Spring 2016

HURLINGHAM P OL O M AG A Z I N E

S P R I NG 2 016

THE ARGENTINE SEASON

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Photos: www.imagesofpolo.com; Abhishek Acharya; Elsa Ochoa.

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Grande Reverso Night & Day watch Eduardo Novillo Astrada, polo Champion, Winner of the Argentine Triple Crown.

Open a whole new world

HURLINGHAM

CONTENTS

09 Ponylines The latest news from the world of polo, including the Chief Executive’s column 16

uture imperfect F To survive, polo needs to keep pace with the 21st century, says Facundo Pieres

COURTESY OF BROOKS BROTHERS’ ARCHIVE ; W RUSSELL G COREY; SERGIO LLAMERA / LAM CANON

for courses 18 Horses Equine passion and expert tuition come together perfectly in Buenos Aires

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Out of Africa Socially responsible polo is the goal at Nigeria’s Fifth Chukker Club

ast & furious 26 F For four-goaler Matt Coppola, playing the APPL in Pilar was a game-changer 28

30 Lifestyle This issue’s desirables: Britain-proof brollies, active eyewear and pedal power

class of his own 22 A Legendary horseman Rex Benson, who introduced polo to public schools

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SHOW MEDIA Editorial Managing Director Peter Howarth 1-2 Ravey Street, London EC2A 4QP + 44 (0) 20 3222 0101 info@showmedialondon.com; showmedialondon.com

HURLINGHAM MAGAZINE Publisher Roderick Vere Nicoll Executive Editor Peter Howarth Editor Arabella Dickie Contributing Photographer Tony Ramirez Editor-At-Large Alex Webbe Art Editor Julia Allen Chief Copy Editor Eirwen Oxley Green Deputy Chief Copy Editor Gill Wing Copy Editors Kristin Braginetz, Nicky Gyopari, Tanya Jackson, Simone Noakes

Profile Why Stephen Hutchinson is well placed for his new role as HPA Chairman

elative value R A look at the polo career of Eduardo Heguy and his illustrious family

40 Great teammates The enduring legacy of Alan L Corey Jr 46

rt of gold A An unlikely hero of the polo set: the legendary illustrator who couldn’t ride

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Action Reports on the Triple Crown; Thai Polo Cup; USPA International Cup; the All Pro Polo League; World Snow Polo; and the Chilean and Peruvian Opens

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A solid foundation The early days of USPA’s PTF

iding high R Why Peter Higgins, the owner of Sydney Polo Club, is in jubilant mood

20 Polo power How the Poloafrica Development Trust is transforming local children’s lives

HURLINGHAM MEDIA Sales +44 (0) 771 483 6102 hurlingham@hpa-polo.co.uk; hurlinghampolo.com Colour reproduction Rhapsody; rhapsodymedia.co.uk Printing Gemini Press; gemini-press.co.uk

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Cover: Adolfo Cambiaso, leading out at the Argentine Open. Photographed by Snoopy Productions

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. The HURLINGHAM Polo Association magazine (ISSN 1750-0486) is published by Hurlingham Media. The magazine is designed and produced on behalf of Hurlingham Media by Show Media Ltd. It 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 welcomes feedback from readers: hurlinghammedia@hpa-polo.co.uk

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HURLINGHAM

FOREWORD RODERICK VERE NICOLL – PUBLISHER

Adolfo Cambiaso is the best player of his generation – probably of any generation.

He won the US Open in April, swept the high-goal in Sotogrande and won the Triple Crown in Argentina for the third year in a row. In Action, Héctor Martelli describes La Dolfina’s record-breaking feat. Facundo Pieres is today’s other great player and, in Talk, Alex Webbe writes about his desire to start a dialogue to bring changes to the game. Another standout, Eduardo Heguy, has played the Argentine Open for 30 years. In Features, he relates how polo has changed over those three decades, from the number of ponies involved to the style of play.

Also in Features, Russell Corey writes about the incredible career of his father, 9-goaler Alan L Corey Jr. Much of his success can be attributed to the key role

played by his wife, Patricia, who had an excellent eye for a pony and ensured he was the best mounted on the field. My favourite polo artist is Paul Brown – he was colour-blind and never sat on a horse, yet, as Arthur Liese explains, he captured the game’s many intricacies, as well as the movement and emotion of player and pony.

In Profile, Stephen Hutchinson, the new HPA chairman, sets out the challenges and opportunities for his tenure. Finally, we remember Dr Matt Bradstock-Smith, who was well known to all who played at Cowdray Park over the past 20 years. He passed away in January, after a long battle against cancer. I’ll miss him and his great skill for stitching by the side of the field, which never left any scars.

For all the latest polo news and action, visit hurlinghampolo.com.

CONTRIBUTORS

Araceli Masias is currently a student in senior high in Lima, Peru. She begins a university course this year, studying environmental science in the United States. She has been riding since the age of three and is an avid fan of polo worldwide. As well as horses, she counts among her other passions writing and photography.

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Fernando Nieto is a former lecturer in economics at the University of Buenos Aires who changed career to become a polo player and instructor.

He is the founder of Polo Elite, in Argentina, which has provided lessons and arranged attendance at matches for more than 4,000 visitors from over 80 countries to date.

Russell Corey started riding at the age of three, played polo on a bicycle from 11 and progressed to a pony at 18. He played the game competitively for 20 years, from 1965 to 1984, achieving a rating of six goals in both England and the United States. He is presently a board member of the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame.

Stephen Hutchinson (profiled on p32) was appointed the new chairman of the Hurlingham Polo Association last November. He has played polo for over three decades, representing Ireland internationally. Stephen also oversees his family’s snack-manufacturing business, Tayto Group, and is Master of South Tyrone Foxhounds.

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PONYLINES

ONE TO REMEMBER

CLIVE BENNETT

Well known to all who have played at Cowdray Park Polo Club over the past 20 years, Dr Matt Bradstock-Smith died on 7 January, at the age of 50, after a brave four-year battle against cancer.

Matt was born in 1965 in Singapore, where his father was serving in the RAF. The family later made West Sussex their home and he won a scholarship to Christ’s Hospital School, where both his academic and musical talents blossomed. In 1988, he qualified from St George’s Hospital Medical School in London, where he met a clever fellow student with a well-developed sense of humour: Harry Hill. Harry and Matt wrote comedy shows that they took to the Edinburgh Fringe, and Matt appeared as Harry’s son in several TV series. In 1998, while working as a GP and pursuing his passion for polo, he met Jane Fisher, staff supervisor at Cowdray. They married in 2000 and he became a devoted stepfather to her children, Kate, Lucy, John and Henry, then starting out on their polo careers. He will be greatly missed. Liz Higgins

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PONYLINES POLO NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

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{ LAWYERS POLO IN SOTOGRANDE This September, the Lawyers Polo Association will be hosting its seventh tournament.

The event will be held at Santa Maria Polo Club, in Sotogrande, Spain – one of the most prestigious in Europe. After a black-tie reception on the 20th, there will be play-off games on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd, with the final on the 24th. An awards ceremony, at which 500 guests are expected, will draw the event to a close.

Six teams of polo -playing lawyers will be taking part in this year’s tournament, including participants from Argentina, Austria, Canada, Colombia, France, India, Macao, Malaysia, Portugal, Switzerland, Chile, Venezuela, the UK and the US. ‘We chose Santa Maria because it is one of the best clubs in the world and attracts the best national and international players,’ said Lawyers Polo Association founder, Eduardo Bérèterbide. ‘Polo has been played in Sotogrande since 1965, and the high-goal tournament series goes back to 1971. Santa Maria is the ideal venue for hosting a first-class event such as this.’ lawyerspolo.com

{ POLO IN THE VALLEY IN PERTH On 3 April, guests from around the world will gather at Duncraig Stud in Perth’s Swan Valley for the seventh year of Polo in the Valley. Some of the best players from Australia and beyond are set to compete, and, thanks to the close proximity of the crowd to the on-field action, an electric atmosphere is guaranteed. In the VIP marquee, meanwhile, Melbourne-based celebrity chef Guy Grossi will be serving a menu that draws on local produce and showcases his signature Italian-inspired style.

As always, competition won’t be limited to the field, with spectators invited to participate in the popular Fashion on the Field, the Dash for Ladies and Gents, and the traditional divot stomp. Polo in the Valley is proud to support Youth Focus, a charity dedicated to working with young people showing signs of depression, self-harm and suicide, with nearly half a million dollars raised collectively in previous years.

Tickets may be purchased from Polo in the Valley’s website. polointhevalley.com.au

TONY MCDONOUGH

For the HPA, the British winter is about English players and teams overseas, and arena polo here at home. In Argentina, there was excitement when it looked as if the final of the Camara might include four Englishmen, one with El Remanso and three with La Quinta. La Quinta lost in extra time in the semi-finals, but El Remanso won their game and then the final. Unfortunately, Charlie Hanbury broke his heel early on, but congratulations are due to Matt Perry, his replacement – the first Englishman, I’m told, to have won the Camara.

Had La Quinta made it through, there would have been only two Argentinians playing, one on each team. It was good to see Max Charlton making it to the quarter-finals – his team was narrowly beaten by La Quinta. Though Argentina has become much more expensive, it is great that so many English players played there with such success, and it is hoped England will field a team for April’s Copa de las Naciones.

An invitational team comprising Charlton, Max Kirchhoff, David Ashby and George Meyrick also played in South Africa and, in a superb game over six chukkas, lost by just one goal. They were well mounted and beautifully looked after.

At the end of January, we sent a team to Tianjin. We reached the final against Hong Kong, losing by just one goal. Five out of the six players in the final were English (I suppose Hong Kong was ours once!) Meanwhile, in the arena, we are looking forward to playing the USA in March, and it is hoped we will see the only two 10-goal arena players, Tommy Biddle and Chris Hyde, battling it out at Hickstead. The last USA team that played here, in 2014, included the charming and talented Will Tankard, and I would like to take this opportunity to extend our deepest sympathies to his family. Finally, it was excellent to see Julian Appleby and Peter Wright umpiring again in Argentina, Julian having been selected to preside over the final of the Open.

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PONYLINES

HOOKED ON POLO

{ EQUINE INSTALLATION WOWS NEW YORK In 1969, Greek artist Jannis Kounellis staged a groundbreaking exhibition called Untitled (12 Horses), comprising a dozen horses in a garage in Rome. It has since been recreated five times. Last June, he supervised the sixth restaging, in collaboration with Gavin Brown’s Enterprise in New York – the first time it has been seen in the US. For the recent installation, 12 retired polo ponies, which had formerly played on the Northeast USA circuit, were transported every morning to the gallery. They spent their day feeding on hay, with two grooms in attendance, before being returned to nearby stables. The space had been laid with rubber to protect their feet, and the monochrome palette of black floor and stark white walls acted as a striking backdrop.

Kounellis’s piece pays homage to Arte Povera – a movement that originated in Italy in the 1960s and combines aspects of minimalism with the use of common objects or nature in order to subvert the commercialisation of art. Cole Crossman

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Estuardo Masias is the president of Lima Polo Club, the only club in Peru, which has 50 playing members. He hopes to raise his 2-goal handicap to 3-goals in 2016.

Now 48, I have played polo since I was 16.

I began to take the sport seriously when I was 25, so I guess I’m a late starter. Until I was 45, I played no 2 on the La Calera team with my father, Tayo (no 1), and my brothers Vasco (no 3) and Iago (no 4).

During those 20 years, we shared defeats, as well as victories in the hundreds. We also played at home with friends, for hours and hours, often losing track of time.

I often ask myself what is it that makes polo so special for me. One answer is the chance it offers to improve – whether I win or lose, I’m spurred on to understand the game more and more. I feel real elation when I score a tricky goal or pull off an extreme manoeuvre or a skilled hit, but no one element tops the overall perception of the situation – it’s like understanding in slow motion, without thinking where you are at every second and what move to make next. A consciousness of the game envelops all other skills: to hit the ball and handle my temper better, connect more with my pony, improve my team-play…

I’ve had many memorable games – in particular, the many Peruvian Polo Open Championships I competed in and won with La Calera. However, the match that really sticks in my mind was the one played with my family against a home team in Jamaica. I don’t even remember if we lost or won, but the harmony we felt as a team on that trip was incredible.

2015, GAVIN BROWN’S ENTERPRISE - MANOLIS BABOUSSIS; JOE M c INALLY PHOTOGRAPHY

{ ELLERSTON PONY SALE MAKES HISTORY If there were any concerns over the health of Australian polo before the Ellerston Polo Pony Reduction Sale took place last October, they would have been quickly dispelled by the conclusion of business. Held at the Packer family property in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, the event was a resounding success: all 137 lots on offer – Ellerston’s best bloodlines – were sold, grossing AUS$1.78m (around £874,000).

Topping the sales, at AUS$82,000, was lot 110, Baby (Siesta x Babe). With her superior genetics, depth of breeding and performance, the nine-year-old mare, in the prime of her playing career, was keenly sought after. She was secured by Max Charlton and will be brought to the UK to play high-goal tournaments.

Lot 21, Grenache (Solar x Pinky), bought by Belltrees, near Scone, topped the stallion sales at AUS$28,000. The chestnut entire is from the fabled Pinky, considered to be one of the most influential broodmares in the game. Playing ponies were also highly sought after, with 50 lots making a total of AUS$853,000.

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PONYLINES

CHUKKAS

Tae Ormerod has been elected as the first woman steward of the Hurlingham Polo Association. Her interest is in improving the relationship between the HPA and the clubs, and encouraging it to focus on the grass-roots game. Together with her husband, Giles, she has built up Druids Lodge Polo, near Stonehenge, where they run a summer and arena club (in which she plays herself), a livery and pony-hire business, a polo school, and a breeding and training programme. She has been involved in polo all her life, her father played for the Royal Navy and her sons are professionals.

y POLO CLUB DE CHANTILLY The number of polo players in France has increased considerably, thanks to the Polo Club de Chantilly, which, over the decades, has welcomed one World and two European Championships, as well as one of the biggest European tournaments: the French Open.

This year, the club, situated at Apremont Farm in Picardy, marks its 22nd anniversary.

The celebrations, on 22 May, will comprise a high-level encounter between France and Argentina as well as a tournament, between the 20th and 22nd, that will bring together members and friends of the club.

The French national team currently has 21 handicap points and ranks second in Europe. Its captain, Brieuc Rigaux (6), will compete against Argentina with the support of three of the leading 5-goalers: Patrick

Thirty years after polo was last played in Hong Kong, the game of kings returns, from 19 to 21 February, as part of the Longines Masters series. Eight horses from Chantilly will be flown out to take part in an arena demonstration tournament: the Shanghai Tang Polo Cup. Two teams of two will play four four-minute chukkas with simplified rules. France’s Brieuc Rigaux (6) will play with Australian Dirk Gould (6) and England’s Malcolm Borwick (6) with Argentine Nico Curto (5), and local players will be able to participate in a penalty shoot-out to qualify to play alongside the professionals.

x THE 2016 HALL OF FAME On 12 February, the Museum of Polo honoured its 2016 Hall of Fame inductees.

Alongside ponies Toy Moon and Califa, the following individuals were fêted: Hector Galindo, William ‘Billy’ Post, Richard ‘Remo’ Riemenschneider (left) and Russ Sheldon.

Galindo was a 9-goal player at his peak and lifted the winning trophies of numerous major US tournaments: the CV Whitney, the 30-goal World Cup and the Silver Cup (four times) among them. Post, a posthumous inductee and 8-goal star, made his mark in the 1930s as a formidable horseman.

Iglehart Award winner Riemenschneider was honoured for his dedication since 1949 – a driving force within the FIP, he also served as chairman of the USPA. Poway Club founder Sheldon was honored posthumously with the Iglehart Award for his passionate promotion of arena and grass-roots polo and support of youth schemes. Brenda Lynn

Chocolate, owned by Valiente Polo, was named Best-playing American-bred Polo Pony in the 2015 Argentine Open.

