Spring 2009

hurlingham polo association magazine

SPRING ISSUE FEBRUARY 2009

SPRING 2009

RIVALRY RESUMED [Westchester Cup returns] TIME LORDS [Jaeger-LeCoultre in focus] THAI GOAL [Rege Ludwig’s Asian ambitions] OLD HORSES,NEW TRICKS [retraining racers] 00. Hurlingham Cover.indd 1

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Proud sponsors of: Away team, Cartier International Polo, London England team, 2008 FIP World Cup, Mexico EFG Bank team, Palm Beach Season EFG Bank team in Outback 40 Goal Challenge Scandinavian Polo Open Cartier International Polo 2008, Shanghai JLC Polo Masters, Veytay Switzerland Verbier Polo Cup, Switzerland

Photo: David Lominska

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hurlingham [ contents]

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SPRING ISSUE FEBRUARY 2009

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Ponylines

News from around the polo world, plus interviews and the Chief Executive’s column

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Talk

Tony Lutwyche, Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers, Simon Khachadourian, Andrew Swaffield, Horse Guards polo RIVALRY RESUMED [Westchester Cup returns] TIME LORDS [Jaeger-LeCoultre in focus] THAI GOAL [Rege Ludwig’s Asian ambitions] OLD HORSES,NEW TRICKS [retraining racers] 00. Hurlingham Cover.indd 1

On the cover: Gerald Balding, England’s last 10-goal player, who played in three Westchester Cups

10/02/2009 12:35

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Profile

Richard Britten-Long, chairman of Cirencester Polo Club

26 Charity Paul Mellon’s legacy has helped make polo ponies of retired racehorses

28 Innovation Polo in the Park introduces changes to the way the game is watched and played

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Business

THIS PAGE: ANAKE ; MUSEUM OF POLO; MERCURIA ENERGY

Jaeger-LeCoultre is synonymous with luxury watches and classy polo

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Training

Rege Ludwig is helping start a polo revolution in Thailand

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History

The Westchester Cup is back in business after a decade

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Action

Reports and pictures from around the world, including the Triple Crown, Aiken, The Villages, Cabo San Lucas, St Moritz, St Tropez, Iran, Aspen, Belgium, Thailand

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Archive

Porfirio Rubirosa was the archetypal polo playboy, and then some

foreword Roderick Vere Nicoll Publisher

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This has been an interesting issue for me! There are number of themes which are prevalent. David Woodd and Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers, the new HPA chairman, touch on some of the economic issues which polo will face – not all necessarily bad.

There are a lot of items linked in one way or the other to the Westchester Cup, which is going to be played again. On the cover is Gerald Balding, who played in three of them. Alex Webbe looks at the history of the competition and Charles Froggatt tells us about Polo in the Park, a new initiative at the Hurlingham Club, where many Westchesters were played before the war.There are other initiatives too, like how Nottingham University is raising money for its polo club.

I have been a Steward of the HPA for five years and the dominating agenda item in every meeting was the scheduling of the English high goal calendar. Herbert Spencer’s profile of Richard Britten-Long explains how the logjam has been broken and the high goal season has been extended.

As well as Polo in the Park, there are other new venues for polo, and in London the game of kings will be played within viewing range of Number 10, the top of the London Eye, and the roof of Buckingham Palace.

One of the biggest misconceptions about polo is that it is played by an elite class, and that the barriers to entry are high. There are several stories in this issue which prove this theory to be wrong.

In August, I had the opportunity to play with Juan Martin Nero. I did not. I will kick myself for years to come, as Juan Martin was the MVP in the Argentine Open and was raised to 10 goals. This is like being invited to play a round with Tiger Woods and not doing it. How stupid of me!

In the Action section, Jorge Andrades describes this year’s Triple Crown in Argentina. I saw Cambiaso play in the semi-final of the Open and he was outstanding, as were his three 10-goal team-mates. I did not have a chance to see the final, but it was only a matter of time before Ellerstina won, having been in the final twice before.

Moving north, we arrive at The Villages in Florida, where they have one of the best fan clubs in polo, and then it’s west to Cabo San Lucas where Tony Yahyi has come up with an innovative way of making beach polo a fast game. From the warm sands of Mexico we move to the mountains and tell you about the snow polo in Aspen and St Moritz where Pablo MacDonough extended his winning streak.

If you are wondering what would be the perfect wedding gift for a polo player, then read the Archive piece on Porfirio Rubirosa.

Also, please visit www.hurlinghampolo.com where we have reports and photos from all the high goal games from Florida and other parts of the world.

Finally, I would like to wish Herbert Spencer, who recently turned 80, a happy birthday.

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: hurlinghammedia@hpa-polo.co.uk

contributors Ian Balding is the son of Gerald Balding, the last English 10-goal player and long-time captain of the English polo team. Ian played polo in his youth but is best known as one of the leading flat trainers for many years. He is father of the BBC presenter Clare Balding and of the present Kingsclere trainer Andrew.

He writes about retraining racehorses on page 26 Clare Milford Haven is a former Social Editor of Tatler. She now divides her time between her family, writing, running a charity in memory of her late son James, and playing polo worldwide with her Jaeger-LeCoultre team. Her diary on page 46 gives a glimpse into her passion for Argentina, adventure and asados.

Jorge Andrades was born and raised in Trenque Lauquen (craddle of great players) then I moved to Buenos Aires and became journalist and lawyer. He is a Federal Criminal Prosecutor and contributes to the Buenos Aires Herald as well as numerous polo magazines. He writes on the Argentine Triple Crown on page 42.

Chloe Anson is an undergraduate politics student at Durham University, and plays polo at West Wycombe Park club, which is close to home in Buckinghamshire. She writes on polo in Thailand and nude polo players in Nottingham (see Ponylines).

HURLINGHAM MAGAZINE Publisher Roderick Vere Nicoll Editor Ed Barrett Deputy Editor Herbert Spencer Contributing Editor Sarah Eakin Designer Zai Shamis Sub Editor Jonathan Bond Hurlingham Media 47-49 Chelsea Manor St, London SW3 5RZ +44 (0) 203 239 9347 hurlingham@hpa-polo.co.uk www.hurlinghampolo.com SHOW MEDIA Editorial Managing Director Peter Howarth 1-2 Ravey Street, London EC2A 4QP + 44 (0) 203 222 0101 info@showmedia.net www.showmedia.net

BAL HARBOUR BEIJING BEVERLY HILLS CANNES DUBAI FLORENCE HONG KONG LAS VEGAS LONDON MADRID MILAN MOSCOW NEW DELHI NEW YORK PARIS ROME SEOUL TOKYO

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ponylines [news] Remembering the Rineharts, Young England in Thailand, and much more

DAVID LOMINSKA

ONE TO WATCH: BEST AMATEUR Gillian Johnston’s Bendabout team failed to win in Aiken, South Carolina, last season, but she herself was playing well above her 1-goal handicap in the USPA Silver Cup and Monty Waterbury – ‘more like a 3-goaler, probably scoring an average of five goals a game,’ says team-mate Owen Rinehart.

Three-quarters of the ponies she played in Aiken were bred on the Johnston’s ranch in Wyoming. In 2002, Gillian’s Coca-Cola team won the US Open, making her the first female patron ever to take that coveted prize, and she won the Pacific Coast Open in 2004.

Bendabout is out of high goal polo for the 2009 Florida winter season, but they continue to play low goal and medium goal there, and Gillian is also a regular substitute for John Goodman on his Isla Caroll team and other high goal patrons. Gillian also plays at home in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and on the Wyoming ranch during the summer months.

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hurlingham [ ponylines]

Chief executive

‘Chief Osceola’ (above) is the team leader for Florida State University Seminoles, where he rides out in Front of 90,000 people. When not riding bareback at football games, Chief Osceola is Chris Gannon of the OutBack Clan, a man who has won the US Open, played for the USA in 2004 World Cup, and is now finishing college.

MUCHO POLO PONIES Mucho Polo Ponies Ltd (MPP) is a new company dedicated to everything polo.

MPP managing directors Jenny McShane and Antonio Saavedra have a long association with equine sports. Jenny was an apprentice jockey and racehorse trainer, and Antonio has an impressive background in polo. He has been assisting many players in purchasing quality ponies for many years as well as playing polo himself.

MPP services include pony hire, sales, groom jobs and player promotion tools via the MPP website. All listings are free. In the current financial climate it makes good sense to hire ponies rather than paying large sums to keep a polo string. Players can request and book their favorite ponies via the website.

Weekly practice chukkas will be held on site at the MPP Yard at Burley Lodge, Shinfield, Berkshire.

McShane also hopes to create employment programmes to bring disadvantaged young people to the UK to train to become polo grooms. Support from the industry is being sought to assist these programmes to happen.

For information: www.muchopoloponies.co.uk

FSU SPORTS INFORMATION/MIKE OLIVELLA.

08 09

Apart from a brief respite when the front pages were covered by someone that a lot of us know well, the news has been pretty dire and one wonders whether the return of Lord Mandelson to the government brought with it a bit of spin to hide bad news with polo news. It is clearly going to take more than the ex Chairman of SUPA to cover up the latest financial crisis and inevitably, there is a lot of talk in the polo world as to how many teams there will be this year. Whereas it is a reasonably simple decision for those who are paying to play – they are more or less in control of their expenditure – for the professionals it is a difficult time. They are committed to spending the money with no guarantee that there will be sufficient income to cover their expenditure.

However, in spite of the gloom there is no doubt, that English players held their heads high in Argentina during the winter. Congratulations are due to our home grown players for their successes in the various tournaments and of course to those who were raised in handicap; Mark Tomlinson to 7, Tom Morley to 6, Charlie Hanbury to 4 and George Hanbury to 2.

There seems to be a growing support for international matches, something the HPA has been behind for some time. After much deliberation and many discussions, in particular on handicaps, the HPA accepted a challenge from the United States to play for the Westchester Cup in Florida and by the time this is published that match will have taken place. In any away match the horses are crucial and, after much deliberation as to the horses and how the team would be mounted, it was decided to invite Eduardo Novillo Astrada, who has both a British passport and horses in Florida, to play for England. Towards the end of April it is hoped that England will compete in an International Tournament at Palermo.

Looking forward to this season, perhaps the greatest change is the move of the Warwickshire. In essence, the aim of the move is to free up the early stages of the Gold Cup. It now remains to be seen whether that will be necessary this year given the likely drop in the number of teams. However, it is also hoped that the move will extend the English high goal season in August and present an alternative to Sotogrande.

This year is the 25th anniversary of the Cartier sponsorship of the Coronation Cup. We are delighted that Argentina has accepted the invitation to play as it is only fitting that England should play the best country in the world; an exciting but daunting prospect.

It is not going to be an easy year for anyone and might be very difficult for some but I hope that we will all be able to enjoy our polo again in 2009.

NAKED AMBITION Let’s hear it for the scantily clad (and very brave) beauties of Nottingham university polo club, who have descended upon the fields of Warwickshire to shoot their latest nude polo calendar. Shot by Nottingham photographer Stuart Macintyre at Rugby Polo Club and put together by Rosie Trousdell and Sophie Ballard, the calendar was created as a means of funding the two SUPA tournaments, as the club receives very little from the University to subsidise players. While the calendar currently graces the walls of many a male university room, it has also proved a huge hit with the cavalry regiments, and a considerable number were sent out to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, with 10 per cent of this year’s profits going to Help for Heroes. CHLOE ANSON The calendar costs £10 plus £2 p&p and can be obtained by emailing nott_uni_polo@hotmail.com or online at www.hurlinghammedia.com

SADDLE UP WITH...

GONZALITO PIERES JR Nationality Argentine Age 26 Handicap 10 in Argentina and England, 9 in USA Gonzalito learnt everything about polo from his father Gonzalo, who founded Ellerstina in Argentina. With his brother Facundo as a team mate, he recovered the Argentine Open title his father had won for his last time in 1998.

Gonzalito also reached 10 goals in England.

What did it mean to you to score the final goal of the Argentine Open final?

A great happiness – not for having scored the decisive goal but because it gave us our first title in Palermo, which we wanted very much.

EFG SPONSORS URUGUAY V ARGENTINA AND VERBIER POLO CUP

©ELSA ROCHAIX; ©TONY RAMIREZ/WWW.IMAGESOFPOLO.COM

The 25th International Polo tournament took place at the beautiful Medellin Polo Club in Punte Del Este in January. This year’s match saw Uruguay take on Argentina (the latter sponsored by EFG Bank). Argentina won

12-8. The MVP for the Argentinian team was Martin Aguerre and for Uruguay, Rafael Silva.

Meanwhile, the first Verbier Polo Cup tournament took place over an extended weekend, from 30th January to 1st February. The four teams taking part were Switzerland (sponsored by EFG Bank, Club Verbier, Argentina (Coco), England (Giroud Wines), and France (Infiniti).

The preliminary games were played under floodlights after skiing, which helped to create a special atmosphere: the referee was in the stands and only blew a few fouls. The general consensus was that the encounter between Switzerland and France was the most exciting, with the French winning by 13 goals to 12. Their opponents in the final would be England, who had been most assured against Switzerland and Argentina.

England started the final as favourites, but were somewhat subdued, and having started slowly struggled to get into the game. The French played with great intensity, were cool under pressure and won comfortably 12-7. In the third place game, Argentina prevailed over Switzerland.

Overall it was a great weekend of polo, played against a stunning backdrop of snow-covered mountains, and enjoyed by the large enthusiastic crowds that attended on all three days. NICOLA GAPP

Do you think that Juan Martin Nero was decisive in your triumph?

I don’t know if he was decisive, but I can affirm that he is one of the great polo players in the world nowadays and a good team mate and an excellent fellow. He wants to win everything he plays and that was very important for us.

You won the Queen`s Cup and reached the final of the Gold Cup in England. How was that experience?

With my brother Facu we had played many finals but we could not win them. At last we managed to gain the Queen’s Cup and then he was injured, but nevertheless I am happy because our squad always fights for titles.

Then you won three championships in Santa Barbara, US… My experience was amazing because we put our team in the golden history of American polo as I was told there were not many quartets who won three tournaments in a row unbeaten. We had a great line-up and we made the difference…

What are your plans for 2009?

As in 2008, I will start playing for Audi in the 20-goal season in the US with Melissa Ganzi, Juan Bollini and Brandon Phillips, and then the 26-goal with Marc Ganzi and my brothers Facundo and Nicolas. Then I’ll move to England with Facu and finally in August to California with the Ganzi family.

hurlingham [ ponylines]

RODGER AND BOBO RINEHART HOOKED ON POLO Ben Hughes is the Global Commercial Director and Deputy CEO of the Financial Times, which he joined in 1983. He started out as teacher of French, German and English, and worked in various schools and countries.

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For me, it started with The Pony Club at an early age, then horses as I got older. I loved every minute and spent all my holidays riding through Savernake Forest and mucking out (even that was part of the horse experience).

Next came show-jumping and then, later, one-day eventing.

Team games were another big influence.

Being with friends, and the team spirit and motivation was a thrill. So polo was an obvious attraction: horses and team games at the same time.

I live in Cranleigh, two miles away from Ewhurst, the home of Hurtwood Polo Club where I’ve watched some amazing polo.

Hot summer days, champagne and polo – it doesn’t get much better than that.

Last year over the New Year I went to Argentina and Estancia Los Patos in Monte to learn how to play. Angel Estrada and his team have to be the very best tutors in the business.

People talk about having the time of their lives; well, I did just that. Stick-and-ball in the morning and matches in the afternoon. You should go.

Polo is glamorous, fun and hugely exciting: the best players are more talented than any other sportsmen because they are horsemen as well as ball-players. And the ponies are awesome, turning on a sixpence and always placing you in the right position to hit the ball.

All I need now is a sponsor to let me play on a regular basis! Are there any takers?

For more information on hurlingham magazine, visit www.hurlinghammedia.com

On the 28th of December 2009 I went to a gathering at the King Family Vineyards to ‘eat, drink and swap memories’ of Rodger and Bobo Rinehart. Rodger passed away on the 10th of October and Bobo followed on the 22nd of November. They had been married for over sixty years. Both of them would have enjoyed the party: the dress was Rinehart casual, and it was next to a polo field at the base of the Blue Ridge mountains. There was a fully stocked bar, and shrimp and grits, which was one of their favourite meals. Most of all, they would have loved seeing their five children, numerous grandchildren and friends. There were no speeches and the overall ambience was upbeat. As Rodger was fond of saying: ‘Life is for the living!’

Rodger and my father started playing polo on the all-sand field by the Rivanna River in Charlottesville in the fifties. From there they moved on to the Farmington Hunt Club. Rodger was instrumental in starting and building the University of Virginia polo club, which is one of the best intercollegiate programmes today. Rodger was from the old school. I do not think he ever had a groom other than one of his kids. The Rineharts would arrive at the field in their blue station wagon with a two-horse trailer behind. Rodger would play six chukkas on two ponies and probably share the position with his oldest son Rob. Rodger loved polo and played into his late sixties, when his knees finally gave out. He passed his passion on to his children all of whom are in one way or another involved in the sport. The next Rinehart gathering will be on the 13th of February when Owen is inducted into the Hall of Fame. Bobo and Rodger will be there in spirit, greatly missed by all! RODERICK VERE NICOLL

HIGH GOAL PREVIEW Entries in England’s 2009 high-goal season, including the 22-goal Vivari Queen’s Cup and the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup, the British Open, are likely to be down to 15 from a record high of 22 teams two years ago. The global economic crisis appears to be at least partly to blame for this. Australian James Packer’s Ellerston, winners of the Queen’s Cup and runnersup for the Gold Cup last season, will not be returning. Tony Pidgley’s Cadenza, named after his property company, is also out after a number of years in high goal.

