo ponies in the early days of the game. They are sturdy mounts with short legs, a large head, robust hooves (relatively few are shod) and immense strength and endurance. They’re a far cry from the polished polo ponies of 15 hands or so that I’m accustomed to riding on Terry Hanlon’s ground back in England. The tack used by the Mongolian herdsmen is vastly different from ours too. The traditional saddle is of wood with a high front and back, impossibly uncomfortable to a Westerner. The stirrups are worn short, with a strap below the horse’s belly keeping them close in to the flanks, allowing the rider to bend out at almost right angles to his mount – what I call a Frank Lloyd Wright cantilever arrangement. I opted for a Western-style saddle and tack, and once aboard realised just how perfect these little horses can be for polo. They are docile, responsive, enormously hardy, quick to learn, and great fun to play. Given their size, your stick is likely to be a 42 rather than a 52. Owing to the flat grasslands of the steppes, creating a polo ground – or even hundreds of grounds – presents no problems for the Mongolians at their present state of play: just goalposts and some colourful flags to mark out the boundaries. They will laugh at you if you suggest removing the rocks or flattening the bumps. It’s a rough old game out here. Frenchman Franck Dubarry, president of TechnoMarine watches, was also at the Orkhon encampment. He had brought the first fully constituted international team to Mongolia to play the locals and teach them more about how polo is played in other countries. The TechnoMarine team was comprised of Franck and three Argentine professionals: Alejandro Novillo Astrada, Mariano Aguerre and Juan Cruz Diaz. I refereed games between the visitors and their hosts, and Franck’s pros held polo clinics for the Mongolians. The Argentines also trained up a few of the nomads’ horses as proper polo ponies; a quick and easy task with these clever little animals. Subsequently Franck generously treated a 19-year-old Mongolian player, Bashi, to three months polo training on
the Argentine estancia of Martin Garrahan. ‘Mongolia is great for taking advantage of lands as yet untouched by mankind,’ Franck said. ‘There is a fantastic feeling of escape and adventure in a very safe environment. Polo here lacks the sophistication with which it is played under rules in the rest of the world, but the Mongolians are amazing riders and are naturally skilled. We should all promote the growth of the modern sport here by helping young Mongolian players, offering them free training at top polo centres in other countries so they in turn can teach their fellow countrymen about out sport.’ I was delighted to find, when I revisited Mongolia this summer, that polo had a central role in the 800th anniversary celebrations of the country’s nationhood. Our sport has a great future here – if we in the more established polo-playing countries lend a hand.
More Mongolian dreams French
photographer Michel Setboun’s brilliant new coffee table book, Mongolie, Rêve d’infini, was published earlier this year by Editions de la Martinière and is available from www.Amazon.fr at around EUR 30. If you are interested in sponsoring a Mongolian polo player, contact hurlingham@hpa-polo.co.uk Local colour (above) Bashi, a young Mongolian player, is given Western polo saddles. Later he was offered the chance to train in Argentina Gentlemen players (left) The visiting TechnoMarine team congratulate their Mongolian opponents after a tough match
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hurlingham [ passion]
the sky’s no limit Shooting wild game in Africa, dodging guerrilla groups on the byways of South America and flying combat aircraft are nothing out of the ordinary for Texas-based polo patron Al Micallef WORDS SARAH EAKIN
formed by lava and broken up by a band of green from the polo field in the valley – the family’s highly-prized Reata Polo Club. Al uses his piloting skills to work cattle, driving them out of the passes and canyons and sending them down to the flats of his expansive ranch. Though he was born in Detroit, Al considers himself a Texan at heart and has taken the role seriously. As he puts it: ‘If you don’t ranch, have an oil well and own a bank, you’re not even a Texan.’ Mixing business with pleasure, Al and his son recently grabbed an opportunity to fly World War II Messerschmitts and take to the skies in modern fighter jets with candidates from the US Top Gun class of military aviation. In his stable of flying machines, Al also keeps two ‘Kassa’ jets, which are used by the Israelis to train their military fighter pilots. Flying fixed-wing planes is a run-of-themill exercise for Al, while helicopter flying is still a challenge. ‘I use the fixed wings to fly back and forth to our ranches and to support our various businesses around the world,’ he says. ‘Today’s aircraft are so automatic, and the systems are so sophisticated, that once you learn the systems and punch all the flight data in there you don’t have to do anything but sit back and watch the clouds go by. With a helicopter it’s totally different. You’ve got to fly every second. ‘Wind, powerlines, tail, rudder… there are a lot of things that you need to be aware of. And flying across country, you don’t have a lot of area to work with.’ There are similarities with polo, he says. ‘Hand-eye coordination is important in both disciplines. I weigh 225 pounds, and Agustin Merlos [who doesn’t], our 10-goaler, can hit the ball three times as hard as me. So it’s really the ability to swing naturally and have that rhythm that makes the difference. Helicopters are the same way. You’re using your feet, your hands and your “eye” at the same time.’
Al is not one to do things by halves, and it comes as little surprise that he flies his helicopter to breakfast, putting ‘the bird’ down in a field near the local diner
Action man (clockwise from top) Al Micallef, with one of his many magnificent flying machines; mid-chukka with the Reata team; and on safari in Africa
SHELLEY HEATLEY
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‘I started flying fixed-wing aircraft probably 35 years ago,’ says Al Micallef. ‘And I stopped flying after I was married, because we couldn’t afford gas for our car, let alone an airplane.’ Times have certainly changed since then for Al, who can now commute between his Texas ranch and the Reata high-goal polo team at International Polo Club Palm Beach in the cockpit of his own Falcon 10 jet. Flying is a family affair for the Micallefs, and when Al’s son Mike was about to start his university education, Al recalls the family sitting at the dinner table to discuss which plane he should take with him to his college campus. ‘One of our businesses is managing jet aircraft, and we also have our own jet, which I fly just for fun. It makes us more effective managers when we don’t just simply manage the business but have the knowledge to fly the airplanes and know about the maintenance and service side of the planes too.’ Al, 63, is a businessman with an easy-going manner that belies his lifetime feats. These include a highly competitive campaign in transatlantic yacht racing, trans-Amazon 24hour car rally racing (where the guerrilla dodging came into play) and the Gumball Rally car chase across America. As his exploits illustrate, Al is not one to do things by halves, and it comes as little surprise that he flies his helicopter to our breakfast meeting. Living in the expanse of west Texas, where room to roam means space to land, he frequently drops in to the grocery store or the local diner for ‘takeout’, putting ‘the bird’ down in a nearby field. Al flies his helicopter for functional purposes in and around the picturesque ranch where he and his family live in west Texas’s Davis Mountains, a small volcanic range at the tail end of the Rockies. His house sits in the heart of an extinct volcanic caldera, providing a breathtaking panorama of rock formations
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DVD AD
5/10/06
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Get the action live Your complimentary Hurlingham Media DVD is enclosed with this issue and features highlights from: THE GOLD CUP* THE CORONATION CUP* THE ARGENTINE CLUB CUP* THE EVOLUTION TEST MATCH* THE QUEEN’S CUP* THE STEADHAM 40 GOAL MATCH* THE US OPEN THE OUTBACK 40 GOAL MATCH
*Full game available on DVD, go to www.hurlinghammedia.com Produced for Hurlingham Media by Blue Tuna
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the action [thrills] Savour the excitement from England to Mexico as the players do battle
40 The high-goal season
50 Test Match round-up
56 Pacific Coast Open
The younger generation takes its turn to shine in a bumper English high-goal season
Victory over South Africa revives England after a mismatch test with Argentina
46 Spain
52 Medium & low goal
Duende and Windsor Capital meet at the culmination of a closely-fought and sometimes controversial tournament
Previous winners Talandracas and Loro Piana renew hostilities on the Costa del Sol
Thrills and excitement in the pro-am format – the fast-growing heart of the game
48 Cartier International
54 Mexico
Record crowds for the HPA’s flagship event – but what about the state of the ground?