Both his sire and dam were thoroughbreds – Joel Baker owned Morningstar and Ken Berry owned Empress. Adolfo Cambiaso says: ‘Chocolate is one of the best horses I’ve ever played. He has power, a good temperament and a really sensitive mouth.’

Chocolate won Best-Playing Pony at the 2015 Tortugas Open and was heralded as the Best-Playing Pony in the 2013 Argentine Open, after being awarded the Susan Townley Cup.

The AAP has raised Guillermo Caset and Hilario Ulloa from 9 to 10 goals, to join Adolfo Cambiaso, Pablo MacDonough, Juan Martín Nero, Gonzalo and Facundo Pieres, David Stirling and Pablo Pieres.

Agustín Merlos and Alfredo Cappella Barabucci went from 8 to 9, Ezequiel Martínez Ferrario from 7 to 8, Matt Perry and Jack Richardson from 4 to 5, Miguel Novillo Astrada from 10 to 9, Eduardo Heguy and Fred Mannix from 9 to 8, and Alejandro Agote and Alberto and Bautista Heguy from 8 to 7. In total, in the Argentine handicaps, there were 197 changes: 119 went up and 78 down.

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Paillol, Clément Delfosse and Pierre-Henri Ngoumou. It will be an encounter at the highest level ever played by a French national team, and will be preceded by a celebratory equine parade featuring racing, hunting and horse-carriage driving. poloclubchantilly.com

y BOOK LAUNCH: 9 GOALS BY RUSSELL COREY On p40–45 of this issue, we feature extracts from 9 Goals, Russell Corey’s tribute to his father, the legendary Alan L Corey Jr. ‘When I embarked on it, my aim was to assemble a history of the Corey and Grace families, intertwined with their experiences as participants in polo,’ Russell explains. ‘However, it soon took on a life of its own. As I pored over my father’s archives, supplemented with documents graciously shared by the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame, it evolved into a history of the sport, told through the experiences of one of its noted players. With the sudden passing last April of my brother, Alan III – who died, appropriately, while changing ponies between chukkas at the Aiken Polo Club – I decided to share it with other enthusiasts, so that funds from its sale may be divided equally between the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame, and Yale Polo Club, of which both my father and my brother were members in their youth.’ To order your copy of 9 Goals, for a tax-deductible donation of $100 (around £70), visit yalepolo.wix.com/yalepoloteam.

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PONYLINES

RBPRESSE ; GONZALO ETCHEVERRY; BRENDA LYNN/MUSEUM OF POLO; STEPHEN MOWBRAY; TONY RAMIREZ/IMAGESOFPOLO.COM

y THE QUEEN’S 90TH BIRTHDAY The Queen’s 90th birthday this spring will be a celebration of her life, her dedication to international affairs, her involvement with the British navy, army and air force, and her love of equestrian pursuits. In her honour, events will take place from 12 to 15 May in a purpose-built arena in the private grounds of Windsor Castle.

Visitors are set to enjoy an outstanding programme of music, dance and equine displays, created by the same team that organised the 2012 Diamond Jubilee Thames Pageant. Technology will play a key role, with video projections, LED effects and theatrical lighting. A member of the royal family will be present each day, with Her Majesty attending on the final evening. The military will be well represented and will include 900 horses, 100 pipers and 1,500 participants from around the world. Though the event has sold out, 5,000 free tickets to view the last-night action on large screens erected on the lawns of the Long Walk at Windsor Castle are still available via a ballot – visit hmq90.co.uk.

Coinciding with the birthday celebrations, the Royal Windsor Horse Show takes place for the 73rd time in 2016. The UK’s largest outdoor equestrian event, it features global competitors in three different disciplines, as well as displays and entertainment. The Queen has always been a keen supporter, winning the pony-and-dogcart class herself at the first-ever Horse Show, in 1943, when she was just 17. Tickets can be purchased at rwhs.co.uk. Cole Crossman

LOVE OF MY LIFE PONY’S NAME: OLI CHICHA SEX: MARE ORIGIN: ARGENTINA

Two ponies scooped prestigious awards following the final of the Argentine Open in December. One of these was the historic Lady Susan Townley Cup, presented to the Best Playing Pony of the final, and the other went to the Best-Bred Argentine Pony. Juan Martín Nero was thrilled to see not one but two loves of his life honoured – one of his mares, Falta Nut, won the first, and another, Oli Chicha, the second.

Nero was full of praise for the remarkable Oli Chicha: ‘She’s a chestnut born in 2003 by Fax Banquero and Yazmín, having been bred by El Caburé. Her best features are her speed and reaction – she turns well to both sides and always works very hard.

She’s been nominated many times since 2010 and was named the Best-Bred Argentine Pony of the 2013 UK season.’ Héctor Martelli

{ DUBAI POLO GOLD CUP The Dubai Polo Gold Cup series is held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, deputy ruler of Dubai. The 18-goal event – the most prestigious international tournament across the Middle East, Asia and Africa – is a meeting point for royalty, celebrities and equestrian fans, with top international teams competing.

The 2016 series opened on 22 January with the McLaren Cup, and continues with the Julius Baer Gold Cup, 19 February to 11 March. The Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club, the tournament’s venue, offers an array of areas in which to relax and dine, from the VIP tent and Gold Lounge to picnics with friends on the lawn, and an afternoon of thrilling polo and top-class entertainment, including fashion shows and acrobatic performances, is in prospect. dubaipologoldcup.com Leny Delos Reyes

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TALK

FUTURE IMPERFECT If polo is to prosper, urgent changes are needed, according to one of the game’s greatest proponents, reports Alex Webbe

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action to support it and help it grow. Pointing out, while he was in Florida, that a number of the suggestions he had proposed were not self-serving and, in fact, worked against his own interests, he agreed that the sport was bigger than he was, but said he felt it was important to use his standing to make the game better for players at every level.

‘Some of the rules of polo are over 100 years old,’ he said. ‘But the game has changed and so must the rules, so as to reflect those changes. I’m hoping to stir things up and get some influential people talking to each other.’

Pieres stressed that he won’t have the time himself to implement the changes he requested; when he’s in town – whether that’s Buenos Aires, Wellington or London – he’s there to play polo.

But he said he hoped there would be a strong enough reaction from within the polo community to push for those improvements he believes are so desperately needed. Adolfo Cambiaso has already offered to meet with him in Florida to discuss amendments that will positively affect the growth of the sport internationally.

The polo superstar seemed to dial back on some of the ideas he initially offered, however.

CAMILLA SYKES

The entire polo community sat up and took notice when Argentine 10-goaler Facundo Pieres publicly questioned the very game that allowed him to climb to the highest ranks of play in the world. An interview with ClickPolo had resulted in a list entitled ‘FP’s 10 commandments’, listing those areas he felt strongly needed to change.

Not all his suggestions were received with equal enthusiasm, however, as demonstrated by the range of responses on Twitter and Facebook.

Nonetheless, it was clear the player ranked no 2 in the world was not attacking the sport, but trying to motivate the powers that be to take

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There’s been plenty of talk over the years, but no action is ever taken

‘When I look back on my recommendations,’ he admitted, ‘I realise now that some of them won’t work. I’m just trying to get a conversation going in the hope the polo associations will listen and take some action. I don’t think you can tell a player how much he can charge or how many horses a team can have, but it would be good to level the field so teams can compete more evenly.’

‘A salary cap is unworkable in polo,’ contended one polo enthusiast on Twitter. Other sports organisations can employ caps, but polo-team rosters often change from tournament to tournament, making it too complex to implement.

And such organisations also enjoy an influx of millions of dollars in television revenue, which

is divided among the team owners. Unfortunately, this is not the case in polo.

Questioned as to whether he would favour limiting the number of 9- or 10-goal players on a team, Pieres pointed out that he and his 10-goaler brother, Gonzalito, had played together without achieving resounding success.

‘You can’t restrict the players or tell the patron whom he can or cannot hire,’ he says.

But some progress is essential, he believes.

‘The handicap system is not impartial – this is one of the fundamental changes that needs to be made,’ he agreed in response to another tweet.

And he was adamant about his view of the current umpire arrangements. ‘You can’t have an umpire work the Argentine Open in the afternoon after officiating at a 12-goal game earlier in the day,’ he said. ‘There should be eight or 10 who officiate at only high-goal polo and nothing else. The associations should work out an arrangement so they are paid well enough that they don’t have to umpire any number of lower-goal games to make a decent living.’

Pieres indicated that he and Cambiaso were willing to meet with officials from any of the three

large polo associations, the USPA, HPA and AAP, in an effort to improve the sport. ‘There’s been plenty of talk over the years,’ he said, ‘but no action is ever taken. There are fewer and fewer teams playing in the British and US Open – and that means fewer jobs for players.’

He was no less critical of polo in Argentina, suggesting there should be more teams competing in the Argentine Open, the field should be extended to 10 teams and the season in Palermo should be longer. Disappointed that the AAP doesn’t make a bigger deal out of the Open final, he called on the association to take up some of the many suggestions that have been offered to it to make it competitive with the likes of the Super Bowl and Wimbledon Tennis Championships.

A clearly frustrated Pieres concluded, ‘We have the top polo players in the world competing at a field right in the middle of Buenos Aires.

There should be a week-long series of social activities leading up to the final and a great event following the last match. It’s time for the Argentine Polo Association to take action to ensure the future of our sport.’

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HORSES FOR COURSES

Pairing a man passionate about polo with tourists who want to try it for themselves was a match made in heaven, says Fernando Nieto

When it comes to polo, Buenos Aires is the most important place in the world. As the city attracts so many international visitors every year, I thought it would be interesting for them to learn about our national sport.

I founded Polo Elite in 2008. Since then, we have served more than 4,000 customers from around 80 countries. Three quarters of them have taken polo lessons with us and played stick-and-ball and chukkas, and the rest have joined us to watch games.

Initially, they were mostly young people – travellers staying in the city’s hostels. They were fascinated to learn about a sport about which they knew little or nothing, and enjoyed spending a day in the Argentine countryside, plus, of course, the drinks and music after the match – the perfect combination. Soon, these spectators started asking if they could play a more active role and where they might sign up for a lesson.

There were no places available, however, because all the farms focused solely on players who were coming for a longer stay and not just a one-day experience.

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Opposite, from top Fernando Nieto; and some of his international pupils This page Fernando leading a class

Age doesn’t matter. You don’t even need to have ridden before – everyone has fun

everyone has a lot of fun. A pleasing number of our customers return, or recommend us to others visiting Argentina.

When travelling abroad, I’ve been hosted by many of the friends I’ve made through polo – I’ve been to the US and Canada and, this year, I’m visiting Europe. My goal is to develop the company and to play as much polo myself as I can. Team Polo Elite has won several competitive tournaments in Buenos Aires and

I’m hopeful I could regain the handicap I had when I started playing a decade ago. I’m also getting into breeding – I find that really exciting.

In the past three years, the Argentinian economy hasn’t been in the best shape and the restrictions in the exchange market and everincreasing inflation has made the country less appealing to travellers. As a result, our business has had its share of ups and downs, but we’ve benefited from having a low-cost structure and I’ve reinvested the profits back into the company so as to maintain the same high-quality service.

I think the reason we’ve succeeded is our determination to be actively involved in the polo community and the genuine relationship we have with our customers. I have a fantastic time doing what I do, which means my mobile is on around the clock to reply to any polo-related enquiry, and I’m happy to work 365 days a year. poloelite.com

REBECCA HAYES

It became apparent that here was a business opportunity. I approached the owner of a small family polo club, offering to bring along tourists who wanted to take lessons. He thought it was a good idea and asked if I’d consider acting as the instructor. The idea took off immediately.

At the beginning it was a lot of fun, although, in 2009, Argentinian tourism took a hit due to the global financial crisis. I was considering giving up, but in early 2010, things changed, and the next three years saw a boom in visitors.

We’re listed on TripAdvisor and have so far received nearly 600 positive comments, meaning that what we offer is among the most popular things to do in Buenos Aires. At one point, we were even ranked first among the 3,000 activities listed across South America.

We cater for a wide range of people, from five to 75-year-olds. Age doesn’t matter and you don’t even need to have ridden before –

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POLO POWER In one of the poorest areas of South Africa, a charity is using polo to positively transform the lives of the disadvantaged local community, reports Darlene Ricker

Nestled in the foothills of the spectacular Maluti Mountains in the Eastern Free State – one of rural South Africa’s most scenic and disadvantaged areas – is Uitgedacht Farm, home to the Poloafrica Development Trust.

The charitable organisation is dedicated to providing the local underprivileged youth with an entrée to polo – and a new outlook on life.

‘What I love most is to see these children developing over the years and knowing that this programme has contributed so much to their lives,’ says Catherine Cairns, co-founder and primary sponsor of the trust.

While building the polo resort, Cairns was inspired to benefit the surrounding community.

‘I decided to give my grooms an opportunity to become true polo professionals, and then

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children starting to get involved,’ she explains.

‘I am very proud we have a pipeline of young, talented athletes. [We realised that] if the opportunity was here, they would flourish in this country – and overseas. More importantly than that, though, the programme helps the children become well-rounded individuals. They are who they are because they’ve had this opportunity.’

A British businesswoman, Cairns holds an MBA from the Wharton School and is a Fellow of its Lauder Institute. She created Poloafrica with Trustee Tracey Morgan in 2005. Within a decade, the charity has evolved from a sports initiative into a thriving and diverse organisation, with ponies the common denominator.

Taking full advantage of its breathtakingly beautiful surrounds, the farm has extensive

equestrian facilities and one of the best polo fields in Africa. The field is fully boarded and irrigated; a second field is under development. There is also an enclosed arena, one of only a few in the country. The trust leases the facilities and has use of tack, polo gear and about 70 ponies.

In contrast to its own abundance, Uitgedacht Farm sits in one of South Africa’s poorest areas, with very high unemployment. The job opportunities Poloafrica has provided for local adults has had a significant economic impact on the local community. More than 70 per cent of households in the seven villages within a 15km radius of the farm have a family member participating in the programme.

Poloafrica now provides jobs, training and education for underprivileged adults and

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MARK WARD

From beekeeping to literacy, children at the Poloafrica Development Trust learn more than how to play polo

children. It has also turned conventional perceptions – and the limitations they engender – on their heads. Stereotypes are smashed.

For example, girls can learn welding or carpentry if they are interested. Some boys take up needlework or cooking. Many children have signed up for Poloafrica’s beekeeping classes, and some plan to make it their career. (Bees are an essential contributor to the health of the countryside and the success of farms, but there are not enough beekeepers in the country.)

‘Here, it doesn’t matter who’s a boy, who’s a girl,’ says Anton Chaka, Trustee of Poloafrica and elder of the community. He hopes some students will grow up to compete in high-goal polo, representing the country. ‘It is my wish to one day see a black player coming through Poloafrica. We need to show the whole world that people are people; don’t classify them by their colour. If they have opportunity, they will grab it.’

Poloafrica acts as a much-needed catalyst for change in many ways. In South Africa, there are few black athletes and coaches in the equestrian world. Cairns feels it’s important for South Africans to see black players compete and win to address the perception that polo is a white-only sport.

The trust is affiliated with the South African Polo Association and five of the permanent staff on the farm are adult players who teach the children. Former Springbok player Gavin Chaplin, a polo coach and pony trainer of international renown, has been teaching the advanced young students for several years. The children love working with the ponies at all levels, and recently the scope of equestrian activities offered by the programme has broadened, with Adam Moses teaching dressage and jumping.

Poloafrica has also branched into other areas of social development over the years, including building a complete schoolyard complex and installing electricity to provide online learning.

The 40-plus students are taught mathematics and English, subjects that present a challenge to rural underprivileged youth in South Africa.