Also absent, for one reason or another, will be long-time competitors Geebung of Australian Rick Stowe; Australian Spencer Young’s Yindarra; Clare Milford Haven’s Bucking Broncos; and Grayshurst, the team previously fielded by Martyn Ratcliffe, who has retired from polo.

Frenchman Jean-François Decaux’s Brittany Polo is reported to be taking over Packer’s Ellerston team, including buying ponies and picking up on pro contracts with the 10-goal Pieres brothers, Gonzalito and

Facundo. Thus far there is only one newcomer: UK-based Frenchman Jerome Wirth who is moving his Enigma into high goal for the first time.

Loro Piana, winners of the 2008 Gold Cup and 2007 Queen’s Cup, will once again be among the favourites to win silver and gold, with Italian patron Alfio Marchini, handicap 3; Juan Martin Nero, 10, and David Sterling, 9. They are looking for a 0-goaler to make up the numbers. George Milford Haven’s Broncos, starring Argentine 10-goaler Pablo MacDonough, will be another strong contender. Broncos won The Prince of Wales Trophy in last year’s 22-goal.

With his son Charlie (3) playing for Sir Charles ‘Cow’ Williams’s Apes Hill this year, Christopher Hanbury has turned his high goal team over to his second son, George (1). Both brothers have been training and competing out in Argentina over the winter months. Canadian Freddie Mannix will be returning to England after several years to play with Adrian Kirby’s Atlantic alongside Kirby, Nicolas Pieres, and Pite Merlos.

The Vivari Queen’s Cup at Guards Polo Club will take place from 19 May to 14 June.

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hurlingham [ ponylines]

AIKEN HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES It will be a night for Aiken to be proud of as resident Owen Rinehart, former 10-goaler, winner of the 1992 Westchester and coach to the team this year, will be inducted. So will Belle of All. The legendary chestnut thoroughbred was ridden by Aiken resident Louis Stoddard, most notably in the 1921 US Westchester Cup victory, in which she played three chukkas in each of the gruelling games.

Another great Aiken pony, Rotallen, owned by Norty Know will also be honoured.

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YOUNG ENGLAND IN THAILAND On the 13th December 2008, England took a young team led by Andrew Hine to play Southeast Asia (SA) in the La Martina and B Grimm 130th Anniversary Cup which resulted in a 10-6 victory to England. The match, held at the Thai Polo and Equestrian Club, marked the first time that a Southeast Asian team had taken on an England team. In keeping with the significance of the event, Harald Link, co-founder of Thai Polo, introduced the English Team to HRH Crown Prince Abdullah of Pahang.

Fortunately the game matched the occasion, and the play was exciting and fast. The England team, captained by Andrew Hine (6), consisted of Eden Ormerod (2), Lanto Sheridan (1) and Jack Richardson (1). The first chukka saw both teams fighting for dominance, with SA the first to put points on the board. Their early dominance subsided, however, and Hine converted a 60-yard penalty to make it 1-1 at the end of the chukka. England’s momentum brought five goals in the second chukka, and although SA fought back at the opening of the third chukka, with great play between Garcha and Ahmad Shazril Ezzami, they could not break through England’s defence. Ormerod’s goals, followed by Hine’s 60-yard shot in open play, brought the score at the end of the third chukka to 9-4. In the final chukka SA attempted a comeback, but defence and a goal from Ormerod allowed England to see the game out at 10-6. CHLOE ANSON

THE LOVE OF MY LIFE… Pony’s name

Greg Dudd was the winner of our online competition for a Brioni cashmere blazer…

‘I am not the sort of person who enters competitions; it was just something to fill 5 minutes over coffee in the morning whilst flicking through the online edition of Hurlingham. I was given a “Red Letter Day Polo Experience” for my birthday in 2005. I left feeling “that can’t be it” – I’d been to watch Polo at Sotogrande and it looked nothing like what I’d just been doing. So I resolved to find out more. Judging by my subsequent experience, polo is indeed becoming more accessible.

I made a phone call to my nearest club and spoke with Chris Andrews, the chairman at Taunton ValePolo Club. I was surprised by his friendly invitation to the club and his offer to give me a few lessons. This will be my third polo season. Now with four ponies, a new -1 handicap, and a new Brioni Blazer courtesy of the Hurlingham competition. The year looks great so far.’

Age Sex Colour Height Origin

Martez (formerly Te Amo) 17 Gelding Dark bay 15.2h English Bred Thoroughbred (born in Ireland)

Dad bought Martez at the Ascot Sales in 1997 when I was 16. He had raced a lot more than he would have liked but his good conformation and solid temperament led Dad to give him a chance.

Martez started his training under Richard Dudman, an excellent rider of young horses and a good player. He took a little while to cotton on to polo, but once he got tuned in he developed well, and his natural balance and speed combined with agility turned him into a great pony.

Dad and Richard both played him in low goal until he slipped up in the final of the Holden White and Dad broke his collarbone.

I seized my opportunity and moved him into my string. Having had a sound basic training and low goal development, he was ready to push on with.

I played Martez in all the medium and high goal tournaments. He won the best Retrained Racehorse prize and represented Mexico in the Cartier International under Memo Gracida.

It was a great compliment having Memo ask to play him. Martez was the first pony I had that really made a difference. TOM MORLEY

VANESSA TAYLOR/ANAKE

BRIONI COMPETITION WINNER

A DATE FOR YOUR DIARY Horse Guards will be transformed for a truly gladiatorial International polo spectacle. London Polo is set to become the most talked about event of the summer.

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& 18TH JUNE 2009 Horse Guards Parade, London SW1 5pm onwards TH

For further information please visit:

www.londonpolo.co.uk

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hurlingham [ talk ]

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2 1 The England team, suited and booted 2 Tony Lutwyche

Putting on the style 14

Creating bespoke suits for the England polo team is just one of many strings to Tony Lutwyche’s bow, as he tells Edwina Ings-Chambers Tony Lutwyche used to be known as the Tailor on a Scooter – a man on a mission to ensure the men of London were properly besuited. He could be seen whizzing through traffic to visit his bespoke tailoring clients – often deskside in City offices – and take care of all their flannel fantasies.

But things have progressed somewhat.

Nowadays, if Lutwyche is off to a one-to-one client appointment, he is more likely to be found behind the wheel of a Mini Cooper.

‘The scooter was great, but I’m getting close to 40 now, I don’t bounce quite as well as I used to!’ he jokes. ‘The business has also grown quite dramatically and there are only so many suits you can put on a scooter and take round.’

The new car is not the only mode of transport with which the Soho-based suiter is now au fait, as Lutwyche is currently involved with some seriously stylish horsepower. The launch of his first madeto-measure and ready-to-wear range at the Saks Palm Beach store coincided with the Westchester Cup, and for the last six years he has been the official tailor to the England polo team.

It all started, says Lutwyche, when the team ‘decided they had all these functions they have to – and like to – attend before events like Cartier and the International days. Polo players move in a very unique set

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so they do have to get out of their whites and their jeans a lot. They came along and asked if I’d be interested and I already know a few of them – and since then I’ve become friends with the whole team. We made them all blazers so they can all dress up and look like a team, but you only need so many team blazers and after that it’s about making things for them.’ So the members have all been given their own full-on treatment with custom-made suits.

And even when they are in team blazer mode, Lutwyche has been careful to add a few details to keep things feeling youthful and make it feel more like pleasure than work – brightly coloured linings, for instance, or coloured cuff strands (in rose pink). ‘The nice thing is they’re all guys in

‘We only use Englishwoven fabrics. Part of the strength of our workshop is in the “Made in England” label and we need to keep investing in British tailoring’

their mid-twenties and they want to look like guys of that age.’

The whole thing is a very English affair. ‘We only use English-woven fabrics,’ Lutwyche explains. ‘Part of the strength of our workshop is in the “Made in England” label and we need to keep investing in British tailoring. It’s a bit of a cop-out if you slip in Chinese or Italian fabrics.’

Business is booming – his Soho offices have expanded to take over the whole of the top floor of two buildings – and Lutwyche has been spending a lot of his time over the last two years overseeing a large hand-tailoring workshop he has taken over in Cheshire. You can tell, though, that the thing he’s getting possibly the biggest kick out of right now comes courtesy of our friends (or is that friendly rivals?) from Down Under.

‘For the first time at Cartier Polo, we managed to back both sides as the Australian team came to us and they didn’t want to be outshone by those Poms,’ he laughs. So he happily obliged and smartened them up with some blazers too.

Still, his loyalties are firmly rooted.

‘I hope to continue making the English team kit indefinitely,’ he says. ‘It’s a highly enjoyable project. So I’ll keep doing it for as long as they ask me!’

For more information: www.lutwyche.co.uk

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11/2/09 10:38:49

hurlingham [ talk ]

Man for all seasons Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers, chairman of the HPA, is relishing the challenges of maintaining, and modernising, the sport he’s loved since boyhood

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My passion for polo began in the late 1960s at home in Australia, when I used to exercise a friend’s father’s ponies at the Canberra Polo Club and listen to John Gorman and Sinclair Hill tell stories of their polo travels around the world. It was not until I followed in my father’s footsteps and joined the British Army that I too had the opportunity to play.

My father was an Australian diplomat in Moscow, and took exception to being asked to support my passion for riding horses. I visited him there, and he made a few phone calls. Next thing I knew, I was flying to the UK to attend the Regular Commissions Board at Westbury. I am pretty sure I must have been the only officer ever to join the British Army direct from the USSR! Having played in the Regimental Team in BAOR under the tutelage of our colonel, the legendary Jasper Browell of ‘The Galloping Majors’ fame, I was posted to Hong Kong and had a wonderful few years playing on the little Timor ponies up in Sekong in the New Territories. After a marvellous six years in the Army my polo career went into suspended animation to enable me to establish a new career, and it was only a chance invitation by Sam Houston to play in a tournament in Ghana that wooed me back into the saddle.

Six-chukka polo in the tropical heat of the Gold Coast after two years out of the saddle might have had the effect of curtailing my obsession, but it only managed to stoke the fires for another few decades.

I became an HPA Steward representing firstly the Royal Berkshire Polo Club in 1997 at the request of Bryan Morrison and latterly at the request of Buff Crisp, the then

‘Grass roots’ polo has always been my passion

20. Nicholas DC.indd 1

Secretary, as a representative for the interests of the smaller clubs. Most of my years have been spent under the guidance of Jim Haig on the Finance Committee as well as representing Ghana on the HPA Council.

‘Grass roots’ polo has always been my passion. While I love to watch high goal – the Formula 1 of our sport – there is nothing that quite compares to being out there playing oneself at whatever level one chooses (or can afford) to play!

It is possibly a little too early in a fouryear term of chairmanship to give you a list of objectives. The Stewards work as a structured body to progress and promote our sport. New initiatives are constantly being proposed by both our dedicated staff at the HPA offices under David Woodd, as well as the various sub-committees who forward their proposals for consideration by both the Stewards and the Council. Quite a few areas need to be reviewed. We believe we should keep up the pressure to improve umpiring at all levels, and this will only come from better coaching and possibly rethinking the incentives for those wishing to become professional umpires, giving them a structure to aspire to and

consequently more respect from the players themselves. David is also working closely with the AAP and the USPA to try and overcome the challenge of bringing into practice a common set of international rules for the sport.

The current economic climate will mean that there will be changes over the next few years at all levels of the sport, and some may be hit harder than others, but I believe that this country is unique in its ability to bounce back from negative situations. The only thing I might suggest is that now might be a good time to return to playing the sport for the fun and enjoyment of keeping fit, playing with friends and actually enjoying the magnificent animals we play the sport on, rather than the recent trend of pot hunting and winning being the only objective!

We should be immensely proud of the HPA. Not only is it historically the oldest of our sport’s governing bodies, but it should also be credited with the promotion of the modern game throughout the world. We should think long and hard before we abrogate the responsibilities we have been charged with by history.

10/2/09 15:10:37

Hurl_Spring09_FiberSoil.indd 1

11/2/09 10:28:46

hurlingham [ talk ]

objets de luxe Simon Khachadourian’s Pullman Gallery is full of interesting surprises says Edwina Ings-Chambers

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1 Polo humour from Charles de Condamy 2 Prince Leon Radziwill

by Bernard Boutet de Monvel 3 A vintage travel poster 4 Simon Khachadourian

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subject in 1998, the same year his first gallery opened in King Street and his ‘hobby became a business’.

Recently, Khachadourian turned his attention to another type of transport: the horse. More specifically, the polo pony and the art of polo, and he held a whole selling exhibition dedicated to the subject at his Mount Street gallery.

Khachadourian is a polo fan, attending matches whenever possible, and he used to play a little, ‘very briefly about twenty years ago’. His take on the subject ‘stems

from an interest in sporting activity from an artistic point of view’. The polo paintings and sculptures got a good response from his clients, he says.

Among the exhibits, one painting by Dexter Brown, a leading living Impressionist painter, entitled Hurlingham 1922, depicted women in fashionable hats observing a dramatic chukka, while a portrait by French artist Bernard Boutet de Monvel showed Prince Léon Radziwill in his polo kit in 1910.

There was an original poster for Polo Joe, a Thirties film starring Joe E Brown, and a

PULLMAN GALLERY

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Simon Khachadourian may be a charmer though by his name he looks very tricky indeed – in terms of pronunciation, at least.

It turns out, however, that this is a very common misconception. ‘It’s actually very easy,’ he explains. ‘You just pronounce it phonetically.’

Still, this not uncommon reaction was enough to convince Khachadourian not to name his gallery eponymously when he founded it just over a decade ago. Instead, he chose the name Pullman, after the luxury train company some of whose carriages are still used on the Orient Express route, and which denotes the ultimate in prestigious travel. Or as Khachadourian puts it: ‘With a name like mine you’re always spelling it, but with a name like Pullman – well it’s easy to spell and denotes luxury and collectability.’

That is, of course, a handy connotation, since the Pullman galleries – there are now two in central London – are all about selling collectable items, many of which have only relatively recently become covetable. Pieces he refers to as ‘the finest objets de luxe’.

Most items for sale at Pullman focus, appropriately enough, on travel and modes of transport, especially from the first half of the last century, when the art of chic travelling was at its zenith. So you’ll find classic Louis Vuitton trunks, models of classic cars and other motor racing memorabilia, as well as posters advertising winter sports resorts and the like. And you’ll often find better prices on items here than at an auction house. A 1920s poster for the Palace Hotel in St Moritz, for example, sold for £28,000 at Christies. Khachadourian has sold the same one for £22,000 (and that’s with no hammer price on top).

Khachadourian has had a yen for collecting since he was a young boy. ‘I still have my collection of old crime novels,’ he chortles. ‘I started when I was twelve or thirteen with detective novels from the 1930s, books like The Saint and the author Edgar Wallace.’ These days, he says, ‘classic cars are more my thing’ and he has amassed a sizable collection. He also has a passion for the Art Deco period (‘that is what I particularly like’) and has carved out a name for himself in the area of cocktail shakers (a big Deco trend), educating himself on the makers and publishing a book on the

2

sterling silver Polo Challenge Cup engraved with Art Nouveau script. But perhaps most striking of all was a Joël and Jan Martel art deco bronze from 1931. It depicts a mounted player and the arc of his mallet, and it is created from two quarter circles of bronze in which the horse and its rider are encased.

The piece is, as yet, unsold – but one of the perks of being a gallery owner is that you can keep your stock at home until the right customer arrives.

After the polo exhibition was taken down just before Christmas, Khachadourian

installed a winter sports special. ‘It’s a seasonal thing,’ he explains.

Khachadourian himself accepts that his galleries are ‘not for everybody’ and certainly not for ‘people with short attention spans’.

So what is his target audience? People who want to get engaged in a subject, he says, adding that ‘all people should collect’. And if you haven’t already found your metier, what does he suggest would be a good area to invest in now? ‘Space memorabilia,’ he replies. ‘There’s very little material but it would be a shrewd thing to get into.’

One of the perks of owning a gallery is that you can keep your stock at home

hurlingham [ talk ]

love at first strike

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Having not ridden before, I was invited to Hurtwood in 2002 to watch Kuoni Holidays play British Airways (for whom I worked).

HRH Prince of Wales, Jodie Kidd, Jenny Jones and a host of others were playing and I was utterly and instantly captivated. I will never forget the first time the thundering hooves charged past me – the excitement was amazing! I had no idea what was going on, but I was filled with respect and awe for these players and horses that seemed so skilled and brave and provided such a spectacle.

I was pleased that British Airways won (despite the absence of royalty on their team!) and I resolved to learn to ride, so that one day I too might be on the pitch. In 2004, I had weekly riding lessons, and my riding was greatly helped by the purchase of my first horse, a grey mare called Betsy who was sold as a perfect school master horse, ideal for building the confidence of a novice like me. I was so excited that I went out riding straight away, deep in the countryside – at which point I discovered that Betsy was not quite ‘as billed’ (the term mis-sold would probably apply had she been a mortgage or an insurance policy!). The first thing Betsy did was bolt in a 20-acre field and gallop at full speed around it about six times, while I clung on for dear life and turned her around until she exhausted herself and slowed down. Over the course of the next year or so we came to understand each other a little better and she calmed down a lot. At least she taught me how to stay on.

My introduction to playing polo was at Hickstead arena in November 2006. I was starting my new job as managing director of Airmiles on the Monday, but I was far more concerned about my lesson than I was about my new posting!

The arena proved to be an excellent grounding in the sport, and the surrounding fences increased my confidence. By the time spring had arrived and talk of playing on grass started, I was full of optimism and bravado.