Carnival meets polo as a party atmosphere dominates on Mexico’s Pacific coast
58 Florida Top seeds the ‘Little Nuns’ take centre stage in the final of the Stanford US Open
DVD ACTION
Where you see this symbol, highlights are available on the enclosed DVD, or buy the complete game at www.hurlinghammedia.com
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The high-goal season It was time for the sons of the fathers to grab the limelight during the English high-goal season. And they did not disappoint, reports Herbert Spencer What do a twenty-something Swiss businessman, Australia’s wealthiest man, a teenage Bedouin from the deserts of Arabia and a young chap from the English shires have in common? They are all part of a younger breed of amateur players who stamped their skills on England’s green and glorious polo grounds during a bumper high-goal season in this 50th anniversary year of the Cowdray Park Gold Cup. Well-known names like Schwarzenbach, Packer, Albwardy and Hanbury were already etched on many an English trophy, but now was the time for their sons to shine in a sport that has traditionally passed the torch from one generation to the next. The English high-goal season has long been the most cosmopolitan in the world. Most of the team patrons in American high goal are US citizens, and it is Argentine professionals who put together the top teams in Argentina. By contrast, the high-goal scene in England is like a United Nations of polo. Of the 20 teams competing in the British Open Championship this year, 15 were fielded by patrons from overseas, and over the past two decades only two Opens have been won by an English-patroned team. It was 20 years ago that Switzerland’s Urs Schwarzenbach brought Black Bears over
from St Moritz and built the team into one of the most powerful in England. Today, Urs is the longest-serving of all the high-goal patrons playing here. Over the years, Black Bears have won the British Open twice (six times in the final), the Warwickshire Cup a record six times and the Queen’s Cup twice. Black Bears were again a strong favourite for the Queen’s Cup this year when, in the last league match, Urs went down and suffered a concussion and broken ribs. A phone call to Zurich brought 24-yearold Guy Schwarzenbach winging his way over to take his father’s place in the team for the rest of the season. This was Guy’s first season of high-goal polo, and it was a debut to make his father proud. Unusually for an amateur, he scored in every one of Black Bears’ matches, his tally including key goals in the semi-finals and final of the British Open. His performance in the Queen’s, Warwickshire and Gold Cup tournaments prompted Hurlingham to name him Best Amateur Player for this issue [see page 5]. At season’s end, the handicap committee of the Hurlingham Polo Association recommended that he be elevated from 0-goal to 1-goal for next year. ‘Guy was a ringer at 0 and he’ll be a ringer at 1 if he goes on like this,’ commented one observer.
(Previous page, from left) Cartier managing director Arnaud Bamberger and a casually attired Prince Harry present the Coronation Cup to Luke Tomlinson, in his first year as captain of the England team
1 Black Bears’ Guy Schwarzenbach gives chase as Jamie Packer lofts the ball for Ellerston during the Gold Cup final. 2 Eduardo Novillo Astrada has won the US and British Opens in 2006. 3 Lovelocks’ Charlie Hanbury, son of HPA chairman Christopher, in his first year of high goal. 4 Tariq Albwardy accepts the Queen’s Cup from Her Majesty and Arnaud Bamberger. 5 Dubai’s George Meyrick vies with Gonzalito Pieres (Broncos) during the Queen’s Cup finals
ALICE GIPPS; CENTAUR PHOTOGRAPHIC
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Opposing Guy in the British Open final was his old friend James Packer from Australia, another son of a famous foreign patron. His father, the late Kerry Packer, burst on the English high-goal scene in 1990 with the best grounds in the country at Stedham near Cowdray Park, superb ponies from his embryo-transfer breeding operation at Ellerston in Australia and powerhouse teams – Ellerston White with him and Ellerston Black with son Jamie. Between them the Ellerston teams won three British Opens, four Queen’s Cups, three Warwickshire Cups and The Prince of Wales Trophy. Then six years ago the Packers left England, but maintained their involvement in polo with establishments in Australia and Argentina. James Packer’s return this year was big news, although his Ellerston team only competed in the Gold Cup. At 39, Packer is the oldest as well as the most experienced of this season’s new crop of amateur team patrons. ‘He did extremely well considering he had not even ridden for three months since the polo season in Australia,’ said Packer’s coach, Roberto Gonzalez, who played with the patron in Ellerston Black’s 1994 Gold Cup win. ‘I’m sure he’ll be back next year more fit and with more polo under his belt.’ The Bedouin boy from the desert is Tariq Albwardy. Ten years ago, his father, Ali Albwardy, came over from the United Arab Emirates to establish an English base in Berkshire and build up his high-goal team, Dubai. The team eventually centred on 10-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso and can now
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boast the best pony string in England. Ali won the Gold Cup in 2001 and the Queen’s Cup in ’03 and ’05. Two years ago, in the British Open, Ali gave his place on the team to his son Tariq , then only aged 15. The youngster was keen but looked out of his depth. Last year, however, Tariq played for Dubai again and, just short of his 17th birthday, became the youngest player ever to win the Gold Cup. Then this year he won both the Queen’s Cup and the Prince of Wales Trophy. And the young man from the English shires? That is 20-year-old Charlie Hanbury, son of HPA chairman Christopher Hanbury. Christopher played on his Gloucestershirebased Lovelocks team for 20 years, during which it won numerous low- and mediumgoal trophies, and the high-goal Warwickshire Cup. Three years ago he retired from competition, gave his place on the team to Charlie and this year entered Lovelocks in the Queen’s, Warwickshire and Gold Cups. ‘This was Charlie’s first season in high goal,’ said Christopher Hanbury, now happy to sit it out as non-playing patron of Lovelocks. ‘And he did well, scoring some fine goals for the team. He is improving all the time and will lead Lovelocks again next season. I’m also thinking of letting my son George, who is 18, play for Lovelocks in the Warwickshire.’ It was not only the amateurs that were part of the generation game in 2006. More than a decade ago, Gonzalo Pieres, then a 10-goal professional, was a key to the successes of Kerry Packer’s Ellerston White team. This year it was ‘Gonzo’s sons, Gonzalito and Facundo, both pros in their
early 20s, who starred with James Packer’s new Ellerston squad. Also of significance this season were the key roles played by lower-handicapped pros who so effectively backed up their higherrated team mates. Contributions by players such as Black Bears’ Lucas James (handicap 4, up to 5 mid-season) and Dubai’s George Meyrick (2, up to 3) sometimes made the real difference in matches won by their teams. At the end of the 2006 high-goal season, the HPA’s Handicap Committee made its recommendations for changes in ratings for next year, to be confirmed by the Stewards in November and to take effect from January 1 2007. A trend was immediately discernable: a dozen or more 10s, 9s and 8s came down a notch – almost as many as the 7s, 6s and 5s that went up. Facundo Pieres was the only player slated to be raised to 10, with 10-goalers Nachi and Marcos Heguy and Augustin Merlos dropping to 9. The veteran Gracida brothers, Memo and Carlos, were dropped from 9 to 8, although they remain 9 and 10 respectively in America. Among those recommended to go up from 6 to 7 were Mark Tomlinson, Alejandro Novilla Astrada, Gaston Moore and Ignacio Toccalino. HPA handicaps at the upper end of the scale, where they affect the nuclei of highgoal teams, are in many cases adrift from those awarded in Argentina and the USA, and tend to be lower. Anomalies abound, and one might be tempted to think that the HPA handicappers are tougher. But to each his own in a sport that, unlike most, does not have consistent international ratings or rankings for its players.
