Autumn 2014

HURLINGHAM P OL O M AG A Z I N E

THE EUROPEAN SEASON

O C T OB E R 2 014

The private bank for polo

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Proud sponsors of: EFG Aravali Team, UK High Goal Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup XLIII International Polo Tournament, Sotogrande 40 Goal Challenge, Palm Beach RMA Sandhurst Polo City Polo at Horse Guards Parade Cambridge University Polo

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

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ADE ADEDEJI; PEPE SANTAMARINA ; TONY RAMIREZ/IMAGES OF POLO

CONTENTS

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Ponylines News from around the polo world, including the Chief Executive’s column

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Against the odds Being an independent team didn’t stop Huntsman winning at Sotogrande

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A world showcase Santa María’s vice-president on the club’s ambitious expansion plans

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Lifestyle Luxury seasonal offerings from the best international brands

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Herbert Spencer The well-respected polo journalist and editor, fondly remembered

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Anna-Sophie Harling A Yale student’s thrilling account of an enriching cultural exchange in China

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The perfect ten It’s been a tough year for Facundo Pieres, but he’s optimistic about the future

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The Coronel Suárez story A new book reveals the secrets of this legendary polo team’s success

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The great and the good Celebrating that legendary annual fundraiser, the Harriman Cup

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The PM and the emperor Winston Churchill was a lifelong polo devotee, as his personal letters reveal

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 MEDIA Sales 47-49 Chelsea Manor Street, London SW3 5RZ +44 (0) 771 483 6102 hurlingham@hpa-polo.co.uk; hurlinghampolo.com Colour Reproduction FMG, groupfmg.com Printing Gemini Press, gemini-press.co.uk

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 Chris Madigan Deputy Chief Copy Editor Gill Wing Copy Editors Nicky Gyopari, Katie Wyartt

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Jewels and the Crown Why luxury jewellery brand Cartier has such strong links with both the Royal Family and the world of polo

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Action Reports from the Cartier Queen’s Cup; Veuve Cliquot Gold Cup; Audi International Coronation Cup and Test Match; EFG Bicentennial Trophy; City Polo, London; FIP European Championships; Central Park Horse Show; Sotogrande Tournament; RMPA International; and World Cup, Azerbaijan

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All in good time Cirencester Park celebrates its 120th anniversary – and its place in history

Cover: Adolfo Cambiaso Photographed by Camilla Sykes camillasykes.com

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. While every efort 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

In this issue, we cover the European season. Our cover star, Adolfo Cambiaso, was the man of the summer in both Spain and England, losing only one game all season. He won the Gold Cup playing for Dubai, the Coronation Cup playing for Argentina and, with Valiente, he swept the Triple Crown in Sotogrande. Watch a replay of all the fnals on our website.

In Talk, we pay tribute to Herbert Spencer, one of the game’s most respected and knowledgeable writers. Herbert had been deputy editor of Hurlingham since 2005, and he made a number of great contributions to the magazine. I will miss our long chats, debating the issues and looking for the latest scoop. One of Herbert’s favourite clubs was Santa María, Sotogrande and Camilla Sykes fnds out

more about the club’s expansion plans.

Meanwhile, Yale undergrad Anna-Sophie Harling, who travelled to the Metropolitan Polo Club in Tianjin, tells us about the valuable lessons students from Europe and the US learnt both on and off the feld.

Also in this issue, Cartier’s long-standing association with polo and the Royal family is described in detail by Nick Foulkes. In Action, read Victoria Elsbury-Legg’s report of the FIP European 8 Goal Championships, in which the HPA came up with a novel way of determining who would represent England. We also have accounts of polo in iconic settings, such as Horse Guards Parade in London and Central Park in NYC. We’ll be following Cambiaso in his quest to win the Triple Crown in Argentina again on hurlinghampolo.com.

CONTRIBUTORS

Ade Adedeji is a software engineer and an avid polo player with a passion for the sport and its history. A meeting with Pepe Santamarina in 2011, and subsequent conversations about the rich history of polo, led to the creation of the Coronel Suarez project. Originally from Nigeria, he currently lives in New Jersey and is a member of the Haviland Hollow Polo Club, New York.

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Nicholas Foulkes is the author of 20 books and contributes to a wide range of newspapers and magazines, including Country Life, the FT’s How To Spend It magazine, Vanity Fair and British GQ. He is co-founder and editor-in-chief of Finch’s Quarterly Review. Nicholas is a graduate of Hertford College, Oxford, and lives in London with his wife and two sons.

Yolanda Carslaw frst watched polo in her pram at Cowdray Park, a mile from her parents’ house. Her journalistic career has taken her from Horse & Hound to Polo Times to The Telegraph. Now freelance, her favourite assignments to date include interviewing Carlos Gracida, covering a Swiss yodeling festival and swimming the Hellespont in Turkey.

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Aristide Faggionato is in his third year at the University of Virginia and taking a semester abroad at Bocconi University in Milan. He plays polo for the UVa varsity team and at Cowdray Park, stabling his horses at Great Trippetts Farm. An Italian raised in London, he has been playing polo since he was 10. He is 0 handicap in the UK and 1 in Spain.

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PONYLINES

CAMILLA SYKES.COM

ONE TO WATCH Valiente patron Bob Jornayvaz took a studied approach to the summer’s high-goal campaign in Spain and it came down to horses. Shipping in more than 50, he put together a strategy that had every horse limited to the number of minutes it would play, and each getting a game off.

The results speak for themselves. Valiente accomplished what they had failed to do in the US: they swept the high-goal season, capturing the Bronze, Silver and Gold cups in the course of a 13-game winning streak to take the Triple Crown.

As for his visit to Sotogrande, Jornayvaz couldn’t say enough good things about the fields, the weather and the amenities.

His debut in high-goal polo came with Miguel Astrada in Florida, but it was his later connection with Adolfo Cambiaso that fuelled his passion, when he became involved with the breeding of the ponies. When asked where he thought he would be in 10 years, Jornayvaz said that, health permitting, he would be playing high-goal polo. ‘Bob Daniels [Pony Express patron] played high goal until he was 70 and is still playing medium goal,’ he said with a smile. Alex Webbe

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PONYLINES POLO NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD CHUKKAS

CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Harald Link’s Thai Polo leads the RMPA International League (Malaysia) after three tournaments. They have made the last three consecutive fnals and are now favourites to win the league, with only one tournament left to go in the 14-goal season. Asad Jumabhoy’s La Sarita was winner of the AsOpen the in2014 season draws Thai Polo January this year, but to a close, most would their results haveitdipped since Argentine regard as having being a successful one. Certainly Benjamin Araya broke his collarbone during Dubai had a good season and congratulations are due the Royal Pahang Classic in April. The Thai forin their victory in the Gold Cup. team willtobethem playing the Cowdray Park With the Gold out of the way, attention focused Gold Cup for the second year Cup running.

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{ UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY POLO CLUB: ONE OF A KIND The University of Sydney Polo Club is the first and only intercollegiate polo programme in Australia. With a vision of integrating the sport into student life, the club was established in 2012 by two young players, Georgia Higgins and Sophie Utz. It currently has 75 undergraduate and postgraduate members in the form of both active players and spectators. The club currently mounts a strong zero-goal team while also attracting non-players through social events such as the International Tournament at Windsor Polo Club, Sydney, and the Gold Cup at Sydney Polo Club.

Higgins and Utz have had to build the club from scratch, most of the team having never wielded a mallet and some having no riding experience. The players are not deterred, however. With the help of Riverlands Polo, which specialises in teaching novices, polo clinics at affordable rates have begun to produce decent results and the club has players who have played on both inter-state and national circuits. They are looking forward to an auspicious season and eagerly anticipate their inaugural invitational in mid-October.

{ MAJOR HUGH DAWNAY: A MEMOIR On 8 October, Clare Milford Haven hosted the launch of Major Hugh Dawnay’s memoir, Galloping Through Life, at Hatchards bookshop in London. It charts the author’s childhood in rural Ireland, time at Eton and Sandhurst, and career as a cavalry officer in the 10th Hussars, where he made his name both as an amateur jockey in point-to-point and National Hunt racing and as a show-jumper. His subsequent career as a polo player and coach took him to India, East Africa, Cyprus, South and Central America and Hawaii, but, most importantly, Palm Beach, Florida, where he taught for many years.

In 1976, Dawnay set up the world’s first residential polo school, in Co Waterford, Ireland. It ran for 27 years and attracted people from all over the world, who came to learn his revolutionary techniques. He was also the author of Polo Vision and Playmaker Polo. He died in 2012, and is survived by his wife and sons. The younger, Sebastian, is a professional polo player.

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MAJOR DAWNAY IMAGE COURTESY OF THE DAWNAY FAMILY

on the Coronation Cup, in which England faced Argentina. After discussion on the former’s rights to select a 24-goal team, a compromise was reached and we watched the two best players in the world in the beautiful setting of Guards Polo Club. There was optimism among the England team and the game began well, but two ‘unknown’ Argentine players performed rather better than the home team had hoped. It was an excellent game to watch, and one that was controlled by a very well-organised Argentine team.

Since then, there has been a flurry of FIP activity.

As a trial, the 8-goal team representing England in the European Championships qualified via a tournament, the final of which was played as the morning match on Audi International Day. The Dear family’s Apache team were the winners and went on to win the final in Chantilly, beating Ireland 6–3. Although Ireland beat England in their league game – despite losing Stephen Hutchinson, their gallant No 1, with a broken rib in their first match – they were a weaker team in the final.

A comparatively late announcement that the 14-goal FIP World Championships would take place in Chile in 2015 left the European Zone with the problem of hosting a tournament to qualify the one team that would go forward from Europe. In the end, it was agreed it would be played at Beaufort Polo Club in the last week of September. After various withdrawals and re-entries, at the time of writing, it looks as if it will include four teams: England, France, Spain and Ireland.

Meanwhile, the England team has been preparing for the 24-goal FIP Super Nations Cup at the Metropolitan Polo Club in Tianjin, China, and Tom Morley, George Meyrick, Max Charlton and Jack Richardson represented thir country at the Audi International at Chester Racecourse against the Rest of the World team, which included England reserve Richard Le Poer. Played open, it is hoped our 23-goal team, coached by Alan Kent, will prove beyond doubt that they are worth more than their 23 goals. We wish them the best of luck.

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PONYLINES

x THE FIRST AMERICAN FEMALE TO PLAY POLO IN IRAN In June, Morgan Ru, the teenage daughter of Santa Barbara Polo Club’s ex-president, Wesley Ru, became the first American woman to play polo in Iran. The duo were in Tehran to attend the 83rd Federation of the International Polo Ambassadors’ Cup, which saw eight teams enter from around the world.

After the match, her proud father said: ‘She was the focus of all the TV cameras, but took it in her stride. It was a big deal in a country where women must be covered up from head to toe. The welcome brought tears to our eyes. It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip.’

Wesley Ru grew up in Taiwan – ‘The only horses there then were in the zoo’ – and took his first polo lesson in LA. ‘Glen Holden brought me to Santa Barbara, then into FIP, and I’ve since played all over the world. Now all my kids play – polo keeps our family close.

We’ve made many friends across the globe.’

{ PIAGET SPORTS AMBASSADORS In September, at the Etiqueta Negra flagship store in Buenos Aires, Piaget further strengthened its ties with polo by introducing its new sports ambassadors, the four members of the Ellerstina Piaget team, brothers Facundo Pieres, Gonzalo Pieres Jr and Nicolas Pieres, together with Mariano Aguerre. For their third consecutive season, the foursome will take part in the Argentine Triple Crown, which is made up of the Tortugas, Hurlingham and Argentine Opens.

The Argentine Open has been won by Ellerstina six times, with Facundo and Gonzalo Pieres Jr on the winning team in 2008, 2010 and 2012, the latter with Nicolas Pieres and Mariano Aguerre. The four players have held aloft in victory hundreds of trophies all over the world, right across the US, British and Spanish polo seasons, among many others. And just like Piaget and its heritage within the watch industry, the Pieres family is involved in all aspects of the game – from the breeding and training of horses to the matches themselves. y PALM BEACH POLO CLUB 2015 SEASON Home to some of the most prestigious tournaments and hosting the largest field of high-goal teams in the US, the International Polo Club Palm Beach attracts some of the world’s top players. Enthusiasts descend on Wellington, Florida, each winter to enjoy the sport in the superbly equipped polo facility.