I was frankly terrified when I first set eyes on the grass pitch, and the adrenaline rush

I was frankly terrified when I first set eyes on the grass pitch, and the adrenaline rush from my first grass chukkas is a memory that will stay with me for years from my first grass chukkas is a memory that will stay with me for years. The lack of fences, and the sheer size of the pitch is such a change from arena – but I quickly acclimatised and soon began to appreciate what people had told me about the joy of a cold beer after a polo match on a hot summer’s day in England.

I hadn’t expected to play in tournaments in my first year, and it was such a thrill to be on a team and to be able to contribute in some way. Sportsmanship and teamwork are a huge part of polo, and regardless of

your ability, the handicap system allows you to make a contribution early in your playing career. I can’t think of a sport that offers a greater combination of excitement, strategy and camaraderie, and which is also dependent upon a respectful partnership between player and pony.

I had the opportunity to host the inaugural Airmiles Polo Challenge Trophy day in June 2008 and we invited over 750 of our most valuable customers. The feedback was universally positive and it was a tremendous way of rewarding and thanking our customers for their loyalty.

We hope to repeat this event annually, credit crunch permitting.

To anyone considering taking up the sport I would say this. You don’t have to be a blue-blooded member of the aristocracy, or to have been riding all your life, nor do you need to be very young or naturally athletic (and I regret to say that I am living proof of all these statements). All you need is a love for the sport and a desire to live life a bit more adventurously.

SUSSEX POLO CLUB

Where polo is concerned, it was once bitten, forever smitten says Airmiles managing director Andrew Swaffield

hurlingham [ talk ]

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polo on parade Jane Blore heralds an exciting experiment as arena polo heads for Whitehall and the beaches of Dorset

Last year, the inaugural British Beach Polo Championships was played at Sandbanks, Poole. It drew thousands of people to the ‘platinum’ Dorset coast to enjoy two days of polo on the beach. From seasoned players and supporters to the uninitiated, from the millionaire residents of this exclusive peninsula to the dedicated English holidaymaker, everyone joined in with the fun. Six 12-goal teams of three players, sponsored by the likes of Sunseeker, Audi and Robert Walters, treated the crowd to an entertaining display of polo.

In the evenings the gigantic main marquee played host to beach parties powered by the Bournemouth nightclub 2020. The event was a unanimous success, with the council (who had taken some persuading to allow the event to go ahead in the first place) immediately signing up Sandpolo (the event organisers) to continue to deliver the championships there for a further five years.

One beach-goer wrote to the local paper: ‘I feared it would just be a bunch of Lord Snooties taking over one of our nicest beaches, stopping the hoi polloi like me from enjoying sun-bathing and going for a dip. I pictured the posh chums of Prince Charles enjoying their chukka while the rest of us were chucked off with no chance of getting to see it. And that shows the danger of stupid, ignorant prejudice. It wasn’t like that at all. Before last summer’s beach polo event, I imagined you had to be pretty minted to get a squint at the polo being played. I’d have put my polo shirt on it. Not so. The beach polo championships in Poole last year proved inspired thinking and gave no fewer than 9,000 people pleasure including thousands of local people from every sort of background.’

‘I feared it would be a bunch of Lord Snooties taking over one of our nicest beaches. It wasn’t like that at all’ This year there will be an equally original polo event launched, but this time in central London. On 17-18 June, in association with the Royal Parks, there will be an International Arena Polo Tournament

played on Horse Guards Parade. Four teams, including England and South Africa, will compete over two evenings for the Westminster Polo Trophy. Spectators will enjoy the highest standard of polo and other attractions from elevated arena seating.

Fully endorsed by the HPA, it will no doubt become one of the most coveted events in the London and Polo calendar.

‘Arena polo deserves a chance to take centre stage,’ says HPA chief executive David Woodd. ‘It is a fabulous spectator sport, and we will see it played at the highest level on Horse Guards in June rather than on the usual miserable English winter days.’

Horse Guards Parade is the official entrance to Buckingham Palace. Originally King Henry VIII’s tournament ground, it is now the parade square for the Mounting of the Queen’s Life Guard and the Queen’s Birthday Parade. The London Polo Championships will attract seasoned players and supporters of the game from across the country, and others with an appetite for the exclusivity and excitement that the event will offer.

David Heaton-Ellis, the inspiration behind both events, is now suffering badly from motor neurone disease but he will be working closely with me [Jane Blore], and I will be project-managing both events. Both London Polo and the British Beach Polo Championships are original and exciting.

They are a refreshing variation and they will be an entertaining introduction to the game for many people.

DAN SHORT

Horse Guards Parade Ground, venue for the London matches

PROGRAM 2009 March, April, May, June, September and October

PRACTICES «Polo week-end »* & MATCHES

March 20th -22nd/27th - 29th Saturday, March 28th

SPRING TOURNAMENT 8:30pm : POLO DINNER

April 10th-19th Saturday, April 18th

EASTER POLO TOURNAMENT 8:30pm : POLO DINNER

(8-12 GOALS)

April 30th- May 3rd Saturday, May 2nd

HIPPOCAMPUS CUP 8:30pm : HIPPOCAMPUS CUP DINNER PARTY

(8-12 GOALS)

May 29th - June 1st Saturday, May 30th

PENTECÔTE TOURNAMENT 8:30pm : POLO DINNER

(8-12 GOALS)

June 12th - 21st Saturday, June 20th

POLO CLUB SAINT-TROPEZ 11th ANNIVERSARY TOURNAMENT 9pm : POLO DINNER

June 13th Saturday, June 13th

1st FRANCE-RUSSIE CÔTE D’AZUR CUP 9pm : COCKTAIL, 9:30 : GALA DINNER (Invitation only)

July 2nd-12th Friday, July 10th Saturday, July 11th

INTERNATIONAL POLO CUP SAINT-TROPEZ 7pm : POLO TEAM PARADE THROUGH THE PORT OF SAINT-TROPEZ 9pm : COCKTAIL, 9:30 : GALA DINNER

(12-15 GOALS)

July 16th - 26th Saturday, July18th

OPEN DE GASSIN POLO TOURNAMENT 9pm : POLO DINNER

(12-15 GOALS)

August 6th-16th Saturday, August 15th

CÔTE D’AZUR POLO CUP 9pm : POLO DINNER

(8-12 GOALS)

August 20th-30th Friday, August 28th Saturday, August 29th

OPEN DU SOLEIL POLO TOURNAMENT 7pm : POLO TEAM PARADE THROUGH THE PORT OF SAINT-TROPEZ 9pm : OPEN DU SOLEIL DINNER PARTY AT THE VIP ROOM (Invitation only)

(8-12 GOALS)

September 3rd-6th Saturday, September 5th

POLO SILVER CUP 1pm : LUNCH 9pm : POLO DINNER 1pm : LUNCH

(12-15 GOALS)

(12-15 GOALS)

Sunday, September 13th

POLO GOLD CUP 1pm : LUNCH AND ENTERTAINMENT 8:30pm : COCKTAIL, 9pm : GALA DINNER 1pm : LUNCH AND ENTERTAINMENT

October 1st-11th Saturday, October 10th

VAR TOURNAMENT 8:30pm : POLO DINNER

October 15th

2nd FRANCE-INDIA BUSINESS CUP 1pm : LUNCH 3pm : POLO MATCH WITH GOLF CARTS (Invitation only)

Sunday, September 6th September 10th-13th Saturday, September 12th

(8 GOALS)

(12-15 GOALS) (8-12 GOALS)

(6-8 GOALS)

Polo Club Saint-Tropez – Haras de Gassin • Route du Bourrian • 83580 Gassin (Saint-Tropez) • France Tél. : +33 (0)4 94 55 22 12 • Fax : +33 (0)4 94 56 50 66 contact@polo-st-tropez.com • www.polo-st-tropez.com *Forfait « polo week-end » sur demande (tous les week-ends en Mars, Avril, Mai, Juin et Septembre) : Hélicoptère,Taxi, location de voiture avec ou sans chauffeur, hôtel, déjeuner sur les plages, dîner,night-club, leçons, practices et matchs de polo, leçons d’équitation pour les enfants.

Hurl_Spring09_ProgramUK.indd 1

11/2/09 10:42:19

hurlingham [ profile ]

out of africa Richard Britten-Long is chairman of Cirencester Polo Club and a steward at the HPA. He talked with Herbert Spencer about his ideas and plans ILLUSTRATION PHIL DISLEY

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When Richard Britten-Long was born near Lake Nakuru in Kenya in 1953, his mother was packing a pistol. The country was in a state of emergency with Mau Mau attacks on both the indigenous population and white settlers in a campaign to drive out the latter.

‘I was too young to remember much about the emergency,’ Richard reflects, ‘but I have a photograph of me, aged two, up on a horse, with my mother with a pistol at her hip. After the Mau Mau began murdering white families, all the farmers went about armed and formed “commandos” to help fight the terrorists. My brother and I were packed off to a safe prep school for the duration.’

Britain poured some 5,000 troops into the colony to join 1,000 police in wiping out the Mau Mau. Atrocities were committed by both sides and some 20,000 people lost their lives.

The Kikuyu leader, Jomo Kenyatta, was imprisoned, but later released to become the country’s first president when Kenya became independent in 1963.

The Britten-Longs were third-generation Kenyans. They owned a 30,000-acre farm in the Rift Valley, raising cattle in what is now the Lake Nakuru National Park, 150km north of the capital, Nairobi, and to the west of Mount Kenya. The lake is famous for its immense flocks of pink flamingos as well as other wildlife in the area, including white rhino, buffalo, impala, leopards, and baboons.

Richard’s mother, who had estates of her own in Kenya, was a respected racehorse breeder. ‘She produced some very good Thoroughbreds,’ he says. ‘She had two rather well known stallions and some 30 brood mares, and also bred polo ponies.

‘Both my father and mother played polo; my father, as I recall, had a 3-goal handicap.

My brother and I were not allowed to play then, but we were expected to turn up for every match.’

When he was 10, Richard was sent off to boarding school in England. At 18, he went into the City to work for a stockbroker, starting his long career in finance. By 22 he was married. ‘Georgina and I moved to Kenya for four years, where I worked as an investment banker,’ Richard says. ‘It was then that I took up polo, and I played at all the clubs. My favourite was North Kenya Polo Club at Timau, high on the northern slopes of Mount Kenya.’

After he and Georgina moved back to England in 1979, Richard played at London’s Ham Polo Club and Kirtlington Park ‘where I benefited enormously under the stewardship of John Tylor and Victor Law. I even took a team to the Sudan, but that’s another story’.

In those days he played with Sandy Harper and Johnny Kidd, but gave up the sport at the time of the Falklands war and was out of polo for 10 years.

The Britten-Longs now have a 1,000-acre estate at Wichenford in Worcestershire.

‘Georgina runs the farm,’ Richard says. ‘I’m just the “chief executive for poultry” – the pheasant and partridge that make the estate a good shoot for family and friends.

‘We currently keep about 40 horses, including 20-25 playing ponies and youngsters, some bred by embryo transplant from Emma Tomlinson’s programme at

The Britten-Longs were third-generation Kenyans who owned a 30,000-acre farm in the Rift Valley Beaufort. I retired what was my favourite pony last year: Mara, who is about 20, an Irish Thoroughbred from racing stables. I’ve had four good foals from her. My favourite now is Nativa, a 10-year-old mare from the Arayas in Argentina, and Samantha, a pony no one but I am able to play.’ Currently Alan Kent, the former England national player, is Richard’s polo manager, organising the teams for Richard (0) and his son Nicholas (2).

‘Over the years.’ says Richard, ‘my Laird team (named after his financial group) has won every15-goal tournament in England, including the Royal Windsor and the County Cup, and most of the 12-goal ones. We became quite well known as a medium goal team. Our brief foray into high goal here was less successful, although we did reach the semi-finals of the Gold Cup in 1997.’

Across the Channel in Normandy, however, Laird has reached the finals of the Deauville Gold Cup four times, winning twice, in 1998 and 1999. Laird has also played successfully at Sotogrande in Spain, and in

January this year Richard returned from Plettenberg in South Africa where his Corovest team took the high goal trophy.

When Richard took up the sport again 20 years ago, he went to the Beaufort in Gloucestershire. ‘I joined as soon as Simon and Claire Tomlinson started the club in 1989 and became a member of its committee,’ he says. ‘My company, Laird, was one of the first corporate sponsors at Beaufort, and over the years I helped Simon secure some £450,000 in sponsorship for the club, of which I’m really quite proud.’

Richard also competed in tournaments at Cirencester Park Polo Club (CPPC) and last year he was invited to become its chairman and a steward of the Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA). In these capacities he has been largely responsible for a significant and welcome change to the English polo scene: extending the high goal season into the month of August.

‘When I took over as chairman at CPPC,’ says Richard, ‘the first thing I did was to look at its operation under a microscope. With continuing excellent relations with the Bathurst and Apsley estates and three brilliant new grounds just installed, it was in good shape – except for long-standing problems with our 22-goal Warwickshire Cup tournament.’

Traditionally the Warwickshire is one of England’s ‘big four’ high goal competitions.

At one time most of the high goal teams playing here would enter all four: first the Prince of Wales at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club in May, the Queen’s Cup at Guards in June, and in July the Warwickshire and the Gold Cup at Cowdray Park. In recent years, however, the Warwickshire has attracted less than half the number of teams in the Queen’s or Gold cups. This had been largely because there was an overlap, with the Gold Cup starting before the Warwickshire finished in July; teams tended to choose one or the other to avoid conflicts in the schedule.

‘This unfortunate clash in the fixtures list had been discussed time and time again by the HPA stewards, but there had been no resolution,’ Richard says. ‘So I gave priority to coming up with a solution.

‘I considered not just the clash between the Warwickshire and Gold cups, but also the fact that the English high goal season was restricted mainly to less than three months

‘I gave priority to solving the problem of the unfortunate clash in the fixture list’ in the late spring and early summer, ending with the Gold Cup final on the penultimate weekend in July. After that, one had to cross the Channel to Deauville or trek down to Sotogrande in Spain to play high goal.’

Both the Deauville and Sotogrande Gold Cups at the end of August are played at 20 goals. ‘I felt that if we dropped the Warwickshire Cup from 22 to 20,’ says Richard, ‘and played it at the beginning of August, after rather than before Cowdray Park’s Gold Cup, patrons here could, with a little bit of jiggling, keep the same teams together and move across to the Continent later in the month.’

Having played both at Deauville and Sotogrande, Richard prefers the former. ‘The south of Spain is a long way for English patrons to truck ponies,’ he says. ‘Deauville on the other hand is just across the Channel, and the food is better.

‘Last year my good friend and business associate, Phillippe de Nicolay, became president of Deauville Polo Club again. He has been working to improve the club: hiring England’s Nick Williams as polo manager; installing an all-weather ground in the middle of the race track; tearing down the old stables to make room for new ones. It will be a great place to play in 2009.’

Phillippe de Nicolay has taken Richard onto the Deauville club’s committee and CPPC in turn has made the Frenchman a member of its board. ‘The connection between our clubs is strong,’ says Richard. ‘I hope that there will be two teams from Deauville playing in the Warwickshire this year and CPPC will be sending teams to play in Normandy.’

Last November the HPA Council, the ruling body of the sport, confirmed the stewards’ decision to accept Richard’s innovative solution to the clash between the Warwickshire Cup and the Gold Cup. In 2009, the Warwickshire, now 20 goals, will be played from 27 July to 9 August, followed by the Cowdray Park Challenge, also 20 goals, from 10-16 August – in effect, extending the English high goal season by three weeks.

‘We plan to make the Warwickshire much more exciting this year and hope to attract more teams at the new handicap level, and with more home-bred professionals competing,’ says Richard. ‘As for the future, perhaps one day we’ll see an all-pro, 25 or 26-goal contest played out on Cirencester Park’s venerable Ivy Lodge ground in August.

It’s a goal worth aiming for.’

24-25 profile.indd 3

10/2/09 15:34:41

hurlingham [ charity]

old horses, new tricks Thanks to the legacy of Paul Mellon, retired racehorses are gaining a new lease of life as polo ponies, reports Ian Balding Paul Mellon was not a polo player, but he was one of the most eminent and influential horsemen of his time. His name, along with the Whitneys, Bostwicks, Phipps and Hitchcocks, was synonymous with wealth, prestige and equine sporting renown in the US for many years following the Second World War. PM had another distinction in that he, together with his wife Bunny and sister Ailsa, made probably the largest

contribution to the world of sporting art of any single American. Not just in collecting and eventually giving it to the nation, but also in building the new East Wing of the National Gallery in Washington and the Yale Center for British Art at his old university.

PM was most renowned for his achievements in the world of horse racing.

Like most true lovers of the sport he started with jumpers, riding in point-to-points as an

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undergraduate at Cambridge University and soon afterwards had a jumper or two in training in England. His love of fox hunting and the countryside and his passion for English life, literature and history (all perhaps emanating from his English mother) led him towards the breeding empire which he created at Rokeby Farm in Virginia and to his devotion to sporting art in particular.

Books have been written about PM’s success in the racing world, but suffice it to say that he is still the only person to have bred and owned the winners of the three most prestigious flat races in the world – the English Derby at Epsom, the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp. Mill Reef was the European champion who won at Epsom and Longchamp and Sea Hero was the colt that finally, late in PM’s life, won the Kentucky Derby for him.

I was the fortunate man who trained all his horses in England during his last 35 years, and I well remember a phone call he made to me in 1997, two years before he died. ‘Ian,’ he said, ‘I am redrafting my will and I have already made my arrangements for retired racehorses in America, but I would like some advice on what I should do about them in England.’