1 Eduardo Novillo Astrada (Black Bears) goes to the whip, closely watched by Ellerston’s Gonzalito Pieres (left), during the Gold Cup finals on Lawns II at Cowdray Park
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Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup Tap, tap. Who’s there? Polo pros. Polo pros who? Polo pros who slow up the world’s fastest ball game by tapping the ball at a walk, creating scrums and depriving fans of the exciting spectacle of magnificent thoroughbreds thundering down the ground and players smacking the ball a hundred yards to score in an open-running game. A tendency to create such game-slowing scrums, long complained about but with little done by officials to prevent them, was the only thing that marred an otherwise perfect polo day when Black Bears met Ellerston in the final of the British Open for the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup on the 50th anniversary of one of the sport’s most coveted trophies. Excitement was high at Cowdray Park Polo Club among the 15,000 spectators gathered for the final, 5,000 of whom had watched the high-goal season’s best polo in the semi-finals three days earlier. Twenty teams had entered the 22-goal tournament, and there were close matches throughout, many won by a single goal, sometimes in extra time. In the semis, Ali Albwardy’s Dubai, last year’s champions, went out to James Packer’s Ellerston 13-12 in extra time. Adrian Kirby’s Atlantic, with an increasingly strong pony string thanks to mounts provided by the MacDonoughs, provided another nailbiting semi against powerhouse Black Bears, who prevailed 11-10 when Guy Schwarzenbach scored on a run from almost midfield just seconds before the final bell. So the scene was set for what could be the final of all finals between Black Bears and Ellerston. The two teams appeared evenly
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matched in pony power. It was a credit to Ellerston’s breeding programme in Australia that its ponies were in fine shape, despite having come from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern just a month or so earlier; the equine equivalent of jet lag sets in not the next day but some weeks later. Ellerston, based a few miles from Cowdray Park at the Packers’ former grounds, were the ‘home team’ favourites, with much of the crowd behind them. It was reminiscent of the 1995 final, when Ellerston White beat Black Bears. James Packer rode on to the ground looking uncannily like his father had in that match, as Kerry Packer’s widow, Ros, remarked before the game. There were some brilliant runs by Gonzalito and Facundo Pieres, who hold the maximum 10-goal handicap in Argentina but whose HPA handicaps were only 9 for the Gold Cup. Black Bears’ 9-goal brothers, Eduardo and Javier Novilla Astrada, also had their moments of glory. But it was Guy Schwarzenbach who caught everyone’s eye, including that of Gonzalo Pieres, onc-time stalwart of Kerry Packer’s team and father of the stars of present-day Ellerston. ‘Gonzalito hit a fantastic under-the-neck shot to score,’ he said, ‘then straightaway comes Guy, a 0-goal amateur, and makes the same shot. Amazing!’ It was one of Guy’s goals that tied up the game in the last chukka and allowed Javier Novilla Astrada to make it 9-8 and secure the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup for the team. But with those tap-tap scrums that slowed the game it was not the fast-flowing final fans like to see. The HPA has a ‘onetap’ rule that allows a player to tap the ball only once at a walk while being challenged by an opponent, then he must leave it, accelerate or hit it away. The association’s chief umpire and referee of the match, Robert Graham, admitted there was at least one occasion when the whistle should have blown. ‘There is too much of this,’ he said. ‘We need to dosomething drastic.’ But what? ‘We have the same problem in the States, though it’s not quite as bad as it is here,’ said veteran Mexican-American pro Memo Gracida after the final. ‘In Argentina, if a player performed like this, trying to keep possession by tapping the ball around, an opponent would swoop in and steal the ball and maybe also the tapper’s stick and whip as well.’
A tendency to tap the ball and create game-slowing scrums was the only thing that marred an otherwise perfect polo day when Black Bears met Ellerston in the final of the British Open
2 Gonzalito Pieres (left) attempts to hook Lucas James. 3 (from left) Javier Novillo Astrada, Francesca, Guy and Urs Schwarzenbach, Eduardo Novillo Astrada and Lucas James on the podium at Cowdray Park. 4 Lawns II plays host to a record crowd
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Cartier Queen’s Cup ‘I was looking for a book to read during those first chukkas,’ said Mimi Gracida after the Cartier Queen’s Cup final between reigning champions Dubai and the Marquis of Milford Haven’s Broncos at Guards Polo Club. It was a pertinent comment. An embarrassing own-goal by Broncos’ Gonzalito Pieres was just about the most exciting thing produced by the first four chukkas – unless one counts Dubai’s Pikki Diaz-Alberdi lying prostrate with pain, paramedics in attendance, after he was struck in the cheek by the ball. Then, in the fifth and sixth chukkas, any of the 7,000 spectators who might have been dozing were awakened by more inspired play from both teams. It became a see-saw battle between Broncos’ Pieres brothers and Dubai’s formidable duo of Adolfo Cambiaso and Piki Diaz Alberdi, and it produced one of the greatest runs of the whole season. Broncos had taken their attack to within yards of the Dubai goal when Cambiaso seemed to appear out of nowhere, snatched the ball and accelerated away like a rocket to take it the full length of the field and score. The pony that carried Canbiaso on that brilliant run, the Argentine mare Faltambido, received the Best Playing Pony blanket from the Queen and its rider the Most Valuable Player award. And it was to 17-year-old Tariq Albwardy, son of patron Ali and Number 1 for Dubai, that Her Majesty presented her cup after the team squeezed by Broncos 12-11 to notch up its third victory in the tournament.
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1 George Meyrick hooks Facundo Pieres during the Queen’s Cup finals. 2 The two best players in the world today (and both playing at Number 2) – Adolfo Cambiaso and Facundo Pieres – before the start of the final
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Warwickshire Cup Urs Schwarzenbach was on his first day out at polo after his accident in the Queen’s Cup, and he sat by Black Bears’ team tent at Cirencester Park Polo Club watching his squad, which included his son Guy, fight Martyn Ratcliff’s Oaklands Park for the Warwickshire Cup. If Black Bears were victorious, it would be a perfect get-well gift for the ailing patron: three Warwickshires in a row, making a total of seven. But it was not to be, although the game could have gone either way, especially in the second half. The amateurs on the teams played their parts: Black Bears’ Schwarzenbach scored what he later said was his favourite goal of the season with an under-the-neck shot, and Oaklands Park patron Ratcliff knocked in a crucial equaliser in the last chukka before colliding with the goalpost. It was left to Oakland Park’s Glen Gilmore to score the winning goal and give the team its unexpected 14-13 win over Black Bears on their home ground. It was the largest turnout in years to compete for the Warwickshire Cup, one of England’s oldest and most impressive trophies dating back to the 19th century. Both title holders Black Bears and Oaklands Park came through the league matches to the final with a no-loss record and an equal goal difference, at 11, over their early opponents. But Black Bears has one of the strongest pony strings in England, as the home team they had the crowd’s backing and they were the clear favourites to capture the venerable cup again.