The pupils come to the farm at weekends during the school year and five days a week over the holidays. All children receive transportation assistance and help with homework. The focus on education at the farm is to help the children

We need to show the world people are people. If they have opportunity, they will grab it

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strive and succeed in life, but they also benefit from something invaluable: happiness. It’s not just the joy of swinging a mallet from atop a horse: the farm is a haven for them. In addition to playing polo or spending time bonding with and caring for the ponies, the Poloafrica children can fish, swim or just sit in a beautiful setting and read a book. poloafrica.com

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A CLASS OF HIS OWN Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Reginald ‘Rex’ Benson (1889–1968) was one of the three polo champions who introduced the sport to public schools – but that was just one aspect of his colourful life, says Nigel à Brassard

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IMAGE COURTESY OF ALAN GRAHAM, FROM SIC GLORIA TRANSIT EQUI

Opposite The incomparable Rex Benson on one of his ponies

It is said that when Rex Benson entered a room, people felt exhilarated to see and hear him.

He was a brilliant piano player who enjoyed entertaining friends with renditions of Cole Porter songs. Rather like a character out of a Wodehouse novel, he would, even in his 70s, spend hours driving his tractor recklessly around his charmingly named Cucumber Farm.

He would have been chuffed to have known that his Dorset Down rams were awarded the Supreme Championship Prize for All Breeds at the Royal Show only months after his death.

He is still remembered at Cowdray Park, where the Benson Cup is played to this day.

On his retirement in 1967, The Times described Benson as ‘that John Buchan character among City bankers. It was from a not-wholly-conventional career in the 9th Queen’s Royal Lancers that Sir Rex joined his family merchant bank of Robert Benson – later Kleinwort Benson. He combined international polo with an attachment to the French Sûreté at the time of the Mata Hari affair; and he followed a spell as military secretary to the Governor of Bombay (where, in 1922, he organised the official tour of India of the Prince of Wales) with a tramp round post-revolutionary Russia trying to sell tea.’ Reportedly, Benson made a hasty exit from Russia by canoe through the Polish lakes, with £10,000 stuffed into his boots, and The Times records that ‘fortunately, for his comfort, the notes were of large denominations’.

In 1913, he was appointed aide-de-camp to the Viceroy of India. During World War II, he was the British military attaché in Washington. He served as vice-president of the English-Speaking Union and was a trustee of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and the World Wildlife Fund.

Benson was educated at Eton, was captain of the cricket XI, played the Wall game and racquets for the school, and was president of the most prestigious society at Eton, known

as ‘Pop’. He went up to Balliol College, Oxford.

In 1910, he was gazetted as subaltern in the 9th Queen’s Royal Lancers, a regiment that included the leading polo players Noel Edwards, the Earl of Rocksavage and Francis and Rivy Grenfell.

His competitive polo-playing career really began in India in 1912, where his handicap reached 5 goals – he won, among other tournaments, the Indian Polo Association Championship. After joining the family bank, he continued playing civilian polo and had success at Ranelagh, where he won the Buenos Aires Cup and Invitation Handicap, and at Rugby winning the Junior Cup. He played for a number of teams during his polo career, including the Duke of Beaufort’s Hunt, Winston Guest’s Templeton team, Lord Louis Mountbatten’s Adsdean, and his own Cavaliers (with the young Humphrey Guinness playing at Back). He also played for Buck’s Club, Stephen ‘Laddie’ Sanford’s team the Hurricanes and Robert Lehman’s Camberlot.

Following England’s successive defeats in the Westchester Cup, there developed a widely held view that American polo players benefited by starting to play at a younger age than was then the practice in Britain. In March 1929, Viscount Astor presented a wooden polo horse to Eton College, Benson gave some polo sticks and balls, and he and Captain Pat Roark visited the school to open the polo pit and give a demonstration. Polo Monthly commented,

Benson made a hasty exit from Russia by canoe, with £10,000 stuffed into his boots

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‘This marks the arrival of polo at one of the great public schools’, and this was soon followed by Roehampton’s announcement that it would offer free polo lessons to all public-school boys during the Easter holidays. Benson also did much to try and encourage the sport at British universities and was one of the pioneers of the indoor version of the game in Britain.

He took great interest in the Anglo-American Westchester Cup and accompanied the England squad on a number of occasions, often lending them his ponies. In 1930, he became treasurer and reserve for the team that went to the US. Benson was appointed a steward of the Hurlingham Polo Committee – a role that he carried out for a number of years. He was elected to the committee of the Beaufort Hunt Polo Club when it was revived in the late 1920s and expanded from its original Norton Ground to include Down Farm.

Towards the end of his playing career, Benson had confined most of his polo to the Old Etonians team (or the Very Old Etonians, as they originally called themselves) and entered a number of the London tournaments. Polo Monthly remarked that they were ‘a very cheery team who thoroughly enjoyed their polo. A good team for four chukkas, but lack of ponies … prevented them showing the same form for six.’

In 1935, the Palm Beach Post recorded that Benson ‘is one of the best-known players in British polo, an authoritative voice in the councils at Hurlingham – not only one of the most potent figures in polo today, but also a fine performer and a horseman of outstanding merit.’

But for all his far-flung, versatile achievements, his friends remember that he never spoke of his many exploits, because his mind was on his plans for that afternoon or the next morning. As a friend wrote, by way of an obituary, ‘to Rex, the adage applies: that what a man was counts more in the hearts of his friends than all his public fame’.

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OUT OF AFRICA Intent on fixing polo firmly on the calendar of the continent, Nigeria’s foremost club also aims to help those in the community who need it most, say Ade Adedeji and Terri Brennan

Polo may not be the first topic that springs to mind when you think of Nigeria. Indeed, the country’s prevailing narrative generally omits its Argentine ponies, 20-goal polo, international professional players, modern facilities or solid roster of patrons. What Nigeria is most often associated with is poverty – women and children being at greatest risk – but Fifth Chukker Polo & Country Club is doing its best to address this.

Excepting South Africa, the Fifth Chukker Club is perhaps the leading private polo facility in the continent. Located in northern Nigeria, on the outskirts of the ancient city of Kaduna, it was founded in 2001 as a private ‘farm’ to hold practice games among friends and businessmen.

Since then, it has developed into a world-class equestrian facility, with three regulation-sized polo fields, riding trails, an exercise track and stabling for up to 400 horses, as well as the facilities to host private and corporate events.

Describing itself as ‘representing the new in the old world of the equestrian sport of polo’, Fifth Chukker aligns its sporting programme

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Opposite Field no 3 with the clubhouse in the distance and a line of traditionally built pony huts in the foreground This page, from top Fifth Chukker’s cheque for UNICEF; youngsters, pictured with umpires, enjoy a taste of polo

YUSUF SAAB; SHEYI AFOLABI /KLEARPICS

Its aim is to tackle the sport’s reputation of elitism, while enabling the game to give back

with a sturdy corporate-social-responsibility platform. Its aim is to simultaneously tackle the sport’s reputation of elitism, while enabling the game of kings to give back; helping to improve the health and education of Africa’s poor.

To this end, Fifth Chukker has developed a model to help raise both awareness and funding for charitable schemes through partnerships with NGOs such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); corporate sponsors such as MTN, the South African multinational telecommunications company; and one of the continent’s top financial institutions, Access Bank. It is through these

collaborations that the club tournaments have become known as ‘socially responsible polo’.

The funds and goodwill generated by the use of its facilities and via attendance at its tournaments create what Ahmed Dasuki, the chairman of the club’s board of trustees, describes as ‘a unique, creative blend of sports and humanity’.

Dasuki is referring, in particular, to one of its signature events, the UK Access Bank Fifth Chukker Polo Day, now in its fourth year, held in 2015 edition at the prestigious Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park. This event complements the Access Bank Charity Shield Tournament held at Fifth Chukker, which

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supports UNICEF programmes working towards alleviating poverty and tackling illiteracy – particularly for children in northern Nigeria affected by HIV/AIDS. The club is best known for the two major tournaments on its calendar: the Charity Shield Tournament, played in May and June, and the African Patrons Cup, which takes place in October. Both competitions are open to patrons and players from all over the world, and feature low, medium and high-goal cups.

At the most recent African Patrons Cup, Fifth Chukker introduced its inaugural Pink Polo Tournament, which featured female players from the USA and South Africa. October is the month each year during which the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign highlights the importance of breast education and research, and the match served as the closing event for the club’s contribution to its efforts. Free breast screenings were offered in two states in Nigeria, and a fundraising walk was held in Kaduna.

Right from the start, strategic planning has gone into creating and maintaining a socially responsible platform at Fifth Chukker.

Through the leadership and vision of the club’s founder, Adamu Atta, and with the guidance of Ahmed Dasuki – both successful entrepreneurs as well as passionate polo players – it continues to forge invaluable partnerships that will assist in achieving its goals.

As well as working with UNICEF, state governments and NGOs, Fifth Chukker counts the traditional rulers of the northern states as key allies. Perhaps most important, however, are those patrons from across Nigeria and further afield who support and participate in Fifth Chukker’s very special brand of forward-thinking polo.

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FAST & FURIOUS Four-goaler Matt Coppola found a very different kind of polo in Pilar, where he was one of only two players from the US in an All Pro Polo League tournament

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I went to Argentina last November, as I do every autumn, to play some tournaments with Juan Monteverde, a cousin of Lucas Monteverde, and improve my game. I knew about the All Pro Polo League (APPL) tournament, but not how to get into it. Luckily, it just worked out: they needed a player and Javier Tanoira found out I was in the country, so invited me to play a game at the Pilar Chico Polo Club. It was amazing – and we won!

At first, I was a little nervous about the rules.

Playing the first time in the league is different: it’s a much more open game and more lenient when it comes to fouls – if it’s dangerous, they’ll call it, but, in general, they don’t call as many.

The most difficult thing to get used to was the penalties, which you take from a standstill at the spot where the foul happened – you’ve got to start and go fast, you’re being chased from behind, and there’s a lot of pressure if you miss.

I got to take one of those shots. I actually scored on it, but I think I was only about 60 yards from the goal, so I hit an approach and just ran, and it was another top. I had to think about it – I’d never done one, so I was nervous, but it worked out. It was the first time for two or three of the other guys that were playing that day, too, so at least I wasn’t the only one.

We were an 18-goal team. I knew Juan Martín Obregon – an Argentine I’ve played with in the States – but I didn’t know any of the others.

I’m 4 goals and so was another guy, and there were two 5-goalers, Jerónimo Del Carril, who’s 19 years old, and Juan Martín Zubia, who’s just 16. We were playing with really good 25-and-under players in an almost-20-goal league – that’s really impressive, and something we haven’t yet seen here in the United States.

I played Juan Monteverde’s horses – six really good ponies. I was with them for two months in total, including a month before the game, getting to know them. That was really helpful, because it’s difficult to go out with horses you don’t know.

Juan’s father, Marcelo, was my coach.

He’s a very good instructor and helped me a lot – in fact, he changed my game, opening it up and getting me hitting, running and taking the man. Instead of it being a game just for myself, he taught me to set up play for my teammates. That really stood me in good stead.

In the APPL, each position is identified by a different-coloured helmet: one is white, two is yellow, three is pale blue and four is black.

I have a white helmet, so I got to be No 1.

Opposite and below Matt Coppola, playing for The Tackeria, switches horses; Julian Hipwood coaching Coppola

The APPL is a really good idea – it gets young players into the mindset of open polo and how it used to be, with less stopping. There’s a big difference between playing on a team with a sponsor and playing on a team with four expert young guys. You have to think faster, play tougher and be aggressive. It’s hit-and-run.

I think it’ll be fairly easy to incorporate the skills I learnt in Argentina now I’m back in the US – polo here is a lot slower, so, if you’re going and thinking more quickly, you have a good chance of beating the other guys. It’s so cool that the next edition of the All Pro Polo League will be in my hometown, Wellington, in Florida. I’d love to be a part of it and get Americans into this kind of polo, so they too can open and speed up their game.

INTERVIEW BY DARLENE RICKER. PHOTOS: DANIEL OYVETSKY

here’s an example of a three line pull quote which can go in this space, move quote marks

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RIDING HIGH

In December, at a meeting of the Federation of International Polo (FIP) council in Buenos Aires, it was announced that the next FIP World Polo Championships, in October 2017, would be held in Australia, with Sydney Polo Club winning the bid to host the event. It was fantastic news for Sydney Polo Club’s owner, Peter Higgins, who produced the winning pitch, in conjunction with tourist agency Destination NSW. Higgins is no stranger to polo: since taking up the sport in the early 1990s, he has become

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one of its leading ambassadors, both at home and abroad. He grew up in Western Australia, where he rode horses on a friend’s farm. But while he might have aspired to play polo as a younger man, the sport was very much the preserve of the super-elite back then, and it wasn’t until he moved to Sydney that he first wielded a polo mallet. It was the founding with his brother Rodney of Mortgage Choice, one of Australia’s leading finance firms, that paved the way for him to take up the sport in earnest.

Higgins has played polo all over the globe in the intervening years, and fielded teams as far afield as France, Argentina and the England.

His involvement with the Young Presidents’ Organization, the world’s premier peer network of chief executives and business leaders, has allowed him to take part in tournaments in some of the world’s most exotic locations, including India, Thailand and Jordan, where he played on the prince’s horses at the Royal Jordanian Polo Club. In a similarly regal vein, he has also saddled up with the Duke of Cambridge’s team at Ham Polo Club. Today, he has a 1-goal handicap and competes regularly at all levels, being just as likely to field a team with his children, Georgia and Riley, as he is to play with a team of pros.

As Higgins’s passion for the sport intensified, the next obvious step was to purchase the rights to the name ‘Sydney Polo Club’. The original establishment, Australia’s first, was founded in the state capital in 1876, and Banjo Paterson, the poet who famously penned Waltzing Matilda, was a member throughout the 1880s and 90s, but it had long since ceased to exist. In 2000, with the name in situ and a prestigious trophy cabinet in tow, Higgins purchases farmland next to the Windsor Polo Club in historic Richmond, at the foot of the Blue Mountains, further north in New South Wales, and established a private estate on the banks of the Hawkesbury River.

Since then, with his wife, Rebecca, he has worked tirelessly to establish and promote the new-look Sydney Polo Club, and in doing so, has created one of the country’s leading equestrian facilities. Its 222 hectares encompass six fields, as well as indoor arenas and on-site stabling.

It plays host to both national showjumping and polo events, and holds numerous tournaments, from entry-level to 18-goal, throughout the year.

Spectator figures are impressive and growing year on year – it regularly attracts Australia’s biggest crowds to its key annual polo events.

All these attributes clearly made the club a strong contender to host international events.

With the Hawkesbury River region continuing to be one of Australian polo’s most important hubs, and New South Wales a leading target for tourism, a coming-together of Destination NSW and Sydney Polo Club looks set to be the start of an exciting union, promising much of benefit to both parties – and our sport – in the years ahead.

STEPHEN MOWBRAY

With Sydney Polo Club going from strength to strength, its owner, Peter Higgins, has plenty of reasons to smile, reports Fiona Turney

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The stylish range currently includes the Senz6 Monsoon collection (tropical rain; pictured below), which showcases the brand’s collaboration with designer Yoske Nishiumi. senz.co.uk

y PRETTY IN PINK Born in Paris to an English mother and a French father, designer Olympia Le-Tan studied Italian literature at university in London. It was back in Paris, however, that Le-Tan (who learned her trade at Chanel and Balmain) launched her celebrated accessories brand, combining her love of embroidery and literature in the coveted book clutch-bag collection.

This year, Le-Tan’s creative powers have been harnessed by luxury fragrance brand Diptyque for its new Rosaviola scent. She has interpreted the iconic Diptyque design in the style of embroidery, with a range of playfully pink felt-textured motifs that include hearts and kisses. Available in solid perfume, scented oval and candle (below). diptyqueparis.co.uk { WELL HEELED Even in the world of bespoke, having a pair of shoes made to your exact requirements is an enticing prospect. Few shoemakers can claim the attention to detail and level of craftsmanship provided by Maison Corthay. Having previously worked for John Lobb and Berluti, company founder Pierre Corthay launched his plush Parisian atelier in 1990, offering customers a bespoke shoe service with elegance and sophistication at its heart.