At that time there was no central organisation set up in this country like Retraining of Racehorses (RoR). There were some privately owned charitable centres that catered for old horses, all of which still exist and now receive support from RoR. My wife, Emma, and I felt it would be difficult for him to support these individual places and suggested that perhaps he should leave money to the British Racing School at Newmarket. This excellent establishment houses over 60 retired racehorses on which all our future stable staff and jockeys learn their trade and we had no fewer than five of PM’s retired horses there at that time. One of them, Millers Tale, the last offspring of Mill Reef, finally died last summer aged 26.

The British Racing School has benefited considerably from PM’s generosity but with the formation of RoR by the British Horseracing Board in 2002 there emerged an even better outlet for his philanthropy.

Racing was reacting to the challenge that it cared little about what was happening to racehorses once their racing days were over. The industry accepted that it had a responsibility for these horses and RoR was set up to develop a coherent plan for fulfilling this responsibility.

Racing was reacting to the challenge that it cared little about racehorses once their racing days were over

26-27. Racehorse retraining.indd 1

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©TONY RAMIREZ/WWW.IMAGESOFPOLO.COM

Brigadier Andrew Parker-Bowles OBE, a former director of the BHB, chairman of the Jockey Club Veterinary Committee and vice-chairman of the International League for Protection of Horses, was the ideal person to be the first chairman of RoR. He was largely responsible for setting up its charitable status and my wife, Emma, who had been well aware of PM’s executors wish to distribute some money for this very purpose, became one of the first trustees.

RoR received many enquiries and applications for assistance, but mindful of its responsibilities as a charity, agreed that only well-established centres with charitable status and a proven track record handling ex-racehorses would be eligible for grants and support. The four centres under permanent support are: The Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Centre, founded by Carrie Humble in Lancashire; Greatwood, founded

by Helen and Michael Yeadon in Wiltshire; the Moorcroft Racehorse Welfare Centre now based near Horsham in West Sussex; and HEROS founded by Grace Muir in Oxfordshire.

RoR is run by its six trustees, all representing the various sections of the industry, its new chairman, Peter Deal, and its long-time director of operations Di Arbuthnot. In December 2002, a very generous bequest from the Paul Mellon Estate of $3.5m changed RoR’s position dramatically. It has since been able to consider a range of different initiatives to help racehorses move on to a satisfactory second career once their racing days are over.

A huge contribution from Sheikh Mohammed after the sale of the Racing Post has added to the potential work that can be done.

Many successful eventers and show jumpers are ex-racers, even more take to hunting, and increasing numbers are now proficient on polo fields. With the incentive of special competition categories for these horses and the support of the controlling bodies of the different sports they have a serious future. Within polo, RoR is working with the authorities organising clinics to help the younger riders with their recently purchased horses. These have been very well attended with positive results and the launch of an exciting competition in association with the HPA, offering a £10,000 prize for the best playing ex-racehorse, is a huge encouragement for owners. Naturally, bigger horses are unsuitable, but the smaller ones certainly have the speed and often the necessary resilience to excel at this ancient and wonderful sport.

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1 Paul Mellon at Rokeby Farm

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2 Ascot, 1971 (from left): Ian Balding, Paul Mellon, the Queen Mother and Bunny Mellon 3 Gonzalito Pieres on the retrained racehorse Shannon

Many eventers and show jumpers are ex-racers and increasing numbers are now proficient on polo fields

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10/2/09 15:14:53

hurlingham [ innovation] 1

park and ride Polo in the Park aims to attract a whole new audience, says World Polo’s Charles Froggatt 28 29

There is often a sigh of ‘here we go again’ when a new concept to take polo to a wider audience is announced. In the current economic climate, that sigh may even turn into a chuckle. But until now nobody had tried to bring polo back to the iconic Hurlingham Club in central London.

Perhaps, finally, polo will be given the coverage it deserves.

‘We’re very serious; we’ve been working on this for three years now,’ says 34-yearold investment banker Daniel Fox-Davies who runs Fox-Davies Capital, a city-based specialist corporate finance house for oil, gas and mining.

When he’s not on the trading floor, FoxDavies runs World Polo Limited (World Polo).

‘We set up World Polo to look into creating a commercial model that could take polo forward and after two years of research and a year or so of planning, we announced our pilot event, Polo in the Park. It kicks off in the first week of June at Hurlingham Park – formerly the number one ground at Hurlingham. It is all geared to providing return on investment for sponsors – whether it be with clients (for that, World Polo believe a central London location is key) or brand association both at the event and on television.’

After lengthy negotiations, World Polo signed an exclusive deal with Hammersmith and Fulham Council (a central London borough) to reinstate the former number one ground at Hurlingham and host the inaugural Polo in the Park event.

While the first official game of polo

played in England was on Hounslow Heath in 1869 between the 9th Lancers and the 10th Hussars, the first game to be played in Hurlingham was in 1874. Lending its name to the Hurlingham Polo Association, and hosting the Westchester Cup between 1910 and 1939, Hurlingham Park is arguably – for the purists amongst us – the most significant patch of polo turf in the world when it comes to heritage.

Without Hurlingham the polo bug would, of course, have spread. But the name Hurlingham has shaped the history of the sport. Over 80 per cent of poloplaying countries play under the rules of the Hurlingham Polo Association. The newly sworn-in Mayor of London Boris Johnson dubbed the event ‘exciting’, but the polo community have read a little more into the significance of the event. ‘We are delighted we could bring polo back to its roots in Central London,” says Fox-Davies.

After World War Two the Hurlingham land had been turned into a municipal park, and what was the number two ground was eventually converted into a council estate.

But there was still a glimmer of hope for the number one ground. The ground on which England won the 1908 Olympic gold medal for polo had become home to rugby and football pitches for local schools and, despite being divided by a cast iron fence, and carrying the burden of a derelict cinder athletics track and numerous athletics facilities, there was nevertheless potential to bring polo back to the ground.

Before the first throw-in World Polo will have invested over £250,000 in removing the derelict athletics facilities and transforming the park into one flat area of turf. ‘We recruited the top turf experts available to ensure that the pitch will be in the best condition possible,’ says Fox-Davies. ‘It was also imperative that the council trusted in our ability to make this happen. The other challenge is to renovate a piece of ground that is used regularly by the public.’

The sandy loam soil content means Hurlingham has some of the best drainage of any polo field. But this also means that irrigating the field will be key in the run up to the event.

Polo in the Park will run over three to four days in June with a capacity for 5,000 per day with corporate hospitality being housed in the Hurlingham Club itself. Fox-Davies plans to take much of the pomp and circumstance out of the equation. ‘I still want people to dress up for our event,’ he says. ‘But we won’t be having the brass bands.’

There will be six city teams competing at Polo in the Park. Having originally toyed with the idea of fielding national teams, the series will be based on city teams, eg, London and New York, the idea being to create a coherent league played in multiple cities. There are some serious offers on the table to take the series to a number of cities, so London is ‘very much the showcase’.

Players will have a minimum handicap of two and a maximum of six. Some might call this a lack of ambition; World Polo call it

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business sense. We want to include as many international players as possible, we do not want to conflict with high goal tournaments and, where possible, we want female players to play,’ says Fox-Davies.

‘Often the difference between a nine-goal player and a six-goal player is horses. There are some cracking young players from around the world that deserve their chance on a big stage like Polo in the Park,’ says World Polo’s director of polo Jack Kidd.

HURLINGHAM CLUB

Rule Changes

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of World Polo is its intention to change the rules, thereby simplifying the game for those new to polo and encouraging a crisp passing game. For World Polo this means fewer stoppages, less incentive to play for the foul and bigger rewards for shooting at goal from far out.

‘We are doing everything we can to encourage a better quality of polo for spectators at the event and the television audience. That means keeping the game simple and fast, and ultimately that means tweaking the rules,’ says Kidd. ‘We are not making changes for the sake of making changes; this has been thought out over the last three years.’

Television production houses, broadcasters and players such as Carlos Gracida have all had their say. ‘It was Carlos who suggested we make the pitch smaller,’ says Fox-Davies. The ground at Polo in the Park will be around four-fifths the size of a

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1 The Hurlingham Club before the war 2 The Hurlingham Club today 3 The old stands 4 Launching Team London

regular 330 by 160 yard field.

There will be no changing of ends after each goal. The team to concede a goal will immediately hit out – à la basketball – and the penalty spots will be changed. But there are more complex adaptations to take note of. The scoring system will be changed, with players awarded more points for attempting long shots, while players who consistently foul will be sent to the ‘sin bin’.

For World Polo, television is key to the long-term success of the concept and an eyebrow-raising percentage of the Polo in the Park budget will be spent on TV production.

Fox-Davies is insisting on fly cameras, cameras on rails, blimps, the enhanced use of microphones on players and officials, while maintaining that the introduction of graphics and clear replays will help to explain strategies and fouls for those viewers new to the sport.

‘Currently there is no polo shown on TV and there is little to no return on investment for sponsors,’ says Fox-Davies. ‘We have to create a high quality product for television that people will want to watch. Tweaking the

The idea is to create a coherent league played in multiple cities, and London is very much the showcase

rules helps make the game more compatible for a TV audience but bringing the game to life on screen with the latest technology is vital for ensuring that broadcasters air this and giving the sponsors the exposure they expect in other sports.

‘We’ll soon be announcing our broadcaster.

Sponsors want return on investment. They either come on board because they want the brand association, in which case television coverage is key, or because they want to network with potential clients. Hurlingham’s central London location, and the Hurlinhgam Club’s elegance for hospitality, provides this for us. The idea is to do this consistently over a number of cities so sponsors become stakeholders in the league.’

World Polo have already spent three years flying around the world venues, scouting and planning the next steps. All being well they will launch a series of events, with cities in Europe, America, the Middle East and Asia being earmarked. ‘The first goal is to get the first event under our belts,’ says Fox-Davies.

‘Then we can take this forward. These things take time…’

hurlingham [ business]

time lords

The Reverso watch is an iconic reminder of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s relationship with polo, writes Herbert Spencer

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Three Reverso watches from the 1930s and 1940s, including one (centre) bearing the coat-ofarms of the Sawaiman Guard; plus a more recent example made for Adolfo Cambiaso

When Pierre LeCoultre fled the religious persecution of the Huguenots in France in the 16th century to settle in Switzerland, he could not have dreamed that one day his descendent would found one of the world’s most innovative firms of watchmakers.

That firm, Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre, celebrated its 175th anniversary last year and is firmly established today as one of the sport of polo’s leading international supporters, regularly sponsoring events and teams at venues from Argentina to Australia and sporting some of the world’s top players on board as its ‘ambassadors’.

Pierre LeCoultre spent 1558 in Geneva before moving to the remote Vallée de Joux high in the rugged Jura Massif to the north.

On the southern shores of Lake Joux, 1,000m up in the mountains, the LeCoultre family cleared the forest, built houses, grew cereal crops and raised animals. In 1612 Pierre’s son founded the village of Le Sentier by the lake.

It was a tenth-generation LeCoultre who took the family into clock and watchmaking.

Antoine LeCoultre (1803–1881), working with his father at the small family forge, developed new alloys, perfected the vibrating blades of music boxes, and laid the foundation of the

razor blade industry. He then set out to learn the watchmaking trade, and in 1833 went into business with four employees in a small workshop in Le Sentier.

Antoine LeCoultre was inventive, always striving for perfection. In her memoirs, his wife recalled: ‘I often used to wake up at night and tell my husband to rest, but he always replied “I’ve almost finished” and the whole night went by in that manner.’ One of the first of Antoine’s many inventions, in 1844, was the Millionometre, the world’s first instrument for measuring components to within one micron – a millionth of a metre.

For most of the first half of the 19th century, pinions, the gear cogs of clock making, were made of brass and cut by hand.

Brass was subject to wear, so Antoine built a machine to cut pinions in harder-wearing steel. In 1847, he invented the built-in leverwinding system for pocket watches, replacing the easily lost key that had preceded it.

In 1888, what had been a cottage industry in the early days of Swiss watchmaking had grown; LeCoultre & Cie employed 500 craftsmen under the same roof, and by 1900, Antoine’s grandson, Jacques-David, was in charge of production in the rapidly expanding

The Reverso was requested by polo players and created for polo players business in Le Sentier, whose workshops had been christened ‘La Grande Maison’.

In Paris meanwhile, Edmond Jaeger, watchmaker to the French navy, had designed an ultra-thin watch and in 1903 challenged Swiss watchmakers to produce it. When he heard this, Jacques-David cycled 20 miles to the nearest telephone to call Paris and tell Jaeger that LeCoultre & Cie would take up the challenge. By 1907, the Le Sentier craftsmen had created the Jaeger-LeCoultre pocket watch whose movement was just a millimetre-anda-half thick – the world’s thinnest. Thus a partnership was born and in 1937 the brand Jaeger-LeCoultre was officially launched.

During the 176 years since Antoine LeCoultre set up business in the Vallée de

hurlingham [ business]

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Joux, the company has taken out no fewer than 300 patents and produced some 1,000 models of pocket watches, wristwatches and clocks. Some have incorporated several functions, such as diving watches with pressure gauges, one was set in a ring and another in one of the small links of a gold bracelet. Many of these models, including those from the earliest days of LeCoultre, are on display in the new Heritage Gallery at La Grande Maison in Le Sentier.

One landmark model from this most innovative of watchmakers, and the one that brought Jaeger-LeCoultre and the sport of polo together: the Reverso wristwatch. In the 1930s, polo was booming in India, with British regiments playing regularly with the rulers of the princely states, the maharajas.

A Swiss businessman and friend of the firm, César de Trey, returned from watching polo in India with a challenge from officers of the British Raj: produce a watch that could stand up to the hard knocks of the game.

At La Grande Maison, Jacques-David LeCoultre and his craftsmen took up the challenge. They designed a watch that, with a simple flick, could be reversed on the wrist: on one side, the watch face; on the other, a protective casing that could be decorated according to the wishes of the wearer.

In 1931, the Reverso was born.

‘The Reverso was requested by polo players and created for polo players,’ says the firm’s current chief executive, Jérôme Lambert. ‘Jaeger-LeCoultre has regularly associated its name with numerous polo events around the world – and now with the best polo players. Thanks to our ambassadors, the new Reverso Squadra line embodies a tribute to this sport that inspired the most stunning success story in watch-making history, and the values of polo are more closely than ever entwined with those of the firm.’

The list of the company’s ambassadors – polo players who wear and endorse the latest Reverso Squadra and compete around the world under the Jaeger-LeCoultre colours – is indeed impressive: 10-goalers Adolfo Cambiaso, Eduardo Novillo Astrada and Juan Martin Nero; and representing women players, the Marchioness of Milford Haven and the Argentinian Lía Salvo. Equally impressive is the ‘fixtures list’ of events with which Jaeger-LeCoultre is associated, from charity exhibition matches at London’s Ham Polo Club to the Argentina’s Triple Crown tournaments in Buenos Aires.

There are, of course, other watch companies that have sponsored polo over the years. Rolex was a major player in the 1980s with both a tournament and a high goal team at Palm Beach Polo & Country Club. Piaget was also there then; it recently returned to the sport as a sponsor at International Polo Club Palm Beach, and this year co-sponsored the Pilará team in Argentina’s Triple Crown tournaments.

Other brands including Hublot, Breitling

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and TAG Heuer have also been sponsors.

Currently, however, no other firm supports the sport as widely and with so much enthusiasm as Jaeger-LeCoultre.

The 21st-century story of Jaeger-LeCoultre and polo began in 2002 when Clare Milford Haven met Amsterdam-based Patrick Boutellier, the firm’s brand manager for Benelux and Scandinavia, and proposed that Jaeger-LeCoultre sponsor her polo team.

‘I knew the story of how polo had inspired the creation of the Reverso,’ says Boutellier, ‘and I knew how much polo was growing.

When I discussed sponsorship possibilities with Jérôme Lambert, in Le Sentier, we agreed to try it for a year and I was put in charge of developing the program.’

Since then, they have never looked back.

The following year a Jaeger-LeCoultre team was one of the first to enter the new Geneva Masters tournament at Veytay

1&2 Vintage advertising for the luxury Reverso 3 A polo design requested by a private collector 4 Cambiaso’s distinctive version 5 Patrick Bouteiller 6 Jerome Lambert

Polo Club not far from the company’s main headquarters in the Vallée de Joux.

In addition to sponsoring the ‘home team’, in 2007 Jaeger-LeCoultre also became title sponsor of this annual event that draws upwards of 4,000 spectators. The 2009 Geneva Masters is scheduled for August.

In 2005, Jaeger-LeCoultre sponsored a team in a 40–40 charity match in aid of paralysed player Andrew Seavill, at Stedham in West Sussex. ‘That was when I met Adolfo Cambiaso, the world’s best player,’ recalls Boutellier. ‘He was named Most Valuable Player of the match and I presented him with a Reverso watch as the prize. Adolfo was intrigued by the story of the Reverso’s origins and we agreed to a partnership between Jaeger-LeCoultre and his La Dolfina operation, including his team and his Diamond Cup tournament in Argentina.’

That same year Boutellier also recruited Eduardo Novillo Astrada as a JaegerLeCoultre ambassador and in 2008 added Juan Martin Nero to the roster. ‘Nero won the first of the Triple Crown tournaments, the Tortugas Open, playing with Ellerstina,’ Boutellier says proudly. ‘Then Novillo Astrada, playing for La Aguada, won the Hurlingham Open. Finally Nero, playing against Cambiaso and La Dolfina, won the Argentine Open in extra time.’

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s exposure during the big Argentine season last autumn also included La Dolfina’s 22-goal Diamond

Since starting their polo partnerships six years ago, Jaeger-LeCoultre events worldwide have raised around a million dollars for good causes Cup; three tournaments at the Arelauquen Polo Club in the mountains of Patagonia, including its second annual International Women’s; and a charity gala at the Palacio Duhau-Park Hyatt in Buenos Aires where $30,000 was raised for the Nuestra Señora del Pilar Children’s Home.