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Prince of Wales Trophy The Prince of Wales Trophy at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club is first on the ‘big four’ fixtures list every year. Unseasonably heavy rains in May played havoc with the schedule, however, so the tournament’s conclusion had to be postponed to a date when the two finalists, Dubai and Spencer McCarthy’s Emlor, were available to play. By then Dubai had already won the Queen’s Cup. For the Prince of Wales showdown, with the British Open starting, Dubai changed its line-up. It gave Piki Diaz-Alberdi and George Meyrick a rest, replacing them with Ignacio Toccalino and All-England player Johnny Good to play with Adolfo Cambiaso and Tariq Albwardy. There was little that Emlor, led by Chilean Gabriel Donoso, could do to stop Cambiaso, who partnered well with the under-handicapped Toccalino, and McCarthy’s squad were lucky to lose by only half a point, 12 to 111/2, to mighty Dubai.
3 A groom nuzzles the muzzle of a well-loved pony. 4 Martyn Ratcliff controls the ball on the nearside with Guy Schwarzenbach on his hip. 5 Tariq Albwardy accepts the Prince of Wales Trophy from Greta Morrison
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Costa del Sol Talandracas and Loro Piana met in the final of the Spanish Gold Cup in Sotogrande this year.
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The annual migration of high-goal team patrons and professional players from England to Spain’s Costa del Sol is as dependable as the flight of birds heading south from the British Isles to winter in Iberia or Africa. After the British Open in July, the next big pro-am prize on the international polo circuit is the Gold Cup at Santa Maria Polo Club in the Spanish resort of Sotogrande in August. This year, the happiest migrant of all was amateur Alfio Marchini, playing off 2-goals in Spain, whose Loro Piana team has been competing around the high-goal circuit in England, Argentina and the USA for several years without success. In Spain, however, it was a different story: Loro Piana captured its second Gold Cup in four seasons of play, establishing Marchini as the reigning king of polo at Sotogrande. The tall, handsome Italian beamed as the Duchess of York handed him the trophy before some 4,000 spectators on Santa Maria’s Rio 1 ground. Both the finalists had played in the British Open the month before, and both were past Gold Cup winners at Sotogrande – Loro Piano in 2004 and Frenchman Edouard Carmignac’s Talandracas in 2001. Loro Piana’s 11-10 victory over Talandracas this year was due largely to the outstanding performance of 9-goaler Juan Martin Nero, who had also played for Marchini in the British Open. His run to goal from almost midfield in the last seconds to clinch the match thrilled the crowd and made some wonder whether he might become the world’s next 10-goaler. There were a dozen or more professional players from English high goal on the 11 teams playing in the 20-goal Sotogrande tournament, among them Eduardo and Javier Novilla Astrada and Lucas James from British Open champions Black Bears; Piki DiazAlberdi; Lolo Castagnola; Pablo MacDonough; and, of course, Nero. Also competing were English pros Luke Tomlinson, who played for Talandracas, and George Merrick. Young Charlie Hanbury from Lovelocks also joined the migration south, if only by accident. In the quarter-finals of the Gold Cup, one of the players on Stefannia Annunziata’s La Mimosa team broke ribs during the quarter-final, which meant she had to change her line-up, with the reshuffle requiring a 1-goal substitute. La Mimosa’s 10-goaler Castagnola, who will be playing for Lovelocks in England next season, recommended Hanbury, who flew down on his first visit to Sotogrande. The team lost its semi-final to Marchini’s Loro Piana, but it was Hanbury who scored La Mimosa’s only two field goals in the match.
Loro Piana captured its second Gold Cup in four seasons of play, establishing Marchini as the reigning king of polo at Sotogrande 1
POLOLINE
Both were previous winners, and both had already clashed in the preceding month’s UK Open
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1 Marcos di Paola on the ball on Santa Maria’s Rio 2 ground. 2 Talandracas’ Guillermo Terrera, Most Valuable Player, in the final. 3 Two patrons – Edouard Carmignac (left) and Alfio Marchini – go head-to-head. 4 The harbour at Sotogrande in Andalusia.
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Cartier International In front of a record crowd, local hopes were high when underdogs England met New Zealand in the final at Windsor. But what would Her Majesty have said about the state of the ground? There is no polo scene like it anywhere in the world. Every year, the Cartier International, flagship event of the Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA), explodes upon a quiet corner of the royal park just down the road from Windsor Castle, and 2006 was the biggest year ever. A total of 25,000 people came through the gates, Prince Harry played in a morning match, thousands lunched in marquees and stayed on to party until after midnight. And in the main feature, England’s national team fought yet again for its place in the sun of international polo. For years, the England team has been struggling in a polo world dominated by Argentina and with powerhouse opponents from other countries such as the USA, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Australia and New Zealand. England’s record has not been impressive: of 33 Coronation Cup encounters, and two in which the famous old Westchester Cup was the prize, the home team had won only 13. Hopes were high when, two years ago, the team finally got Audi funding for a manager, coaches, trainers, money for the players’ ponies and a squad system that currently has 17 players available. Yet England was beaten by Chile in 2004 and Australia in 2005. So would things go better for the team in 2006, playing against New Zealand?
It was a hot, sunny day at Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park, and everything seemed perfect for the 36th running of the HPA’s International Day, known as the Cartier International since the jewellers took over sponsorship in 1984. Only one thing was wrong: the Queen’s Ground at Guards was in a shocking state for such an important international, leaving players trying to control a ball that often bounced crazily on an uneven playing surface. At a post-match press conference, both Henry Brett of England and Cody Forsyth of New Zealand remarked on the poor quality of the ground. ‘It affected play for both teams,’ said Brett. ‘Once, the ball even bounced backwards on me,’ complained Kiwi Tommy Wilson. Luke Tomlinson was England’s new Coronation Cup captain, taking over from Henry Brett, who seemed far more comfortable, confident and steady without the responsibility. Tomlinson shifted to Back because he was not fully fit after suffering a hairline fracture to his pelvis just a few weeks prior and because he was not riding his own ponies. James Beim, making his Coronation Cup debut and benefiting from the loan of ponies from the great Ellerston string, was considered best for the No 1 slot. So Brett was returned to the No 3 position he had occupied in some past years, with
1 England captain Luke Tomlinson (right) backs the ball to Henry Brett as New Zealand’s Simon Keyte (centre) looks on. 2 The hunt comes to Cartier. 3 The eyes have it as Maoris perform a haka before the match. 4 Where there’s polo there’s brass. 5 Actress Mischa Barton, cutting a sartorial swathe
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Mark Tomlinson at No 2. Such musical chairs was nothing unusual: under its new squad system, England has changed line-ups a dozen times for tests here and abroad. Pony power was pretty much equal, with perhaps a small edge to the Kiwis; a large proportion of mounts for both teams were on loan, generously donated by high-goal patrons and pros. New Zealand captain John Paul Clarkin was the highest-handicapped player in the match and survived a badly bruised elbow to perform well, but it was the Kiwi 7-goaler Tommy Wilson who scored most goals for the visitors. England, a 26-goal team, started with two points on the scoreboard to reflect the higher handicap of 28-goal New Zealand, and with the scoring tied up at 7-7, it was only this that gave the home team its 9-7 victory. There were occasional touches of brilliance by both sides, but the match lacked the excitement of last year’s encounter with Australia, when England pushed the match into a nail-biting extra chukka before losing 8-7 to the visitors. Of course, the place to be during the day, for champagne, luncheon, tea and socialising, was the Cartier marquee. With interior design by Allegra Hicks, even the marquee’s loos were luxurious. The almost 600 guests of host Arnaud Bamberger, Cartier’s managing director, included celebrities from the world of stage, film, TV and fashion. Among others were prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova; actors John Cusack, Hugh Dancy and Mischa Barton; authors Jilly Cooper and Frederick Forsyth; TV presenters Jenny Bond and Michael Buerk; and Burberry designer Christopher Bailey.