Corthay likes to experiment with materials, techniques, shapes and, most of all, colour. Recent experimentation has resulted in the creation of four new patinas for suede (above), following several months of experimentation by the creative team in Paris. The colours – flint, amber, clay and amaranth – are inspired by nature and the processes of time, and the unique graduation is created entirely by hand.

Corthay offers ready-to-wear shoes, from elegant loafers to Oxfords and Derbys, although bespoke forms the company’s cornerstone – helped in no small part by an order of 150 pairs from the Sultan of Brunei in 1992. More recent clients include Clive Owen, Rafael Nadal and Simon Le Bon. Prices start at £940 for ready-to-wear; POA for bespoke. corthay.com

x ISLAND PARADISE Combining tropical idyll with French chic, the Caribbean island of St Barths has long been the go-to destination of the smart set. And now, with the recently renovated Hotel Le Toiny reopening its white-shuttered doors, there’s even more reason to visit its stunning shores.

Thanks to renowned London interior designer Lady Bee Osborn, the 15 stand-alone villas of Hotel Le Toiny are a lesson in understated luxury – rooms are filled with palettes of natural tones reminiscent of the local beaches, and also feature petrified wood flooring, fine Belgian linens and textured furnishings. Large bay doors lead to wide private terraces that allow you to take in the spectacular ocean views (see left).

The Hotel Le Toiny’s renovation also marks the opening of the Le Toiny Beach Club. Accessible only by a special shuttle, this newly landscaped beach is surrounded by a coconut grove, tamarind field and pineapple orchard. With a small bar to hand, it’s the perfect setting for a relaxing cocktail in the cooling shade of the coconut palms. Round off the evening with a glass of champagne in Hotel Le Toiny’s new open-air oyster-shell bar while watching the sun set, and you’ll be secure in the knowledge that another day in paradise will follow. letoiny.com

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LIFESTYLE

x PEDAL POWER The new Gi FlyBike (left) is set to revolutionise urban commuting. The sleek design, brought to life through a successful crowd-funding campaign, is the first electric bike on the market that can fold up to half its size in just one second.

Packed with integrated technology, it’s also smarter than other bikes on the market, featuring built-in lights, a smartphone dock and an automated lock that will activate when the owner is more than five metres away. As well as being lightweight (17kg), the Gi FlyBike is also friendly to the environment – it’s made from 100 per cent recycled aluminium alloy by a machine also used in airplane manufacturing. Available for US$2,290 (around £1,600) during the pre-sale period until June. giflybike.com

x ICONIC FACES Designed in 1984, the Picto (left) remains one of Denmark’s most iconic timepieces. It was the first watch to display the time as a pictogram – a graphic symbol that conveys meaning through its resemblance to a physical object. The hour is indicated by a dot on a rotating dial, while minutes are signalled with a conventional hand, representing the earth turning and time passing.

Despite its simple appearance, this rotary disc system was a huge challenge for mechanics to develop. Eventually, Danish homeware brand Rosendahl bought the rights and re-engineered the design. This iconic watch, which is on permanent display at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, was recently updated in four new colours. dezeenwatchstore.com

y WIRED FOR SOUND Esteemed audio brand Master & Dynamic has added stylish wireless headphones to its line of premium sound tools. The MW60 range embodies the label’s commitment to elevated design, technical sophistication and detailed sound.

While traditional headphones often trade metal for plastic, the Master & Dynamic MW60 combines stainless steel with an all-aluminium antennae for remarkable durability and signal range. The result: a perfectly rich, warm sound, with the ease of wireless to heighten your experience. Available in brown/ silver (right) and black/gunmetal colourways from £419. masterdynamic.com

{ EYE TO EYE District Vision is the newest go-to brand for active souls.

Based in New York city, it designs performance-enhancing products for athletes, as well as running a digital forum for like-minded sports fans. The brand’s function-first performance eyewear is the result of two years of study combined with Japanese engineering expertise.

Spurning sweat and sunscreen, the featherweight glasses (above) feature anti-sliding nose pads and three shatterproof lens options: the polarising ‘Water Gray’ for aquatics, the ‘Sports Yellow’ for brightening low light, and the sun-proof ‘Sky G15’, which allows only 15 per cent of light to permeate the wearer’s vision. districtvision.com

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PROFILE

STEPHEN HUTCHINSON With 30 years of playing the game and a thriving empire behind him, new Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA) Chairman Stephen Hutchinson is setting his sights on different goals ILLUSTRATION PHIL DISLEY

An experienced competitor, having played for 30 years, Stephen Hutchinson is looking forward to the new responsibilities ahead.

‘Polo is more popular than ever, and much of this can be credited to the excellent work carried out by the HPA over the years,’ he says.

‘This is due in no small part to the sterling efforts of my predecessor, John Wright, who has proven to be an extremely effective pair of hands for the past three years. Much has been achieved under his chairmanship, and I hope to continue the progress he has made in steering the association forward in the next few years.’

A qualified helicopter and fixed wing pilot, Stephen has been Master of South Tyrone Foxhounds since 1985, carrying the horn for 22 seasons. He enjoys shooting and is a keen game shot. Six years ago he became a Steward of the HPA and was confirmed in his position as Chairman at the HPA Council meeting last November. He was initiated into the sport more than 30 years ago in Phoenix Park, Dublin, and has played at various levels of the game, mostly with his family team, Tayto, which won the Archie David Cup at Guards Polo Club twice, the first team ever to have done so.

Formally playing off a 2-goal handicap, he has represented Ireland internationally in the FIP 8-goal European Championships

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in France, Holland and Spain, and played at the World Championship European Qualifier at Dallas Burston Polo Club in England. His personal highlight? ‘The Mundialito 24-goal in Argentina. It’s the highest level of polo I’ve played at, and I doubt I’m likely to surpass that at this stage of my career!’

‘Polo is an integral part of my life and, consequently, my family’s, says Stephen. ‘I met my wife Charlotte through the game when I was playing against her father in Kenya back in the 1970s. He was in the army and stationed there, I met his daughter and things progressed from there. My three daughters and son also share my love for the sport and play regularly. My son, Max, has represented Ireland and participated in the Gold Cup for UAE – a very proud moment was when he captained England at U21 level.’

Stephen’s business, Tayto Group – the largest British-owned crisp and snack manufacturer – has been in the Hutchinson family since his father founded it in 1956. The company has a portfolio of some of the UK’s most iconic brands, including Golden Wonder, Tayto, Mr Porky, REAL and Jonathan Crisp and produces 45 million bags of snacks each week across its five sites in Northern Ireland and England.

Stephen will continue overseeing the company direction, but employing the right

people in the right positions on the ground to manage the detail of how to get there. Bringing in a hand-picked, highly-skilled management team is a strategy that has seen the Tayto Group grow dramatically in the past 10 years, today turning over nearly £200m annually, with 1,800 team members and international export links with 34 countries.

‘Every successful business depends on having really good people,’ says Stephen.

‘The HPA is no exception. A lot of hard work is carried out behind the scenes by the HPA executive staff, led by CEO David Woodd, at the Little Coxwell office. We have started to further strengthen that team – with professional expertise and volunteers – and that can only help in the future. Mind you, much of the work they do goes unseen by the members, and I hope to be able to shine some light on this area during my chairmanship. Our numerous committees are also vital to our success, with members in voluntary roles giving most generously of their time and expertise for the benefit of the sport while balancing busy careers.

‘With more people participating, it’s important we open as many channels of communication as possible, and I hope to work on that during my tenure. On more than one occasion, I’ve heard members ask what the HPA

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PROFILE

We need to demonstrate just how much bang for their buck our members get, and how we are advancing the sport

does for them. I hope improving communication and bringing further transparency to our work and our organisation will help them to see what it is that they pay for. We need to demonstrate just how much bang for their buck our members get, and show clearly how we, as a body, are advancing and developing the sport.

‘UK Polo has grown steadily in popularity over recent years, with more than 2,750 registered players in 2015, compared with roughly 1,900 in 2000. The number of affiliated outdoor and arena clubs has doubled in the same time period, which shows the appetite for this great sport. This year looks

to be an equally busy one for the community and governing body, with plenty to do.’

What are the first moves Stephen will be making? ‘In any new role, the most important things to do are to listen and learn. I intend to do both over the season; working to produce and then publicise a short- to medium-term plan.’

However, a plan can only be effective if the funds are there to implement it, and there’s no doubt recent years have been financially challenging for the world of polo. The new chairman is poised to address this thorny issue.

‘The economic climate has made things difficult for our sponsors and, consequently,

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for us; losing a key sponsor is hard for any sport,’ says Stephen. ‘However, it is important to note we have a multitude of opportunities available to us. The United States Polo Association has made a real success of licensing its brand, and I think we can learn from its experience as we embark on licensing agreements ourselves. It’s always helpful to be able to view a similar project that has played out elsewhere; then aim for their successes while avoiding their pitfalls. We shouldn’t expect it to work miracles, but we do need to see this as a really good opportunity.’

Another area in which Stephen is keen to engender change is female representation in the HPA. ‘I’m delighted Tae Ormerod has been elected as a Steward,’ says Stephen. ‘Anyone involved in the sport knows how many women participate regularly in all aspects of the game, and with their numbers increasing, it seems at odds that we should have so few involved in the management and organisation at senior level.’

The next four years promise to be busy for the new chairman as he sets out to tackle the many challenges and opportunities that the world of polo presents. However, with plenty of energy and enthusiasm – and a genuine passion and lifetime love of the sport – he seems more than equipped for whatever lies ahead.

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RELATIVE VALUE

Playing in his 30th Argentine Open – a game featuring three generations of his illustrious family – Eduardo Heguy rode into the history books, explains Darlene Ricker

He may be 49 years old, but Eduardo Heguy is not going to retire his mallet any time soon.

Two months ago, he played a record-setting 30th consecutive Argentine Open – a feat never before accomplished. He comes from a line of top players with careers longer than the Trans-Siberian Highway.

‘My father is 74 and still plays,’ says Eduardo, who continues to ride daily himself. He recently vowed to ‘keep playing until I can’t get on a horse and ride’. Nonetheless, as he admits, ‘playing’s one thing and competing’s another’.

He stretches and works out more now.

‘When I was younger, I used to just play tennis, football, golf…and that was my training for polo,’ he said. ‘But now I have to go to the gym and I have a personal trainer. If you want to

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compete with the kids, you simply have to be on a higher level.’

However, age, he says, is just a number.

‘It’s the way you feel that matters. If you’ve been lucky not to sustain serious injuries and your genes are good, you have an advantage.

If you take care of yourself, you can play until you’re over 40. And that’s all the motivation you need. I think that’s what’s going to happen with Adolfito [Cambiaso]. If you’re passionate about what you’re doing, you can keep doing it for a long, long time.’

His family polo dynasty began a century ago, when Bautista Heguy, a French-Basque immigrant, moved to Argentina and bought land 600km west of Buenos Aires. He won his first Argentine Open in 1958, playing for

Coronel Suárez-Los Indios with his son Horacio Antonio, an agronomist. Soon, Horacio and his brother Alberto Pedro, a vet, dominated the Argentine Open, winning 19 and 17 times respectively. Known as the Heguy Express because of their unrelenting speed, they were heralded as the world’s best polo players.

In 1966, Prince Philip quipped that he would trade the Falkland Islands to Argentina in exchange for the brothers.

Over the years, the Heguys turned polo into a profitable business, allowing their heirs to concentrate solely on enjoying the sport and honing their skills. The strategy paid off in spades. The family has produced no fewer than nine 10-goal players, with Heguys playing in the Argentine Open for the past 58 years.

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Opposite Eduardo Heguy with his father, Alberto Pedro. This page, from top Horacio Heguy and his sons (from second left) Gonzalo, Horacito and Marcos, in 1984; Francisco Crotto with Gonzalo, Horacito and Eduardo, in the 1970s

ALICEGIPPS.COM

Eduardo and Pepe were already 9-goalers at 19, and made 10 when they were 23

Today, the family high-goal roster includes seven brothers and three cousins. Horacio’s four sons (Gonzalo, Horacito, Marcos and Bautista) won the Open six times, and Alberto Pedro’s three sons (Eduardo ‘Ruso’, Alberto ‘Pepe’ and Ignacio ‘Nachi’) won four times.

They were polo prodigies. Eduardo and Pepe were already 9-goalers at the age of 19, and made 10 when they were 23.

Eventually, the sons forged their own teams, Indios Chapaleufú I and II. One year, Chapaleufú II (Pedro’s sons and another Argentine) defeated Chapaleufú I (Horacio’s sons) by one point. The 1985 Argentine Open final marked the first time three Heguys – Pedro and his sons – played together, and Horacio’s went on to win the Argentine Open.

Palermo has even seen Opens with all but one player being Heguy brothers or cousins.

Last November and December, the Piereses weren’t the only all-family team in Palermo.

Four Heguys – Eduardo, Pepe, Nachi and Bautista – rode onto the field together, playing for a combined Chapaleufú team. They are as close-knit as they come – they have adjoining estancias in Argentina, partitioned from their parents’ estate, and their homes in Buenos Aires are within a few kilometres of each other.

Two days before the 2015 Argentine Open final, Eduardo drove to Pilar to coach US members of the Gay Polo League. ‘Radio Ruso’, as his friends call him, is known for ‘broadcasting’ a steady stream of directives to his students. ‘El Ruso’ (Spanish for ‘the Russian’) is a family nickname referring to his big, burly frame and the streak of reddish-blond hair he had as a youngster.

En route to the field, with his 10-year-old polo-playing daughter Pampa in tow, he stopped at the Casablanca polo store in Las Cañitas and loaded up his truck with a pile of kid-sized helmets – his contribution to the children’s tournament and a mark of his commitment to helping youth polo to grow. His other daughter, Luján, aged 4,

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and his sons Cruz, 12, and Pedro, 6, also ride, as does his wife, Paz. Eduardo spent the drive to Pilar talking about the past three decades, and those to come. To follow are his reflections on his family’s polo tradition, his observations on the 2015 Open and his thoughts on what the future may hold for the game of kings.

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‘There are so many memories I could share with you, like the first Open I played, with my brother Pepe and my father – we lost the final by one goal. There were whole seasons when we had such fun, like when we played with Pelón Stirling in 2009: we beat Ellerstina and La Dolfina, which were both 40-goal teams, but we didn’t make it to the final at Palermo by goal difference. In 2014, we won the second tournament and went straight to the Open.

It feels great to be in another Open together this time around – it’s not something you’d think would happen after such a long career.

‘It’s a privilege still being able to play in the Open and to share the field with the best players in the world. Some are half my age, some are more than 20 years younger than me.

I have to work harder now to be the best I can be – it’s not easy after so many injuries. But it’s what I love, especially playing with my brothers and cousin Bautista. We expected to do a bit better this season, but just to compete is a gift.

It’s really great hearing the fans shouting our names, and my family seeing us playing – all the kids were in Chapaleufú shirts, shouting, “Come on, Daddy!” That’s really special.’

MORE THAN JUST A SPORT ‘Playing polo is not just about the matches; it’s also about breeding ponies. And now there are more breeders than ever, especially here in Argentina. The Polo Argentino stock is growing and it’s not easy, because the market is smaller. The government has begun imposing taxes on those who export horses, which is not helping the polo industry – the cost of transporting a horse to Europe or wherever is really high, so you have to add a lot of money to the price of the pony as a result.

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‘I probably have 600 horses or more, but I don’t want to know how many or what it costs me to maintain them, otherwise I’d stop enjoying having such a big operation. They are like babies to me – I enjoy the whole process as they become mature. The other day, in our last game at Palermo, there were 17 of my ponies on the field. Some went with Pepe, some with Nachi and some with me – I enjoy watching them being played by someone else.

‘I like polo best when the pressure is on – I love the adrenaline before, during and after the game. That’s why I keep competing – if not, I could be playing at another, more lucrative level. Playing the Gold Cup or Cámara de Diputados – that’s the way to make money.

But I prefer to play for the honour of taking part in the best tournament in the world and competing with the best teams. I’m going to keep trying to do that for as long as I can.