The 2015 Palm Beach season opens on 4 January and concludes with the 111th US Open Polo Championship final on 19 April. Matches are open to the public, with a range of hospitality and grandstand viewing, field tailgating, lawn seating, a field-side champagne brunch at the Pavilion and sponsor boxes. Tickets from $10. internationalpoloclub.com

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HOOKED ON POLO Ricky Cooper is captain of the Welsh polo team – the first team ever to represent the country. He plays 18-goal on the beach, 16 goals in the arena and 14 on grass.

I began playing polo a decade ago, having returned to set up home in Sunningdale after living in the US for four years. It was then that I met the Grace family, who introduced me to the game, and from there, I started this wonderful journey.

I love the fact polo is a global game, with a huge family. It’s this acceptance that has allowed me to play all over the world: in Brazil with the Novices, Argentina with the Chavannes, and in Barbados, Ireland, Singapore and the US, with the likes of Jeff Hall, Sunny Hale and Tommy Biddle.

Playing any international game for Wales is special. We’re creating history as the first-ever team from the country. We’ve found a niche at 10–16 goal and won some huge games, playing more than 40 internationals since starting out in 2008. And, of course, the events are followed by some great parties!

My most memorable game would have to be the Arena Polo game at Horse Guards Parade.

It was fantastic, and to win in the last 20 seconds proved we were well-matched with Ireland. Playing for Wales in the Scottsdale Polo Championships in the USA in front of 15,000 spectators was also very special, along with the All-Star game, where I played with some greats, such as the aforementioned Jeff Hall and Sunny Hale.

Beach polo is another of my favourite games.

Wales won the 2014 British Championships in July and we’ve just played in the first European Championships in Tarifa, Spain. I’ve also really enjoyed playing ice/inline hockey in nine World Championships and 10 European Championships.

I’ve always loved the flow of hockey and polo, but I can assure you that, as a sport, polo is far more exhilarating!

Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club boasts China’s most extensive polo facilities. Set in a 898,000 m2 private estate 30 minutes’ bullet train ride from the capital Beijing, it comes replete with a 167-room Club Hotel; world-class din venues spanning Chinese, French and Japanese cuisines and an elegant spa and swimming pool in which to unwind aft chukka or two. Upcoming events include junior summer polo programmes and high-goal grass and snow polo tourname

For polo courses or membership enquiries, please email our membership consultants at membership@metropolitanpoloclub.c

PONYLINES

CHUKKAS La Dolfna have started their campaign to win the Triple Crown even earlier this year, by entering and winning the Jockey Club Open. The team have so many ponies that coach Milo Fernández Araujo has suggested they play to try them out and get ready for Tortugas. Ellerstina, meanwhile, have hired Ernesto Trotz as their coach. The former 10-goaler and team-mate of Gonzalo Pieres Sr has told the team they are changing ponies too often during a chukka and need to cut down from four to two.

The AAP trialled several changes to the rules during the Jockey Club Open. Goals scored from the feld would be worth two points, with those from penalties counting for one. For the throw-ins, there would be two players from each team in the line-up and two outside. When taking a penalty, the hitter would be able to circle back only 50 yards. For Tortugas, the AAP has scrapped the diference in points scored for goals, while, in the throw-ins, there will be a channel between the four players and they will keep the 50yd limit when hitting a penalty.

Following tremendous growth since its inception in 2009, the Wellington-based Gay Polo League has announced its 6th Annual International GPL Tournament (9–11 April, 2015) will move to International Polo Club Palm Beach to accommodate more spectators and vendors – 6,000 in 2014.

The league makes its debut in October’s Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships, America’s most highly attended polo event, at which 15,000 spectators are expected.

{ POLO MEETS SAFARI IN AFRICA Members of the London Alumni Polo Club ventured into the wild for a 10-day adventure with Polo Safaris. In July, five of us flew to Uganda, where we played polo, went on safari and travelled the Nile.

After a drive alongside Lake Victoria, we arrived in Jinja. On the first day, we visited the Kakira Nile Polo Club, which has a pitch surrounded by tropical flora and fauna. In fact, the setting was so impressive that focusing on the game was difficult at times.

Halfway through the trip, we ventured up to the Murchison Falls National Park for a quintessential safari experience and to witness the awe-inspiring waterfall. We stayed in the heart of the park, at the luxurious five-star Chobe Safari Lodge, which is situated right on the Nile, complete with an infinity

x ENGLAND AND USA JUNIORS The future looks bright for the polo rivalry between England and the United States. Already adversaries at the adult level, the two are developing a friendly rivalry at junior level too. Top players competed in the England Summer Exchange from 19 to 28 July – a joint effort by the US-based Polo Training Foundation and the Hurlingham Polo Association.

One of the highlights for the youngsters was watching Adolfo Cambiaso and Facundo Pieres in the Gold Cup at Cowdray Park.

The US team featured Rachel Kelly, Harrison Azzaro, Christian Weisz and Cipi Echezarreta.

Azzaro, 14, is the eldest son of Polo Hall of Fame and former 10-goal USA player Mike Azzaro, and Weisz is the son of Argentine player and manager Andres Weisz. The starting England team featured brothers Charlie and Tom Townsend, Paul Newman and Charlie Tighe.

In the opening game at the Norfolk Polo Club, England won 4–3 during the thrilling final minutes.

In the second game, at Beaufort Polo Club, the same US team defeated England 7–0, with England’s new line-up featuring Ed Walker, Freddie Younger, Felix Dupont and Tomás Schwenke. The legendary Claire Tomlinson presented the trophies. Sharon Robb

King Power have enjoyed an excellent run in their frst season in Europe. The Thai team reached the fnal of the Gold Cup at Cowdray Park, won the City Polo Championships at Horse Guards Parade and reached the semi-fnals of the Copa de Oro in Sotogrande.

King Power’s football team, Leicester City, are also enjoying success, beating Manchester United in September. Among the players are Leonardo Ulloa and Esteban Cambiasso – no relation to the polo players with similar names!

The Hurlingham Open ends on 1 November.

The preliminary round will be played in Pilar at the AAP ground, with the last two weekends at Hurlingham. There will be a lunch in the club house for past winners of the Triple Crown second round. The 10-goal Prince of Wales Tournament to beneft Buenos Aires’ Hospital Británico will take place after the Open and non-club members are invited to take part.

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pool and herds of wild hippo grazing below. We took to the river by boat and were fortunate enough to witness bathing elephants, huge crocodiles and the majestic African fish eagle.

Then, as we made our way around a slight bend in the river, the Murchison Falls came into sight.

An impressive 40m high and only 7m wide, the mighty waters of the Nile flow through this gap with truly spectacular violence.

After our three days on safari, we returned to Kakira for three more days of polo and pampering.

Uganda is Africa’s pearl and what she has to offer blew our minds and left us with unforgettable memories. We will definitely be back next year. polosafaris.com Michael Krayenhoff

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PONYLINES

LOVE OF MY LIFE...

PONY’S NAME: MOSCOW MISTRESS SEX: MARE ORIGIN: SOUTH AFRICA

SADDLE UP WITH… NAME: JACK RICHARDSON NATIONALITY: BRITISH POLO HANDICAP: 6 (UK) When did you start playing polo?

I was playing pony-club polo at six years old. My dad played for fun and started Knepp Castle Polo Club with Charlie Burrell, so I grew up around the sport and loved it from the beginning. I used to run around with a mallet and a whip, wearing a riding hat, pretending I was playing the high-goal.

Moscow Mistress was born in 1999. Her father, a stallion called South Australia, is a well-known thoroughbred stallion based in South Africa that has bred a few other good polo ponies, and her mother was a South African mare called Russian Feather. Moscow Mistress is a retrained racehorse. I bought her from a good friend of mine, Doug Lund, playing her in South Africa for a season before flying her to the UK. After a few seasons, I sold her to Ruki Baillieu, who sold her on to Lyndon Lea. She’s so intelligent and adaptable, she can be ridden equally well by a child or a high-goal player, but what really makes her special is her amazing short, low action, enabling her to accelerate quickly, and her will to win in contact situations with other horses. She’s really easy to manage, being very sound, with short cannon bones – my biggest problem was trying to get the

weight off her! She’s always been an achiever and has won countless BPP prizes in both the Queen’s and Gold Cups. In short, she’s simply a great horse. Tom de Bruin

What makes the sport special for you?

The horses. I also love the fact polo can take you anywhere in the world and how, through it, you can meet all sorts of people you might otherwise not meet.

Who in polo do you most respect?

The grooms – especially mine, Carlos Soto.

What level of polo do you play?

Medium- and high-goal. I’ve played in 12-, 15-, 18- and 22-goal tournaments this summer.

How many tournaments have you played in 2014 and how many of those did you win?

I’ve played in 14 and won five.

TONY RAMIREZ/IMAGESOFPOLO.COM

And what’s been your most memorable game to date?

Most recently, it would have to be this summer’s final of the Royal Windsor. It was a good game and I won with a team for which I’ve played for three years. We’re great friends and it was fantastic to achieve something so big with them.

What are you doing this winter?

I haven’t confirmed anything yet, but I’m representing England in the Super Nations Cup in China in October.

And what are your plans for next summer?

The medium-goal in the UK and, hopefully, the high-goal.

And what are your plans for the future?

This summer, I started a sponsorship deal with a private stockbroker called Killik & Co. I’m hoping they’ll get really involved with the sport and support me throughout my career as it’s a great game and theirs is a great firm.

{ MANHATTAN SADDLERY PARTNERS WITH LA MARTINA On 19 June, Manhattan Saddlery, New York City’s only equestrian tack shop, and La Martina, the leading polo lifestyle company, partnered with Mashomack Polo Club of Pine Plains, NY, for an in-store reception to kick off the 21 June International Polo Challenge event and raise funds for Ronald McDonald House, a charity that provides temporary housing and support for families of sick children.

Players from the Mashomack team and their guests picked up their player packages and enjoyed appetisers and wines from Pampa Beverages and Region 1 Reserve – all while shopping for a good cause. A total of $700 from the evening’s sales was donated to Ronald McDonald House, New York.

Manhattan Saddlery is a new retailer of La Martina equipment and clothing.

The company also signed on this year as a sponsor of Mashomack’s International Polo Challenge, contested this year by the What 2 Wear Where team of Nick Bienstock, Parker Gentry, Michel Dorignac and John Klop, who took first place.

Manhattan Saddlery, the only remaining tack store in New York City, traces its history back to 1912, when it opened on 24th Street as Miller Harness Company.

It remains committed to providing the best products, customer experience and equestrian-related information to horse lovers. manhattansaddlery.com

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TALK

A WORLD SHOWCASE

Europe’s largest polo club, the Santa María Polo Club in Sotogrande, Spain, has a highly developed commercial side that includes extensive media coverage and sponsorship. Over 50 high-goal games were played on its nine world-class fields in August and plans are afoot to increase the number of medium-goal tournaments.

It is also a club that offers a great gastronomic and cultural experience for the spectators. The crowd and players who frequent the club like to stay on after the games to enjoy the atmosphere, live music, bars and shopping. The main pavilion has a two-tiered viewing structure, which allows for client entertainment, and the grounds are spacious, with ample parking, shops, children’s area, art exhibitions, bars, a nightclub and an innovative pop-up restaurant run by celebrity chef Pepe Rodríguez.

Nevertheless, as Luis Estrada, the club’s vice-president, explains, major improvements are in the pipeline for the club, as well as the level of play: ‘In the near future, we’ll be building a tourist and sports resort that will include, among other things, a grand club house, a luxury boutique hotel and several new commercial areas.’ A pedestrianised shortcut directly from the Sotogrande port will allow visitors easy access to the polo on foot or bicycle.

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From top Players line up on the Santa María Polo Club; Luis Estrada, the club’s vice president

For 2015, the medium-goal level will increase from 12 to 14 goals and there will be new medium-goal tournaments added to the calendar for June. ‘Since we raised the high-goal level last year from 20 to 22 goals, the level of play has improved and attracted new teams to our August tournaments,’ explains Estrada. ‘Now it’s time to follow on with the medium-goal, and to extend the season.’

He suggests the new June tournaments will be attractive to both the northern European and

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local teams: ‘The idea is that 10 or 12 teams will play from 10 June to the end of the month.

However, the timetable won’t be as intensive as for the August games. By starting the season 20 days earlier, teams can enjoy the wonderful Spanish climate and polo fields for longer and also have the option to stay on for the rest of the summer, if they wish.’