‘Since we started our polo partnerships six years ago, Jaeger-LeCoultre events worldwide have raised around a million dollars for good causes,’ says Boutellier.

The firm’s sponsorship of events or teams at a score of venues in a dozen countries around the world, from Argentina to Europe, the US and Australia, makes Jaeger-LeCoultre one of the sport’s most consistent corporate supporters. While Boutellier can’t discuss the company’s polo sponsorship budget, it must be substantial.

In the US, Jaeger-LeCoultre has had exposure at International Polo Club Palm Beach on Florida’s Gold Coast and the

Bridgehampton Polo Club on Long Island.

In Australia, they are one of the sponsors of the ‘Polo in the City’ series in Sydney and Melbourne.

The company’s East European tour begins in May, and the Jaeger-LeCoultre Charity Match is scheduled for England’s Ham Polo Club in June. In August the company will be sponsoring the Scandinavian Open in Stockholm; the Gold Cup at Sotogrande on Spain’s Costa del Sol; and the Geneva Masters at Veytay in Switzerland. September brings the French Open at Chantilly and the Belgian Open at Anvers. Then, in the autumn, it’s back to Argentina for the Triple Crown again.

Jaeger-LeCoultre is using Adolfo Cambiaso in its advertising campaign for the Reverso Squadra, one of some 40 models in its current range. None of the models is cheap: prices range from £2,300 for a lady’s Reverso in steel to more than £200,000 – beyond the wildest dreams of the company’s founder, Antoine LeCoultre, 175 years ago.

‘We chose to partner polo because it has the highest demographics of any sport and since the creation of the legendary Reverso for polo players, we have a genuine heritage in the sport since 1931,’ says Boutellier. ‘Polo has an impressive social profile and a large proportion of its participants and supporters are discerning men and women with high disposable income – potential customers for Jaeger-LeCoultre.’

hurlingham [ training]

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Thai goal Renowned instructor Rege Ludwig seized the chance to take Southeast Asian polo to the next level with an international school in Thailand After 60 years as a polo professional, I recently accepted the invitation of a lifetime – to help develop an international polo school in Thailand. Having conducted clinics there for the past five years, I am quite familiar with the Thai Polo Club, its management and facilities. I am also well aware of the aspirations of the patriarchs of Thai polo (Harald, Assunta, Caroline, and Felix Link and Nunthinee Tanner) to grow and develop the sport in Thailand. Based on that knowledge, and with prior experience with all of them in clinics and private lessons, I am convinced there is a sincere commitment to ensure that polo and the school have a good chance of developing into a product and service that the world of polo can be proud of. Agreeing to get involved was an easy decision to take.

The shared objectives of Harald Link and Nunthinee Tanner, founders of the Thai Polo Club, and myself are simple. Firstly: provide an

opportunity for guests of Thai Polo to play the game at a competitive level; offer an opportunity for all guests to learn and improve; and ensure that guests of Thai Polo have an affordable and enjoyable polo experience that will bring them back time and time again.

Secondly, but equally importantly: develop a Thai national team; assist in the development of other Southeast Asian national teams; create a polo school where players of any level can learn or accomplish something useful; establish a training program for polo horse trainers and polo horses; address the issue of umpiring; and create a venue to train future teachers in the many aspects of polo.

To achieve these objectives, the club provides horses to lease for stick-and-ball, playing practice and/or tournament games, or to participate in lessons and clinics. There are two regulation-size tournament fields, and a three-quarter-size field for stick-and-ball work

and practice games which were designed, planted and nurtured under the guidance of Jim Gilmore, director, designer, and architect of the famous Ellerston polo facilities of Australia. There is a clubhouse with a full bar and dining facility. The bar is the original Chukka Bar imported from the Langham Hotel in London, England. A full-time physiotherapist is available too.

A new 3,000 sq ft building, built in the Thai ‘open air’ style, houses classrooms, a porch lounge area, kitchen, restrooms, and TV and DVD viewing area. There is also a state-of-theart hitting cage built from the design of the official hitting cage of the USPA. A wonderful feature of the school building is that it nestles in a small forest of palm trees situated on the top of a hill looking down on a manicured boarded tournament polo field.

Within the first month of operation we have conducted private lessons with players

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1 Players of the future on the field of dreams 2 Rege watches intently 3 The state-of-the-art hitting cage

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ANAKE

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from France, Germany, Australia, Switzerland, United States, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. We have also conducted three-day clinics with players from three countries: one each from Singapore and Macau (China), and two groups from Indonesia. One of the latter was the Indonesian national team, who are in the process of preparing for the 2009 Southeast Asian Games. We were fortunate, as well, to share some of our experience with Andrew Hine and one of his young 10-goal English national teams representing the HPA, who were playing against an all Southeast Asian team (11 goals).

We are in negotiations to conduct clinics with clubs in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Zambia. Considering that this is the first month of our first year of operation, we are pleased with the initial reception of the International Polo School.

The above statement becomes especially true when I factor in the Thai Junior Polo Program, which is the brainchild of Nunthinee Tanner. At present, this consists of six to eight players who range in age from six to 12 years. These young players ride, stick-and-ball, or play polo five to six days a week on Thai ponies measuring between 10 and 12 hands. The Thai players and ponies

36-37 Rege Ludwig.indd 2

There is a real possibility that some of these young players will represent Thailand often perform their magic in demonstration matches before the beginning of the main games that take place throughout Thailand.

The games they play are not slow and easy.

Most of these kids get the ponies to run, and I mean run fast, as they hit the ball time after time the length of a full-size polo field.

A couple of the players can hit the ball 60, 70, or even 80 yards with control, while running the ponies at full speed (approximately 20mph). A few youngsters can hit all of the shots running at high speed and with a degree of control and consistency that is far beyond their years. I feel safe in saying that a couple of these young Thai polo players compare quite favourably with the better young players of about the same age that I have seen play in England, the United States and Argentina.

I don’t think it is far-fetched to predict that at the current rate of exposure and

improvement, there is a very real possibility that some of these young players will be representing Thailand or Southeast Asia in the FIP World Championship Tournament within the next ten years. The rewarding part for me will be in working and seeing it all happen; I can hardly wait to see where the vision of Nunthinee Tanner leads us.

My teaching opportunities have been extensive, varied, and rewarding. I thoroughly enjoy and appreciate having the opportunity to work with players of different levels. It is gratifying for both of us when a student gains the ability to hit the ball a little further or more accurately, slow down, accelerate, or turn their horse more effectively, or to better understand and use the strategy of the game.

I find it interesting to observe the influence of the Western world and the heritage of Eastern culture fusing to form the current Southeast Asia programme.

I see this opportunity as an enticing challenge to discover how I can fit into that fusion relative to the world of polo. I look forward to the requisite effort associated with discovering if, and how, I can have a positive effect on that development. It is a new day, and an exciting adventure for me.

10/2/09 15:36:46

hurlingham [ history]

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The victorious 1927 US team recieve the trophy.

Players, from left: Tommy Hitchcock Jr, Malcolm Stevenson, J Watson Webb and Devereux Milburn

rivalry resumed Alex Webbe tells the story of the Westchester Cup and its current revival It was only fitting that John Watson should captain the British contingent that crossed the Atlantic in 1886 to compete in the first International Cup series with the United States, a series that would come to be known as the Westchester Cup. Captain John Henry Watson of the 13th Hussars is credited with penning the first formal rules, and has often been referred to as ‘the father of British polo’. A bit of a nonconformist, Watson played with a group of players under the name Freebooters. Unlike most organised polo teams of the day, the Freebooters had no home field or club and were comprised of the four best players available. It was his Freebooters team (Captain Thomas Hone, the Hon R Lawley, Captain Malcolm Little and himself) that Watson brought to America in 1886.

Having discovered the game in India, British soldiers brought it back to England, where it flourished. The British had been playing since the middle of the 19th Century, and were considered the undisputed international masters of the game. The Americans had only been at it since 1876, but were keen for the competition. The British requested that the Americans put up a trophy for the occasion and help defray the cost of travel for the players and ponies.

Gray Griswold, the Secretary of The Polo Association of America agreed to put up a cup

and said that the expenses would be taken care of. The trophy was commissioned with Tiffany & Company for the equivalent of more than $22,000 in today’s money. The challenge had been issued and accepted. The year of 1886 marked the beginning of the historic Westchester Cup. Thousands of spectators crowded the sidelines with carriages being parked three deep and a sideboard put in place to keep the ball from traveling under the spectators’ carriages and frightening the horses.

A far cry from the matches played today, the teams agreed to a best two out of three days’ play. Each day’s match was divided into three periods of 20 minutes. There was a ten-minute rest between each period and two minutes after each goal.

Although zealous in their pursuit of the ball, the American players (William K Thorn, R Belmont, Foxhall Keene and Thomas Hitchcock Sr) soon found their individualism trumped by the team play of the British.

Watson’s introduction of the backhander disarmed the Americans as drive after drive was deftly turned away with a powerful backhanded shot.

The horses that the British team brought across with them were larger that those ridden by the Americans, but they were reportedly ‘fully as agile’, and the Americans were certainly the worse for it.

hurlingham [ history]

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There was no throw-in; the ball was placed at the centre of the ground and the players would race for possession of it. At the sound of the starting bell, 17-year-old Foxhall Keene raced to the centre of the grounds and in three hits scored the first goal for America. But the British players then went on to score successive 10-4 and 14-2 victories and firmly reinforce their claim as the dominant power in world polo.

It would be 16 years before the Americans would issue a challenge to the British again (there is a contention that there was a Westchester Cup match played in 1900, but the fact that the one-game contest was never recorded on the cup itself – while in British hands – seems to belie that claim).

This time the Americans scored an opening 2-1 win, but the team play of the British foursome that carried them to successive 6-1 and 7-1 victories to retain the trophy.

In 1909 American team captain Harry Payne Whitney was ready. Well aware of the importance of the polo pony itself, Whitney set about purchasing every topflight polo mount available regardless of the price, and he had agents busy in England as well. So thorough were his efforts that

The ‘Big Four’ broke the British stranglehold and revolutionised the game with innovative use of their back he had managed to pluck the top horses from English international players WS Buckmaster and FM Freake, leaving them wanting for mounts and, as an unfortunate consequence, in danger of not being selected to defend the cup.

This time the Americans won convincingly in straight matches, 9-5 and 8-2. Their team of Lawrence Waterbury, JM Waterbury, Harry Payne Whitney and Back, Devereux Milburn would go on to defend it successfully in 1911 and 1913.

The Big Four, as they came to be known, had finally broken the British grip on the polo fields, and they revolutionized the game through the innovative use of their back, Milburn, who would often ride through the lineup and score. Instead of

short controlled passes from one player to another, the Americans unloaded long shots down the field and then let the superiority of their horses carry them to the ball. The role of the Number 1 was also changed. Rather than merely attempting to ride the opposing back out of the play, he was expected to strike and carry the ball on attack. These were some of the innovations that defeated the British team in 1909. The game of polo had evolved again.

The Westchester Cup series of 1914 almost didn’t happen. There seemed to be a great deal of difficulty in organizing a British side. International veterans Freake and Buckmaster both declined to participate, and a last-minute foursome of cavalrymen was assembled under the leadership of Major FW Barrett, recaptured the cup on the strength of a second straight win, 4-2 (penalties were enforced by deducting fractions of goals from the offending team) in front of over 35,000 spectators. The absence of Harry Payne Whitney was sorely felt, as there were only flashes of the former brilliance of the Big Four in the final chukka.

Excellent team play by the British foursome (Captain HA Tomkinson, Captain

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11927: King Alonso of Spain (far right)

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talks with Major Barrett, while Major Lockett (fourth from right) talks with the Prince of Wales 2 Programme from 1924: J Watson Webb was the only 10-goal left-hander in history 3 Foxhall Keene 4 The victorious US

MUSEUM OF POLO/DAVID LOMINSKA

team celebrates in 1992

Leslie Cheape, Major FW Barrett and Captain Vivian N Lockett) was credited for the win, and the Westchester Cup returned to England.

The Great War brought an end to any thought of future competitions, as Europe was enmeshed in hostilities. Great human losses drained the rosters of polo clubs throughout England and little thought was given to training horses for polo. At the end of the war, the demobilisation of cavalry units seriously reduced the potential pool of players, and the international competition did not resume until 1921.

It was at that time that Tommy Hitchcock Jr made his Westchester Cup debut. Joined by Louis Stoddard, J Watson Webb and the legendary Devereux Milburn, the United States routed the British (Lt Col HA Tomkinson, Maj FW Barrett, Lord Wodehouse and Major Vivian N Lockett) 11-4 and 10-6. The cup returned to the States.

The Americans would be victorious in the 1924 series at Meadow Brook (16-5 and 14-5), in 1927 at Meadow Brook (13-3 and 8-5) and in 1930 at Meadow Brook 10-5 and 14-9 despite the inclusion of Canadian-born, Argentinean resident 10-goaler Lewis Lacey

in the British team.

In 1936 the United States would take a team to England to play for the cup at the fabled Hurlingham Club. For the first time since 1914, the American side lined up without Tommy Hitchcock Jr on the field.

The combination of Eric Pedley, Michael

The Westchester Cup was regarded as polo’s world championship Phipps, Stewart Iglehart and Winston Guest had a tougher time but still managed to defend the cup 10-9 and 8-6. Gerald Balding and Humphrey Guinness were improving, but so were the young Americans.

The last time the cup was played in the United States was in 1939 when the highlytouted 40-goal team of Michael Phipps, Tommy Hitchcock Jr, Cecil Smith and Stewart Iglehart was slated to play against a 30-goal British contingent of Robert Skene, Aidan Roark, Gerald Balding and Eric TyrellMartin. Smith suffered an injury before the

first match and was replaced by 9-goaler Winston Guest. The British played valiantly but the Americans won 11-7 and 9-4.

The Westchester Cup would remain in America until 1992 when it was contested at the Guards Polo Club in England. The Americans took the one-game match 8-7 in the closest contest since 1913. William Lucas, Cody Forsyth, Alan Kent and Howard Hipwood represented Great Britain while the US team consisted of John Gobin, Adam Snow, Owen Rinehart and Rob Walton.

Stables of horses were no longer shipped across the Atlantic months in advance, but the rivalry was resurrected, and the competition was exciting.

Five years later, in 1997, a British team (Will Lucas, Cody Forsyth, Howard Hipwood and Andrew Hine) would prove victorious in a one game contest, scoring a 12-9 win over a US side comprising Julio Arellano, Mike Azzaro, Memo Gracida and John Goodman.

This year the competition returned, with the top British players traveling to the International Polo Club in Wellington, Florida to meet the cream of American polo.

Once considered the world championship of polo, the Westchester has a rich history.

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the action

TONY RAMIREZ/WWW.IMAGESOFPOLO.COM

[drama] Catch up with all the latest action from around the world

42 Triple Crown

52 Cabo San Lucas

60 Aspen

Ellerstina enjoyed a popular and emotional triumph at the Argentine Open

The new Pacific coast venture was launched with polo on the beach

The Ninth World Snow Polo Championships provided a great pre-Christmas celebration

46 Argentine Diary

54 St Moritz

61 Belgium

Clare Milford Haven reports from her annual polo tour

The glamorous ski resort celebrated a quarter-century of Cartier polo

LFC Rothschild were a force to be reckoned with in Antwerp

48 Aiken

56 St Tropez

62 Thailand

Goose Creek were the ones to watch at the ever-popular polo destination

Beautiful surroundings and good sportsmanship were the order of the day

A record number of competitors took part in the Thai Polo Open

50 The Villages

58 Iran

The club has had a makeover, and the top players came in their numbers

The 63rd FIP Ambassadors Cup was played in historic surroundings

Above The chase is on in the snow of St Moritz

©TONY RAMIREZ/WWW.IMAGESOFPOLO.COM

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Triple Crown All eyes were focussed on Ellerstina in Argentina’s hotly contested trio of tournaments, reports Jorge Andrades In 1998, the great Gonzalo Pieres, co-founder of Ellerstina in Argentina with the Australian Kerry Packer, won his last Argentine Open title, helped by three young but excellent players: Mariano Aguerre, Adolfo Cambiaso and Bartolomé Castagnola. Ten years later, his two young sons, Facundo and Gonzalo Jr, with Pablo MacDonough and Juan Martín Nero, recaptured the tournament playing for their father’s club, by beating La Dolfina 13-12 in the decisive encounter of the championship and proving the old proverb ‘third time lucky’ to be correct, having lost in the 2005 and 2007 Argentine Open finals against the same rival.

In a rare coincidence, three players of the 2008 losing team were Gonzalo’s team mates in 1998, and another coincidence was that all three finals were decided in extra chukkas.

Nevertheless, the 2008 Argentine Open was a great success which showed changes in the line-ups (Indios Chapaleufu II, Ellerstina) with some debutant squads such as Pilara Piaget and Black Watch and twelve 10-goal players taking part. This saw the handicap of the eight participating teams reach the impressive average of 35.62 goals.

Off the field, there were also pleasant surprises, such as the ‘sold out’ sign for the main stand before the start of the tournament, and a record number of spectators enjoyed not only the matches, but also the improved Palermo installations.

Pablo MacDonough, playing number 3 for the first time, controls the ball, chased

by Lucas Monteverde

The Tortugas Open When the high handicap season started, the qualifying matches for the remaining two spots for the Hurlingham and Palermo Opens were yet to played. In the event, just six squads took part in the important tournament held at the Tortugas Country Club located 40km north of Buenos Aires.

In the opening match, Ellerstina, lining up for their first time Juan Martin Nero (who replaced Matias MacDonough as a back) downed Pilara Piaget (Agustin Merlos 10, Santiago Chavanne 8, Sebastian Merlos 9, Marcos Heguy 10) 13-12. It wasn’t easy, but the winners managed to overcome the debutants with just a few minutes to go.