Queen’s Ground at Guards was in a shocking state, leaving players trying to control a ball that often bounced crazily
Composer Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and his polo-playing wife also lunched with Cartier. ‘This is our first time on the posh side,’ said Lady Lloyd Webber. ‘Last year we were with the grooms. We’re here mainly for our kids, who are riding with the Pony Club players in the opening parade.’ The parade before the Coronation Cup was a grand show as befitted the occasion. With the Queen away in Scotland celebrating her 80th birthday, Prince Harry deputised for his grandmother to present the Coronation Cup to England skipper Tomlinson. Cartier’s Pegasus trophy for Most Valuable Player was awarded to Brett, and the Best Playing Pony prize went to Glitter, one of his mounts. For some, the day was far from over. More than 6,000 revellers were at Guards until after midnight to rave at the Kidd-Smyle Polo Players Marquee and Chinawhite’s ‘Rock the Polo’ tent. The former scored by featuring James Morrison, whose debut album Undiscovered hit No 1 in the charts the following week, but Chinawhite topped the royal stakes by attracting Prince Harry and his girlfriend Chelsy Davy to its marquee.
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1 England’s Malcolm Borwick in full flight against South Africa at Cowdray Park. 2 South African captain Buster Mackenzie
England’s victory over New Zealand was a welcome result after its crushing 10-4 defeat by Argentina in the Evolution Test at Beaufort Polo Club. To be fair to England, the Evolution Test was the most ill-conceived and mismatched test the team has ever had to play. It was as if the rules had been thrown away with regards to fielding teams of roughly comparable handicaps, playing the test open or on handicap. And the handicap rating of one player – Piki Diaz Alberdi – was even listed with his Argentine handicap of 8 goals rather than his HPA rating of 9. Argentina was down as a 30-goal team, including 10-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso, while England could only muster a 24-goal side, being without its two highest rated players, 7-goalers Luke Tomlinson (injured) and Henry Brett (unavailable). The test was meant to be played on handicap, like the Coronation Cup and all of England’s other tests here and abroad, which would have given England extra points on the scoreboard to reduce the odds. The Argentines, however, insisted that the test be played open, and with so much advance promotion focusing on the participation of Cambiaso, the world’s best player, the visitors got their way. Outclassed England played with determination, but the one-sided score line was a foregone conclusion. It was more an exhibition than a test match in the truest sense of the phrase. The England vs South Africa test match at Cowdray Park Polo Club at the end of August was a much more equitable affair than the mismatched Argentine event at Beaufort, despite the visitors being without their highest handicapped player, Sugar Erskine, who was tied up playing the Pacific Coast Open. To bring the team aggregates closer together, England stood down Henry Brett, leaving the home side at 23 goals. South Africa took the field at 20 goals, and with the match played on handicap rather than open, they got 3 points on the scoreboard before play began. It was good, fast-flowing polo from start to finish, with England coming out on top 11-9. It might have been different had South Africa not missed five of their six penalty shots. Unusually, almost all of the total points scored in the match were field goals. England’s 5-goaler Tom Morley made his debut at this international level, as did South Africa’s Ignacio de Plessis, at age 18 the youngest competitor on the ground and winner of the Most Valuable Player award.
POLOLINE
After a mismatched Evolution Test against Argentina, England were delighted to snatch victory from South Africa in a fast-flowing game
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The result might have been different had South Africa not missed five of their six penalty shots – almost all the total points scored were field goals
3 The 30-goal Argentine team and the depleted 24-goal England team before the Evolution Test. 4 James Beim (England), on the ball but beleaguered at Beaufort. 5 All smiles from Adolfo Cambiaso, Argentina’s star attraction
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The number of clubs playing only at lower levels during the last 20 years has more than doubled, from 26 in 1990 to 58 in 2006
1 Solajan El Hassan’s Rudolfo Ducos defends against Anthony Fanshawe of Irongate in the final of the Archie David Cup at Guards. 2 Anthony Fanshawe, king of low goal, captained Irongate to win the Victor Ludorum at the 8 goal level.
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Medium and Low Goal
CENTAURPHOTOGRAPHIC
High goal may have its high-handicap overseas players and glittering prizes, but for many the pro-am level, which accounts for the vast majority of tournaments and one-day events, is where the real excitement is found Polo was booming in Britain this season, not only at the headline-grabbing top end of the sport but also at the lower levels of the game. And, for home-grown players especially, this is where pro-am polo comes into its own. For the fans in the stands, some medium-goal games produced more exciting action than some high-goal matches dominated by higher-handicapped professionals from overseas. View polo as a pyramid, the final few highly-polished blocks at its pinnacle being high goal with its international superstars, world-class ponies and headline-grabbing events. Now look at the broad base of the monument, the solid building blocks that represent more than 95 per cent of the sport, the foundation without which the pinnacle could not exist. Of some 3,000 players in the country, only 100 or so ever compete at the top end of the game, and most of these are visitors from overseas. Of more than 500 tournaments and one-day events, only 20 are classed as high goal. So the pyramid is built largely of mediumgoal and low-goal polo, where tournaments attract as many as 30 or more teams. Significantly, there has not been a single new high-goal polo centre established in this country for the past 20 years, and the ‘big four’ clubs – Cowdray Park, Guards, Cirencester, Royal County of Berkshire — still dominate. By contrast, the number of clubs playing only at lower levels in that period has more than doubled, from 26 in 1990 to 58 in 2006. At the pinnacle of the polo pyramid, with only a few major tournaments up for grabs, it is easy to identify the high-goal teams that excel during a season. At lower levels of play, with many more tournaments involved, it is a difficult exercise to single out the best, but the Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA) does have a points-based national championships for its coveted Victor Ludorum awards. This year, teams earned points according to how they performed, win or lose, in 22 tournaments at seven clubs. The 15-goal Victor Ludorum went to Belgian Isabelle Hayden’s Groeninghe for the second year running, reconfirming ‘Isi’ as the undisputed queen of medium goal. Her biggest win was the 15-goal Harrison Cup at
Cowdray Park. The tournament, which celebrates its 60th anniversary next year, drew 16 teams playing matches at the Cirencester Park, Beaufort and Coworth Park clubs, with the deciding games at Cowdray Park. The Harrison final turned out to be ladies’ day, with Groeninghe pitted against Claire Tomlinson’s Los Locos. Claire, the only woman ever to achieve a 5-goal handicap but now playing off 1, had her daughter Emma and two All-England players, her son Mark and Nacho Gonzalez, playing for Los Locos. Isabelle also had two internationals, Australia’s Glen Gilmore and New Zealand’s Simon Keyte, plus young Max Charlton. Groeninghe had an edge because Hayden, Gilmore and Keyte have been playing together for years, and this counted in the team’s 9-8 win over Los Locos. At the medium-goal level, the most popular tournament is the 15-goal Credit Suisse Royal Windsor at Guards, inaugurated the year the club was founded, in 1955. This year there were 26 teams in contention, playing league matches at Guards and Cowdray Park. Christopher Hanbury’s Lovelocks, with his son Charlie playing, lorded it over Paul Main’s Bateleur 7-5 to take the trophy from the hands of Princess Michael of Kent. Lovelocks also took the 2006 Victor Ludorum for 18-goal, this being the HPA’s lower tier of high goal. The biggest long-established tournament in England was Guards’ 8-goal Meyado Archie David Cup, with 32 entries. Teams played qualifiers at Guards, Cirencester Park, Kirtlington and Fifield to determine the best 8 to go into deciders at the host club. Here Hani Hassan’s Solajan El Hassan team triumphed over James Scott Hopkins’ Irongate 7-6. But it was Irongate who took the HPA’s 8-goal Victor Ludorum for 2006. Lower levels of the sport at the broad base of the polo pyramid are far more English in character than high goal, where the large majority of team patrons and their professionals come from overseas. HPA tournament rules restrict the number of foreign players on medium-goal and low-goal teams, and most teams at these levels have at least two – and sometimes three or even four – professionals in their line-ups.