Santa María is now opening its doors to teams and players who would like to practise off-season, and is currently working with British clubs and individuals, who are invited to sign up for polo workshop weeks or even weekends.

‘We’re offering inclusive packages for anyone who would like to come to Spain during the winter to learn how to play polo or to warm up for the spring tournaments,’ says Estrada.

‘Because Sotogrande has a few local teams, there are often practice games happening all year round. We would like to give other European players the opportunity to come and use our fields and facilities off-season and for beginners to have lessons. Every package includes accommodation in the hotel, cultural trips and activities for spouses and families, as there are many things to do in the area. And, of course, lots and lots of polo!’ santamariapoloclub.com

CAMILLASYKES.COM

It’s one of the most prestigious in the world, but Santa María Polo Club isn’t resting on its laurels, says Camilla Sykes

thai polo & equestr i a n club pat taya – t h a i l a n d • pa d d o c k s & s ta b l e s f o r 2 0 0 h o r s e s • i n t e r nat iona l c ro s s c ou n t ry c ou r s e • r ege lu dw ig i n t e r nat iona l polo sc hool • t o u r n a m e n t s u p t o 14 g oa l s

( n ov e m be r - a pr i l)

( n ov e m be r - a pr i l)

• t h a i s pa & s a lt wat e r p o o l

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HERBERT SPENCER

TONY RAMIREZ/IMAGESOFPOLO.COM

In July, the polo world lost one of its most respected and knowledgeable writers. Here, Yolanda Carslaw pays tribute to Herbert Spencer, who died peacefully at home, aged 85

During my teens, when my classmates were gripped by Jackie and Just Seventeen, with their photo stories and problem pages, the magazine I rushed to devour was a glossier affair. A grass-green border framed its cover shot and there were advertisements for Rolex, BMW and Jaeger-LeCoultre within its perfect-bound pages. It, too, contained real-life stories – involving princes, rock stars and legions of handsome South Americans. Its name? Chakkar: The Magazine of Polo Around the World. My sister and I, growing up on the doorstep of Cowdray Park, would spend hours scouring each precious volume (to our dismay, it closed after four magnificent issues) for news and photos of Carlos Gracida and other heroes.

The man behind Chakkar was Herbert Spencer, an American political journalist who was introduced to polo by two players he met in a Paris nightclub while working in the French capital in the Sixties.

Over the next four decades, though he never played the game, he became arguably the most knowledgeable, enthusiastic and dedicated writer and editor polo has known. As well as editing Chakkar, Herbert produced two acclaimed books: Chakkar (1971) and A Century of Polo (1994). The former is a collector’s item (5,000 were printed; at the time of writing, I could find only one for sale, for about £50). His contribution to the international polo press – from Horse & Hound, Polo Players’ Edition and Polo Times to, of course, Hurlingham, where he remained deputy editor until he died – has been enormous. In recognition of this outstanding level of contribution he was made a Life Member of the HPA in 2011 and given an Image Award for Contribution to the Public Appreciation of the Sport of Polo from the USPA in 2006.

Herbert was arguably the most knowledgeable and dedicated writer the game has known

It wasn’t until Herbert was pushing 80 that I had the pleasure of getting to know him, when I was editing Polo Times. He was our most incisive, meticulous and outspoken columnist: headlines for his missives during my tenure included: ‘No wonder top players don’t always appear in internationals’ and ‘Why it’s time to bring on the breathalysers’.

He was happiest tackling ‘polotics’, and had a sharp nose for statistics, making the effort to seek out figures to back up his arguments, as well as a brilliant memory and a bank of anecdotes. These were fuelled by his encounters with great names, from Cecil Smith and Hanut Singh to the stars of today, and he wove their wisdom into his columns. (For the record, the player he most admired was Memo Gracida.)

Herbert was also a reliable source of news and features. When I answered the phone 48 hours before press day and detected a small pause, followed by a low voice saying, abruptly, ‘Yo-llarnda…’ it meant he had a story on the boil.

As an editor-writer, Herbert knew how far he could push a deadline – but the bonus was that, when his copy arrived, it was not only wordperfect but contained the most up-to-date developments. His contacts among players, officials and experts around the world, especially in the United States, gave him insight into all

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the aspects of the game he felt were worth writing about.

To celebrate Herbert’s 80th birthday, I wrote an article in Polo Times about his life, visiting him and his wife, Judith, at home in Maidenhead in the process. There, in his well-organised office, he told me about the year he spent researching Chakkar, the book, travelling the world with a photographer, from Iran and India to Argentina and Australia, and calling on the likes of Juan Carlos Harriott, Dicky Santamarina and Baron Elie de Rothschild. These were among the players for whom he ghost-wrote essays for the book; he enlisted HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and Lord Mountbatten to write their own.

Alongside journalism, he enhanced the game for spectators in other ways; for instance, during a spell as communications director for the HPA, he was behind the first Pony Club Parade on Cartier International Day. Herbert had a gift for getting on with royalty: in the Seventies he worked for the Spanish royal house, highlighting the role of King Juan Carlos in fostering democracy, and producing a film, book and articles about the monarch.

He told me he considered this the pinnacle of his career. In the Nineties, Herbert was granted carte blanche to follow the polo activities of HRH The Prince of Wales.

Herbert delved, illuminated and entertained, and he enriched many an aficionado’s love of polo through his writing and his work behind the scenes. He was also thoughtful and kind.

After our interview in Maidenhead, he handed me something from behind his desk. It was the first issue of Chakkar, with Memo Gracida on the cover – the best parting gift I’ve ever had, and something I’ll always treasure.

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THE PERFECT TEN Despite a difcult year, Facundo Pieres has much to look forward to.

Camilla Sykes caught up with the 10-goaler in Sotogrande

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Winning the Queen’s Cup and the Coronation Cup in England this year were highlights for Facundo Pieres, during what was a tough 12 months. With Ellerstina’s disappointment in the Triple Crown, followed by setbacks in the US with Crab Orchard, being knocked out of the British Gold Cup at the quarter-finals with Zacara and further disappointments in Sotogrande, it hasn’t been his best year.

Nonetheless, the 10-goaler takes a long-term view on his career and, at 28, believes the best is yet to come. ‘Polo players usually peak in their thirties because that’s when they play with experience as well as physical fitness,’ he says.

Even after being knocked out of the Argentine Open by Alegría in 2013, Pieres could be found signing bochas and posing for his adoring fans – the mark of a true sporting hero.

How did it feel to win the Queen’s Cup? It’s a great trophy, and we’ve been lucky to win it for the past two years with Zacara. For me, it was very important because, next year, I’ll be playing for King Power.

That was only the second time that you have played with Adolfo Cambiaso.

What was that like?

He’s an excellent player and it was a real pleasure to play with him again.

How do you think Ellerstina will do in the Triple Crown this year?

We are now starting to practise with the team here in Buenos Aires. We feel we can play at our best level and will fight to achieve better results. We have a very intensive training period ahead – the horses have been relaxing all year and now they have two months to reach their optimum fitness level for the team.

How would you compare playing in England with playing in Spain?

England’s is a longer season than Spain, but in both places, teams must be very organised when it comes to their horses; if not, it’s difficult to win.

How have the team’s morale and tactics been affected by the absence of patron James Packer during the Spanish season?

It’s not the same when you don’t play with your patron – you are at a real disadvantage. But we

Will you be making any changes to try to avoid last year’s disappointment?

Yes, definitely. We need to change everything we did last year [laughs] – if we don’t we will be in real trouble!

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Are you happy with Ellerston’s performance so far in 2014?

Absolutely not – we would’ve liked to win both trophies like last year, but we couldn’t. Next year, we’ll do our best to win.

ROYAL SALUTE

How did you enjoy playing for Argentina in the Coronation Cup? Playing for Argentina is always an excellent opportunity, and winning was amazing. England fielded a very good team and it was a very difficult match to win.

found Felipe Gómez, who played well on the team and helped us get to the final.

Sponsors of the Land Rover International Low Goal Champions 2014 at Santa Maria Polo Club, Spain Visit us in store or online

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THE GREAT AND THE GOOD After 30 years, annual polo fundraiser the Harriman Cup is as lively and crowd-pleasing as ever, writes co-chairman Matt Paco

When The New York Times first covered the Harriman Cup, it exclaimed, ‘Ralph Lauren, eat your heart out!’ And this autumn, the oldest collegiate polo benefit in the United States is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

Every September, alumni of Yale and the University of Virginia organise the tournament, which, to date, has raised nearly $1m for the undergraduate polo programmes at both schools.

Eileen Flint, who was the Yale polo director from 1986 to 2009, is grateful for the event.

‘It’s helped us pay for the care of our horses and barn, and to cover travel expenses for the college kids. The Harriman Cup has truly been a silent partner for the Yale programme,’ she says. Randy Wright (UVa 1980), its former co-chair, adds: ‘Very little money [to run the

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polo programmes] comes from the universities.

Both college teams rely on donations.’

So, how did this yearly tournament come about? ‘The idea for a benefit match came from me, Mike McGhee and Dick Cawley,’ recalls Harriman Cup co-founder, Tom Shuman, who was also a former president of the UVa Club of New York. ‘We needed an opponent for the game, so I met with my good friend Molly Baldrige, who was the co-chair of Yale Polo, along with Bill Ylvisaker. She thought this would be a great benefit for Yale and UVa Polo.’

‘Ylvisaker called me up and said he wanted me to help organise this event,’ explains Lou Lopez Jr, who was the Yale coach at the time.

He eventually became the UVa coach in 2003 and helped the Virginia undergraduate men’s

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and women’s teams each win four National Intercollegiate Championships.

Shuman reveals that they were originally going to name it the Jefferson Cup, in honour of the UVa’s founder, Thomas Jefferson, but ended up choosing a different name. According to event co-founder Zene Colt, ‘We got the well-known socialite Pamela Harriman involved and named the event after her husband, Averell Harriman.’ Harriman was an avid polo player and governor of New York.

In a letter Shuman received from Harriman, he wrote, ‘I am gratified to be so honoured. My loyalties are divided, for as you know, I went to Yale but am now a resident of Virginia.’

On 14 September 1985, the first Harriman Cup took place at the Greenwich Polo Club,

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It’s good to know that what we put our heart, effort and time into is still alive

DEBBIE MIRACOLO

Opposite LJ Lopez This page, top, from left Joe Meyer, president of the USPA and Stephen Orthwein Left Yale v UVa

Connecticut and, even after 30 years, the lively spirit of the event comes from the thousands of alumni and friends who continue to flock to the polo fundraiser, donning brightly coloured outfits and hat in honour of the occasion.

‘It’s a very swanky event,’ states Wright.

‘People bring out their silverware and hay bales and enjoy a picnic on their tailgate.’

Now, the day-long event includes an alumni match, bike-polo exhibition, dance party and awards ceremony for both the players and attendees, who vie for the Best Hat, Best Outfit, Best Dog and Best Tailgate Awards.

After the match, the Harriman Cup Board bestows the Harriman Cup Award on individuals who have made huge contributions to the world of polo. In 2011, the first Harriman Cup Award

went to Luis and Julie Rinaldini, the patrons of Meadowbrook Polo Club and long-time members of the polo community, as well as the polo superstar Nacho Figueras.

Other honorees include polo star Nic Roldan; UVa alumnus David Walentas of Two Trees Farm and the Bridgehampton Polo Club; Lezlie Hiner, who founded the highly successful Work to Ride programme, and Ambassador William S Farish III, the former chairman of Churchill Downs, who also graduated from Virginia.

This year, the Harriman Cup Award will go to Stephen Orthwein. Steve graduated from Yale in 1968, where he twice led the school’s team to the National Collegiate Polo Championships.

He has served as the president, chairman and secretary of the United States Polo Association,

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and was awarded the Hugo Dalmar Award by the USPA in 1988. He was also a co-founder of the Cup. ‘I’m honoured,’ says Orthwein. ‘College polo is very important. It’s probably the most fun polo people will play in their lifetime.’

‘I think the organisers should feel like proud parents,’ beams Flint. ‘All the students who came through it have benefited from the Harriman Cup. College polo is struggling. Everyone thinks it’s an elitist sport, but it’s no different from soccer or tennis. All the kids in the polo programmes work. They work in the barn. They’re taking care of the horses. It’s good to know that what we put our heart, effort and time into is still alive and producing great kids who get to play great polo.’

As Wright adds, ‘The Harriman Cup has become an institution.’