After that, despite losing Pablo MacDonough (injured, replaced by Lucas Criado) the Pieres brothers’ squad easily overcame Indios Chapaleufu II 12-9 to gain a place in the final.

Meanwhile, in their second game in the A zone, Pilara Piaget gave a great polo lesson, demolishing Indios Chapaleufu II 14-12 in an historic match that for the first time in Argentine high handicap polo had the Merlos brothers in opposition (Agustin and Sebastian played for the winners while Juan

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The Hurlingham Open The 120th occasion of the oldest championship in the world started with two more teams coming from the qualifying matches: Trenque Lauquen (a good 30-goal handicap, comprising Agustin Garcia Grossi, Hilario Ulloa, Pablo Jauretche and Chilean Jaime Garcia Huidobro) and El Paraiso (Julio Novillo Astrada, Ignacio Toccalino, Guillermo Willington and Alejandro Novillo Astrada).

In the opening encounter, La Dolfina could put their 40-goal team on show for the first time as Lucas Monteverde, recovered from his injury, replaced Stirling.

Nevertheless, Adolfo Cambiaso’s team had to be at their best to defeat Trenque Lauquen, who played well after trailing 1-9 in the fourth chukker, and finished the match only 9-12 behind. Then, with an outstanding performance by Agustin Merlos, Pilara edged Black Watch 19-16.

Cristian Laprida Jr replaced the injured Matias MacDonough for the losers, who put in a mediocre performance.

On the second day of group B, Pilara Piaget defeated Trenque Lauquen 19-11 and La Dolfina, who showed better team work than in their debut, gained an 18-10 victory against Black Watch. With these results, the unbeaten teams clashed for a place in the final and it was Marcos Heguy’s team who,

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‘I cannot believe my eyes! This is my debut with Ellerstina and I’ve just won my first tournament’ after having trailed 9-13 by the end of the sixth period, came from behind in the last two chukkas and managed to level it at 15-15 with just a few seconds to go. In the extra chukka, thanks to a goal scored by Agustin Merlos with a 30 yards penalty, they beat Cambiaso´s squad 16-15 to gain a place in the final. Meanwhile, Black Watch won their first encounter of the season against Trenque Lauquen 12-10.

In the A zone, Ellerstina continued their unbeaten stretch by defeating El Paraiso 16-7 in the first game. In what was expected to be a great duel, La Aguada and Indios Chapaleufu II played a poor game with numerous fouls, arguments among the players. The Novillo Astrada brothers triumphed 17-12, but neither team could be satisfied with their performance.

In a Novillo Astrada family duel, as Ignacio, Eduardo, Miguel and Javier for La Aguada, faced their brother Alejandro and their cousin Julio for El Paraiso, the 2003 Triple Crown winners had an easy 15-9 victory.

Afterwards, Indios Chapaleufu II could not improve on their previous performances and were easily demolished 18-12 by Ellerstina.

In the decisive match for their zone, La Aguada took revenge for their defeat in the Tortugas Open final, and after an incredible

©TONY RAMIREZ/WWW.IMAGESOFPOLO.COM; MERCURIA ENERGY

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Ignacio did it with brothers Alberto Jr, Ignacio and Eduardo Heguy for the other team).

For the B group, La Dolfina could not line up their 40-goal team in their debut. The injured Lucas Monteverde was replaced by David Stirling, and in their first match they produced a mediocre performance. After trailing in the first three chukkas, they reacted to edge the debutants Black Watch (Ignacio Figueras, Matias MacDonough, Bautista Heguy and Francisco De Narvaez Jr) 14-11. But La Aguada, who had not changed their line-up since 2003, took advantage of their poor play and in an exciting duel downed Cambiaso’s quartet 11-10 in an extra chukka with a goal scored by Ignacio Novillo Astrada.

The Novillo Astrada brothers had previously demolished Black Watch 15-5 in an encounter whose final result speaks for itself, and so with their victory over La Dolfina they gained a place to face Ellerstina in the final.

The decisive game was well played and even up to the end of the fourth chukka the teams were tied 6-6, but from the start of the fifth everything went in favour of the Pieres squad, who showed their excellent ball play. The Novillo Astrada team unexpectedly deteriorated, losing their marks and committing many errors in defence. That allowed Ellerstina to score seven goals and win the final 13-9. Juan Martin Nero, one of the best men on the field, said after the final: ‘I cannot believe my eyes! This is my debut with Ellerstina and I’ve just won my first tournament – surely, something I did not expect before the start of the season!’

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1 MVP Juan Martín Nero kept Cambiaso in check 2 Gonzalito at the scene of his triumph 3 Sebastian was in flying form 4& 5 Next year it will be 40–40!

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reaction in the last two chukkas they beat the Pieres brothers’ team 13-11. It was an unexpected result as the losers dominated, and were ahead for most of the game.

The final was exciting, with both teams playing good polo and La Aguada led for much of the match without ever taking more than a two-goal lead. Pilara Piaget managed to stay alive thanks to Agustin Merlos’ skill at scoring penalties. After finishing 12-12 and 14-14 in the last two chukkas, they went to a supplementary period, which was decided by a doubtful penalty awarded against Marcos Heguy’s squad and was scored by Javier Novillo Astrada. It was 15-14 for the four brothers, who had recovered their confidence for the Argentine Open.

The Argentine Open Despite their irregular performances in Tortugas and Hurlingham, nobody doubted that Ellerstina and La Dolfina were the most serious candidates for the most important polo tournament in the world. Ellerstina started convincingly in the first part of the Triple Crown but then fell unexpectedly against La Aguada in the semi-final of the Hurlingham Open. La Dolfina, meanwhile, did not shine in either of the first two tournaments, but always show their best form at Palermo.

‘Our minds are always on the Argentine Open, the other championships are not important for us’ ‘Our minds are always on the Argentine Open, the other championships are not important for us,’ Adolfo Cambiaso and his team mates were heard to say, and they proved their point by playing well to beat El Paraiso 18-9 in the opening encounter of the tournament. After that, Pilara Piaget defeated Indios Chapaleufu II 14-13, but the difference should have been greater.

Ellerstina made their debut against Trenque Lauquen, winning 20-10, and then came the surprise of the championship as La Aguada lost Javier and Eduardo Novillo Astrada (injured). Although replacements Donovan and Di Paola did their best, Black Watch took the advantage and edged the game 13-12.

Pilara Piaget had an easy 16-9 triumph over El Paraiso on the second day of group A and La Dolfina outclassed Indios Chapaleufu II 17-12 to eliminate the Heguy’s squad. Black

Watch did not play well against Trenque Lauquen, whom they beat 11-10 in an extra chukka, but they gained a chance to decide group B against Ellerstina, who easily defeated the eliminated La Aguada 15-9.

In the decisive group encounters for a place in the final, La Dolfina put on their best performance to overcome Pilara Piaget 17-13 and, as expected, Ellerstina had an easy 16-11 win over Black Watch.

So for the third time in four years, the final of the Argentine Open was between La Dolfina and Ellerstina. In 2005 and 2007 the finals had been decided in extra chukkas, and it was the same story this time. After eight chukkas of exciting but not particularly good play the score was 12-12 and extra time loomed.

Man of the match Juan Martin Nero not only restricted Cambiaso to just one field goal, but he also played excellently in attack, and could have decided the game by scoring a superb goal with just 95 seconds to go. In the event, however, ‘Adolfito’ equalized at 6’51” to force the extra period.

Gonzalo Pieres jr hit the ball from a wide angle about 50 yards from the posts to secure victory after just one minute. It was well deserved. Ellerstina led in both scoring and action for most of the game and La Dolfina’s attacking play never reached the standards we have come to expect from them.

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Partying at the Mercuria stand at Palermo.

Below: Pamela Sorzana, Mercedes Venancio, Clare, Bautista Sorzana and Pablo MacDonough at the Madonna concert

Argentine Diary Clare Milford Haven reports on her annual trip to take in the Argentine polo season Thursday 20th November:

It’s my ninth year running visiting Argentina to catch the Open and some much needed ‘rays’, and I still get the same buzz when I walk through those dividing doors at Ezeiza airport to a mass of smiling faces. This year, Teresa and Carolina Beresford were on my flight, and having put the world to rights with Teresa for a couple of hours, sleep comes instantly. Arriving back at the Pieres house we always take in Murray, I get a real sense of coming home. The same maid, the familiar smell and even my favourite Nescafé on the boil. Milanese, salad and ‘papas’ followed by soggy meringues floating in a sea of Dulce de Leche, and then the first of many siestas before heading off to the stables to reunite myself with my horses. First night to Jerome Wirth for an asado with all the familiar faces: Nina and JP, a good turn-out of Tomlinsons, the newly married Borwicks, Morls, Beimy, Rob Archibald et al. Lots of chat about the ‘credit crunch’ and whether –or when – it is going to affect polo.

books helpfully suggests. Sadly it feels more like an impenetrable lump of lard…

After a quick shower, it’s off to BA for some promised shopping with my stepdaughter Tati, but before we hit the shops we have a few things to organise. Queen are in town, and as a friend of drummer Roger Taylor, I have some tickets. As we loiter in the lobby of the Park Hyatt trying to arrange a minibus, manna from heaven in the form of Eduardo Maclean, the hotel’s sales director, arrives and all problems are solved. We hail a taxi to take us to Palermo Soho for some funky retail therapy.

A little weary, we head back to the comfort zone of Recoleta and the Park Hyatt and race lengths in the pool, transform ourselves into rock chicks and head up to the Vinotecha for some local wine and cheese. Suitably mellow, we pile into the minivan and head to the stadium just in time to catch ‘WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU!!’

After two-and-a-half hours of rock and rolling we find ourselves heading back to the hotel for a debrief with the band. Bed at 5am.

Sunday 23rd November

Chukkas at Don Urbano, then back after lunch to watch Ellerstina v La Aguada, which, with Eduardo and Javier Novillo-Astrada out due to injuries, is a bit of a walkover for the boys in the black shirts. Roger Taylor and lovely girlfriend Sarina come to watch and he remains relatively incognito, to the point where a confused local photographer zooms in on David Taylor instead!

Monday 24th November

Tati comes to say goodbye – off to continue her gap year in Verbier – and I await Norman the physio, who I hope is going to relieve the pain in my back. My mood is not helped by the heat, which is very intense.

Thursday 27th November

George arrives and we start planning the layout of the land in Pilar Chico – meeting architects and pacing around the 30 hectares.

Friday 21st November

First chukkas are always a bit hit-and-miss (more miss than hit) and I stumble through them on my very obliging ponies, with patient team-mates shouting much-needed words of encouragement. I can feel my lower back going into its usual first-chukkas spasm and try to visualise that pain as melting butter, as one of my many sports psychology

Saturday 22nd November

My first day at Palermo, and a wonderful sense of déjà vu climbing the heady heights of the stands up to our seats. La Dolfina against Chapa Dos – La Dolfina on fine form, and putting paid to the rumours of iffy form at Hurlingham. Lucas Monteverde is spectacular.

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I make the mistake of wearing flip-flops and my feet are savaged by red ants. Never wear flip-flops in long grass in Argentina.

Saturday 29th November

In spite of the rain, we manage to play chukkas on Jerome Wirth’s new ground, which was excellent. We reach Palermo and just 15 minutes before the game is due to start, the heavens open. The downpour is torrential and the game is cancelled.

The rain pours down at Palermo, 29 November

Queen in action, with amps up to 11

Tuesday 2nd December

We stay at the Hyatt to recoup my MVP prize from Palm Beach (two complimentary nights there, nicely convenient for the annual JaegerLeCoultre charity party where each players handicap raised 100 dollars per goal, resulting in a total of US $29,050 in aid of Hogar Nuestra Senor del Pilar). Pablo MacDonough happily receivea a Squadra for winning the Triple Crown in Sotogrande.

Wednesday 3rd December

Louisa at Yacare, 10 December

Drive to the La Martina shop in Arribenos for the World Polo Tour awards. Best amateur player won by Alfio; professional player awards won by all the usual suspects.

Thursday 4th December

To the Madonna concert at the River Plate stadium. Weather really hot again, just as Argentina should be. The show is packed and, yes, Madonna is a great performer and an amazing dancer, but her singing is not up to scratch and she manages to ruin some of the old favourites with too much techno (or perhaps I am just showing my age?). Her rendition of ‘Don’t Cry for Me Argentina’ is very emotive but she only sings it for two minutes and we all feel a little short-changed.

Friday 5th December

TONY RAMIREZ;

I was invited to play at Hurlingham in the Copa Maxima ladies tournament, and it is fascinating to see Hurlingham – the mirror image of a golf club in the Home Counties, delightfully old fashioned with cricket nets, golf course and of course its famous polo field. We play seven chukkas in 30-degree heat – it is utterly exhausting and we come second. Lea Salvo plays like a dream, and he really puts us all to shame. Then dinner with the MacDonough family, who are as entertaining as always.

Celebrations after the final

Monday 8th December

Off to La Aguada for a Jaeger-LeCoultre asado hosted by Eduardo Novillo Astrada. La Aguada is a really stunning estancia set in 250 hectares of rolling countryside. We watch the JLC South American clients stick-and-ball in searing heat.

Wednesday, 10th December

My 15-year-old daughter Louisa arrives on her Heathfield school polo tour and I kidnap her for a few days. We sunbathe, play chukkas, and shop in BA. The night before the final of the Open, Pablo MacDonough invites Louisa to stick-and-ball at Yacare and shows us the horses he will play the following day,

Louisa and schoolfriends arrive, 10 December

including my personal favourites, Suegra, and Alan Kent’s Cordelia.

Saturday, 13th December

The final of the Open! The day has finally arrived. The day that we have all been waiting for, and it is well worth the wait. Facundo shines, Juan Martin shows the strength under that calm exterior, and Pablo his extraordinary skill with the ball. Gonzalito scores the winning goal. I cry with joy for Ellerstina who deserve this momentous win.

La Dolfina are dignified in defeat, but the crowd show no reservations in expressing their delight at this long-awaited result for a very popular and talented team.

WILLOW MARSH FARM Year round grazing in Madison County, Virginia.

Automatic waterers, no bermuda grass - as low as $3 per day. Level of care is your choice.

Agent: PEDRO MARCOS BIGNOLI +561 703 6273 marcos@capitolpolo.com

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Aiken It may be a small town, but big-name players ensured Aiken’s first 20-goal season was a runaway success, reports Sarah Eakin In Aiken, the unspoken words were to keep your eyes on the Silver as far as Goose Creek polo team was concerned. Maureen Brennan’s team, lining up Adam Snow and Chilean brothers Martin and ‘Cote’ Zegers, were defending champions of the USPA Silver Cup having won in its inaugural year at 302 Polo in 2007. This year they found their form just in time to repeat the performance.

In 2008, the USPA Monty Waterbury hosted by New Bridge Polo and Country Club was added to the mix as a prelude to the Silver Cup, creating a 20-goal season featuring two of the United States Polo Association’s oldest trophies, and bringing some notable high goal teams to town.

‘We went into the season trying to win both tournaments,’ said Snow. ‘But if you had to prioritise one it would be the Silver Cup. It was not something we spoke about but inside we all knew it was our focus.’

Christine Cato’s Brigadoon won the Monty Waterbury with an 11-10 win against Gillian Johnston’s Bendabout. Unusually, four out of the six teams entered were fronted by women sponsors. Cato had a new line-up in place for her team’s assault on the 20-goal.

Aiken residents Julio Arellano and Britain’s Julian Daniels had lived within five miles of each other for several years but had not played on the same team before. They joined Brigadoon stalwart Tiger Kneece and

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‘When I thought about us playing Bendabout and Pony Express in our bracket it sounded like high goal in Florida’ the combination proved fruitful. ‘In our first game Julio was learning how Julian played and it was interesting to see where we were at half time,’ said Cato. ‘After that game he got the best out of all of us.’ Arellano was rewarded with Most Valuable Player on the professional side after the finals, while Johnston showed considerable goal-scoring finesse to earn the amateur equivalent.

Goose Creek also added a new element to their team in 2008 – not in player line-up but in routine, hiring the services of a personal trainer for team workouts around Snow’s private polo field. ‘It was a great way to get together informally,’ said Snow. ‘We worked out once or twice a week. The three of us [Snow and the Zeger brothers] like doing stuff anyway – we would surf and do yoga when we played together up in Bridgehampton last summer. The team workout in Aiken was something a little new for this year.’

Goose Creek waited until the opening game of the Silver Cup to find their true form. Down 7-3 at half time against Bob Daniels’s Pony Express lining up Nicolas Roldan, Tomas Goti and Brandon Phillips, Snow reflected that, ‘we were being beaten soundly in the first half but then we found the stuff that worked.

There was a feeling that we found the rhythm of what we had going last year and from then on when we had the confidence to play.’

Goose Creek faced Pony Express once more in the finals, having taken on another recognised Florida high goal operation, Bendabout – with Hector Galindo and Aiken’s Owen Rinehart. ‘The 20-goal in Aiken was a really good level of competition and it is the right level for Aiken,’ said Snow. ‘I remember when I thought about us playing Bendabout and Pony Express in our bracket it sounded like high goal in Florida. It’s a treat for me to play against the best organisations here in Aiken and be living at my home.’

Snow scored the overtime winner to defeat Pony Express in a game that he realised ‘could have gone either way. Win or lose we were going to feel good about the way we played,’ he said. Martin Zegers, who set up Snow for the winning goal, was anointed most valuable player while Snow’s star mare Amy won Best Playing Pony.