‘When you have four brothers who want to play together, somebody is going to have to change position because, if not, you won’t all fit on the team. We’ve always been more offensive than defensive players, but one of us has to play as no 4 and I am the one who hits the ball strongest and hardest. My cousins started playing with Bautista in no 4 position because he was the youngest, then finished with him in no 1 and Marcos in no 4. It’s the same thing that’s happening with the Piereses – this year, they tried with Facundo in the back, then Nico and, finally, Gonzalito.’

THE WAY THINGS USED TO BE ‘Polo used to be played at the clubs where the players were members; today, there are more people who make a living from polo, so there are more private grounds. When you have

I have to work harder now to be the best I can be – it’s not easy after so many injuries

This page, from above left Bautista Heguy with his cousins at Palermo, 2016; (from left) Mariano Uranga, a cousin, with Nachi, Pepe, their parents Silvia and Alberto, and Eduardo and Tomas Opposite Eduardo and his son Cruz

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ALICEGIPPS.COM; MATTIAS CALLEJO/AAP

your own place, you can do whatever you want, whenever and with whomever you want, but we still stable our horses at Los Indios because we like to share them with others. Before, it used to be that, after a game, you’d eat and drink at the club bar or have lunch with the opposition, friends or fellow members; now, however, most times, you play and then you leave. The social life we used to have is not the same any more.

‘When I started playing the Open, I had nine horses for the whole season; now, I start with 18. The way we used to play was much more open – it was all about hitting and running. We didn’t stop as much and the ref didn’t call as many fouls. Now the game is completely different – we have to stop, turn and keep control of the ball. It was probably more fun to watch before, because we really played as a team – over time, it’s become much more individual. That said, the kids these days are more talented – their skills with the ball are amazing: they can carry it in the air, whereas, in the old days, nobody used to try to even hit it in the air.

‘Even though we’ve been going through a difficult economic situation in our country, the number of players in Argentina is growing.

There are more and more youngsters taking part in our sport, and more tournaments every year, especially for children.

‘I was nine years old when I played my first Los Potrillos Cup. I borrowed my aunt’s boots, my father’s helmet and mallet, and his friends’ horses. Now, in training, the kids have all the equipment and the horses just for them. In my time, there was only one youth tournament and it was played once a year; now, they have at least two or three a month. Hopefully, that means more little professionals are on the way.

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Eduardo with his daughter Pampa

THE PRICE OF ARGENTINA’S SUCCESS ‘The ease the kids have coming into the sport in Argentina is an important factor in our success. Maintaining a horse here is not as expensive as it is in other countries, for a start.

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Then, because La Pampa is so flat, there are the millions of acres of potential polo fields.

And our weather means we can play all year round, of course. Most importantly, though, it’s the tradition we’ve established here – the horses, the tournaments, the numbers who take up the sport – that makes Argentinian players the best in the world.

‘Nonetheless, our success is actually a disadvantage when we want to compete against other nations. Argentina has not been able to put its top four players on a team since 1980, when we played the America’s Cup for the last time in Texas, so that’s not much fun.

We dominate the world of polo so much that, if we want to play other countries, we have to wait for them to get to the same level as us. And that’s not how it’s supposed to be.

You want to see your best players representing your country, but it’s not happening and it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen for a while.

‘So far, 2015’s Argentine Open has not been the best I’ve seen. We had a difficult spring because of the rain and it was not so warm, so the fields were not in the condition they should’ve been. The referees also closed up the games – they delayed them too often, so the players couldn’t run. All that stopping affected their play: how they were keeping the position of the ball and their view of the goal.

‘The way the Open has been played over the past few years has been a bit boring

because of the way the referees interpret the rules. Instead of letting the players play, they seem to be analysing too much and there have been too many good games spoiled as a result.

The 2014 final was a disaster – it was one of the worst I’ve seen, because of both the way the players played and the way the refs handled the game. They shouldn’t call so many fouls.

Don’t call it when somebody throws the ball under the horse’s legs, or when they stop and need to get off the horse and the player disappears, or when it’s not dangerous – let them take the ball and speed up the game!’

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE ‘Lots has changed about how the Open has been played since the old days – from the type of grass on the fields to more individualised play, to some players riding two or three horses in one chukka instead of one for the whole chukka. But there’s one thing that’s remained the same: we don’t make money; in fact, all of us lose money getting there and taking part.

But it’s about the honour and glory of taking part in the world’s best polo tournament.

‘Chapaleufú is going to keep competing.

We’ll have to see what happens with all the handicaps – maybe we’ll have to go through the qualifications next year! Now we have some downtime at our farm in La Pampa to think about the future. We’re never going to be far away from polo, that’s for sure.’

TONY RAMIREZ/IMAGESOFPOLO.COM

‘That said, to get to 10 goals is going to be just as difficult as before. More kids choosing the sport and competing at such a young age means there’s a greater chance of Argentina having a lot of good future players. But with many more people now making a living as professionals, there is greater competition. There are also not as many high-goal teams now in England and the United States as there once were, meaning it’s not as simple as it once was to compete. That’s why I tell my own kids to finish school, study something and then start their polo career. That’s the way it was when we were growing up and I think that’s what everyone should do – not only because they might have an accident, but because they might not achieve a good enough handicap to make a living only playing polo.

‘I want to convey to the next generation what I have learnt – I’m passionate about polo and horses and this way of life, and I don’t want to just keep my experience to myself.

That’s why I like teaching and organising tournaments for kids. What I want to transmit is this: the way to enjoy life is by doing what you love and trying to be the best you can be.’

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YA L E P O LO C L UB ES T. 19 03

T HE YALE POLO & E Q U E ST R I A N C E N T E R CELEBRATES ON E YE A R I N OU R N E W FAC I L I T Y

O PE N F O R BUS I N ES S – C O M E A N D P L AY! Providing high school, college and club programs Arena and grass lessons for all levels Weekly chukkers open to the public Instructor and umpire clinics

※ Please support the program through the donation of: Horses | Equipment | Cash/Stock Contact Liz Brayboy at LBrayboy@att.net or (860) 916-2202 Visit our website for news and schedules of upcoming events: yalepolo.wix.com/yalepoloteam or join our ‘Yale Polo’ Facebook page

GREAT TEAMMATES One of the keys to game strategist Alan L Corey Jr’s successful career was his marriage to Patricia Grace, whose intuitive knowledge of horses made them a solid team both on and off the field, says his son Russell Corey

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ALL IMAGES © W RUSSELL G COREY

Opposite Sweethearts Alan L Corey Jr and Patricia Grace, in 1940 This page, from top Corey in 1947, before the East-West match; and (third from left) celebrating victory with the Bostwick Field team after the 1950 Open Championship – both at the Meadow Brook Club

Rarely does a lifelong medical affliction lead to a distinguished sports career, yet it was precisely so with my father, Alan L Corey Jr. His chronic asthma introduced him to polo – a sport that left an indelible mark on his life, and created countless treasured memories for his family and the many friends with whom he shared the love of the sport.

My grandparents sent my father to the Aiken Preparatory School (APS) in 1930 – they thought the move from New York to the milder climate in South Carolina would benefit his breathing condition. Whether it achieved the intended health benefits is debatable, but it did introduce him to polo.

APS was founded by Louise Hitchcock, the wife of Thomas Hitchcock Sr, in 1916, for her son Francis. The Hitchcocks believed in a classical English education and the importance of a sporting life for young boys.

In keeping with those founding beliefs, my father was introduced to polo – first on foot, then on bicycles and finally on horseback, acquiring the honour of bicycle-polo captain in 1931 and winning the APS bicycle-polo tournament that same year.

He really liked polo and showed promise as a player. During the summer, he would play at the Phipps and Hitchcock fields on Long Island three times a week with other keen young players. He played with Louise Hitchcock’s Meadow Lark Polo Club, who often competed against Mrs David Iglehart’s Sparrow Hawk Club. At the end of the summer, a junior tournament for the Thorn Memorial Cup was held at the Meadow Brook Club.

My grandfather, Alan L Corey Sr – a superb sportsman in his own right – had attended Yale and my father followed in his footsteps in 1936.

It was the ideal place for him to continue his polo career, since it had facilities for both indoor and outdoor polo. In 1938, his Yale team won the Indoor Intercollegiate Tournament for the Townsend Cup, defeating West Point in the semi-final and Harvard in the final. They also won the Outdoor Eastern Intercollegiate Tournament for the Gerry Cup in 1939 and 1940, when my father was captain. My brother, Alan III, continued the family tradition, and captured the coveted Townsend Cup in 1964 and 1965 as team captain.

My father was fortunate to play polo during summer vacations at Meadow Brook, which was the centre of the sport in the United States from its inception in 1881 until 1954, when the Westbury facility closed and the Open Championship moved to Chicago. Not only did he have the opportunity to play with top-rated players from all over the world, but he could watch the matches that were played there and at the neighbouring clubs and private fields in the area. He attended as many games as possible, studying both the teamwork and individuals’ moves. His diligent scholarship

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and keen analysis of the game made him a wonderful strategist and teacher to many young players, including my brother and me.

In 1939, my father, at that time rated a 4-goaler, had a breakthrough year, winning three Meadow Brook Club Tournaments: the Hempstead Cups (12-goal), the Autumn Plates (16-goal) and the Meadow Brook Club Cups (20-goal). In the last of these, he played back, behind his Yale classmate Bill Chisholm, Peter Grace and Tommy Hitchcock, who was considered the best player in the world.

This was a pivotal moment in his career, as he learnt Hitchcock’s simple strategies of moving the ball quickly to prevent your opponent from preparing a defence, and always hitting it towards the boards in your team’s defensive end of the field and towards the goal in your team’s offensive end.

Hitchcock also taught him how to be a good captain and team leader – he made his teammates a productive part of the team and his leadership led his young teammates to victory

My mother knew a better pony would help my father improve and reach a higher handicap

This page, from top Corey (far left), with the Sands Point team, Tommy Hitchcock, Peter Grace and Bill Chisholm having won the 1939 Meadow Brook Club Cups; and (on left) with Henry Lewis, carrying the Monty Waterbury Cup, and Russell and Patricia Corey, at the Piping Rock Club, in 1956

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against teams that were older and far more experienced. My father would carry Hitchcock’s strategy and leadership lessons with him.

In 1940, after graduating from Yale and winning his first National Open Championship with the Gerry brothers on their Aknusti team, he married my mother, Patricia Grace.

She, too, came from a polo family and became a very valuable teammate off the field and another important ingredient in my father’s polo career. Raised among horse enthusiasts, she was an excellent rider in her own right, winning ribbons in shows and foxhunting

in New York and Virginia. In the 1930s, she attended many National Open Championships and International matches at Meadow Brook with her father, William Russell Grace, after whom I am named. He was rated at 3-goals, and his family’s club, the Great Neck Polo Club, became a member of the United States Polo Association in 1900. In addition to polo, my grandfather was also very involved in the breeding of polo ponies, owning 45 mares and interests in several stallions.

My mother had an excellent eye for a pony and never forgot those that had caught her attention. She knew a better-quality horse would help my father improve his skills and reach a higher handicap, so she encouraged him to improve his horsemanship so he could control a higher standard of pony. She was a true teammate in selecting, conditioning and improving the horses in his string.

By the 1950s, his ponies were considered by many to be the best in the USA. In 1957, Seymour Knox, who was in Chicago to watch his sons play in the Open Championship – commented that my father was the bestmounted player in the tournament. His ponies were small – 14 hands 3in to 15 hands 1in in height – which made them perfect to hit off.

They handled with ease and had top speed

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This page, from top Corey (second from left) with the Bostwick Field team before the 1947 $5,000 World Handicap Polo Championship; and (second from left) at the presentation of the 1955 Hazard Leonard Memorial Trophy at Piping Rock

and acceleration. I had the opportunity to play Lady Pal, the last of my father’s great ponies.

She had a mouth of silk, with top speed and an overdrive. Joe Barry, a 9-goal competitor of mine, told everyone he didn’t have a pony that could keep up with me when I rode Lady Pal. Due to his asthma, it was necessary for my father to be mounted on easy ponies. In fact, in order to play, he usually received a shot of adrenaline prior to the match. The effects of the injection lasted only five periods, but if his ponies hadn’t performed so easily, the shot would have lasted far fewer periods.

Being married to my mother must have been good for my father’s polo because, in 1941, he won the National 20-Goal (now known as the Silver Cup), the National Open Championship and the Monty Waterbury Cup. He was raised to 7-goal at the end of the 1941 season and to 9-goal in 1952. He was rated a 7-goal or more until 1972, when he retired from competitive play. Between 1940 and 1958, he won no fewer than four National 20-Goal Championships, five National Open Championships and five Monty Waterbury Cups.

One of my first polo memories is from 1953.

I was sitting in the Meadow Brook members’ stand at the International Field, with teammates Henry Lewis, Pete Bostwick and Philip Iglehart, father of my friend David, watching my father captain the last all-amateur team to win the National Open Championship. He defeated the team led by Cecil Smith, considered the best American player at the time. The captains had a mutual admiration for each other – my father thought Smith was second only to Hitchcock as the best 10-goal player, but was a much better horseman than Hitchcock. According

to Dick Latham, who played with Smith’s son Charles, Smith thought Philip Iglehart’s brother Stewart and my father the best backs he had ever played with or against.

In 1960, my father took a Meadow Brook team, including my brother, to play in the high-goal events in England and France, and we accompanied him. I recall, as a wide-eyed young lad, going to Idlewild Airport (now JFK) to see the ponies boarding a KLM Super Constellation for their flight to Europe.

The team played at Cowdray Park and reached the final of the Midhurst Town Cup. They defeated the Windsor Park team in the Westbury Cup and were presented with a trophy by Queen Elizabeth II. After the game, we were all invited to the Royal Enclosure for afternoon tea with the Queen Mother, who was delightful. Before the Gold Cup final, we had lunch at Cowdray House – its great hall was the largest room I had ever entered. When we played at Windsor Great Park, we lunched at the nearby home of the Maharaja of Jaipur, in Ascot.

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Our team then headed to France, where we stayed in the Normandy Hotel in Deauville and rode the ponies on the beach each morning before the bathers arrived. The fields were in the middle of a racetrack, so the games had to be played after the races.

That season, there were six high-goal teams with handicaps of 21- to 25-goals, and three of the future stars of Argentine polo – Frankie Dorignac, Juan Carlos Harriott and Daniel Gonzalez – were all playing in France.

Dorignac was a tremendous hitter, knocking in often to the middle of the field. The Gracidas from Mexico and the Menditeguys from Argentina were also playing there.

The polo in Deauville was very exciting, with many close matches. For a boy of 13, the trip was a wonderful introduction to the world of the international game – a world that has remained an important part of my life, taking me to play in England, France, India, Thailand, Malaysia and most of Central and South America. However, more important than the travel and the tournaments are the enduring friendships I’ve made along the way.

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My brother and I were lucky to experience our father’s strategies first-hand

My brother and I grew up on Long Island, first riding ponies, then playing bicycle polo and eventually polo. We had the opportunity to watch many high-goal matches and observe the finest players, including 10-goalers Cecil Smith and Bob Skene, from the USA, and Roberto Cavanagh and Quito Alberdi, from Argentina. We were fortunate to have as our instructors in both horsemanship and the game of polo our mother and father, and, having played our father’s ponies, we knew how a good polo pony should perform.

We also learnt our father’s strategies on the field, and were lucky to experience them first-hand when we played with him. He moved the ball quickly, never turning on it or dribbling, and his back and forward shots were always placed on his teammates’ ponies’ offside.

He said very little on the field – he believed if you had to holler, it was already too late.

Rather, at the end of a period off our mounts he would quietly enquire as to why we had taken a particular course of action. This forced each of us to analyse and recognise our faults.

He didn’t overwhelm us with instructions or tactics – he knew that, as we matured, we would come to recognise the intrinsic value of his simple, concise off-the-field suggestions.