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AGAINST THE ODDS Being an independent team without a professional player didn’t stop team Huntsman winning at Sotogrande, says Aristide Faggionato

For any young, aspiring player in the game of polo, there are many things to consider in the ambition to take the game to the next level.

Handicap, sponsors and, of course, horses are all very much at the forefront of a player’s mind.

However, playing in a team alongside good friends is one issue not often considered.

Although one would like it to be possible more often, the chance to play in a team of amateurs, without the involvement of patrons and professionals, is one that rarely presents itself.

One of the few times this opportunity does arise is in the world of university polo. Having represented Princeton and the University of Virginia at varsity polo level, my team-mates and I were aware of the unique challenges and benefits that playing as a team of friends and amateurs presented. The combination of comradeship and teamwork born out of an absence of grooms, and the resulting amount of toil (and cohabitation) that exist in university polo have proved some of the most testing and rewarding experiences in our careers so far.

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We were therefore eager to see whether this combination would transfer to the competitive atmosphere of the European low goal.

When team-mate Felipe Gomez told me of his experience in the low- and medium-goal tournaments at Santa María in Sotogrande, I was immediately intrigued and we started to put in motion a plan that would see a group of friends enter in the low-goal tournament in August. Felipe also suggested we incorporate Ivan Maldonado into our team, a friend of his from Costa Rica and, like us, a student.

Dillon Bacon from the UK made up the team.

When we approached the renowned Savile Row tailor Huntsman, we knew we had to be daring in concept and decisive in our approach.

As a company deeply integrated in the horse world since its inception in 1849, we knew it could provide our band of students with the credentials we needed to be taken seriously in Sotogrande. With the backing of Huntsman, we focused on consolidating our strings and working on team tactics. Before we could do

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that, though, we had to perform the most testing task of the season: the Huntsman photo shoot!

Our squad comprised members from four nations: Costa Rica, Italy, Argentina and England – not unusual for a polo team. On our first visit to the Santa María office, the difference between us and the other teams soon became obvious. When asked to select a patron from within the team, we played rock-paper-scissors to see who would assume the role and receive the much-coveted VIP card for the famed After Polo nightclub. Felipe came out victorious and took on the task of sneaking the rest of us into the nightclub whenever we went out.

Our first game, against Shakib Polo, was the first time we had played together as a team in a real match and we were understandably anxious.

Nonetheless, our team chemistry gave us the overlap we needed to come out victorious 10–3.

In the next 12 matches that made up our season in Sotogrande, our play steadily improved, seeing us win all our matches and attain the Triple Crown title in the Bronze, Silver and Gold

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Opposite The Huntsman team This page, below, from left Ivan Maldonado, Felipe Gomez, Aristide Faggionato and Dillon Bacon Far below Dillon Bacon on the ball

TONY RAMIREZ/IMAGESOFPOLO.COM

Cups of the low-goal. Our aim of performing as a competitive team of four amateur student players in an international tournament had been achieved. But this wasn’t the end of the story.

In addition to our successful season in the low-goal, each of our players was able to distinguish himself in other teams in the Santa María medium- and high-goal tournaments.

I played with Woodchester in the Gold Cup of the medium-goal and reached the semi-final; Dillon played with El Rosario in the medium-goal and, briefly, HB Polo in the high-goal; Ivan played with Scapa in the medium-goal; and Felipe joined the Pieres brothers and reached the final of the Gold Cup in the high-goal with Ellerston.

In total, our members played for a total of six teams in the Sotogrande tournaments and, of course, each of us was present to support our friends in their matches. It’s really gratifying to reflect on just how far we have come and the fact that all of these opportunities were made possible from our initial venture to play as the Huntsman polo team.

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LIFESTYLE LUXURY OFFERINGS FROM THE WORLD’S BEST BRANDS y MIND THE 45,000FT GAP Ever found your Oyster card devoid of credit?

With a mere £50 pay-as-you-go card limit to travel on London’s Tubes and buses, it’s all too easy to get caught out and find yourself stuck in a queue at the station. So it’s appropriate that, when wishing to luxuriate in that most elite class of transport, the private plane, you can ‘top up’ your travelcard to the tune of £1m.

According to leading aviation provider Air Partner, in the first half of this year, Britain’s jet set have snapped up £5m worth of ‘JetCard’ credit – more than double its turnover in the whole of 2013. It seems that a convenient payment system is what this flamboyant corner of the luxury travel industry’s been crying out for.

Of course, you won’t be jetting from the suburbs to the City, but if, like the biggest buyers of JetCards, you live within six hours of London, you might occasionally commute. Air Partner claims it can arrange any flight to anywhere for any reason. While it can’t transport your prize pony (we’ve checked), it can offer a swift and comfortable journey, exceptional service and complimentary upgrades when available. And you’re unlikely to forget how much credit you’ve got left on your card. airpartner.com

{ ELIZABETHAN AGE This month, jewellery designer Elizabeth Gage launches the EG Collection (pictured), inspired by the house’s move to its new home in Belgravia.

Her first major commission, in 1968, was for Cartier. It was a resounding success, and she went on to win many accolades, including the Queen’s Award for Export, British Jewellery Designer of the Year, and the coveted De Beers Diamond Award for her Agincourt ring, which was described as an engineering masterpiece.

Gage’s philosophy is that good jewellery can be worn ‘day into night’. She combines many elements, from exquisite stones and baroque pearls to enamel and ancient bronze to create highly individual pieces.

These are globally identifiable – so much so that, when one of the designer’s creations was found in a New York gutter, having been lost by its owner, it was swiftly returned.

5 West Halkin Street, London SW1X 8JA; elizabeth-gage.com

y CLOTH OF HEAVEN The picture-perfect market town of Rothbury, in ‘wool country’ near the Northumberland National Park in the far north of England, was the inspiration for quintessential British brand Hackett’s autumn/winter 2014 accessories line. The colours of the rolling landscape, the tumbling River Coquet, the picturesque ancient Thrum Mill and Rothbury’s grey-stone houses have found their way into 12 stylish tweed items, including a document case, holdall, washbag, belt and key ring (pictured).

The striking cloth from which the range has been made was created exclusively for Hackett just across the Scottish border at Lovat Mill in Hawick. Extra thick, waterproof and designed to be robust, it is complemented by UK-made semi-bridle/semi-matte leather and antique brass.

Hawick has long been renowned not only for its weaving crafts, but also its equestrian connections. For centuries, the town has hosted a raucous annual Common Riding festival, which, as the name suggests, celebrates the treading of the boundaries that demarcated the town’s collectively owned common land from that owned by the laird. hackett.com

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{ LEADERS OF THE PACK Range Rover and Range Rover Sport admirers are in for a treat in 2015, as Land Rover introduces an extensive range of updates to both models. In a move that Gotham City dwellers would relate to, new puddle lamps now project the silhouette of each vehicle onto the ground at night to light the way. Less quirkily, a fixed panoramic roof with power blinds has been added, bringing a sense of extra space and light to already luxe interiors. Meanwhile, 19in alloys with a grey satin finish are a stylish choice for those heading into landscapes where bigger wheels might be unsuitable, and there’s a wider choice of interior and exterior colours to pick from.

Importantly, the Range Rover Sport’s diesel SDV8 engine now packs more torque, thanks to an ingeniously tweaked eight-speed gearbox and revised torque converter. This makes acceleration from fifth to eighth gear 6.5 per cent faster than before, yet magically keeps fuel economy and emission figures the same.

Each model will now have as standard an integrated SOS call function, optimised Land Rover assistance and, in case you miss your new baby, a smartphone app that allows you to connect remotely with your vehicle from anywhere. Finally, a Secure Arm feature tracks your Range Rover – in the unlikely event someone manages to steal it. landrover.co.uk

PONYLINES LIFESTYLE

x RACING LINE Barbour has unveiled an equestrian-inspired womenswear range for autumn/winter 2014. The Barbour Gold Label collection was designed in partnership with Karl Lagerfeld’s muse, Lady Amanda Harlech, and brings together her love of horses with the brand’s country credentials. Comprising outerwear and knitwear in luxurious fabrics with a vintageinspired horse-print lining, it is aptly summed up by Harlech as ‘a line of elegance with the grace of a thoroughbred’.

Knitwear is soft and beautifully lightweight, thanks to the clever combining of lace patterns into the knits.

Key outerwear pieces include the Volte blazer, in British tweed, and the Piasse jacket (pictured) – a flatteringly tailored, slightly cropped take on the classic hacking jacket in Barbour’s signature diamond quilting. The Capriole cape, in a warm, cashmere blend, has a velvet inner collar and leather throat straps for added indulgence, while the Pirouette version resembles a Twenties waxed riding cape, with a feminine, fitted shape that is enhanced by a waist-cinching belt. barbour.com

{ HEART OF GOLD Renowned Welsh jewellery house Clogau celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

It was back in 1989 that local man William Roberts, fascinated by the abandoned Clogau St David’s gold mine in Bontddu, Snowdonia, decided to gamble on the idea there would be some undiscovered booty still within. He was proven right – during several years of small-scale excavation, he and three miners were able to extract a final, sizeable stockpile of gold.

In 1994, Clogau Gold of Wales created its first five pieces, its designers taking their inspiration from Snowdonia’s natural beauty and Welsh iconography. It has since established itself worldwide and, today, has 400 pieces in its collection. Uniquely, a small amount of rare Welsh gold from the original trove is used in each one.

Gold from Clogau St David’s has long been held in high esteem, having been used to make several generations of Royal wedding rings, including those of HM The Queen, HRH The Prince of Wales and HM The Queen Mother. And that legacy is set to continue – now run by William Roberts’ son, Ben, the company remains a proud family concern. clogau.co.uk

y A UNION OF SCOTTISH AND ENGLISH During a visit to the Highlands, Giles and Nick English, the brothers behind Bremont watches, stopped at the Strathisla distillery, which produces one of the essential elements of Chivas Regal. During their tour, a plan was born. ‘Blending whisky is all to do with timing,’ explains Giles, ‘and we soon realised the similarities between the heritage behind whisky creation and that of watchmaking.’

So, over a couple of drams with Chivas master blender Colin Scott, the siblings decided to create a limited-edition box as part of Chivas’s ongoing ‘Made for Gentlemen’ series of collaborations. The result is a handsome and very collectible tin, which in its design, references the workings of Bremont wristwatches. Inside is a bottle of 12-year-old Chivas Regal. To mark the occasion, Bremont has made 12 watches that will be auctioned for charity. They feature copper taken from a retired Strathisla still and oak from an old cask used to mature whisky for the Chivas blend. bremont.com; chivas.com

x TOWN AND COUNTRY Celebrated Savile Row tailor Huntsman has just released its biggest ready-to-wear collection to date, reflecting the British brand’s growing popularity. Its autumn/winter 2014 range pays homage to the English gentleman as well as the cloths and trends of the Forties, giving both a new spin.

In earthy worsteds, gutsy weaves and tone-on-tone flannels sourced from its archives enhanced with luxurious contemporary wool, wool/cashmere and lighter weights, the core collection of suits, jackets, blazers and coats is quintessentially Huntsman. As at home in the city as they are out of town, this season’s sports jackets (pictured) come in elegant neutral tones and look equally elegant worn casually with a V-neck jumper and jeans or with a tie and pocket square for the evening.

The collection is complemented by a wide selection of shirts, ties and – new for this season – knitwear. Cashmere sweaters and cardigans are chunky and cosy for countrywear and in finer gauges for more formal dress. Each piece has been designed to work within the palette of the entire collection and with the house’s tweeds, making Huntsman something of a one-stop style shop for any man looking to revamp his wardrobe this autumn. h-huntsman.com

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GUEST COLUMNIST

ANNA-SOPHIE HARLING The Yale student discovered as much about Chinese culture as she did about polo during an enriching cultural exchange at the Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club ILLUSTRATION PHIL DISLEY

On a humid Wednesday afternoon in mid-July, a group of Yale students arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport, lugging two large mallet bags and looking thoroughly out of place. We had fown in from the UK, Bangladesh, France, Dominica and the US to compete in the second annual Metropolitan Intervarsity Polo tournament. In addition to the Yale contingent, the returning teams included Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge.

Stanford and the University of London were welcomed as newcomers to the tournament, which was held at the Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club.

For the duration of the week-long event, the 60 or so students and coaches were given rooms at the club’s grand hotel, which overlooks one of the three pitches. To the left of the hotel, the half-fnished skeleton of the city was visible through the smog, throwing shadows onto the pristine feld.