Next year, Aiken will repeat the successful experiment of the 20-goal season, which saw

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302 Polo benefiting from sponsorship from Mercedes-Benz of Augusta, who sponsored the Silver Cup, while the Monty Waterbury was presented by Morgan Stanley. The participation of 26-goal high goal veteran and US Open winner Pony Express reflected Daniels’s decision to invest in real estate in Aiken and it is hoped the economic downturn will not stem the continuing tide of players moving to the small southern town.

Cato confirmed that the facilities will continue to expand in 2009 with two new top quality fields at Brigadoon – a polo and equestrian development on the east side of town – to match the two premier fields already in place at the team’s private headquarters in Loughrea Plantation where the Silver Cup finals took place.

‘Each year people are putting new fields in,’ said Snow. Professionals like Aiken because it’s good for the horses. The turnout, the hay, the fields, the barns for rent – it makes it easy for them to get set up and then some of them want to make it more permanent.

‘Hopefully the economic doldrums won’t hurt polo in Aiken too much. We have a buffer because it is very affordable compared to the prices in the north and in Florida. I’d like to think that we will be a little protected.’

1 Nicholas Roldan (left) and Martin Zegers in the Silver Cup final 2 Goose Green leave the field, victorious again 3 Patron Maureen Brennan controls the ball

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The Villages Gracida International and Florida club The Villages ushered in an exciting new era with a groundbeaking $50,000 prize event, reports Alex Webbe

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Federation, and Jim Parr, representing The Villages Polo Club. Also signing were Carlos Gracida, representing Team Mexico, and Mike Azzaro of Team USA. ‘We are proud to continue this tradition,’ said Igartua. ‘This is a wonderful place to continue it.’

Parr said the club was honoured and privileged to host the event. ‘We haven’t ever seen such good polo here until this season,’ he admitted. ‘I’m a little timid about coming back on the field for events like these.’

Azzaro believes The Villages, one of less than a handful of polo clubs boasting a stadium, will be a great venue for such an event. ‘It’s going to be a great opportunity for a lot of us,’ he said. ‘The Mexican team is very talented. I’m looking for volunteers.’

Gracida said playing would continue a family tradition. ‘My father and my brother played in the Cup,’ he reflected. ‘There’s a lot of tradition – it means a lot to me.’

The next major move was the creation of The Villages $50,000 International Cup. Two-and-a-half thousand excited spectators cheered throughout the six-chukka 30-goal match as eight of polo’s top players battled it out in a groundbreaking event that has changed the face of the club. With the support of a myriad of sponsors, The Villages hosted two teams, The Villages Gold (Roberto Gonzalez, Jeff Hall, Mike Azzaro and Luis

As the teams took a turn around the field, the spectators jumped to their feet in thunderous applause and the players waved to the crowd Escobar) and The Villages Blue (Brandon Phillips, Nick Roldan, Carlos Gracida and Matias Magrini) in one of the most exciting polo matches in the polo club’s 11-year reign.

Three hundred yards of golf carts lined the east side of the field while the magnificent open-air stadium and adjoining sidelines accommodated one of the largest audiences in club history. As the teams took a turn around the field, the spectators jumped to their feet in thunderous applause and the players waved to the crowd.

No sooner was the ball thrown into play than the crowd was treated to masterful malletwork and seasoned horsemanship. The Gold team took a commanding lead in the second chukka on the strength of three goals from Mike Azzaro and led 4-2 at halftime.

Taking a page from his tenure as manager of the International Polo Club, Michael Brown

ERIC NALPAS

The Villages Polo Club in central Florida has had a makeover, attracting some of the top players in the game to the retirement community with a population of over 70,000.

The arrival of the consulting firm of Gracida International has played no small part, as internationally renowned former 10-goaler Carlos Gracida and former International Polo Club Manager Michael Brown have redefined the club and the season, enhancing an already outstanding polo programme by bringing the USPA National 20-Goal and the international Camacho Cup to The Villages.

The club’s first visible change came on the opening day last September with a spectacular display of skydivers, marching bands and knights in armour. That was followed by the announcement that The Villages Polo Club would host the Camacho Cup, an international rivalry played between Mexico and the United States. The event will take place on Sunday 3 May. The Cup was named after General Manuel Avila Camacho, who was president of Mexico from 1940 to 1946. It was a periodic series played between Mexico and the US for over 40 years, and was last played at Palm Beach in 1988. Carlos Gracida was on the winning side as Mexico defeated the US team 9-6.

The agreement was signed by Rogelio Igartua, president of the Mexican Polo

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introduced his signature ‘champagne pour’ during the half-time divot stomp thanks to Piper Sonoma, as hundreds of local residents and polo fans stormed the field to the strains of ‘Pretty Woman’ on the sound system.

‘The crowd is fantastic,’ said Luis Escobar.

‘Everyone is so in tune with the game.’

Understanding polo is one thing The Villages’ audience is assured of, with over 1,200 members of The Villages’ booster club attending demonstrations on the nuances of the game. ‘We have to put a good product on the field,’ says marketing director Ron Allen, ‘because they know the difference.’

In a hard-fought contest, the Gold team held on for a 6-4 win and captured The Villages’ very first $50,000 International Cup. A new era had begun for the club.

‘These are world class facilities,’ said Magrini after the game. ‘Carlos and Michael have done a great job organising this match and introducing a new audience of players.’

The weekend’s festivities didn’t end there, as The Villages hosted a ‘Young Guns’ contest between a handful of polo’s up-and-coming stars. Teams sponsored by The Tackeria (Matt Coppola, Shelby Fussell, Carlitos Gracida, Trevor Niznik and Matias Sosa) took on Polo Gear (Harrison Wise, Mariano Gracida, Trevor Allen, Alejandro Gonzalez) in a four-chukka match that gave fans a glimpse of what the future holds for some exciting young players.

There was no lack of enthusiasm, but scoring was hard for the Tackeria team as it

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fell to Polo Gear in an 8-2 contest. Carlos Gracida was so impressed by the youngsters’ display that he declared the initiation of a Junior Camacho Cup the following spring.

With the construction of on-site stabling for the spring of 2009, this may be just the tip of the iceberg in The Villages Polo Club and Gracida International partnership.

1 Luis Escobar (left) does battle with Carlos Gracida in front of the massed ranks of golf carts 2 ‘Young Guns’ Trevor Allen (left) and Carlitos Gracida

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Cabo San Lucas What better way to launch Mexico’s newest Pacific coast polo venture than with a tournament on the beach, asks Herbert Spencer Beach polo came to Mexico’s Pacific coast for the first time in November when Iranianborn American Tony Yahyai and his partners staged a two-day tournament to introduce their new Club Polo Cabo residential development outside the luxury resort of Cabo San Lucas in Baja California. Amateur and professional players came from the US, Canada and Chile to form four three-man teams to play arena polo on the beach of the San Cristobal New Life Resort, about two miles from the Club Polo Cabo property overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

‘Our members will be using the San Cristobal beach for leisure activities once our club is up and running,’ said Yahyai, a property developer from San Diego.

‘Because the beach is too soft for polo, we laid 60 truckloads of dirt onto the sand and packed it to make a temporary arena, giving a firmer and faster surface.’ A large covered stand was erected to provide viewing of the action for around 200 invited guests.

Having just purchased 25 ponies in California to form the nucleus of Club Polo Cabo’s resident string, Yahyai added another seven local ponies to provide mounts for the four teams taking part in the tournament.

Yahyai, an A-rated (0-goal) player, headed a Mexico/Club Polo team with Carlos Galindo (6) and fellow Californian Billy Sheldon (6). A ‘USA’ team included Jason Crowder (6) from California, Ashton Wolf (3) from San Diego, and Suzy Dix (A) from Spokane, Washington.

Dave Offen (8) led the Canada side that included Mike and Robbie Egan from Toronto. The Chile squad included Juan Eduardo Jaramillo (5), Andres Mayol (3) and Lionel Soffia (2).

Umpires for the matches were Gaston von Wernich of Argentina and Fernando Pliego of Mexico. Also on hand was Rogelio Igartua, president of the Mexican Polo Federation.

Steve Lewandowski took a break from his role as play-by-play announcer at San Diego Polo Club to provide commentary, and Sky TV covered the action for television. Half-time entertainment included a display of Lusitano horses by former polo player Valente Barente and traditional Mexican dances by the young group Folkloric. The Philippines-born artist Leonardo Hidalgo brought his paintings from Palm Beach to display in the VIP tent.

In the first match of the weekend, Canada received two goals on handicap against Mexico/Club Polo. It was a close match, all tied up at the end of regulation time, but a shootout gave Mexico/Club Polo a 5-4 victory. In the second match, USA against Chile, although Jason Crowder scored all five goals for the Americans, Chile won 6-5.

The final on Sunday saw Mexico/Club Polo facing Chile. Billy Sheldon was high-scorer with six goals for the home team, but the clock ran down with the score tied 8-8.

Another shootout gave Mexico/Club Polo an 8-9 win. The consolation prize went to Canada who won over the USA. Yahyai and his partners – Dagoberto Gil, Jose Alexander and Dennis Withsosky – presented all the teams with bronzes to mark

Plans include two grass tournament grounds, a practice ground and an arena

the occasion. ‘All the matches were well played, good arena polo,’ said Club Polo Cabo manager Susan Stovall. Stovall, who was polo manager at California’s big Eldorado Polo Club for 26 years before recently deciding to move on, is also the new polo manager at the St Tropez Polo Club in France.

The beach polo weekend ended with a black-tie dinner at the Hotel Riu Palace in Cabo San Lucas. During the weekend visitors had a chance to inspect the Club Polo Cabo property where building plots will go on sale in 2009. The area, known as ‘Los Cabos’ is at the southernmost tip of Mexico’s long Baja California peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez. Cabo San Lucas is a well-established and popular tourist destination with luxury hotels, golf courses, restaurants, and boutiques. Los Cabos is famous for its deep-sea fishing, with black marlin a coveted catch.

Plans for Club Polo Cabo’s 130-acre site, seven miles from Cabo San Lucas, include two grass tournament grounds, a practice ground, and an arena. There will eventually be three clubhouses, stabling for 160 ponies, and 115 residential lots.

‘We’re currently waiting for the San Lucas municipal authority to decide how to get water to the site before proceeding with construction,’ says Yahyai. Meanwhile, he continues, ‘we’ve graded our first polo ground at the club and are planning a groundbreaking tournament there in May. Los Cabos is only two hours or so by air from the southern United States and patrons from Dallas and New Orleans have expressed an interest in joining us. We would also welcome players from Europe to Club Polo Cabo.’

FINER PHOTOGRAPHY

1 Billy Sheldon gives chase to the Chile team 2 Carlos Galindo (on the ball) with Tony Yahyai (yellow helmet) and Canada’s Rob Egan

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St Moritz

WWW.POLOSTMORITZ.COM

Melanie Vere Nicoll reports from the historic ski resort that has welcomed polo with open arms

The Cartier Polo World Cup on Snow celebrated its 25th anniversary with all the fanfare that polo enthusiasts have come to expect in the elegant traditional Swiss village of St Moritz. The Engadine, as the area is locally known, has links to the game dating back to 1899, when the first polo field was laid out by British cavalry officers who received orders to sail for the Boer War in South Africa before the first Alpine match could be played.

A major tournament involving international teams was launched in 1960 and attracted between three and four thousand spectators before the pitch was converted in 1965 to a high-altitude training centre for Olympic athletes. Polo resumed in St Moritz in 1983 when the St. Moritz Polo Club founded the Swiss Polo Association (SPA) and played in Switzerland’s first International fixture, against Spain in Barcelona.

Thanks largely to the international success of the All-Swiss team, which was now playing everywhere except in St Moritz, the idea of playing polo on the frozen lake arose.

Although the concept was initially regarded as pure fantasy, in 1985 the first match was indeed played on the ice. For the past 25 years the St Moritz polo club has been hosting the Cartier Polo World Cup on Snow and the event has become one of the most exciting fixtures in the polo calendar.

This year, four experienced high goal teams with handicaps between 20 and 22 goals battled for the coveted Cartier Trophy.

Accentuating the highly competitive spirit of the tournament were four world-class teams made up of top high goal players.

Returning champions, Team Brioni, were back to defend their title with the same lineup as the previous year, captained by Guy Schwarzenbach (1) who was backed up by Nacho Gonzalez (6), John Paul Clarkin (8) and Johnny Good (5). The 2008 runners-up, Team Cartier arrived this year with a new roster of players with patron Adriano Agosti (0) who was joined by Gaston Laulhe (7), Alejandro Diaz Alberdi (8) and Australia’s Glen Gilmore (7). Team Julius Baer made its appearance with the Marquis of Milford Haven (1) at the head of the formidable combination of Chile’s Jose Donoso (7), Ireland’s Richard Le Poer (4) and one of the few players who is ranked 10 goals worldwide, Pablo MacDonough. To round off the competition Team Maybach returned with an all-Argentine line-up comprised of Federico Bachmann (6), Pablo Jauretche (7), Ignacio Tillous (7) and

patron Philipp Maeder. With the exception of snow veteran Jose Donoso who was returning for his seventh time to St Moritz, Julius Baer’s three other players were playing snow polo for the first time. Glen Gilmore was seeing snow for the first time in his life!

As the players rode out onto the field for the semi-final matches on Saturday, every team had a chance to reach the final.

Although Cartier narrowly defeated Brioni by half a goal they did not manage to get the clear 2-goal victory needed to go through.

Julius Baer had a comfortable victory over Maybach to earn the right to face the reigning champions in the final.

At the end of the day Pablo MacDonough proved his 10-goal handicap (whatever the surface or country) by leading the team to a definitive victory. In the last 12 months Pablo has won The Queen’s Cup, the three high goal

Three Juius Baer players had never played snow polo, and the other one had never seen snow at all 5

tournaments in Sotogrande, the Tortugas and Argentine Opens and now St Moritz.

Patron George Milford-Haven remarked that he had never seen so much press in his life: there were nearly 250 journalist at the closing conference. He felt his team played well and that Richard Le Poer did a good job marking John Paul Clarken. Before St Moritz he suspected that he had a good outdoor team, but possibly not physical enough for the snow polo. He also worried that a 10-goal player might have difficulties dominating the game in the snow. He changed his view upon discovering that the pitch was well prepared with excellent footing, enabling him to use good horses with little fear of injury. At a pre-game meeting, George told his team that a victory would guarantee them a return visit to defend their title. Music to anyone’s ears in these uncertain times!

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1 George Milford Haven (left) and John Paul Clarkin in the final 2 Richard Le Poer backs the ball 3 The victorious 1985 Swiss team 4 Glen Gilmore, snow virgin 5 Poster from 1985

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St Tropez Once again, the French club put on a great show in beautiful and relaxing surroundings prize presentation, delivered by parachute, was followed by a splendid gala dinner, accompanied by the Gold Singers.

England international Malcolm Borwick was playing for LCF Rothschild, and enjoyed the experience. ‘We came straight from Deauville,’ he explains. ‘Then two tournaments in two weeks at St Tropez, with four matches in four days during the first tournament, the Silver Cup. It put a lot of pressure on our string and we lost two horses, but it was very enjoyable and played in a good spirit. St Tropez were the outstanding team overall with three professionals and a patron. We knew they would be hard to beat and so it proved.

We won the subsidiary final.

‘In the second tournament we won one and lost one, then drew the subsidiary final.

It was perfect detox after a hard season, and we will be going back for four weeks this year, stronger and aiming to win.’

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1 Francisco Irastorza (red) chased

by Rodrigo Rueda 2 The Trophy 3 Malcom Borwick (right) leads the pack

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PHOTO TIME ST TROPEZ

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A parachutist drifted down through a cloudless blue sky to deliver the prize to the winner of the 2008 Polo Gold Cup. It was the fitting end to a perfect day at The Polo Club Saint-Tropez – Haras de Gassin, a club located near the listed village of Gassin, between Saint-Tropez and Pampelonne.

The Polo Club Saint-Tropez – Haras de Gassin is a wonderful retreat. It offers two meticulously maintained polo fields, and a stick-and-ball exercise area. The stables can comfortably accommodate 500 horses.

The clubhouse is fronted by a large terrace overlooking the field.

As well as hosting international tournaments at various handicap levels, The Polo Club St-Tropez – Haras de Gassin organises practice matches each season, from March to late October. It is also one of the few clubs in France to run its own polo school for both novices and confirmed players, with coaching by professional players, and opportunities to play in tournaments.

This season, a new 12 to 15-goal tournament, the Silver Cup, was contested in the first week of September. This attracted five teams: Wasabi (Netherlands), IWI (Netherlands), St Tropez (Germany), LCF Rothschild (France/UK), and Buddha Bar (Italy/Brazil). After a close-run 8.5 - 8 final, Wasabi won top honours, with St Tropez as runners-up, while LCF Rothschild took third place against Buddha Bar. After the award ceremony, all enjoyed a well-earned cocktail.

The Gold Cup was the last tournament of the season at The Polo Club Saint-Tropez.

After hard-fought battles between the four contending teams – Buddha Bar (Italy/ Brazil), St Tropez (Germany), Easy Polo Team (Switzerland), and LCF Rothschild (France/ UK) – the prize was won by St Tropez after a decisive 7-11 win over Buddha Bar. LCF Rothschild, meanwhile, took third place after a 7-5 victory over rivals Easy Polo Team. The

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Visit us at www.uspolo.org Jeff Blake is a USPA Player Member rated at 6 goals and MVP of the 2008 Stanford U.S. Open Polo Championship.