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3 Jose Donoso of Bateleur in the final of the Credit Suisse Royal Windsor at Guards. 4 Bateleur’s Ignacio Toccalino (left) chases Lovelocks’ Will Lucas, who won his eighth Royal Windsor 5 A mounted regiment adds a touch of pomp to proceedings at Guards Club
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Mexico It’s hard not to be attracted by Mexico’s beautiful Pacific coast. And the polo isn’t bad either, reports Marella Oppenheim of the Careyes resort. Reminiscent of country-club polo, his set-up inspires and brings together some top players from across the world to compete in friendly, well balanced low- to medium-goal polo, with cups hosted by guests of Careyes or on occasion by brands such as Cartier, Moët & Chandon, Bombardier, Pfeizer and Bank Hofmann. The club features two regular-sized Bermuda fields, lying between rainforest jungle and expanses of white, sandy beaches, with a third one planned for next year on the dunes themselves. It has more than 50 ponies at its disposal for rent. Don’t expect wide-brimmed hats and high heels, but be prepared for the local villagers’ ‘12-piece brass band’, whooping and clanging carnival tones at the end of each chukka. Waves of ‘ola’ flow through the relaxed public seated in the stands. For information about future tournaments, visit: www.mexicopolo.com
Be prepared for the local villagers’ 12-piece brass band, whooping and clanging carnival tones at the end of each chukka
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To reach the sandy cove of Playa Rosa, in Careyes, on Mexico’s Pacific Costa Allegre, you walk down a stony path that winds its way under the Casitas de las Flores, the little houses where many of the polo players stay during the 8-12 goal tournaments. The bay is encircled by rocks of deep, earthy red and, as you approach, the scene unfolds: a smattering of motorboats anchored near the shore; captains and crew enjoying fresh grilled fish and margaritas among a constant coming and going of chit-chatting ladies in elegant swimsuits discoursing on the events of the night before; laughing children running free between booted polo players. All this goes to make up the community of Playa Rosa, a short 10-minute jeep ride away from the Careyes Polo Club and some 80 minutes from the international airport of Manzanillo. The club was founded in 1989 by Giorgio Brignone, son of Gianfranco Brignone, the eccentric and genial architect
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1 Where the rainforest meets the Pacific Ocean – the Cararyes Polo Club on Mexico’s Costa Allegre. 2 Low- to medium-goal teams come to play on the club’s two regular-sized Bermuda fields. 3 Straw hats and sunglasses are de rigueur among spectators. 4 More equine diversions in the form of a Mexican rodeo. 5 All the fun of the fireworks. 6 Keeping count of the chukkas, Carayes style.
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Pacific Coast Open Duende emerged triumphant at the culmination of this hard-fought and sometimes controversial third leg of the Triple Crown of Polo, reports Sarah Eakin
Agustin Merlos had a mischievous glint in his eye – one consenting nod to team mate Paco de Narvaez and they made a stealthy, synchronized move to the drinks cooler, lifted it and upended the ice cold contents onto their coach. The ESPN cameras were rolling and coach ‘Boomer’ – no stranger to the media having been an Olympic volleyball player in his time – had his first polo victory shower on TV. Boomer had earned the gesture of endearment from his players after his role in coaching Duende to its second Pacific Coast Open victory in a row and to the winner’s podium of the third leg of the Triple Crown of Polo with a 13-11 defeat of Windsor Capital at the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club. The joyous post-match celebrations came after an intense final game and a controversial tournament conclusion. ‘Duende’, a name translating into ‘Elf’ or ‘Goblin’, patron Mike Hakan told reporters he takes it in its spiritual sense to mean ‘being in the zone’. According to Windsor’s coach Steve Crowder, he found his way there in the finals. ‘Big Mike Hakan probably ran more than anyone on the team,’ he said. ‘He did a very good job.’ What was not so ‘in the zone’ was the confusion over semi-final slots that threw organisers a curve ball. Jimmy Choo led the
table after league play, but beneath them was an unprecedented five-way tie for the remaining three semi-final slots. Audi was initially announced as semi-finalist, but an appeal from Pat Nesbitt’s Windsor Capital, supported by the USPA’s tie-breaker procedure, drove Audi out of contention and put Windsor on the starting grid. Windsor came through the semis to face Duende in a rematch of the 2005 final. While Boomer’s coaching style, adapted from volleyball experience, reflected a game of statistics and percentages, and while the league placings were a mathematical conundrum, on the field the game ran largely on emotions – and these were often high. As Hall and Erskine rode out on the field for the first chukker, the Windsor fans were on point with their encouragement. ‘Keep it real,’ came the cry. After a jarring start to the game, volatility spilt over in the second chukker to send Erskine and de Narvaez to the sin bin. ‘There was tremendous pressure on these guys,’ said Hakan after the game. ‘They went to the edge of composure and came back. It was WWF [World Wrestling Federation] out there at times.’ Crowder, never one to mince his words, wrote in a post-game blog: ‘It was the same
While the league placings were a mathematical conundrum, on the field the game ran largely on emotions – and these were often high
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horrible game as expected. Duende slows it to a crawl and draws fouls and it seems to work well… When the combo of Duende was not rollin’ in divots they were usually scoring penalty shots.’ Agustin Merlos, who scored nine of Duende’s total in their 13-11 victory to earn himself the most valuable player award for the second year running, had come to the field with a major gap in his armoury. A shoulder injury that had left his best horse Kenya’s fitness questionable in the build-up to the finals kept her out of the running on the big day. ‘She’s the best horse I have ever had,’ he said, anxiously watching her trot up two days before the finals. Sunday came and she still wasn’t right. ‘I went to the barn, said thank you and patted her and told her she would not be playing today,’ he said. ‘It was a really tough decision.’ Two understudies in his string filled her shoes, playing two chukkers each – and both rose to the occasion, much to the delight of Merlos. De Narvaez’ horse Galleta took centre stage, playing in five of the six chukkers for a brief spell each time, her amazing game performance earning the accolade of Best Playing Pony. On the other end of the field the horse story of the day was one of tragedy. Jeff Hall lost a horse, Susie, in the final. ‘That was very sad,’ said Hakan. ‘It was the only bad accident all season.’ After what Crowder described as a ‘subdued halftime’ for Windsor, the players regrouped and came back on, but it was not long before a hip injury that had kept Nesbitt off the field in league play flared up, prompting
the call-up for 18-year-old Juan ‘Jo’ Gonzalez, who was waiting in the wings. After a tumultuous game, Windsor was able to close the gap to a goal before Duende pulled out a final two-goal margin of victory. To the backdrop of the stunning Santa Ynez mountain foothills on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other, the winners were swept up in silver Lexus convertibles and driven to the winners’ podium and the award of the Tiffany trophy for the Triple Crown of Polo. Merlos struck a pose in a lilac jacket designed by New York’s Alan Flusser and awarded, Masters-style, to winners of each leg of the Triple Crown of Polo. Starting with the first leg in Sarasota early in the year, moving to Las Colinas, Dallas and concluding in Santa Barbara, the events of this new polo series are recorded and aired domestically on ESPN and worldwide through ESPN International in a major move to expose polo to more sports fans around the globe. In an interview with ESPN. Merlos, complete with aviator shades and looking distinctly Al Pacino-like, told the story of his father (Cacho Merlos – a former nine goal player), who started his polo career as a groom. ‘They were really poor,’ Merlos said of his parents. ‘They had nothing. He [my father] had to work a whole week to play one chukka.’ As Merlos thumbed the lapels of his Triple Crown of Polo jacket and then draped himself with relief over the historic Pacific Coast Open trophy, the significance of the win was evident. Last year he won it as a nine-goal player. This year he came back and won it as a ten. He knew it would make his father proud.