It has been nearly four years since the opening of the Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club by Sutong Pan, founder and CEO of the Hong Kong-based Goldin Group, which entered China’s luxury property market in 2007. Pan, who had previously dabbled in horse racing and breeding with some success, saw a unique opportunity in the Goldin Group’s Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan project, which comprises a business district, residential zone and, perhaps most importantly, polo club.

Pan’s vision for the future of the Goldin Metropolitan project is rooted in his belief that polo is the ideal platform on which to build a new Chinese elite. At the Goldin Metropolitan, the sport of kings is much more than just a game – Pan hopes to sell it as a prestigious

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lifestyle to those who can afford it. Through a series of tournaments, including the annual Super Nations Cup and Snow Polo World Cup, he has drawn high-level international players to Tianjin with the aim of making the Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club the polo capital of Asia. The club’s Junior Equestrian & Polo Programme (JEPP) was established with an equally impressive goal in mind – that the next decade will see a university team of young Chinese polo players at the Metropolitan Intervarsity Polo tournament.

Our frst impressions of the property hovered somewhere between astonishment and disbelief – at the vast pitches, the seemingly infnite number of hotel rooms and the staff required to keep the facilities operating smoothly and looking pristine. The grooms, gardeners, cooks, and housekeepers on site easily outnumbered the hotel guests. On arrival, we spent hours exploring the hotel. The ground foor alone contained a polo store, numerous restaurants and a French-style bakery (its macaroons would later prove useful in a tactical team meeting, serving as markers for different plays).

To the left of the lobby we found a real-estate showroom displaying a three-dimensional model of the entire property. In the middle of the cluster of luxury houses stood a miniature version of the 117-storey building currently under construction, its height imposing even in this tiny replica. A tour guide pointed out the different apartments for sale, repeatedly saying, ‘And in the next one, even more luxury!’

Nonetheless, being polo players, we found the best part of the club to be its 200 magnifcent Argentinian horses, which served to elevate the level of play in each and every chukka. They

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varied in levels of diffculty, but all responded to the slightest touch of hand and heel. Equally important was the role of the many tireless grooms – who remained cheerful, even after hours of tacking and warming up. In hindsight, it is diffcult to say who worked harder during the tournament – the ponies or the dedicated grooms who prepared them for play.

Each team was able to beneft from four different lessons with Santiago Araya. The frst was a session on horseback, comprising several simple but highly educational drills. After guiding us through cones and coaching us on our form, he took each person around the ring to practise bumping.

Later in the week, we took turns perfecting our swings on wooden horses, with one-on-one coaching. Our much-anticipated stick-and-ball session took place early in the morning, before the heat of the day had set in. Here, Araya took a back-to-basics approach, giving us both individual and team advice on how to improve our performance on the feld.

In our video-review session, Yale joined the University of London in a conference room to analyse and discuss footage of the previous day’s game. Araya would stop the video at certain points and carefully explain tactical manoeuvres using plastic horse fgurines (a step up from the macaroons – sorry, Coach Jimmy). All the teams agreed these sessions were an invaluable experience and one of the highlights of the tournament.

In addition to these lessons, we were able to help out with the 25 JEPP students on several occasions during the tournament. In an arena set up with wooden horses, the children took turns practising their swings under our

GUEST COLUMNIST

At Goldin Metropolitan, the sport of kings is much more than just a game

guidance. After our sessions with Araya, we found the opportunity to teach the youngsters especially rewarding – it is one thing to receive coaching from a high-level player on how to wield a mallet; it is quite another to have to give such instruction yourself.

As we were all eager to get a closer look at life in China beyond the perimeter of the Goldin Metropolitan, our itinerary included a day trip into Tianjin, where we were able to explore the city’s Cultural Centre, taste Peking duck, and experience a night-time boat tour.

On our days off, we Yalies, along with several members of the Oxford team, organised two trips: one to Beijing and the other to a section of the Great Wall, near Tianjin. In Beijing,

we visited Tiananmen Square, the bustling Wangfujing Street and the Summer Palace.

Our journey to the Great Wall was equally fulflling, despite – or perhaps because – our legs felt like jelly after half an hour of climbing.

The teams were also given the opportunity to deliver a talk about their university to Chinese students and parents in a series of slideshow presentations and Q&A sessions.

In this way, the tournament served as an ideal platform for cultural exchange; all six teams were able to learn about Chinese culture while simultaneously giving locals a unique glimpse into life at universities abroad.

The Championship weekend was a non-stop succession of events, including three matches

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on both the Saturday and the Sunday, the High Table Dinner and a concluding awards ceremony. On the last day of the tournament, we beat Stanford 7½–5 for ffth place, while Harvard came in fourth, losing to Oxford 9–5.

The fnal saw newcomers University of London beat last year’s winners Cambridge 6–3½. Charlie Scott from the University of London swiped the MVP award from last year’s winner, Sam Browne of Cambridge, who nevertheless emerged as the top scorer of the tournament with 25 goals.

The High Table Dinner was a whirlwind of speeches, elaborate dishes and inter-team bonding. After spending so much time together, we all found it diffcult to accept we would be parting company so soon. We left Tianjin utterly exhausted, yet convinced we had just experienced one of the most incredible and enriching weeks of our lives.

The trip to China has been over for months, but the entire Yale team has continued to keep in touch with the friends we made during our time at the Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club.

Thrown into a week of complete Chinese cultural immersion, we Americans learned much from our British counterparts in Tianjin.

With Goldin Metropolitan, Sutong Pan has managed to set up a cultural exchange that is at once transatlantic and trans-Pacifc, and for this we must thank him. Beyond the extravagant hotel rooms, with their heated toilet seats, electronic curtains, pillow menu and 400-thread-count sheets, the Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club has the capacity to bridge the natural and national boundaries that separate us from one another.

And this, I believe, is true luxury.

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THE CORONEL SUÁREZ STORY In the frst of a three-part series on the role of organisations in sporting success, José Ramón Santamarina and Ade Adedeji examine why Coronel Suárez’s world-beating record proves that highly efective teams are made and not born

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and Horacio Heguy won the Open 17 times – a feat that remains unmatched to this day.

The focus of our book is the DNA of a successful team or organisation. This is not to discount the signifcance of individual ability – on the contrary. Some of the greatest examples, such as Coronel Suárez, often consist of individuals with exceptional talent; in fact, the team featured some of the most skilful players ever seen in the history of polo.

In 1974, they became the frst professional

Coronel Suárez was honed to achieve success at both a team and an individual level

40-goal team ever recorded by the Argentine Polo Association as having played together in an offcial tournament. This achievement occurred after the two youngest players, Alfredo Harriott and Alberto P Heguy, were each conferred the +10 handicap that year.

Before reaching that pinnacle, Coronel Suárez had already achieved multiple successes,

winning six out of eight Opens during the 1967–1974 period, and then continued their success, consecutively winning the Open an astonishing seven more times, until 1981.

We wanted to highlight the requirements of creating an environment in which talented individuals can develop and thrive as part of a larger team with a broader vision, and to work out why the entire organisation then succeeds, repeatedly achieving its goals and objectives. Coronel Suárez’s success was attributable to more than just putting a group of extremely talented individuals together and expecting them to perform at the optimum level. It was strategically conceived to run as an effective organisation and honed to achieve success at both a team and an individual level.

This year marks the 121st edition of the Argentine Open Polo Championship. The popularity of the games at the Open is such that, while they are in progress, Buenos Aires really comes alive. This energy stems from the lively crowd, which can number 30,000 during the semi-fnals and fnal. By any measure, this Opposite The 1968 team, from left, Alberto Heguy, Horacio Heguy, Juan Carlos Harriott and Alfredo Harriott Below Argentine Open 1974, from left, Horacio Heguy, Juan Carlos Harriott, Alberto Heguy and Alfredo Harriott

ADE ADEDEJI; PEPE SANTAMARINA

It takes great teams to win championships and it takes great organisations to succeed.

Often, teams within organisations, whether in sports, business or government, come to the realisation that they may be good but not great and have to do more to stay competitive.

This is the thesis of our upcoming book on building high-performing teams, which we’ve based on lessons learnt from the achievements of the Coronel Suárez team at the Argentine Open Polo Championships over a 20-year period. There is a consensus among historians and enthusiasts that this was the best team ever to play the game of polo. We also explore the distinguished careers of the Harriott and the Heguy families as members of that remarkable organisation.

Just as soccer has the FIFA World Cup, baseball the World Series and basketball the NBA Championships, polo has The Open.

Although not a competition directly involving the participation and representation of nations, it has a ‘world cup’ relevance to it on account of its sheer scale. Organised and run by the Argentine Polo Association, it has taken place every year since 1893 and is the most important polo event in the world at club level.

During the 1960–1980 period, Juan Carlos Harriott, Alfredo Harriott, Alberto Heguy

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is an impressive turn-out for polo, which is often deemed exclusive. And these spectators are not just other polo players, but rather non-playing fans. Many make the yearly pilgrimage to Palermo from all over South America, indeed the world, to witness polo being played at the highest level. Although polo didn’t actually originate in Argentina, over the years, the felds at Palermo, owned by the Argentine Polo Association, became the most revered in the world for one simple reason: they are the venue for the most important tournament on the polo calendar, in which every player would consider it an honour, an achievement and a validation of their expertise to take part.

Our book also explores other key personnel, such as Daniel Gonzalez, who was engaged as a player with the Coronel Suárez team in a supporting role during several periods to help continue their success and seal their legacy of winning. And the role played by Enrique ‘Quito’ Alberdi and Juan Carlos ‘Bebé’ Alberdi (who also won championships with Coronel

Suárez) in helping develop the organisational structure and culture of the team as mentors is also examined in some detail.

A view of the Coronel Suárez legacy through numbers We live in an age of data. Data is all around us, waiting to be collected, analysed and then processed. However, this is not a new phenomenon. Over the years, many different organisations have looked to their fgures to help measure improvements to a product or service and, in many cases, develop a business case or strategy. The success (or lack thereof) of a new product or service on launch is measured in terms of the numbers, and, likewise, the performance of personnel is tied to an organisation’s output. Numbers that reveal a decline in that output often translate to ineffective staff and, consequently, personnel changes within the organisation.

Conversely, numbers refecting an increase

in output correlate to a highly effective workforce. Data, when collected and viewed in the right context, help establish a baseline as to what has worked and evaluate what needs to be adjusted, improved or discontinued. It is often possible to determine the effectiveness and effciency of an entire programme and how well a system and its various components are working cohesively through this means.

Simply put, numbers tell a story and more importantly, help measure quality – whether that’s the quality of a product, the quality of a process or even the quality of an organisation. Below is a snapshot of the legacy of Coronel Suárez in numbers:

CORONEL SUÁREZ’ SUCCESSES

26 The number of times a team from

Coronel Suárez Polo Club has won the Argentine Open. This includes the Coronel Suárez–Los Indios team of 1958 and the Coronel Suárez II team of 1983

23 The number of times at least one

member of the Harriott family has won the Argentine Open with Coronel Suárez

21 The number of times at least one

member each of the Harriott and Heguy families has won the Argentine Open with Coronel Suárez

20 The number of occasions on which Juan Carlos Harriott has won the Open – the most times of any polo player to date. Coming a close second is Horatio Heguy, also a member of the Coronel Suárez organization, with a total of 19 championship wins

20 The number of successive trips

Coronel Suárez made to the fnal of the Open, winning it 17 times – the most by any team in the history of polo

the Coronel Suárez team won the Open (from 1961 to 1970)

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The number of times any Coronel Suárez team has played in the fnals of the Open. This includes the Coronel Suárez–Los Indio team of 1958 and the Colonel Suárez II team of 1983

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ADE ADEDEJI; PEPE SANTAMARINA

10 The number of consecutive times

Opposite Juan Carlos Harriott, aged 18 This page The Argentina National Team winners of the Copa America 1969, clockwise from top left, Juan Carlos Harriott, Francisco Dorignac, Horacio Heguy and Gaston Dorignac

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What the Coronel Suárez numbers reveal Over the years, many sports franchises have cemented their legacies by racking up impressive records and winning multiple championships at national and international levels. The Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers, Manchester United, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Bulls are among those that belong to an elite group of very successful organisations. Also in these hallowed ranks is Coronel Suárez and, although its success has been achieved in the oft-forgotten world of polo, it is no less remarkable.