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Membership Information 800.232.USPA or uspa@uspolo.org

11/2/09 10:44:15

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Iran Iran was the exotic and beautiful setting for the highly successful 63rd FIP Ambassadors Cup

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The 63rd FIP Ambassadors Cup, hosted by the president of the Polo Federation of IR Iran, Mr. Hamzeh Ilkhanizadeh, the Kanoon Chogan Polo Club and the Ghasr Firoozeh Polo Club, marked a new milestone in the history of the sport. The Polo Federation has been instrumental in bringing about a revival of the game in Iran in recent years, and the tournament, attended by 12 FIP Ambassadors from nine different nations, was evidence of this process.

A practice game took place on between Shiraz and the Tehran and also between Esfahan and Mashhad. The matches were played at the estate of Mr Hemzah at Kharaj which is about 40 kilometers west of Tehran.

The following day at the Ghasr Polo Firoozeh Polo Club east of Tehran the first

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SOODI ILKHANI; JOSEPH BIG

‘Polo requires a great deal of exercise,’ wrote the 9th century Persian historian Dinvari. He also noted that ‘if a polo stick breaks during a game it is a sign of inefficiency’ and advised that ‘a player should strictly avoid using strong language and should be patient and temperate’. It is possible that today’s players had this advice in mind when four teams, named after Iran’s four great cities – Shiraz, Tehran, Esfahan and Mashhad – and made up of Iranian players and FIP Ambassadors, took to the field last October in Tehran and Kanoon. It goes without saying that they were carrying on the illustrious and longstanding tradition of the game, which is believed to have originated in Persia before the reign of Darius the Great in the fifth century BC.

games were played between Shiraz and Esfahan, and Tehran and Mashhad.

The first game was evenly matched and Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers and Bruce Colley played some excellent polo to defeat the Esfahan team led by Octavia Bermudez.

The final score was 6-5 in favour of Shiraz, and they qualified for the final.

The second game was between Tehran, captained by James Ashton, and Mashhad, captained by Reza Behboodi. Both sides put on a tremendous performance. Johan Seth playing for Mashhad scored several goals and his team reached the final.

Between matches, the FIP Ambassadors were invited to visit some of the architectural masterpieces in and around Tehran and Esfahan: highlights included a visit to the exquisite Sheikh Lotfollah (or Ladies’) Mosque in Esfahan, and the lavishly decorated Golestan Palace in Tehran. While in Esfahan, they also visited a site of exceptional sporting interest: the central square, or Naghsheh Jahan, which served as Shah Abbâs the Great’s polo field in the sixteenth century, and which features stone goal posts 7.3 metres apart – the regulation width of a polo goal to this day.

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The final was between Shiraz and Mashhad in the presence of Mr. Ali Abidi the Vice President of Iran.

Both sides played well and Mathias Guerand-Hermes scored the winning goal in the fourth chukka for the Mashhad team.

The umpires for the games were Ricardo Mihanovich and Amir Ali Zolfaghari. The referee was Yusuf Baig. After the presentation of the prizes, the guests attended a special dinner at the Spanish Ambassador’s residence in Tehran.

The 63rd FIP Ambassadors Cup was a huge success and provided the perfect opportunity to build the international family of polo. Both the quality of the play and the warmth of the hospitality would have impressed none other than Shah Abbâs the Great.

The event was the latest example of the international federation’s encouragement of polo in Iran

1 Action from Tehran v Mashhad 2 Mathias Guerrand-Hermes (left) on the hip of Johan Seth 3 Australian James Ashton

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Aspen The Ninth World Snow Polo Championship provided a perfect pre-Christmas celebration in Colorado, reports Susan Redstone

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1 Aspen mountain looms large over the polo field 2 Giving chase, left to right: John Gobin, Luis Escobar and Barry Stout

DAVID LOMINSKA

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Against the stunning backdrop of Aspen mountain and a town lit for Christmas revelling, even a heavy snow storm could not dampen the determination of L’Hostaria, Land Rover, Roaring Fork Polo Team and Crestview Farms as they battled out the two-day tournament for the Ninth World Snow Polo Championship in Aspen, Colorado. In the first semi-final team Land Rover, headed up by 7-goaler John Gobin, tied 2-2 with Roaring Fork – led by 7-goaler Luis Escobar and the 5-goal host of the competition, Barry Stout.

The Roaring Fork team sportingly allowed team Land Rover to proceed to the finals.

Alan Meeker’s Crestview Farms team with Alan Martinez (6) and John Eicher (4) played L’Hostaria second and came out with a 4-3 win.

I n the finals on Sunday, under a perfect bluebird sky, Crestview dominated Land Rover, winning 8-5, with Martinez scoring five goals – earning him the Loro Piana Most Valuable Player gift to add to his Catena watch, the official Snow Polo timepiece awarded to players from the winning team.

The Most Valuable Pony award was given to Cherry Berries, the bay mare ridden in the final by Martinez and owned by Barry Stout.

Skiing conditions were spectacular, and in true Aspen style a slew of parties dotted the weekend. The Ritz-Carlton sponsored party at The Aspen Gallery at Highlands to benefit the Windwalker Therapeutic Riding Program drew a huge crowd, beyond Colorado’s Polo scene. And the greet-the-media night at host hotel The Limelight Lodge preceded an Italian evening at sponsor L’Hostaria restaurant. Snow polo in Aspen wouldn’t be complete without the Saturday night supper at the iconic Caribou Club, and this year’s meal was an elegant and sumptuous affair and a fitting social finale.

Barry Stout, whose Roaring Fork Polo Club hosted the event, and who provided horses from his Stout Ranch, was delighted. ‘There’s no place in the world like Aspen to do snow polo,’ he said. ‘This year we had the biggest crowds yet.’

The town is known as a celebrity favourite, and it didn’t disappoint. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was in town for her book-signing, and graciously presented the trophies and prizes on Sunday afternoon before everyone departed happily for the Christmas holiday. Soon afterwards, heavy snow fell once again and a truck breakdown caused the hospitality tent (the weekend’s field-side heated headquarters) to implode under two feet of snow!

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Belgian Polo Masters An indomitable LCF Rothschild team battled to victory at the second annual tournament in Antwerp, reports David Agie de Selsaeten This year saw the second Jaeger-LeCoultre Belgian Polo Masters, once again in Antwerp.

The prestigious event, both in Belgium and internationally, is organised by myself and events organiser Patrick Huppertz, who dedicate themselves to organising polo events in the Benelux countries.

The aim of the event is to offer to a wide Belgian audience two unique polo days. The main idea is to explain polo and present a history of the sport. The weekend is thus not only about the matches, but also about making sure that guests and audience get a polo education through speeches, exhibitions, and the commentating on the game by Michael Hobday. In this way, a solid base of polo afficionados can be built and the Polo Masters can attract newcomers to the game.

Other key partners of the event are private bank LCF Rothschild, Porsche, champagne Laurent-Perrier, La Martina, Unique Interim, Dream Homes Sotogrande, and Flamant.

Belgium-based media company Roularta Media is the promoter of the event in Belgium through its TV channels and lifestyle magazines.

The tournament takes place over a weekend, with four international polo teams participating. Frenchman Jerome Wirth (1-goal) captained the LCF Banque Rothschild team, Belgian Patrick Larsonneur (2) captained the JaegerLeCoultre team, Christiaan Van den Brink (2) captained the Laurent-Perrier team, and Andrew Naylor from England captained the Porsche team. Amongst the pros were the distinctive red leather helmet of Malcolm Borwick (5), Uruguayan star Mimo de Boismenu (3), and Argentinans

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Martin Iturraspe (5) and Gonzalo Bernal (5).

Two trophies were played for during the tournament. On Saturday, the teams contested the Alfred Grisar Cup, named after the former Olympic player and father of Belgian polo. Grisar founded the Royal Antwerp Polo Club, which ceased activities at the beginning of the Second World War. Sunday saw the grand final of the JaegerLeCoultre Masters.

Distinguished polo guests came from all over the world such as high goal player and Jaeger-LeCoultre ambassador Clare Milford Haven, Ed Judge from Australia, and Colonel Garcha from the Jaipur Polo Club in India.

Local celebrities such as Veronique de Cock and Phaedra Hoste joined 700 VIPs on the Sunday, and a total crowd of 1,500 watched the final of the Polo Masters between LCF Rothschild and Jaeger-LeCoultre.

It was a tough and exciting final. A strong and powerful Borwick covered all parts of the field and hit big balls to his teammates Wirth, Hine and Lopez. Meanwhile, the young and well-balanced Jaeger-LeCoultre team showed a clear desire to win. Jaeger-LeCoultre were constantly attacking, but Malcolm Borwick controlled the ball and field. A breathtaking match ended 7-5 to LCF Rothschild.

Jaeger-LeCoultre brand manager Patrick Boutellier presented the cups, and from the winning team Malcolm Borwick was named most valuable player and presented with a Reverso Squadra watch. The LCF Rothschild team went home with both the Alfred Grisar Cup and the Belgian Polo Masters.

Interest in the Belgian Masters continues to grow, and the next event will take place on 19 and 20 September.

1 Gonzalo Bernales and Mimo de Boismenu do battle 2 Exotic entertainment was the order of the day

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Thailand A record number of teams took part in this year’s Mercedes Benz-B Grimm Thai Polo Open, reports Peter Abisheganaden

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Thai Polo’s fields made for fast, thrilling play and the teams had improved strings gold medal winner in team jumping, Quzier Ambakh. Opponents BRDB-Elevation saw patron, businessman and vice president of the Royal Selangor Polo Club, Dato’ Mohamed Moiz, playing alongside fellow patron, internet and real estate entrepreneur Satinder Garcha.

In the final, BRDB-Elevation got off to a flying start. Edham Shaharuddin, the 2008 Malaysian Player of the Year, broke away from the throw-in and ran all the way to tally the first goal in under 10 seconds. Then Satinder Garcha got the first of his three goals, giving the team a commanding 2 - 0 lead. La Sarita

responded with a good display of teamwork: Quzier Ambak finished off a four-man move to get La Sarita on the board; he then notched another to get the team into the game.

In the second chukka, RMPA International League 2008 MVP Gaston Otamendi took La Sarita into the lead with a superb solo, dribbling in off the right wing. But Shaharuddin replied almost immediately to give BRDB the lead again at 3 to 3. The lead changed hands again in the third chukka when Diego Urunga stole the ball from Shaharuddin along the boards and finished with a stylish cut backhand flick. BRDB replied when Shaik Reismann took the ball strongly to the goal to restore their half-goal lead, then Satinder took them to 5 - 4. But if BRDB-Elevation thought they had the match sewn up, they were wrong.

At the start of the final chukka, La Sarita won a penalty that Diego Urunga converted to bring it back to half a goal. Satinder

ANAKE

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As a pleasant breeze blew in from the nearby Gulf of Thailand, this year’s 10-goal Mercedes Benz-B Grimm Thai Polo Open, one of the highlights of the Asian polo circuit, was contested by eight teams from Singapore, Malaysia, India, Germany and Thailand, the most ever in a Thai polo tournament.

The tournament is played in January, when temperatures and humidity fall to levels akin to perfect English summer weather. This year, the 2,000-guest event took place at Harald Link and Nunthinee Tanner’s Thai Polo and Equestrian Club in the hills of the seaside resort of Pattaya, where spectators enjoyed a sumptuous marquee lunch prepared by Le Nôtre, and music played by the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra. Funds were raised for HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s Chitrlada Vocational School, and the Zambia-based Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphange, a recipient charity of the Tusk Trust under the patronage of HRH Prince William.

Thai Polo’s two excellent fields made for fast, thrilling play, with all teams showing they have improved their strings of horses in the last year. The host, Harald Link, captained the Thai Polo team, with Aron Harilela, Howard Hipwood and Frederico Bachmann, while his daughter Caroline Link of Chimfunshi played alongside Claudia Zeisberger, Andrew Hine and Johnny Good.

The score was close at 3-2, and Caroline was unlucky to have what looked like a brilliant tying goal disallowed. Later it was father Harald’s turn to shine, when he scored a beautifully lofted 60-yarder to make the score 4-2. Thai Polo played out the match with good attacks from Bachmann and Harilela, giving them fifth place.

An exciting televised match for third place between HRH’s Prince Abdullah’s Royal Pahang, playing with his nephew Prince Shazril, and Yeo Kuo Lee’s Head Hunters, playing with professionals, ended in a goldengoal victory for the latter. In a hard-fought battle for seventh place, the Malaysian team Bunga Raya of Rizal Ramli, Zakri Ibrahim, Saladin Mazland and Hayudin Hamsah defeated the Indian Carnoustie Lions, of Jagdeep Kairon, Colonel Sheroi Tarun, Major Ravi Rthore and Manuel Cereceda.

The final was to be played between La Sarita and last year’s winners, BRDBElevation. La Sarita saw patron and FIP Ambassador Asad Jumabhoy play alongside fellow patron and Southeast Asian Games

then scored a great goal to restore BRDBElevation’s one-goal lead. La Sarita refused to give in, though: pressure won them a 40-yarder that Diego converted to bring them again to within half a goal. Then, in the final minute, they went on an all-out attack.

Asad’s shot ricocheted away in a congested goalmouth scramble; a foul was blown with 17 seconds remaining; and then another foul 7 seconds later. La Sarita got a penalty about 80 yards out with seconds on the clock. They opted to go for one shot but Gaston blasted wide right. BRDB-Elevation knew they were on top, and let the clock run down to finish the match as winners. They won 7 points, as this was the first RMPA International League Tournament of 2009, while La Sarita picked up 5 points.

Throughout the tournament, there could not have been closer finishes: the semi-finals were decided by half a goal and a sudden death goal, the final by half a goal, and the third place match by a sudden-death goal, showing that any of the top four teams could have won. After the final, HM the Sultan of Pahang and HE Privy Councillor Palakorn Suwanrath presented the winner’s

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cup to BRDB-Elevation, and a magnificent firework display marked the end of a splendid demonstration of sportsmanship, gallantry, and friendship. All this, along with Harald Link’s warm hospitality, made it one of the best tournaments we have had in the RMPA International League, and one that will live long in the memory.

1 The players in front of the Chukka Bar Club house 2 The winner, BRDB-Elevation, with Harald Link, HM the Sultan of Pahang and HE Privy Councillor Palakorn Suwanrath 3 Frederico Bachmann, shadowed by Howard Hipwood

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hurlingham [ archive ]

the pursuit of passion

64

Many members of the polo community feel betrayed by the popular misconception that the game is a pastime of movie stars, celebrities and playboys, but a great deal of that may have been due to the exploits of Porfirio Rubirosa.

Rubirosa’s life story reads like a fairy tale. He grew up in France as the son of the foreign minister from the Dominican Republic, returned home at the age of seventeen to study law and was swept into the army as a personal aide to the dictator General Rafael Trujillo.

It wasn’t until he entered the army that he began his love affair with polo, the longest and purest relationship of his fast-paced, globe-trotting life. After marrying Trujillo’s daughter and receiving a diplomatic post in Europe he took up the game in earnest. Following an initial posting in Germany he was relocated to Paris and quickly became a regular at the Bagatelle Polo Club.

The aggressive, hard-riding forward played the game much as he raced Formula 1 cars, with speed and precision.

Rubirosa arose early every morning, regardless of the previous night’s exploits, and personally worked his horses. At the height of his playing career Ruby was rated at four goals in France and carried a 3-goal international handicap.

Rubi’s second marriage, to French actress Danielle Darrieux, got him through the war, but upon their divorce in 1947, he married tobacco heiress Doris Duke, the wealthiest woman in the world. Her wedding present to him was a string of polo ponies.

As a reward for the marriage and the positive publicity it generated for the Dominican Republic, Trujillo gave Rubi his choice of ambassadorial posts. His choice was Argentina, where his love of the game had him travelling throughout the country, playing with anyone, any time.

Thirteen months later they were divorced, but Rubi received a generous enough stipend from Doris to continue to play polo and live in epic style. In 1950 he suffered a polo accident in Egypt serious

64 Archive.indd 1

enough to put him in a neck brace for a few weeks, but it did little to dampen his love for the game.

A good friend and teammate of India’s Maharaja of Jaipur, Rubi’s extra-curricular activities with Zsa Zsa Gabor had Jai at his wits’ end over the playboy’s partying ways as they competed weekly on the fields of Paris and Deauville (his Cibao La Pampa team won the coveted Deauville Gold Cup in 1951).

His friendships with people such as King Faruk of Egypt, Frank Sinatra, the Aly Kahn and Joe Kennedy were overshadowed by trysts with Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe, Gene Tierney, Jane Mansfield, Veronica Lake and Kim Novak, to name but a few. But the ‘playboy of the western world’ had another world-class conquest in store. In 1953 Porfirio Rubirosa married the second-

The aggressive, hardriding forward played the game much as he raced Formula 1 cars

wealthiest woman in the world, Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton. The marriage lasted just 73 days and his parting gifts this time included $3.5 million and another string of polo ponies. Trips to Palm Beach saw him playing with Jules ‘Tiger’ Romfh before returning to Paris.

‘The morning that he died, 6 July, 1965, he was on his way home from New Jimmy’s at 6am when he hit a tree with his Ferrari,’ wrote close friend and fellow player Taki Theodoracopulos, co-founder of The American Conservative magazine. The celebration was in honour of winning the Coupe de France polo cup. Taki pointed out that it was his team that Rubi had beaten and recalled fondly how Rubi had taken the young Greek shipping heir under his wing when Taki was an impressionable 20-year-old.

Porfirio Rubirosa was an unassuming man whose mere presence commanded attention.

He is remembered as a Dominican diplomat, polo player and racing driver, but he was much more than that. His friends covered the gamut of life itself, and his exploits, affairs and extravagances helped brand polo as a sport of glamour and riches.

MUSEUM OF POLO

For some, Porfirio Rubirosa was the archetypal polo playboy, but his short life went far beyond cliché, says Alex Webbe

5/2/09 12:22:36

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