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1 The Pacific Coast Open trophy awaits the victors. 2 Luis Escobar of Antilope (Long Beach) in full cry. 3 Adam Snow swaps horseback for surfboard. 4 A ready supply of mallets is always on hand. 5 Paco de Narvaez and Agustin Merlos congratulate each other on Duende’s victory.
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Florida high-goal season
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After a particularly mercurial moment, 16-times US Open winner Memo Gracida was sat down by the umpires for unsportsmanlike behaviour
1 Paco de Narvaez surges forward for Orchard Hill in the US Open finals at Palm Beach. 2 Hector Galindo in white tries to hook Eduardo Novillo Astrada. 3 Victors Las Monjitas on the podium: (from left) Camillo Bautista, Adam Snow, Eduardo and Ignacio Novilla Astrada. 4 Rocio de Narvaez (right), wife of Paco, gets a better view.
Amid the handful of spectators coveting their seats in the shade of the fieldside pavilion, an elderly woman paced the veranda and wrung her hands. ‘I can’t bear to watch,’ she said. ‘How can we win if they keep blowing the whistle?’ The subjective sentiments of a player’s grandmother, perhaps? No, rather the impassioned plea of a polo fan or, to be precise, a ‘Gracida fanatic’. Betty Vulcano is one of Florida’s many residents from the north. When she retired to Wellington, she discovered polo. At 78 years old, she’s been watching every game the Gracidas have played for 15 years. That day, her team, Mokarow Farms, lining up Carlos and Memo Gracida, was in trouble in the semi-finals of the US Open at the International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPCPB). Florida high goal sees the convergence of the world’s leading players into a few square miles of real estate called Wellington, at the heart of which sits IPCPB, founded by Texas polo patron John Goodman. The club hosts a full winter season, starting with the 22-goal Joe Barry Memorial and the Ylvisaker Cup, in addition to a trio of 26-goal tournaments: the single-elimination Hall of Fame Cup; the CV Whitney Memorial; and America’s leading tournament, the Open, this year contested by 13 teams. The Open had its share of drama in victory and defeat, as well as a touch of humour – witness Bendabout’s Gillian Johnston and two friends sporting nuns’ habits at the finals to honour a bet with Las Monjitas, Spanish for ‘Little Nuns’. Adam Snow, Eduardo and Nacho Novillo Astrada and the Las Monjitas patron, 49-year-old Columbian Camilo Bautista, came through some dust-ups to reach the final against Steve Van Andel’s Orchard Hill. The semifinal encounter with Mokarow Farms saw a 13-minute delay after patron Kevin Mokarow collided with team-mates in a penaltypeppered game. After a particularly mercurial moment, 16-time US Open winner Memo Gracida was sat down by the umpires for unsportsmanlike conduct in the fifth chukka. The finals had no such drama. Las Monjitas’ team play and orchestration was as smooth and accurate as the skydivers that landed on the No 1 Stanford Field at halftime. It was a fitting prelude to the final victory. Bautista, in his ninth year of polo and first US Open final, credited his team’s presence to intervention from the heavens. ‘I think we are God’s team, “The Nuns”. I think it’s fantastic to be in the final. We’re going to fight for it,’ he said. By the second chukka the bout was all but over. Las Monjitas had an 8-1 lead and Orchard Hill were reeling. The game concluded 12-6. Orchard Hill was not ready for the onslaught. ‘As a team, if you look at their
games, they don’t score that many goals,’ said Jeff Hall prior to the final. ‘I don’t think they’ll want to run with us, and they’ll want to slow it down.’ Unfortunately for Orchard Hill, Eduardo Novillo Astrada had other ideas. ‘I saw all the teams underestimated Orchard Hill,’ he said. ‘They were playing hard right from the beginning, and that’s how they were winning. We gave them a little bit more of the same style, only better.’ While the Open proved to be Las Monjitas’ day, the Palm Beach season at IPCPB brought glory to more than one team. The opening tournament belonged to Catamount, featuring America’s home-grown 8-goal player Hall, who was on the winning team for the opening 22-goal Joe Barry Memorial Trophy. Scott Devon’s Catamount team, coached by Julian Hipwood, achieved the unattainable by defeating Adolfo Cambiaso, playing for New Bridge-La Dolfina, in the semis. For New Bridge patron Russ McCall it was a hiccup on the way to what turned out to be a dream season – or half-season – at IPCPB, winning the second 22-goal tournament, the Ylvisaker Cup, and the first 26-goal Hall of Fame Cup in an unbeaten run of 10 games. Cambiaso was gone long before the Open started. After winning the 26-goal Hall of Fame Trophy with New Bridge, this time defeating Goodman’s Isla Carroll by a convincing score of 13-5, Cambiaso packed and left for Argentina. His departure left an obvious void, but did it create a Cambiaso and a non-Cambiaso season? ‘You can’t really say that…,’ said Hall. ‘I’m not trying to take anything away from Cambiaso or New Bridge for winning in the 26, but most pros and teams come with two strings, one for 22 and one for 26. So they were finishing out their season and they knew they had one tournament left and wanted to win. They were doubling their horses, and their horses were fit, having played the 22. A lot of other teams were just starting on their new horses.’ Las Monjitas were primed and ready when the Open came around, dominating the opening phase of league play to finish top of the tables. They took on ERG in the quarterfinals and then Mokarow Farms in the semis. New ‘experimental’ rules implemented by IPCPB and approved by the USPA allowed for the substitution of amateur players by preapproved substitutes. Mokarow Farms played their joker in their opening US Open game, bringing on 15-year-old Carlitos Gracida as a vetted substitute for Kevin Mokarow, who suffered throughout the Open with a groin injury, prompting Carlitos to take the field at some point during each of his games. Orchard Hill took out title holders White Birch in another stilted semi-final game that took two hours and saw White Birch’s sometimes volatile star player, Mariano
DAVID LOMINSKA
Top-seeded Las Monjitas enjoyed an emphatic victory at the Stanford US Open Polo Championship, reports Sarah Eakin
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Aguerre, off his horse several times. Orchard Hill went on to claim a place in the top two with a win over Pony Express. IPCPB showed American flair with the presentation of the Sunday games, including a final that saw a 7,800-strong crowd. T-shirts in ‘bombs’ were fired into the grandstand by tennis players and entertainers on stilts. Harley Davidsons rocked the sidelines and Easter was celebrated with a vast Easter Egg Hunt – children converging on the field to collect from a sea of ‘candy’-filled eggs. For Betty Vulcano, there’s always the lottery. Perhaps if she got lucky and won the Florida lottery, she might sponsor a full team of Gracidas in next year’s Open? ‘I would,’ she declared. ‘That would be awesome.’ Eduardo Novillo Astrada’s polo dreams had all but come true, meanwhile. ‘It feels incredible,’ he said. ‘I have now won all three major tournaments: the Argentine Open, USPA Gold Cup and US Open. Maybe now I can get to 10 goals.’ Snow – whose day was topped off with the Best Playing Pony award for his mare Amy – has already climbed on and off the 10-goal pedestal. He was happy to have won, regardless of handicap. Snow was raised to10 goals after his US Open win with Coca-Cola in 2002. Last October he was dropped back to nine. ‘I’d rather be nine goals and be on a winning team like this than be 10 goals and lose,’ he said. And I don’t mind being called a little nun.’