The success of many of these franchises can be traced back to several consistent best practices, aligned with a sound organisational structure – after all, as Jerry Krause, a former basketball scout and general manager of the Chicago Bulls famously said, ‘Players and coaches alone don’t win championships; organisations win championships.’ And Krause certainly knew what he was talking about – he was instrumental in building the team that, with Michael Jordan and a host of other talented players, won six NBA championship titles

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during its most successful years. His message resonated with us and validated our view of why Coronel Suárez was just so successful.

The recent FIFA World Cup presented its own demonstration of which organisations are built for success. With fve titles, and many trips to the fnal four, host nation Brazil was widely regarded as the most successful football-playing country ever – indeed, based on historical success and home advantage, the team had been the favourite to win – yet it failed spectacularly – and not for the frst time.

Almost matching Brazil statistically, with four World Cup titles and eight fnals appearances in total, is Germany, the team that inficted that huge defeat on the hosts. After failure at the Euro 2000 tournament, the German Football Association put a plan into place that

Just because a team has succeeded in the past, there is no guarantee it will do so again

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Above, from left The 1976 team – the frst ever with 40 goals – Alberto Heguy, Horacio Heguy, Alfredo Harriott and Juan Carlos Harriott, with the Argentine Open cup

would integrate technical development of young players with talent scouting, in order to beneft both clubs and the national team.

Examining these two nations and their soccer development programmes in any detail will reveal what we eventually concluded from the Coronel Suárez story: successful, highperformance teams that occur naturally are a rarity – just because a team has succeeded that way in the past, there is no guarantee it will do so again, and relying on one genius player is high-risk. For the most part, teams must be created and managed by an effective organisation. This also applies in business, as well as government and community-based organisations. Can you and your organisation manage the process of developing highperformance teams, and should you even try?

Over the next two issues of Hurlingham, we will be exploring many aspects of the culture and structure of the Coronel Suárez Polo Club to offer further insights. thecoronelsuarezway.com

B RO N Z E C U P, S I LV E R C U P A N D G O L D C U P S A N TA M A R I A P O L O C L U B ,

S OTO G R A N D E , S PA I N , AU G U S T 2 0 1 4 .

C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S O N T H E T R I P L E C ROW N

THE PM AND THE EMPEROR Winston Churchill, known to be hugely keen on polo, was at one time a 3-goal player and, for much of his life, an absolute devotee of the sport, as Nigel à Brassard reports

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ALAMY, PETER HARRINGTON RARE BOOKS

Sir Winston Churchill took up polo as a young cavalry officer, played as a civilian before World War I and had his final game in the Twenties while in his fifties. The future prime minister felt continually hampered, however, through his lack of pony power, which was caused by a shortage of funds. Churchill had thoughts that will no doubt be recognised by many modern-day players.

He had a continual debate with his family and wife, Clementine, about the cost of stabling, believing the cost of ponies to be unusually high when he was buying and disappointingly low when he was selling. While he often recognised he ought to stop playing, he didn’t want to.

In 1895, Churchill received his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 4th Queen’s Own Hussars and joined them at Aldershot for cavalry training. In a letter to his mother in April of that year, he wrote: ‘Everyone here is beginning to play [polo], as the season is just commencing. I have practised on other people’s ponies for 10 days and I am improving fast.’

He asked her to lend him £100 to buy some ponies and said if she did not it would be ‘dreadful’ as he would have to give up what he would later famously describe as ‘The Emperor of Games’.

In May 1895, Churchill declared, in another letter to his mother, that polo was ‘the finest game in

the world and I should almost be content to give up any ambition to play it well and often’.

Over the next 18 months, Churchill played regularly and, by May 1896, he hoped to be selected for the regimental team. However, he felt it would make a huge difference if he had another first-class pony, so again wrote to his mother asking for a loan of £200, to which she agreed.

Later that year, the regiment sailed for India and, during the voyage, Churchill wrote an

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Opposite A young Winston Churchill from his time as a Boer War correspondent This page, from top Manuscripts from Churchill’s draft constitution for the 4th Queen’s Own Hussars Polo Club; Churchill with his polo horse in India in 1897

eight-page draft constitution for the 4th Queen’s Own Hussars Polo Club. The Hussars formed a polo committee and subscriptions were sought from all the officers to provide credit facilities to procure ponies. On arrival in India, the 4th Hussars, in what Churchill described as an ‘audacious and colossal undertaking’, purchased the entire stud of 25 ponies belonging to the Bombay Light Horse. Polo became a central feature for the Hussars and Churchill wrote: ‘We devoted ourselves to the serious purpose of life. This was expressed in one word – polo’, and he rarely played fewer than eight and more often 10 or 12 chukkas every evening.

In November 1896, Churchill’s team won a tournament at Hyderabad against a native contingent. Churchill wrote to his mother that ‘eight or nine thousand natives wildly cheered every goal and stroke made by their countrymen’, and were terribly disappointed when the Hussars

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This page, from left Winston Churchill (standing, second from right) with the 4th Hussars in India, 1899; as Conservative MP for Oldham in 1904 Opposite Churchill playing at Ranelagh in 1925

ended victors. He mentioned the ‘surprise and admiration’ of the Indian newspapers and said he would send ‘some interesting instantaneous photographs of the match in which you will remark me fiercely struggling with turbaned warriors’.

Over the next few years, Churchill developed interests outside the Army. In 1897, he made his first public speech to the Primrose League, became a war correspondent and began work on his first book. He returned ‘to polo and my friends’ in Bangalore, but the success of his writing and his realisation that it could be a serious source of income had taken the edge off his passion for the sport. In January 1898, he wrote to his mother, describing how the regiment were all thinking about the Inter-regimental Tournament but admitted, ‘It fills a very different position in my mind to what it did last year.’ The 4th Hussars were beaten in the tournament by the Durham Light Infantry, but ‘escaped without disgrace’.

By the end of 1898, Churchill had decided to leave the Army. He was about to publish his novel Savrol and had offers to write biographies on his father and the First Duke of Marlborough. The budding politician also hungered for a seat in Parliament and had been encouraged in this by the Prince of Wales, who told him: ‘Parliamentary and literary life is what would suit you best.’

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Returning to India to play in a final few tournaments, he wrote: ‘I am playing polo quite well now. Never again shall I be able to do so. Everything will have to go to the war chest.’ The Hussars’ decision to buy the stud of trained ponies and the sheer ‘sustained intensity of purpose’ resulted, in 1899, in their victory in the Inter-regimental Cup. They defeated the 5th Dragoon Lancers and the 9th Lancers before beating the 4th Dragoon Guards in the final, which Churchill described as ‘a matter of life or death’. He wrote in My Early Life: ‘Do not grudge these young soldiers gathered from so many regiments their joy and sport. Few of that merry throng were destined to see old age. Our team was never to play again.’

In 1899, Churchill began his political career in earnest and, in 1900, entered Parliament as the Conservative MP for Oldham, but he soon became concerned about leading a sedentary life, ‘increasingly crippled’ by a shoulder he had injured a year or two earlier, off the polo field.

In early 1901, he started playing polo again for a number of teams, including the House of Commons and the Old Harrovians, and informed his mother, ‘I think if I can get two days a week at Hurlingham or Ranelagh, it will provide me with the physical exercise and mental countercurrent that these late hours and continual sitting of

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If I expire on the ground, it will at any rate be a worthy end

the House absolutely require.’ There is little evidence, however, that Churchill played much, if any, polo from 1908 onwards, although there is a report of him playing in Spain in 1914 as a guest of King Alfonso XIII. It is not until 1920 that polo is again mentioned in Churchill’s papers. In January 1920, he bought some ponies and became a playing member at Roehampton. In April 1922, by then in his late forties, he had a polo accident at Eaton Hall.

Churchill played a few times early in the season, but then decided in July not to play again that year, on health grounds, and then lent his ponies to Sir Archibald Sinclair (later Lord Thurso).

Churchill clearly had not planned to retire from polo completely and, in March 1923, he played in an American tournament in Cannes. During the early Twenties, he played, on a number of occasions, for the House of Commons against the

OTHER IMAGES PUBLISHED UNDER THE CREATIVE COMMONS LICENCE, NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED

House of Lords. The photograph on the left is of him playing at Ranelagh for the Commons in 1925 – one of the last times he played polo in Britain. In August 1925, he wrote to Lord Kimberley to inform him he was giving up polo and asking him to help sell his ponies. In response, Kimberley suggested that any sale was delayed until the spring.

In December of the following year, Churchill corresponded with Admiral Lord Keyes, an old polo friend, about his imminent visit to inspect the Mediterranean fleet in Malta. As part of the stay, Keyes invited Churchill to play polo. Clearly, Churchill knew that, at 52, he was taking a risk and wrote to Keyes saying the game would have to be a ‘mild one’, adding: ‘If I expire on the ground, it will at any rate be a worthy end.’

The match on 8 January 1927 was to be the last Churchill played. He wrote to Clementine: ‘I got through the polo without shame or distinction and enjoyed it so much.’

Churchill played polo in many parts of the world, including India, France, Spain, Egypt and Malta and the famous quote, ‘a polo handicap is your passport to the world’, is attributed to him.

There is no evidence in his writings, speeches or diaries that he ever made this remark. Rather like some of the others attributed to him, it is probably one that he wished he had said.

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JEWELS AND THE CROWN Cartier’s long-standing association with modern polo – not to mention royalty – has never been stronger, says Nick Foulkes

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IMAGES COURTESY OF CARTIER

Opposite HM The Queen, Princess Diana and Prince Charles attend the Cartier International at Windsor, 1985 This page The Cartier World Elephant Polo Championships in Nepal, 1985

Depending on your point of view, polo is either one of the youngest sports, with the first official team being formed in Calcutta in 1863, or one of the oldest, if you subscribe to the slightly hazier and less well-documented notion of something vaguely similar involving horses and feats of dexterity taking place in the neighbourhood of Mongolia a couple of thousand years ago.

Either way, the game has come a long way since it swept the British Raj (or was played by galloping Mongolian hordes) and one of the key architects of the modern game has been not a breeder, nor a player, nor even a patron… but a jeweller.

This year’s Cartier Queen’s Cup Final on 15 June marked 30 years of polo sponsorship for the eponymous French jeweller – making it the longest-

standing polo sponsor in the sport’s history.

The benefits and what I suppose marketing people would call synergies are obvious: Cartier calls itself the king of jewellers, polo vies with racing for the title ‘game of kings’, and playing polo, much like buying haute joaillerie, is an expensive and exclusive business.

If one were being forensically accurate, it could be argued that Cartier’s support of the sport is 31 years old, as the first polo tournament sponsored by Cartier was in 1983 in Palm Beach.

Since then, Cartier has exported the sport of polo to some of the furthest flung corners of the world; at times it has seemed that everywhere that one might be able to put on some Cartier jewels there is a polo match to wear them at.

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Back in the early part of the 20th century the Maharajas of India were some of Cartier’s best customers, so Cartier’s sponsorship of the World Elephant Polo Championships in Nepal in 1985 was a homecoming of sorts. The truly surreal event replaced ponies with pachyderms and drew a heterogeneous crowd that ranged from Indian princes to rock royalty; former Beatle Ringo Starr was among the spectators.

The following year, Cartier brought the game to an even harsher environment, when it took the thrills of polo and put them on ice – literally – staging a tournament at the height of the season in St Moritz, when the lake is frozen, creating the perfect mix of international glamour and exciting sporting action.

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Playing polo, much like buying haute joaillerie, is an expensive and exclusive business

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But it is in England, and in particular at Windsor Great Park, that the bond between polo and Cartier is at its strongest, and this is largely the work of one man, the legendary, lion-maned Arnaud Bamberger, who for almost a quarter of a century has been Cartier’s man in Britain and who, over the years, has kept Cartier’s relationship with polo at the heart of the brand’s identity.

If you had to cast a patrician Frenchman in a movie, the suave, stylish, gravel-voiced Arnaud Bamberger would be that man. Even though he is a determined Anglophile, with a house in Belgravia, a wardrobe made by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh’s tailor John Kent and a reputation as a crack shot, he sounds more French than Maurice Chevalier eating croissants while wearing a beret, halfway up the Eiffel Tower.

‘Cartier’s association with polo started about 30 years ago,’ explains Bamberger. ‘And then, a few years, later Alain Perrin (the then CEO and, in effect, creator of modern Cartier) started the polo – the Cartier International – at Guards’ Polo Club. When I arrived in 1992, he gave me the polo, saying, “Arnaud, you’re on now because it’s the end of the July and I’ve other things to do, and that’s going to be your baby”.’