My father won the National 12-Goal in 1962 with my brother and reached the finals of the 1969 National 16-Goal with me. He was our coach when we won the National 16-Goal in 1972 and six North East Intra-circuit 12-goal tournaments, from 1968 to 1976. We were a wonderful combination: my brother was a forward who was always attacking, and I was a defender, always closing the door. We brought out the best in one other. I give my father, our mentor, most of the credit for that, because he instilled in us the leadership style he learnt from Tommy Hitchcock. The lessons he imparted to my brother and me are the cornerstone of what made his teammates and teams so successful from 1940 to 1970. His extraordinary polo career was officially recognised in 1992, when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Museum of Polo – a well-deserved honour for a man of talent, insight and kindness, and a fitting tribute to his legacy.

Opposite, from top Alan L Corey Jr at the 1947 Open Championship, Meadow Brook; (from left) Russell Corey, Major Ronald Ferguson, Queen Elizabeth II and Col W H Gerard Leigh at Guards Polo Club in 1977 This page, from top Alan lll in 1977 on Whitney Field, Aiken Polo Club, between chukkas; Russell with his father in Aiken after Meadow Brook won the 1972 National 16-Goal tournament

From ‘9 Goals’, available from yalepolo.wix.com/ yalepoloteam for a tax-deductible donation of $100 (about £70) to be divided between the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame, and Yale University Polo

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ART OF GOLD Despite barely having sat in a saddle, not to mention being colour blind, Paul Brown was an equestrian illustrator par excellence, explains Arthur C Liese

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COURTESY OF BROOKS BROTHERS’ ARCHIVE AND CHISHOLM GALLERY

Opposite ‘The Poor Sport’ (1933–35, graphite) This page The thrill of skijoring, captured with customary skill by Paul Brown in a drawing from Brooks Brothers’ limited-edition calendar from 1945

With his slightly rumpled appearance, deep baritone voice and warm demeanour, artist Paul Brown earned the affection of the equine set – even though he never owned a horse or even sat on one. Though he was colour blind, he was legendary in equestrian circles because the fluid motion in his work defined the soul and personality of the animal.

It was a fortuitous set of circumstances that transported Brown from his birthplace in Minnesota, in 1893, to Long Island. It was in Garden City that he and his wife, Sallie, raised three children. And it was there he earned his artist’s reputation while doing most of his life’s work on the nearby polo fields and horse-show grounds of Old Westbury and Piping Rock.

His early artistic brilliance was nurtured at the High School of Commerce in New York City. However, although he was a keen art student, his academic work suffered owing to lack of interest. Bored by the slow pace and focused instead on the excitement of starting his own business, he was lured away in 1911, at the age of 18, before graduation.

Brown’s young commercial-art business was interrupted by army service in 1914, at the beginning of World War I. Discharged in 1918, he returned to Garden City to resume his life and his work with clients that included Harper’s, The Sportsman’s, Collier’s, The New York Times and Mobil Oil. In 1927, his career path took a dramatic second turn, when, as

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chief illustrator, he helped launch Polo magazine, with Peter Vischer as editor.

It was an exciting time – Charles Lindbergh had just crossed the Atlantic and Long Island society was enjoying an unparalleled sports boom. The imposing European-influenced architecture of the patrician castles on the Gold Coast provided the backdrop for an era that would influence and inspire American sporting art and literature for years to come, and Brown played a central role.

Ironically, it was 1930, the year after the stock market crashed and the Great Depression began, when he first cultivated what would be a fruitful relationship with Eugene V Connett III’s Derrydale Press. Connett first became aware

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Brown’s horses consistently display a uniquely detailed cinematography of action

of Brown’s horse-related art via his illustrations in Polo and The Sportsman’s. People do not play the game because they can’t fi nd a regular doubles partner; there is a complex mix of sensually driven emotions that seduce players and gallery alike. Their runaway passion and addictive allure provide an enormous technical challenge that few artists master, but Brown had developed a distinct style that froze emotion, captured the excitement and recorded the history of polo for posterity.

Polo survived the depths of the Depression, both the sport and the accompanying lifestyle relying on a poetic licence that demanded to be recorded on canvas. This golden era was defi ned by the crack of a mallet echoing across Long

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Island Sound and by horsemen the likes of Tommy Hitchcock and Pete Bostwick, and it was chronicled by The Sportsman’s. Brown sketched the action from the sidelines in works that defi ned the standard of excellence of equestrian art by withstanding the brutal test of time.

He demonstrated a knowledge of equine anatomy and plays of the game more intimate than even the most dedicated veterinarian or player. All his horses consistently display a uniquely detailed cinematography of action in whichever medium they are depicted: watercolour, ink, pastel, drypoint or crayon.

The perfect proportions of these complex athletic creatures are on a par with those of Franklin B Voss and Sir Alfred Munnings.

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Opposite, clockwise from top left An illustration from Hits and Misses (1935); a 1945 advert for Brooks Brothers; the artist in the 1930s. This page ‘Kenny Hits One – 3rd Period, 3rd Game’ (1928, watercolour over ink); ’International Field, Meadow Brook Club’ (1939, lithograph)

COURTESY OF BROOKS BROTHERS’ ARCHIVE , CHISHOLM GALLERY AND JUDY BROWN MALONE

Brown was the ideal choice to undertake the set of four hand-coloured aquatints entitled American Polo Scenes the Derrydale Press marketed in 1930. ‘Down The Field’, ‘On The Boards’, ‘The Save’, and ‘The Goal’ were produced in an edition that was not to exceed 250, but, owing to the depressed economy, it was not fully subscribed, with fewer than half completed.

Brown’s first book illustrations appeared in the 1929 Derrydale publication of The Hitchcock Edition of the Sporting Works of David Gray, but 1930 marked the acceleration of Brown’s sporting art, book and magazine production. Peter Vischer then selected him to illustrate nine volumes of Record of Hunt Race Meetings in America (1931-1939), after which he produced a plethora of steeplechase-related art.

For several years, Derrydale prolifically advertised another set of four limited-edition, hand-coloured steeplechasing aquatints: ‘The Meadow Brook Cup’, ‘Maryland Cup’,

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From top ‘Take the Man’ (1928, coloured pencil); ‘Kenny – 1st Goal, 2nd Game: Argentina vs USA, Copa de las Americas’ (1928, watercolour)

‘New Jersey Cup’ and ‘Brookline Hunt Cup’.

Inexplicably, however, only the Meadow Brook Cup was produced and, inconsistent with company records, only three of the aquatints are known to exist.

Meanwhile, Connett had contracted with Brown to produce the most famous and collectible books of his Derrydale career: Gentleman Up, Aintree: Grand Nationals – Past & Present (both 1930), and Hits and Misses (1935). After the first two were published, he followed with his first for children, Pony Farm (1948). In total, for Derrydale and other publishers, he illustrated and wrote 32 books, and illustrated another 100 by other authors.

The Derrydale publications and The Sportsman’s illustrations soon caught the attention of Brooks Brothers, the oldest men’s and women’s clothier in the United States.

From a contract signed in October 1933, and continuing right up until his death, Brown produced the art for a series of the company’s advertisements, as well as Christmas cards, and gifts such as glassware, matchboxes, lighters, plates and calendars, all of which have since become extremely collectible.

Driven by the particularly enthusiastic reception his work had received from Brooks

Brothers’ customers, Connett planned a grand presentation for a set of fox-hunting aquatints

by Brown. It was magnificent and without rival in any of his work to that point. The format was unique, the plates measuring 8 x 22in.

The first three, ‘Hoick! Hoick! Hoick!’, ‘Music Ahead’ and ‘Pressing Him’ depict the chase.

The fourth, ‘Kennel Bound’, depicts the weary pack returning from the hunt. The edition was planned not to exceed 250, and Connett’s records indicate that at least 122 were sold.

The quality of this set, he remarked, exceeded his plans – they are truly magnificent.

As for polo art, the 1939 aquatint entitled International Field was the most iconic piece Brown ever produced. It captures an event at the Meadow Brook Club that gathered the best American players of the era – Winston Guest, Cecile Smith, Tommy Hitchcock, Billy Post, Stewart Iglehart and Mike Phipps – and the very aura of the Gatsby era. It is rare and enormously collectible.

The approach of World War II limited sales at the Derrydale Press and ultimately closed the company, in 1942, when it was still under Connett’s leadership. This was largely due to the unavailability of the unique, heavyweight, deckle-edged paper that was custom-made

by hand in war-ravaged Britain. The best museum-quality stock available at the time, it was also used for the hand-coloured aquatints

by Brown that were produced by the Sporting Gallery and Bookshop Inc in New York City.

Unlike the three sets of four fox-hunting aquatints Derrydale published by Franklin B Voss (Fox Hunting in America), Edward King (American Hunting Scenes) and Somerville & Ross (The Irish RM), the set by Brown was never given a title. As a result, many dealers are unaware they even form a quartet and they remain the least available and consequently most sought after. Nonetheless, it is his little-known drypoints that remain the most elusive and collectible examples of his life’s work.

Paul Brown continued to work until he succumbed to a heart attack on Christmas Day, 1958. The Sporting Gallery and Bookshop Inc represented him until his death.

Arthur C Liese is the president and managing director of the Sporting Gallery and Book Shop Inc. He is the leading expert on 20th-century American sporting art during the Golden Era of Sport (1927-1941) and a published author.

With thanks to Jeanne Chisholm and the Chisholm Gallery (chisholmgallery.com), the leading global stockist of Paul Brown artwork

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COURTESY OF BROOKS BROTHERS’ ARCHIVE AND CHISHOLM GALLERY

Brown illustrated and wrote 32 books, and illustrated another 100 by other authors

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RENOWNED COLLECTORS’ REFLECTIONS ON PAUL BROWN LAURIE BRECHEEN BALLARD

NIGEL À BRASSARD

SCULPTOR

WRITER AND ART COLLECTOR

‘Paul Brown is responsible for my lifelong, fulfilling and expensive love affair with thoroughbred horses. Aged 12, I bought my first Brown illustration from a Mrs Ann Stradling, who came from a Philadelphia Main Line family.

Her Museum of the Horse was filled with generations of East Coast horse-society collectables. During my eighthgrade lunch break, I would visit the museum every day and stare at Paul Brown’s work. The small illustration she sold me for a pittance portrays a classic thoroughbred.

‘Brown’s work still inspires me – he was able to convey indescribable equestrian character, complete with all its beauty and frailty, fear and courage. Remington, Russell and Borein did not look upon horses in a particularly generous manner – Brown’s depiction is sensitive, and much of his literary illustration work is devoted to illuminating the special bond between human and horse.’

‘Brown is generally acknowledged as the first artist to accurately portray the polo pony in action. This ability to capture an action scene featuring both mount and rider in unusual – and sometimes contorted – positions was his trademark. He made a point of studying everything about horses: their hoof prints in various gaits, their position prior to a jump and how they landed, and so forth.

‘His style has a calculated simplicity and a casual appearance, but every detail is very carefully contrived and executed. He used his wonderful powers of observation, drew heavily on his copious notes and accepted the benefits of the camera only to cement his ideas; the rest was down to practice and care.’

TYLER TINSWORTH INTERIOR DESIGNER AND COLLECTOR

MAYNARD BRITTAN POLO-ART COLLECTOR

‘My first exposure to Brown’s work was in the early 1980s, when I responded to a classified ad in the US players’ edition of Polo magazine and received in the post an equine-cartoon calendar depicting riotously funny calamities. The most memorable showed a feckless player being pulled out of his saddle when his mallet is caught up in his pony’s untied tail.

‘We still have 10 of the 12 months framed in our barn office at Fair Hills Polo and Hunt Club in Topanga, California. So-called art-collector mavens have chastised us, saying that, by separating the calendar, we have destroyed its potential value. Oh well! We still really enjoy looking at the caricatures – every horseman, after all, can recognise the folly portrayed.

‘Our polo-playing family’s continuing attraction to Brown’s work is down to its perfect form and its energy.

Any player passionate about our sport could benefit greatly from studying his superb and succinct portrayals.’

LEIGH BRECHEEN SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT ATTORNEY

‘Paul Brown offered a unique perspective on what many regard as the golden age of polo. He demonstrated such a masterful hand, not only for horse and human figures, but also for the dynamics of the game, capturing its spirit and feel like no other contemporary artist.

‘There is something about the art of an illustrator that I find very compelling – he or she is trained to tell a story visually, and Paul Brown’s work conveys a story in every single frame.’

‘As a child, I read everything of Paul Brown’s I could find – I wrote to him to tell him how much I liked his work and he wrote back. That meant a great deal to me. My all-time favourite is Silver Heels, of which I own not one but two copies. My late husband had my first copy bound in leather with a raised relief on the front cover. He also bought me many other Brown books and several prints, and I had a set of 24 Brown dinner plates that I gave to Kauffman’s to sell – I never saw them again when the company went under.

‘The Lairds in Silver Heels were my fantasy family when I was growing up – they offered a stark contrast to my alcoholic, widowed mother and one brother. I still read a chapter whenever I want to be soothed and cosseted.’

KELLY STUART-JOHNSON BROOKS BROTHERS HISTORIAN

‘From 1933 to 1958, Paul Brown executed many drawings for Brooks Brothers. Most interesting to me was a gift given to me by the great-granddaughters of Francis G Lloyd, a former Brooks president who’d started at the firm as a boy of 12 during the 1863 draft riots. The gift was a letter sent

by Brown to their father, Winston, during World War II, when Winston was a bombardier pilot. The letter, ‘written’ in 31 drawings over as many pages, was Brown’s way of helping him answer the question, ‘How does one go from being the pilot of a war plane to being the pilot of a horse again?’ As acts of insight and tenderness go, it’s unsurpassed.

‘Winthrop Holley Brooks, chairman of the board, thought him superb at horses and dogs, and good at men, but commented that ‘we keep him away from women pretty much – his women are not so hot, though he can do an occasional tweedy girl, or one in jodphurs’. When we lost Paul, we lost a true friend of the brand.’

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PGH LA PALMERAIE POLO CLUB

Art direction: Patrick Gerrand-Hermes - Photos: Patrice Gueritot - Artwork: Max Art Director - 01/2016

THREE FIELDS BETWEEN LARACHE AND ASSILAH 20 MILES FROM TANGER AIRPORT

MANAGERS M. EL AMMARI

NACHO

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ACTION

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DATE ACTION LOCATION TIME ETC. THE WORLD THE LATEST POLO FROM AROUND

The world’s top players, Facundo Pieres and Adolfo Cambiaso, in the rain at the Argentine Open final

THE ACTION he Triple Crown 54 T How La Dolfina made history by becoming the first team to win the Triple Crown three years in a row – overtaking legends Coronel Suárez hai Polo Cup Argentina 58 T Polo went from strength to strength as Rubén Burgos’s Las Codornices team took home the title at the finish of a lively tournament

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SPA International U The 2015 competition saw a host team triumph for the fourth consecutive year

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ll Pro Polo League A The league set to bring the game back to its golden age…

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orld Snow Polo W The annual Aspen winter tournament produced some spectacular powder play

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hilean Open C The closing match of the 2015 high-goal polo season saw some exhilaratingly competitive and fast-paced play in the heart of Santiago

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eru Open P The 97th Polo Open Championship in Lima came to a close in December with both local talent and international stars showing fine form

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ACTION TORTUGAS OPEN, HURLINGHAM OPEN AND ARGENTINE OPEN, ARGENTINA, SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2015

THE TRIPLE CROWN

The Argentinian annual highlight saw La Dolfina make history with their third consecutive win, in a skilfully played tournament that banished the memory of 2014, reports Héctor Martelli

A year ago, reporting on the Triple Crown, I said the following: ‘With regard to high-goal polo in Argentina, the 2014 season was very different to the previous ones. Five of the six highestrated teams maintained the same line-ups as 2013.’ Exactly the opposite happened in 2015.