US Open winner Adam Snow selects three of the best ponies of the season Mambo: A 10-year-old black gelding bought by Adolfo Cambiaso from Santi Trotz, Mambo was the stand-out in the first three tournaments. An American thoroughbred, he was bought off the track in Palm Springs as a ‘skinny, sunburnt 3-year-old with a club foot’. When Santi let me practise him three summers ago, I remember a great mouth and speed, but at the time I didn’t think I liked geldings and didn’t pursue it. Little did I know... Califa: A nine-year-old gelding owned by Peter Brant and played by Mariano Aguerre, Califa has balance, bump, lateral and a mouth that lets him stop to zero. He has endurance and he gives his jockey confidence. This winter, Califa made a play in the sixth chukka to come from behind to stop a Bendabout breakaway and allow Mariano to turn the ball and go forward. So I know he’s still on form. Amy: I had no idea that my team, Las Monjitas, would make it to the finals of the Open, but we did – and we won. And my horse Amy received the Harman Trophy for Best Playing Pony. Until now, nobody had noticed her much: she’s 13, a plain-Jane bay with a slightly long back and largish head. But for the last two years I’ve considered her my best horse. She was bred in Kansas and purchased and trained as a three-year-old by Mimie Percival, from whom I bought her in Aiken when she was nine.
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changing horses Polo was the ideal sport for the suave crook at the centre of The Thomas Crown Affair. But neither the game nor the role were such a straightforward fit for the veteran horseman who took the role… WORDS ROB RYAN
This photograph shows the moment when the swankiest of sports collided with the daddy of cool. It captures a slightly anxious-looking Steve McQueen between takes for 1968’s The Thomas Crown Affair, which was directed by Norman Jewison and written by Alan Trustman. (The film was remade in 1999 with Piers Brosnan and a superbly sultry Rene Russo.) The movie tells the story of a rich playboy who is drawn to crime and consequently tracked down by a sexy insurance agent, played by Faye Dunaway in 1968. It is one of McQueen’s breakthrough films, showing he could extend his range beyond laconic cowboys (‘Make it Vin’) in The Magnificent Seven and the ‘cooler king’ of The Great Escape. But it could have been so different. ‘I wrote it for Sean Connery and Julie Christie,’ insists Alan Trustman, still one of the most respected screenwriters in the business. ‘Jewison and producer Walter Mirisch were staying at the Sherry Netherland and called on Connery at the Plaza Hotel every day for a week, and Connery couldn’t make up his mind. So they flew back to LA and gave it to McQueen, who had read the script and was chasing it. Twenty-five years later, Connery told Mirisch he should have accepted.’ So, after losing Sean, what did Trustman think of the replacement McQueen and Dunaway pairing? ‘I was furious. I hated both selections. But I spent a week in New York screening every piece of TV and feature film on McQueen and listing everything he could do and say comfortably, and then did a complete rewrite for him. He loved it. Amongst other things, I included no sentences of more than five words – he couldn’t remember more than five words.’ McQueen, of course, was a veteran of westerns (before The Magnificent Seven he starred in the TV series Wanted: Dead or Alive), so he certainly knew how to ride a horse. But did he enjoy the polo? ‘Not particularly,’ says Trustman. ‘It was work.’ For his part, Trustman was no fan of the influential split-screen editing (by Pablo Ferro) that took a six-minute polo sequence down to a mere forty seconds. ‘I didn’t like it in the polo but it also destroyed my intricate second bank robbery scene that I constructed to work in a bank that changed its procedures after the first robbery.’ However, he still maintains that, at 40 seconds or six minutes, polo was a perfect signifier of Crown’s wealth and status, designed to show he was an upper-crust Bostonian. But that wasn’t the real reason for its inclusion. ‘The scenes were filmed at the Myopia Hunt Club (so called because all the founders wore glasses) in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, and I put them in the script for my childhood friend, Nate Rosenthal, who was the only Jewish polo player at Myopia. Nate appeared in the polo scenes, so he had a ball.’ Even if McQueen didn’t. The original 1968 The Thomas Crown Affair is available on DVD
KOBAL COLLECTION
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December 2005 South Africa Kurland International
The greatest luxury in life is time. Savour every second.
England beat South Africa 13 - 9 February 2006 New Zealand International England beat New Zealand 14 - 13 February 2006 Australia England beat Victoria 10 – 8 June 2006 Argentine Club Cup England beat New Zealand 101/2 - 10
THE HURLINGHAM POLO ASSOCIATION After a successful season would like to thank all of its sponsors and supporters
July 2006 Cartier International Day The Coronation Cup England beat New Zealand 9 - 7 James Beim Mark Tomlinson Henry Brett Luke Tomlinson June 2006 Evolution Test Match Argentina beat England 10 - 4 July 2006 John Cowdray Trophy Young South Africa beat Young England 9 - 41/2 August 2006 BPE, Coworth England beat the Rest of the World 7 - 5 August 2006 Cowdray Test Match England beat South Africa 11 - 9
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hurlingham polo association magazine
AUTUMN 2006 £5.00
polo association magazine
AUTUMN 2006
MONGOLIAN MYSTERY [the land that time forgot] SWIMMING WITH SHARKS [the ultimate adventure] JIMMY NEWMAN [my life in polo] RALPH L AUREN [polo on the catwalk]