‘Since then I’ve been doing the polo – with ups and downs,’ he admits. Bamberger’s loyalty to the sport has been unwavering for more than two decades, but he has seen the sport change.

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IMAGES COURTESY OF CARTIER TONY RAMIREZ/IMAGESOFPOLO.COM

Clockwise from far left Polo being played in Ladakh, India, in 1987; TRH Prince Charles and The Queen with Alain Perrin; snow polo in St Moritz, 2014

‘At one time it became a tiny bit boring – a bit old and not that fun – and we decided to rejuvenate the whole thing. When Prince William turned 18 and he came to the polo, it was like a first outing for him as a young man, and we invited a lot of his friends too. It was something quite new and fun.

Then to ensure that we got a younger crowd we had the Chinawhite enclosure, so that they could have some fun after the polo game. And we had

a lot of success – at one time we had more than 20,000 people coming to watch the polo.’

The Cartier Intentional Day at the end of July had become the full stop at the end of the summer season; a sort of end-of-term party before the summer holidays, and anyone who experienced the legendary Cartier hospitality in those days recalls an event that merged the excitement of a film premiere and the energy of a night clubbing; with

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a bank of frenzied photographers outside the picket fence of the Cartier enclosure snapping the film stars and socialites who arrived for lunch under a tent so vast it could have accommodated the proverbial three-ring circus, where Cartier’s own-brand champagne flowed in torrents as a gastronomic banquet was served to hundreds.

But the bacchanalian booming throb of the dance music at the Chinawhite tent threatened

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to drown out the percussive tattoo of hoof against turf; and it occurred to Bamberger that the Cartier International Day was in danger of becoming a victim of its own success. Moreover, the migratory habits of smart London society had begun to change; the end of July was no longer a time for them to be hanging around in London.

‘Alors, it wasn’t exactly the right crowd because a lot of these people were coming for the fun bit of it and not necessarily for the polo,’ he says. ‘It was good, but I felt that it was getting a bit too big, and I wanted to change the formula. And at the end of July, our customers and our friends were already on their yachts or at their villas.

‘I was able to mastermind a complete change and get into the Cartier Queen’s Cup, which is mid-June. It’s now a much more polo-centric type of event, which seems to be liked by everyone, especially the people who are serious supporters of polo.’ And it was the reaction of one particular supporter of the sport that Bamberger found very gratifying. ‘The Cartier Queen’s Cup was more convenient for HM The Queen’s schedule as it didn’t disrupt her holidays,’ he smiles.

The return of HM The Queen to the finals of the tournament that bears both Her Majesty’s and Cartier’s name was of special significance to Arnaud, as he has forged something of a special

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Opposite, from top HM The Queen and Arnaud Bamberger with Gabriel Donoso in 2004; Juan Martin Nero in action during the fnal of the Cartier Queen’s Cup, 2014 This page Arnaud Bamberger looks on as HM The Queen presents Facundo Pieres with the trophy

relationship with the monarch over the years. ‘In as much as one can be friendly with Her Majesty the Queen, I suppose I am and I know her a bit more than most people,’ he admits. ‘I’ve seen her for the past 22 years, during polo days and on some other occasions, especially with the Cartier Racing Awards.

‘She loves racing, and a couple of times I have had the opportunity to go to Buckingham Palace to present her with a special trophy made by Cartier to celebrate her contribution to horse racing. I have also had the opportunity and the pleasure to be invited to some dinners and lunches at Buckingham Palace or at Windsor Castle.’

In fact it is quite possible that he is the Frenchman Her Majesty knows best – after all, mere presidents and prime ministers come and go but Arnaud Bamberger and Cartier’s polo credentials seem to improve with every passing year.

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

CAMILLASYKES.COM

The best two players in the world battle it out in the Copa de Oro at Sotogrande

THE ACTION 48

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Cartier Queen’s Cup Superior horsepower, organisation and skill – and a sprinkling of magic from Facundo Pieres – are the ingredients that mean HM The Queen hands the trophy to Lyndon Lea’s Zacara for the second year running Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup The curtain call for the 2014 English high-goal season sees a ferce but friendly rivalry played out in the fnal Audi International Coronation Cup Brave England fall to an Argentina team turbo-charged by Pieres and Cambiaso

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EFG Bicentennial Trophy Military hour is maintained by the Army with a double victory over Cambridge students and alumni at Sandhurst

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Central Park Horse Show This time, it is the Manhattan skyline that is the backdrop for exciting urban exhibition matches

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Audi International Test Match Beaufort is the venue for a very close match between England and Hong Kong

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Sotogrande Tournament A face-off in the fnal between Cambiaso for Valiente and Pieres with Ellerston

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City Polo, London A wonderful evening’s sport in a stunning setting, on Horse Guards Parade

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RMPA International Thai Polo fnish the Malaysian season on a high at the Royal Sengalor Polo Club

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FIP European Championships A new selection process gives England the edge on their continental rivals

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World Cup, Azerbaijan The Caucasus nation’s new polo team surprises everyone in Baku

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ACTION CARTIER QUEEN’S CUP, GUARDS POLO CLUB, WINDSOR, UK, JUNE 2014

QUEEN’S CUP With some of the world’s greatest players taking part, a close fnal was expected, but the defending champions were the superior team, says Carolina Beresford This was a special year for Cartier, with the luxury French jewellery house celebrating 30 years in polo. Arnaud Bamberger, executive chairman of Cartier UK, explained that the ‘exclusivity’ of the sport is what makes it so alluring. And the Cartier Queen’s Cup, with its perfect combination of glamour and high-quality polo, epitomises what Cartier admires most about the sport.

After the British Open, the Queen’s Cup is undoubtedly the most prestigious tournament on the European polo circuit, the honour of receiving

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the prize from HM The Queen adding to the attraction for patrons and players alike.

Marking the beginning of the English high-goal season, the competition saw some of the best players in the world – including Cambiaso, Nero, Pieres, Stirling and MacDonough – take to the fields at Guards to fight for the 2014 title.

The final was set to be a Zacara versus Talandracas showdown. Lyndon Lea’s Zacara, the reigning champions, had cruised through all their matches and reached the final unbeaten.

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Talandracas – despite losing their first game to John Muse’s Lucchese – went on to win their remaining league games, but their journey to the final was not quite as smooth.

Talandracas faced Dubai in the quarter-finals and UAE in the semi – a match that might have turned out differently had UAE’s 8-goaler Lucas Monteverde not been substituted due to injury.

UAE were leading at half-time and it seemed as if Edouard Carmignac’s team were about to fall at the final hurdle, but Talandracas battled

ACTION

Opposite Facundo Pieres, on the ball, being ridden of by Santi Stirling Above The winning team Below Edouard Carmignac watches Pieres and Juan Martin Nero

The score did not truly refect the superiority of Lyndon Lea’s Zacara team

TONY RAMIREZ/IMAGES OF POLO

through and won the game 10–9, earning a deserved place in the final against Zacara.

After two gruelling games, though, Talandracas’ horses would have felt the strain.

The final was set to be a close one. Zacara had Argentine star Facundo Pieres, but the combination of Juan Martin Nero and Polito Pieres posed a considerable threat. There were high expectations for Gonzalo Deltour too, while Brazilian Rodrigo Andrade was key to Zacara’s victory last year. Talandracas had an advantage with Polito playing off 8-goals (in Argentina, he was put up to 9-goal, having reached the final of the Argentine Open last year), yet Zacara’s hard-riding patron Lyndon Lea could not be ignored. And the two 4-goalers, Santiago Stirling and Matt Perry, were both having their best season to date.

Nicolas Pieres, brother of Facundo and cousin of Polito, forecast an even game, but suspected Zacara’s horsepower would outrun Talandracas. ‘I think the outcome of the match will depend a lot on Polito – he is the one doing a bit of magic recently,’ he said. ‘But we cannot forget Facundo. Whoever has the best day will win.’ Sure enough, when Polito and Facundo both started on their best horses, Rolinga and Moscow respectively, no one expected the game to be anything less than a great final.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Talandracas’ magic wand was faulty, with Polito missing three 60-yard penalties in the first two chukkas. Things did not get better for the team as they failed to score a single goal in the second and third chukkas, giving Zacara a 6–2 lead at half-time.

As the second half began the pitch did not seem to help Talandracas’ style of play. Nero worked well with Polito and was solid in defence, beating Facundo in many short plays, but the side struggled to find their rhythm.

The sixth chukka saw a more open style of polo from both teams, but it was too late for Talandracas, and Zacara won 10–7. The score did not truly reflect the superiority of Lyndon Lea’s team; their teamwork and skill, along with some incredible organisation and breadth of horsepower is what led Zacara to run out the winners of the Cartier Queen’s Cup for a second year running.

A disappointed Carmignac acknowledged Zacara’s greatness: ‘The Queen’s Cup is a great event to be part of, but it is more pleasant, not necessarily to win, but to have a more even game. They really out-powered us.’ This year’s tournament also confirmed something else, he said: ‘Facundo is indisputably the best player right now. That is the main lesson today.’

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ACTION VEUVE CLIQUOT GOLD CUP, COWDRAY PARK, UK, JULY 2014

GOLD CUP

The sport of kings sees the reigning team retain the 2014 Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup, writes Victoria Elsbury-Legg

On 20 July, for the last time in the 2014 English high-goal season, crowds gathered on the Lawns at Cowdray to watch an eagerly anticipated final, this time that of the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup. Even the weather was colour-coordinated, as sunshine illuminated the sponsor’s yellow label branding, from the boards around the pitch to the champagne flutes, the umbrellas and the ivy-entwined swing in the hospitality area.

As commentators Felix Wheeler and John Kent announced their names, the players circled the pitch gladiator-style. Dubai – looking to secure a fourth Gold Cup win – had the same line-up as for their opening match and semi-final, with Rashid Albwardy back on the field as patron, marking his good friend Aiyawatt ‘Top’ Srivaddhanaprabha,

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co-patron of tournament newcomers King Power with his non-playing father Vichai, who had dominated every game to that point.

With the tented village perused and a glass of chilled champagne or Pimm’s in hand, the crowd settled down to watch eight players, 86 ponies and some of the best polo in the world. It was Albwardy who put the first goal on the Jaeger-LeCoultre scoreboard in what would be a very close game, with the second chukka starting at 1–1. The pressure was on and all eyes frequently turned to the umpires for answers – and penalties. Dubai led 4–3 at the interval, with such great defence from Marcos Di Paola that he broke his stick.

Field goals dominated the third chukka – Diego Cavanagh flew the length of the pitch on

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Pan Am, and Cambiaso seemed to attach the ball to the end of his stick, such was his control, to illustrate exactly why he is 10 goals. At half-time, Dubai was 7–5 ahead and the crowd was delighted – not only by the action, but by the fact that the weather had remained so glorious.

In the fourth, Cambiaso was ready to run on Seabiscuit, while, astride Centimetre, a determined Pieres had no intention of giving him an inch. Four minutes into play and no goals had been put on the board, until the man flying the Argentine flag on his hat found some space and made it 9–6.

This was a game of less passing and more possession, unlike the open play seen in the qualifiers. However, as grey clouds began to

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Opposite MVP Adolfo Cambiaso Above Diego Cavanagh looks to goal as Gonzalito Pieres shoots Below The two patrons, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha of King Power (left) and Ali Albwardy of Dubai

Hugs preceded the prizegiving for two teams whose patrons are great friends

TONY RAMIREZ/IMAGESOFPOLO.COM

gather ominously above the goalposts at the scoreboard end, things suddenly shifted on the pitch as King Power came back from four goals behind, levelling the score at 5–5 in the fifth.

In the end, in spite of Pieres’s great attempts on Shannon and 5-goal Pablo Llorente dodging past 7-goal Cavanagh and 10-goal Cambiaso to put an 11th through for King Power, it was a lucky number 13 that secured Dubai their fourth win of the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup. Big hugs preceded the prizegiving for two teams whose patrons are great friends. Cambiaso was awarded Most Valuable Player of the Final and Pieres was handed the Veuve Clicquot Saddle as the Highest Goal Scorer of the British Open Polo Championship. As the band began to march across the pitch, Cambiaso’s nine-yearold Argentine chestnut Dolfina Primicia (from Noticia and Chimento) did it for the second year in a row, winning Best Playing Pony of the Final.