Only La Dolfina and Chapaleufú – the latter playing due to their handicap being raised at the end of last year – retained the same line-up as in 2014. The other teams featured important changes: Ellerstina hired brand-new 10-goaler Polito Pieres as its no 1 after Mariano Aguerre’s departure from high-goal polo; Alegría brought

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Cristian Laprida Jr into Fred Mannix’s foursome, Polito Pieres having left to join Ellerstina; La Aguada featured a completely different line-up – Miguel Novillo Astrada didn’t play the high-goal season, and the only Novillo Astrada in the team was his brother, Ignacio, who was joined by Agustín Merlos, Guillermo Terrera Jr and Guillermo ‘Sapito’ Caset; La Aguada Las Monjitas hired Sebastián Merlos and Ignacio Toccalino, following the departure of Cristian Laprida Jr, Lucas James, Eduardo Jr and Alejandro Novillo Astrada.

So, with these significant changes, the action began. As usual, its started with the Tortugas Open, the only competition that showcases the six highest-rated teams. La Dolfina displayed perfect team-play and went through to the final, with impressive wins against Chapaleufú and Alegría. Ellerstina followed suit, having faced the two La Aguada teams, although their results weren’t as wide as La Dolfina’s.

A final is always another important chapter in the history books, and the first championship of the Triple Crown was no exception. However, the match was not as good as everybody had

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ACTION

Opposite Cambiaso celebrates La Dolfina’s third-time Triple This page Hilario Ulloa (in pink, below) went to 10 goals, as did Sapo Caset (in white, bottom)

expected from the two highest-rated teams, with handicaps of 40 and 39 respectively.

It was a fast-played game, but featured many fouls as well as a lot of individual plays, mostly from Ellerstina. As a result, the action was very rough and very slow. Out of a total of 20 goals scored, 12 were on penalty shots and only eight from the ground. Juan Martín Nero, La Dolfina’s back, was the team’s best player and proved a tough wall that was impossible to break for the forwarders. Gonzalo Pieres Jr, similarly, was akin to a bodyguard for Ellerstina.

Following the Tortugas Open, it was time for Argentina’s oldest tournament: the 122nd Hurlingham Open, which awards the coveted Ayrshire Cup. It featured eight teams broken down into two leagues. Washington and Magual, both rated with a handicap of 31 and the winners of the qualifiers, joined the six highest-rated teams.

There was a big surprise during League A’s qualifying stage, when Washington (31) defeated La Aguada (34) by a narrow 13–12 score.

The winners carried a comfortable five-goal advantage by half time, but La Aguada struggled to cut the margin to one goal. In the next match,

ALICE GIPPS.COM; MATIAS CALLEJO/AAP; SERGIO LLAMERA/LAM SERVICE/CANON

Washington lost to La Aguada Las Monjitas by just one goal. The only team that won the three games with ease was La Dolfina.

When it came to League B, there were some surprises as well. Despite losing their three games, Magual (31) put in a worthy performance, losing to Ellerstina (39) by two goals, then to Alegría (35) and Chapaleufú (34) by just one goal each. Ellerstina were the league winners, after a wide 19–11 victory against Alegría in the league-decider match.

In a new edition of the derby, La Dolfina and Ellerstina met to play the championship game.

If we’d had to make a prediction according to what we saw at this stage of the season, the obvious winner would have been La Dolfina.

And yes, that came to pass, but they took a narrow win by just one goal after a match that reminded us all that great Argentinian polo still exists, despite our uncomfortable memories of the 2014 Argentine Open final.

The all-Pieres foursome battled their hardest from the very first throw-in. Following a 2–2 score in the first chukka, Ellerstina took control of the match and remained in the lead until four minutes from the end of the last chukka.

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ACTION TORTUGAS OPEN, HURLINGHAM OPEN AND ARGENTINE OPEN, ARGENTINA, SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2015

This page, from top All eyes were on Nico Pieres as he chased the ball; Polito Pieres with an overhead smash Opposite Third-time Triple Crown winners La Dolfina

Ellerstina’s dominance was absolutely fantastic and was based on some fabulous team-play, led by brothers Gonzalo and Facundo Pieres, whose fast polo overwhelmed their rivals. They took a two-goal lead in the second chukka, and by the end of the fifth, Ellerstina had a four-goal advantage. Meanwhile, La Dolfina battled back and cut the margin to two goals. However, the all-Pieres foursome’s dominance remained strong, despite Facundo Pieres falling heavily in the fourth chukka, hitting his head and right shoulder. Then, the unexpected happened. In the thrilling last four minutes of play, the strong mid-play led by a brave MacDonough and Stirling struggled to produce any goals and tied the match. In the last seconds of regulation time, a 60-yard penalty awarded to La Dolfina was successfully converted by Adolfo Cambiaso to seal a hard-fought 15–14 win.

The question is this: how is it possible to lose a match that was almost said and done in just four minutes, while holding a three-goal lead?

Is it stage fright – that is, the fear of losing – that disrupts one’s play? What’s clear is that,

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TONY RAMIREZ/IMAGES OF POLO.COM

The 122nd Open final was a masterclass in polo, especially during the first four chukkas

like the rules say, a match is only over when the final bell sounds.

And now to the big party of the polo world, not only in Argentina but worldwide: the Argentine Polo Open Championship.

The tournament was broken down into two leagues: League A, comprising La Dolfina (40), Alegría (35) and La Aguada (34), and League B, featuring Ellerstina (39), La Aguada Las Monjitas (35), Chapaleufú (34) and Washington (31). Some matches in both leagues were predicted to be won by wide scores, but that didn’t happen and, instead, there were surprises in both leagues.

In League A, La Aguada took an impressive five-goal difference to beat Alegría, who’d had a great record last year, and then Alegría lost to title-holders La Dolfina by just two goals.

La Aguada also played a great match against La Dolfina, who beat them by three goals. In short, it was a very balanced league, with La Dolfina always emerging as the winners, although by fewer goals than expected.

League B had one major protagonist: 31-goal Washington, the young foursome who came up from the qualifiers. They surprised everybody with an impressive 15–12 win against Chapaleufú before a dignified loss to La Aguada Las Monjitas and Ellerstina by just 3 and 4 goals respectively, and only because of their low handicap.

As expected, the final of the Argentine Polo Open Championship was no other than the sport’s clash of the titans, the powerful La Dolfina versus Ellerstina. A year ago, in reference to the awful championship performance we all watched back then, I wrote: ‘This terrible match has left a black mark on the home of the world’s best polo.’

But this 122nd edition of the Open final was a masterclass in polo, especially during the first four chukkas. I truly believe this was La Dolfina’s best team-play of their career. It displayed powerful backhanders, intelligent anticipation, extreme speed and perfectly balanced rotation.

During these four chukkas, Ellerstina were completely lost and overwhelmed, unable to take any of La Dolfina’s men. As a result, La Dolfina managed an 8–4 lead. Ellerstina made a comeback in the fifth and seventh chukkas, while the eighth chukka was extremely close, very hard fought, and even Nico Pieres missed a crucial goal that could have sent the match into overtime. La Dolfina finally won 13–12.

With regards to this derby, we should ask ourselves why La Dolfina always defeat Ellerstina. The answer is simple: their play is organised and they make only a few mistakes.

In contrast, their rivals make many mistakes that end up in fouls. In addition, while Cambiaso and company make the difficult look easy – something that’s only been accomplished by the greatest winners in the history of the derbies – their rivals make difficult what should be easy.

It’s worth mentioning La Dolfina’s historic achievement. They became the first team to reach the Triple Crown for the third year in a row, overtaking the one and only Coronel Suárez, who won a total of four, though only two of them were consecutive.

Analysing the performance of the four members of La Dolfina during the three

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tournaments of the season, I would say that Cambiaso, despite his chronic injuries, was the team’s leading man and the one who was always there when his teammates needed him. Uruguay-born Stirling, the big number two that every team needs, was at the heart of all the hottest moments of the match.

Nero, as usual and more than ever this year, was a real wall in defence – every forwarder’s biggest nightmare. MacDonough, however, was not the player we have been used to watching, who scores spectacular goals. Ellerstina’s performance was not as expected: it was difficult for them to adapt to their new positions and they played at their best only in the final of the Hurlingham Open. The winds of change will no doubt blow through the upcoming 2016 Argentina high-goal season.

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ACTION THAI POLO CUP, THAI POLO CLUB, ARGENTINA, NOVEMBER 2015

THAI POLO CUP ARGENTINA Las Codornices lifted the trophy at the end of a thoroughly enjoyable tournament, one in which the standard of polo went from strength to strength, reports Carolina Beresford

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amazingly, the fields held up. We played even when play for the Argentine Open was suspended!’

Once on the field, it was clear the level of polo had improved dramatically: ‘Teams arrived more prepared – the team that came fifth out of six in 2014 went on to be the victors! This was the cup everybody wanted to win, but the tournament never lost the friendly tone that defines it.’

All agree that Thai Polo is more than just a tournament – it provides a unique experience.

‘From the minute our patrons land in Argentina, they get VIP treatment,’ boasted Cereceda.

‘We provide the best hotels and rental-car deals, we organise a team presentation at La Martina’s flagship store, we host dinners at the Alvear Palace, and we always have a big closing party.

The day of the final was great. We had 11 classic cars displayed, a live band, DJ, fireworks… and the party was still going strong at 4am!’

Thai Polo Cup Argentina is refreshing – it’s fun and light-hearted, and gives both patrons and

The Thai Polo festivities included a race between a classic car and a pony ridden by Bartolomé Castagnola

players the chance to play good, safe polo in a beautiful setting. What’s more, the hospitality on offer is of a type that has been lost in many parts of the world. And this is just the beginning.

‘We’re already planning this year’s event,’ said Cereceda. ‘Our goal is to get the same 10 teams we had in 2015, plus two more. But the tournament is not driven by economic interests – we don’t want to lose the personal attention we give all our participants. We want this to be the cup everybody looks forward to playing.’

With Thai Polo growing steadily on three different continents, other clubs wanting to stage a brilliantly organised and good-humoured event could do worse than take a leaf out of Link and Cereceda’s book.

NACHO CORBALAN

Thai Polo landed in Argentina for a second year, bringing some much-needed fun to a structured season. Rubén Burgos’ Las Codornices claimed the title after narrowly beating last year’s champions, Power Infrastructure.

Dato’ Harald Link’s tournament took a big leap forward, with 10 teams of 12–14 goals.

‘The tournament aims to appeal to patrons who want to have a good time and play great polo,’ said Manu Cereceda, Thai Polo’s charismatic manager. ‘In 2015, we had the same six teams, as well as four new teams. It’s fantastic that they all came back. The year before, it was 10–12 goals, and we improved the level and made it 14.’

The tournament had to deal with an unusually wet spring, starting a day later than planned. ‘It was due to run from 17 to 27 November, but it rained on four of the 10 days and we had to work wonders to fit in all the dates,’ Cereceda added.

‘Fortunately, between Thai Polo, La Virgencita and San José, we had four grounds in total and,

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ACTION USPA INTERNATIONAL, WELLINGTON POLO CLUB, FLORIDA, USA, NOVEMBER 2015

USPA INTERNATIONAL

ALEX PACHECO

The 2015 instalment of this American high-goal international saw a host team triumph for the fourth consecutive year, reports Alex Webbe

International test matches are as old as the game itself, the first recorded having been held in 600BC between the Turks and Persians.

The oldest such competition in the United States of recent times is the Westchester Cup, which began in 1886. Over the years, other series played there have included the Camacho Cup and the Cup of the Americas, but both were played at irregular intervals.

So starved was the US for the return of high-goal competition that, in 2012, the Grand Champions Polo Club launched the International Cup, in which it first faced an English team and, in successive years, Chilean and Mexican teams, capturing all three competitions.

This set the stage for last November’s USPA International Cup match against a 24-goal South African side at Florida’s Wellington Polo Club.

The US fielded 8-goalers Julio Arellano and Nic Roldan, 7-goaler Jeff Hall and talented amateur and veteran Marc Ganzi (pictured, on the ball).

The South African team comprised 7-goaler Tom de Bruin, 6-goalers Chris MacKenzie and Gareth Evans and 5-goaler Selby Williams.

The game was physical right from the opening throw-in, Roldan and Arellano displaying envious mallet skills and the South Africans trying everything to upset their rhythm.

Ganzi scored the first goal from the field, followed by a pair from Arellano that gave the US a 3–0 advantage. Williams converted a 60-yard penalty shot, making it 3–1. Arellano’s third goal was countered by one from Evans and the chukka ended with the USA holding a 4–2 lead.

Defence was the tone for the second chukka, with neither team able to score from the field.

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Fouls by South Africa cost them, with Arellano converting on three penalty shots that went unanswered. The USA were 7–2 in the lead.

MacKenzie and de Bruin opened the third chukka with goals that brought them to 7–4, but Hall scored the final two to keep the US at 9-4.

Both offences were toned down in the fourth period. Arellano and de Bruin exchanged goals and, by the end, South Africa trailed 10–5.

Hall scored his third goal to kick off the final chukka, 11-5. MacKenzie and de Bruin made it 11-7, but time had run out. Ganzi scored the last goal of the game for the final score of 12-7 and a fourth consecutive International Cup win.

Arellano led all scoring with seven goals – five of which were on penalty conversions – and earned MVP honours. Hall’s 10-year-old grey mare, Candela, received the accolade of BPP.

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ACTION ALL PRO POLO LEAGUE DEBUT, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA, NOVEMBER 2015

ALL PRO POLO LEAGUE With the formation of the All Pro Polo League, writes Carolina Beresford, Javier Tanoira aims to recover the magic he believes the game has lost The first edition of the All Pro Polo League (APPL) was hosted in Argentina last November.

Born of Javier Tanoira’s ambition to take polo back to the glory days, the APPL presents a simple objective: to encourage dynamic, open polo and motivate a professional attitude towards the sport.

Surprisingly, Tanoira’s first tournament managed just that. Thanks to a new set of rules, APPL matches were fast-paced and entertaining: six-chukka matches lasted just 50 minutes and, in many, the whistle was blown only once.

‘We’re trying to bring back a form of polo that, for one reason or another, disappeared a while ago,’ Tanoira explains. ‘We want to make it faster, simpler and more enjoyable to watch.’

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To achieve this, the rules have been revised – notably, just one horse is allowed per chukka.

This is arguably the most controversial element, but with high-goal players slowing the game down by using up to three, these changes have piqued the interest of many.

Tanoira cites two fundamental reasons for this limitation. The first, he says, is common sense: ‘Twenty years ago, when polo was more fluid, only one horse was played per chukka, and good mares used to play two whole chukkas in the Argentine high-goal.’ Back then, he insists, ponies did not tire because polo was very much a team sport. The problem today, he argues, is that it is centred instead on the individual.

The second reason he gives has to do with

what he calls ‘self-regulation’. He explains how, every season, more people, namely patrons, distance themselves from polo because they cannot compete with big organisations and players who use 14 horses per game: ‘By allowing only six horses per six-chukka match, we are rewarding those who focus their efforts on riding well and training their ponies correctly.

We believe this rule will revolutionise the sport, making it more accessible to a wider audience.’

The APPL has also questioned what constitutes a foul – today’s rule book has become so complex, it is almost impossible to form an objective view.

Tanoira aims to make it easier for players, spectators and umpires. ‘We have just two important rules when it comes to fouls,’ he

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Opposite Juan Britos goes for goal This page Javier Tanoira umpires the final match

League to give patrons the chance to play under the new rules. Thanks to the ‘one horse per chukka’ requirement, both the APPL and Pro-Am leagues allow patrons and players the opportunity of competing without the obligatory economic strain now synonymous with traditional high-goal tournaments.

The APPL has already started to make waves in the polo world. Opinion is still divided over some of the more creative rules, but Tanoira highlights

the League’s key objective: ‘The important thing is to try different approaches. If it works, then we can improve our sport as a whole. If it doesn’t, we have just validated the current form of polo.’

Either way, Tanoira’s changes have certainly hit right at the heart of polo’s modern-day problems. By fostering principles of respect and camaraderie while allowing the game to grow in speed and skill, the APPL might well represent the future of the game.

SERGIO LLAMERA

elaborates. ‘The first is that a player who keeps the ball at a slow speed should be penalised. The second is that the player with the ball cannot use a teammate to stop the opposition blocking him – he needs to outsmart the player himself.’

Tanoira is still unsure what the formation of the APPL will lead to, but by giving youngsters a chance to play this type of polo, he hopes to have a positive effect on their long-term style of play. ‘We decided to start the tournament with young players who can be taught the principles of discipline and respect because they are the future 10-goalers who will influence the sport.

Our hope is that they continue to demonstrate the values learnt in the APPL, such as team play and passing the ball, but also maintain the skills of the modern game. Polo has evolved hugely, and we don’t want to lose that.’

The support gained from the Argentine Association of Polo, the Federation of International Polo, the United States Polo Association and the Hurlingham Polo Association will allow the APPL to grow internationally, with the goal of creating a Polo World Tour. While an international fixture is yet to be defined, Tanoira hints at the probability of taking the League to England and Spain over the course of this year.

The APPL has also formed a separate Pro-Am

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ACTION WORLD SNOW POLO TOURNAMENT, ASPEN, COLORADO, USA, DECEMBER 2015

WORLD SNOW POLO December’s annual tournament in Aspen produced some stunning powder play between six top-ranking teams, reports Alex Webbe

There’s no mystery to the allure of the former mining town of Aspen, Colorado. Perched high in the colourful and majestic Rocky Mountains, the town offers a summer season of golf, tennis, trout fishing, white-water rafting, mountain biking and even glacier skiing, but the winter is when it gets to flex its muscles as one of the world’s most celebrated resorts.

With more than 5,000 acres of skiing terrain, you would think all the winter activities would be focused on the slopes. But every December, just before Christmas, well-trained thoroughbreds and top-ranked international players gather here to compete in Aspen’s World Snow Polo Championship.

Last year attracted six teams, with rosters of participants from Argentina, Canada, Pakistan, Australia, Wales and the United States arriving for three days of competitions and four nights of cocktail parties, fine dinners and Aspen nightlife.

St Regis Hotels and Resorts was the title sponsor of the 2015 event, and Aspen Valley Polo Club founders Melissa and Marc Ganzi, and polo ambassador and St Regis Connoisseur

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Nacho Figueras, hosted the tournament. The teams were greeted by an 11in snowfall on the Tuesday before the event, and the VIP tent was in place fieldside at the city’s Rio Grande Park.

An international field lined up, with Ricky Cooper, captain of the Welsh national polo team, joining Marc Ganzi and Tommy Biddle, America’s only 10-goal arena player, on the Audi team. Australian Bernie Uechtritz saddled up with Martin Pepa and Mariano Gracida, meanwhile, to form the ChukkerTV side. Nacho Figueras led St Regis into the fray alongside Brian Boyd and Carlitos Gracida, and Melissa Ganzi’s Flexjet featured American 7-goaler Jeff Hall and veteran Argentine Juan Bollini.

The field was filled out with One Sandy Lane, of Barbados, being represented by Bash Kazi, Brandon Phillips and Martin Estrada.

Finally, the US Polo Association team, led

by American 8-goaler Nic Roldan, included Grant Ganzi and Juancito Bollini.

Following a Wednesday-night draw at the St Regis Hotel and Resort, the first day’s competition took place in the Aspen Valley Polo

Club’s indoor arena in the format of two round robins. US Polo scored wins over Audi and ChukkerTV for a perfect 2–0 record and a trip to the tournament final on Saturday. In the second round-robin of the day, Flexjet bested One Sandy Lane and St Regis, earning them a berth in the tournament final against US Polo. ChukkerTV and St Regis would go on to play in the subsidiary final on the Saturday, and Audi and One Sandy Lane to compete for the St Regis Cup in Friday-afternoon action.

With Aspen Mountain forming a dramatic backdrop, Audi and One Sandy Lane took to the snow-covered arena with an enthusiastic flock of spectators gathered around the miniature field. With only three players on each side, ball control was essential, and Audi’s Tommy Biddle displayed his 10-goal arena-polo form as he ran up four of the five first-half goals that carried Audi to the 7–3 St Regis Cup win. ‘We got off to a slow start on Thursday,’ said Biddle afterwards, ‘but we finally found our rhythm.’

Saturday’s title game between Flexjet and US Polo didn’t disappoint, and the crowd

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cheered on the impressive skills displayed by the players. The VIP tent offered hospitality to guests who included Australian billionaire Jamie Packer and his fiancée Mariah Carey. Packer is the captain of the storied Ellerston team, and Carey, of course, needs no introduction.

Melissa Ganzi scored the first goal of the game, but Nic Roldan quickly responded with a tying goal, 1–1. Juancito Bollini scored back-to-back goals, with Grant Ganzi scoring the final of the opening chukka to secure a 4–1 lead. US Polo held control of the game through the second chukka as they extended their lead to four goals, 6–2, to end the first half of play.

Third-period goals from Roldan and Juancito Bollini were complemented by shut-out defence as Flexjet found themselves trailing by six going into the fourth and final chukka. A mini-rally gave Flexjet a glimpse of hope in the opening minutes of the last period, but a pair of goals from Grant Ganzi ended the comeback – US Polo finished the game with a resounding 10–5 victory and claimed the Snow Polo Championship.

For the third year in a row, Roldan appeared on the winning team and was named Most Valuable Player. He scored three goals and

The teams were greeted with an 11in snowfall on the Tuesday before the event

was the driving force behind US Polo’s attack.

The final match of the tournament, the subsidiary final, featured ChukkerTV (whose channel livestreamed every game of the event) and Nacho Figueras and St Regis. It was Figueras who scored the three first-chukka goals as St Regis took the early 4–1 lead, but the one-two punch of ChukkerTV’s Mariano Gracida and Martin Pepa combined to take back the lead after the second period. ChukkerTV claimed the win, but Figueras was fêted as the star of the match when the teams and spectators retired to the VIP tent for the wrap party.

‘The weather was perfect and the teams were very competitive,’ concluded Figueras after the trophy presentation. ‘It was a great tournament.’

NICK TININENKO

Opposite Snow play against the mountain backdrop. This page, from top The winning US Polo team; Nacho Figueras and Martin Pepa celebrate with the crowd

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ACTION CHILEAN OPEN, SANTIAGO, CHILE, DECEMBER 2015

CHILEAN OPEN

The closing match of the Chilean season saw some exhilarating play in a country where the polo scene is beginning to flourish, says Carolina Beresford

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winning comfortably at half time. Newman, however, came out in full force for the fourth chukka and managed to tie the game in the last.

But Peugeot were not about to follow Itaú Casa Silva’s mistake, and they clung on to win the semi-final by one.

The final was played the following day; the field was in perfect condition and the match did not disappoint. Peugeot’s Aluisio Villela had suffered a finger fracture in the last chukka of the semi-final and had to be replaced by Julio Novillo Astrada. Peugeot’s line-up thus presented two cousins (Alejandro and Julio Novillo Astrada) and two brothers (Santiago and Antonio Pereira).

The game got off to an even start, but Peugeot managed to push in front by the third. ParaisoRKF struggled to get into the game and Peugeot secured a comfortable lead. It was only in the fifth that Paraiso-RKF began to make headway.

They fought until the end and tied the game 8–8 in the closing seconds of the sixth, forcing the match into extra chukka. Everything was to play for as both teams rode back onto the field.

In the end, it was Alejandro Novillo Astrada who scored the golden goal and secured the win for Peugeot. The 8-goaler was later presented

The Peugeot team, which won the Chilean Open final 9–8 against Paraiso-RFK

Players from all over the world travelled to Chile for the chance to play 24-goal polo

with the Gabriel Donoso Trophy for the Most Valuable Player of the final.

The level of polo in Chile continues to improve every year. The Polo World Cup, hosted in Santiago last March, saw Chile become victors, with the tournament attracting thousands of fans from across the globe. The attention the country received has helped the national polo scene greatly, and now many talented young players are rising through the ranks, Chilean polo is looking more promising than ever.

PABLO SALAS

The 2015 high-goal polo season came to a spectacular end with the Chile Open, held at San Cristobal Polo and Equestrian club in the heart of Santiago. Players from all over the world travelled to Chile for the chance to play 24-goal polo. Fourteen Chileans, 12 Argentines and two Brazilians formed seven teams to compete for the most important title in Chilean polo. The most notable players were those who travelled to the Chilean capital straight after playing the Argentine Open in Palermo: Eduardo Novillo Astrada (9) and Alejandro Novillo Astrada (8) both played the semi-final against Ellerstina with Las Monjitas, Santiago Toccalino (8) played for Magual, and Ezequiel Martínez Ferrario (recently raised to 8 by the AAP) debuted in Palermo with Washington.

The tournament was extremely competitive from the start. Defending champions Itaú Casa Silva were knocked out of the competition in their semi-final game against El Paraiso-RKF. Despite being four goals down in the fourth, Paraiso-RKF managed to fight their way back to win by a goal in the closing seconds of the game.

The second semi-final was equally hard fought; Peugeot took on Newman Polo Team.

Peugeot had won the Handicap Open and were

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ACTION PERU POLO OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, LIMA POLO CLUB, PACHACAMAC, PERU, DECEMBER 2015

PERU OPEN

LIMA POLO CLUB

The concluding championship in the successful Lima Polo Tour saw local talent and professionals of international renown on fine form, says Araceli Masias

On Saturday 19 December, Peru held the final of its 97th Polo Open Championship in the Lima Polo Club at Pachacamac. La Quebrada (Fico Uribe, Marcelo Rizo Patrón, Jaime Pablo Rizo Patrón, Marcos ‘Negro’ Di Paola) beat Caña Brava (Adrian Poblete, Francisco Elizalde, Tincho Merlos, Guillermo Li) with a score of 10–8.

It was the first time in Peruvian polo history that the Lima Polo Club had gathered professional players (pictured above) of this calibre from Argentina, Chile and Colombia to play in the Open. The handicaps of some of those notables were as follows: Tincho Merlos (9), Nacho Novillo-Astrada (9), Cubi Toccalino (9), Marcos ‘Negro’ Di Paola (8), Jaime Huidobro (7), Juan Gris Zavaleta (7), Francisco Elizalde (7) and Fico Uribe (6). Elimination rounds were held on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

The game started with Caña Brava in the lead, having scored three more goals than La Quebrada in the first three chukkas. In the fourth,

the scores were equalised, at 8–8, and in the fifth and final, La Quebrada scored two goals to win the game, cheered on by an excited crowd.

The championship’s highest-ranked player from Peru was Caña Brava’s Guillermo Li, who has a handicap of 5 and is the country’s only professional. At just 16 years old, Conrado Puigrefagut (3) was the youngest on the field, which didn’t stop him being awarded the honour of Best Peruvian Player. Marcos ‘Negro’ Di Paola, meanwhile, was named Best Player of the championship overall.

The match was part of the Lima Polo Tour, which comprised two earlier championships, held in July and October, and concluded with the season-ending Peru Open in December.

The tour has really brought the sport to the fore within the Peruvian community, and the introduction of such an impressive array of professional players has greatly increased the number of interested locals – this Open

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commanded bigger crowds than any other year, with more than 2,000 people attending the final.

While they were in Peru, the Argentine players didn’t just play in the championship: they were able to experience the host country’s rich culture and delectable cuisine. They also visited some of its tourist spots, among them the Inca ruins around Lima and one of the renowned La Calera citrus farms. As the final was broadcast

by ESPN International, the players also gave interviews to the global polo press, the Peruvian sites they visited providing a dramatic backdrop.

The Lima Polo Club will be hosting the 20-handicap Max Peña Open in July and the 22-handicap Peru Open this December, and will again secure the involvement of high-handicap professionals from around the world. Their presence allows the club to not only highlight polo in the local media, but also to improve the game among young Peruvian players – both worthwhile aims.

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ARCHIVE

A SOLID FOUNDATION Since 1967, the Polo Training Foundation has played a key role in training players and umpires, helping to secure a bright future for polo in America

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international reputation as a formidable instructor, training and mentoring many of today’s top instructors and managers.

For 25 years, the USPA Intercollegiate/ Interscholastic programme was fully funded by the PTF, who also managed it for eight of those years. The concept of today’s programme, with games leading to regional and then national tournaments, was developed by members of the foundation.

In the 1980s, the group created the Blue Book of Rules film, still used today as a tool for teaching. The PTF also sponsored and published the USPA White Book of Rules for many years. The foundation’s umpire, youth and player clinics rose to more than 40 events a year at polo clubs across the continent.

Between clinics, camps and the I/I programme, the PTF reached nearly 1,500 people annually.

While many of these projects are now run by the USPA, the PTF continues to strive to fulfil its mission. ‘The hardest part of my job is explaining to people that the PTF is not part of the USPA,’ explains executive secretary Jennifer McLeavy. ‘The USPA is the governing body of polo, and the PTF is about training.

The USPA does not fund us. All our funds are raised through donations and income from a small endowment.’ Our current projects

Above, from left Instructor Harry Wilson leads a clinic at Kent School in Connecticut during the early 1970s; a clinic in the 1980s at Meadowbrook Polo Club, New York, which first prompted the forming of the PTF in 1967

include a scholarship programme for students who are members of their collegiate polo programme; running the Florida Junior and Youth polo tournaments; and coordinating several exchange programmes with New Zealand and Great Britain.

In 2015, the PTF held its inaugural International Junior Cup, with four teams taking part: England, Argentina, America and an international girls’ team.

‘I’m extremely proud to be part of the PTF team’, says McLeavy. ‘I get to watch these kids grow up and improve, and there’s nothing more rewarding and adorable than a five-year-old shaking your hand, thanking you, or receiving a thank-you letter from a nine-year-old who can’t wait to do it all again next season.’

Over the past 50 years, the PTF has built up an impeccable reputation for training polo players while managing its finances in an ethical manner. It will continue to strive for the future of US polo.

POLO TRAINING FOUNDATION

The Polo Training Foundation (PTF), founded on 20 January 1967 in Long Island, New York,

by Northrup Knox, William Ylvisaker and C Heath Manning to ‘train young men’ to play polo, will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017. Since its inception, the organisation has expanded to include, among many other things, the training of umpires and female players.

Current executive director Danny Scheraga believes that building skills is still very much the future of the organisation. His passion for the game, and respect for participants and supporters, has defined the foundation’s programmes. ‘I’ve devoted my life to improving the sport,’ he enthuses. ‘We want to help young players to find their way in the game, while also encouraging them to find careers in other endeavours. In this way, they can continue to contribute to polo. There is no greater thrill than helping steer [someone] on the path to success in polo, career and quality of life.’

Impetus for the founding of the PTF came from a gift of 28 acres on Long Island from the Barker Welfare Foundation. The foundation began by teaching player and umpire clinics, and went on to help fund and promote several new initiatives. These included funding a summer polo school at the Virginia Polo Centre, where Rege Ludwig built his

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Of course, past performance is no guarantee of future performance, and the Fund presents a risk of loss of capital. carmignac.co.uk

For more information, please contact our local team: CARMIGNAC LUXEMBOURG - UK Branch, No 29-30 Cornhill, London, EC3V 3NF - Tel.: (+44) 0207 360 6100 **SRRI from the KIID: scale from 1 (lowest risk) to 7 (highest risk); category-1 risk does not mean a risk-free investment.

This indicator may change over time. *Source: Carmignac Gestion. Performance from 31-08-1990 au 31-08-2015. Carmignac Patrimoine is a French mutual Fund managed by Carmignac Gestion (AMF agreement n° GP 97-08). Date of 1st NAV: 07-11-1989. The recommended investment horizon is over 3 years. Fees are included in performance. Access to the Fund may be subject to restrictions with regard to certain persons or countries. The Fund may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, for the benefit or on behalf of a “U.S. person”, according to the definition of the US Regulation S and/or FATCA. The risks and fees are described in the KIID (Key Investor Information Document). The Fund’s prospectus, KIIDs and annual reports are available at www.carmignac.co.uk, or upon request to the Management Company. The KIID must be made available to the subscriber prior to subscription.

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