Alastair Paterson, the only British player on the pitch, said after the game, ‘It was a really good opportunity to play with these guys as part of a great organisation whose horsepower really came to the fore today.’

It was an ecstatic green-and-white players’ tent post match as Dubai, with Cambiaso on their side, once again took home the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup, but there is a new team on the English high-goal scene whose horsepower and sportsmanship is definitely going to bring them consderable success.

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ACTION AUDI INTERNATIONAL CORONATION CUP, GUARDS POLO CLUB, WINDSOR, UK, JULY 2014

CORONATION CUP

England put in a brave performance but they were no match for the intimidating Adolfo Cambiaso/Facundo Pieres powerhouse, reports Alice Gipps

One of Britain’s most historic sporting trophies, the Coronation Cup was first played in 1911 to honour the coronation of King George V. It continued for a further 28 years until 1939, when the games were halted due to the disruption from World War II. Apart from a single match played in 1953 at Cowdray Park to mark the coronation of HM The Queen, the Coronation Cup was absent until 1971, when Lord Patrick Beresford initiated its reintroduction against an American team.

The following year, the event moved to Guards Polo Club, where it has continued ever since.

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This year saw the return of Argentina, who are always one of England’s toughest opponents.

Having lost to the boys in blue in 2009, England prepared themselves for a tough match – hence their controversial move to play with a lowerhandicap team. England could have fielded 26 goals to match the Argentine side; however, 4-goaler Ollie Cudmore was summoned to take on the challenge for the first time in his career, joining James Beim and brothers Luke and Mark Tomlinson The intimidating duo of Adolfo Cambiaso and Facundo Pieres, arguably the world’s two top

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players of the moment, are more commonly seen battling it out on opposing teams, but they teamed up once again for the honour to compete for this important trophy. Their team was completed with two 3-goalers, Julio Ruggeri and Francisco Belaustegui.

With a 1-goal handicap, England set out to give Argentina a run for their money. James Beim was quick to score for England with a spot hit in front of the goal. Cambiaso countered this, sending a clean pass up front to Pieres, who converted it to a goal for Argentina. Still fighting strong, England’s Luke Tomlinson snuck another

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Opposite The winning Argentine team Below Julio Ruggeri tries to hook Mark Tomlinson Bottom Pieres with a nearside back shot as James Beim looks on

penalty through the posts for a promising 3-1 lead at the end of the first chukka.

In the second chukka, Argentina started to turn up the heat with a goal from Belaustegui.

Luke Tomlinson missed a valuable chance with a penalty, shortly followed by Pieres converting a 40-yard hit, making it 3–3. Despite some great defence by England, with Ollie Cudmore playing his heart out on his grey mare, it was at this point that the tables turned. The Cambiaso-Pieres combination was taking control and working well. Pieres headed up front for the pass from Cambiaso, while Belaustegui and Ruggeri cleared the way, scoring another goal.

In the third chukka, Ruggeri snuck a little backhander to goal, followed by a 60-yard penalty, edging the points to 7–3 in their favour. Mark Tomlinson sailed a 40-yard shot straight through the posts, but Pieres was back with a vengeance in the last 30 seconds of the chukka and another goal gave Argentina a four-goal lead at half-time.

Pieres hit wide on the first penalty of the fourth chukka, then Mark Tomlinson swiped the ball from him with some great field play but, unfortunately, failed to convert the chance he’d been given. Instead, Beim came to the rescue and found the posts with an impressive neck shot, bringing the score to a more manageable 8-5.

On a roll and building momentum with another Mark Tomlinson goal, England were now trailing by only two goals. The game could have gone either way at this stage, but Facundo once again widened the margin. With determination, Beim set off from the line-up with the ball, but Cambiaso

TONY RAMIREZ/IMAGESOFPOLO.COM

took hold and, with a fantastic run up the field, flew through the goal to make it 11–7 at the end of the fifth chukka.

England had a daunting task on their hands entering the final chukka. An undefended 30-yard hit to Mark Tomlinson boosted the team’s spirit briefly, until Belaustegui had the crowd in awe, spectacularly tapping the ball in the air twice, then lofting it through the goalposts to take a 4-goal lead, before Pieres converted yet another penalty with ease. Despite some riveting play in the last few minutes as England refused to give up, the final score was 13–8.

HRH The Prince of Wales handed out the trophies at the prize presentation. The Apache team took home the cup for the earlier 8-goal game, in which they beat Chester Racecourse 8–6 to win the right to represent England at the European Championships (see page 58).

President of the Argentine Polo Association Francisco Dorignac presented the Donoso Trophy to Facundo Pieres. This trophy is given to the visiting team’s captain each year in memory of the Chilean maestro Gabriel Donoso, who represented his country in the Coronation Cup many times.

Pieres also received the MVP prize, while a seven-year-old mare from the States called Yun Yun, played by Cambiaso, won the Best Playing Pony prize.

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ACTION EFG INTERNATIONAL BICENTENNIAL TROPHY, ROYAL MILITARY ACADEMY, SANDHURST, UK, AUGUST 2014

SANDHURST BICENTENNIAL Military polo honours were upheld when teams representing the Army won both the EFG Bicentennial Trophy and the Sandhurst Trophy, reports Dara Williams

The Army, of course, introduced polo to England in 1869, with the inaugural ‘scratch match’ at Aldershot Camp, Hampshire, in 1869. Polo arrived at Sandhurst – then known as the Royal Military College – soon afterwards. The present energetic club, however, is the result of the genius of a later generation, who re-established polo at the academy in 1998, led by the then commandant, Major General Arthur Denaro.

The EFG Bicentennial Trophy, inaugurated in 2012 in celebration of 200 years of Sandhurst, is much coveted. Although it is relatively new to Sandhurst, it actually dates to 1934. Back then, the competition was in India, when it was won by the 38th/39th Central India Horse, a leading polo regiment of the time who were five-time winners of the Indian Inter-Regimental Trophy.

Robert Freeman-Kerr was captain of the victorious EFG Army Select team, for which the strong man was Gaston Devrient, who has made a major impact on the military side of the game since becoming Army polo team coach six years ago. They were backed up by Robert Mehm of EFG Private Bank and officer cadet Paddy Selfe.

Their opponents were Cambridge Alumni, led by

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Dean Lines and Josh Morris-Lowe, with good support from Sam Browne and Jamie Hepburn.

The match saw the first goal come from Devrient, but the four-chukka, 7-goal match proved extremely close-run. His was the only goal of the first chukka but, in the second, Hepburn and Lines delivered a hat-trick for Cambridge. A powerful shot from Mehm and a 30-yard penalty conversion by Devrient saw the score equal, 3–3, at half-time. During the interval, spectators were entertained by the Royal Artillery Band, which had escorted the teams onto the ground.

The third chukka saw quick action with a goal each. However, Cambridge managed to score another to take a 5-4 advantage into the final period. No sooner had that begun than FreemanKerr equalised and it would have been a wise man who felt sure of the eventual outcome.

Morris-Lowe regained the lead for Cambridge, but this was followed by yet another Army equaliser. On the final whistle, it was the Army who rode out victorious, by a narrow 7–6.

In an earlier game, for the Sandhurst Trophy, Hackett Young Army defeated Cambridge

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University by just half a goal on handicap.

Cambridge included the game’s only female player, Mieke Van Vlaanderen, who showed a great aptitude for marking the opposition.

Doug White, captain of the Army team, opened the scoring, a goal to which the varsity captain Sam Browne replied with a 30-yard penalty shot. By treading-in time, Hackett Young Army were in the lead by their received half-goal, 2½-2, but a penalty conversion by Browne put Cambridge in front. Matters changed in the fourth and final chukka, the deciding goal coming from Browne’s stick.

Keith Gapp, head of strategic marketing and communications for EFG International, accompanied by Major General Stuart Skeates, commandant of Sandhurst, presented the EFG Bicentennial Cup to a delighted Robert Freeman-Kerr. Prizes for players came in the form of watercolours by artist Jeremy Houghton, whose current touring exhibition is entitled 100 Years of British Army Polo. It was a gentle reminder that the date of these matches was the eve of the centenary of Britain declaring war on Germany, and the beginning of World War I.

PETER MEADE

The winning EFG team; Gaston Devrient , Paddy Self, Robert Mehm, Robert Freeman-Kerr

ACTION AUDI INTERNATIONAL TEST MATCH, BEAUFORT POLO CLUB, UK, JUNE 2014

BEAUFORT TEST MATCH

TONY RAMIREZ/IMAGESOFPOLO.COM

England and Hong Kong fought a tough, close-run battle in the frst International of the season at Beaufort, reports Dara Williams

The opening Audi International test match of the season, held at Beaufort Polo Club on 21 June, proved an extremely close-fought game, despite the fact that Audi-sponsored England received a goaland-a-half on handicap. Their 10½–8 victory over Hong Kong – sponsored by Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club, Tianjin, for a third year – was in the balance until late in the match, but reflected the outstanding level of home-grown professionalism.

James Harper, captain of England and playing high-goal this season for Halcyon Gallery, was joined by three of the country’s top young players: George Meyrick, Jack Richardson and Max Charlton.

Meyrick started to play at the tender age of seven, and has been a professional since 18, his successes including the Queen’s Cup on two occasions.

Making his first appearance in high-goal with Her Highness Sheikha Maitha Bint Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s UAE last year, Richardson – at 22, the youngest member of the team – has also represented his country in the Coronation Cup on Audi International Day at Guards. Earlier this year, Charlton helped England win the Snow Polo World Cup in China and then Cartier to take home the World Snow Polo Cup in St Moritz.

Hong Kong were captained by Luis Lalor, a former president of the Associacíon Argentina de

Polo who, at the height of his career, was rated as a 9-goal and remains a much-respected figure on the international polo scene. Team-mates were John-Paul Clarkin, John Fisher and Argentinian Guillermo Terrera, celebrated for his impeccable hand-to-eye coordination and currently playing in high-goal for El Remanso.

Clarkin is New Zealand’s highest-rated player, with an 8-goal handicap. His many victories include the memorable 2003 British Open Championship, playing for Hildon Sport with Nina Vestey, who is now his wife. Fisher is director of stable operations at the Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club, Tianjin, and has helped the game in China go from strength to strength. He captured the British Open Championship at the age of 17, having won a 26-goal tournament in Argentina the previous year.

Played in warm sunshine, the match was held as part of the Gloucestershire Festival of Polo. Guests included His Highness The Maharaja of Jodhpur, who is in England for the season and will be bringing a Jodhpur team over here next season, and Malcolm Borwick, a leading British professional and a world ambassador for Royal Salute, who spoke of exciting new polo developments in China.

Charlton’s 60-yard penalty conversion opened the scoring for England, answered by a goal from

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From left James Harper, Max Charlton, George Meyrick, and Jack Richardson

Lalor. Both sides sent balls through the posts in the second chukka, and England’s handicap advantage was maintained at the end of the third, which ended 6½–5. During the fourth chukka, Hong Kong notched up two more goals and, at one point, the gap was down to half a point. But England stretched the lead to 8½–7, thanks to Charlton and Meyrick.

Entering the fifth and final chukka, the outcome was still far from certain. It was four minutes before a goal – from an England penalty conversion – was scored. Meyrick then followed it up with one from a difficult neck shot, which took his side into double figures. A 40-yard penalty conversion from Clarkin proved to be the last goal of the match and mere consolation.

James Harper was presented with the Goldin Group Trophy, while George Meyrick was awarded Most Valuable Player. The prize for Best Playing Pony went to Meyrick’s nine-year-old mare and retrained racehorse, Miss Boogie Woogie, who played in the last chukka. Chris Adkins of Tally Ho Farm, the Berkshire-based polo outfitters, presented the rug.

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ACTION

CITY POLO, LONDON

Horse Guards Parade hosted the inaugural London Polo Championships this summer, on an evening to remember, reports Victoria Elsbury-Legg

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DOMINIC JAMES/DOMINIC-JAMES.COM; TONY RAMIREZ/IMAGESOFPOLO.COM

CITY POLO, HORSE GUARDS PARADE, LONDON, UK, AUGUST 2014

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From 14 to 16 August, for the second time in its history and this year in a spectacular new setting, the capital hosted the 11th leg of the 2014 Longines Global Champions Tour – an exhibition of world-class show-jumping – and, for the first time ever, the London Polo Championships.

On the evening of Thursday 14 August, with the iconic city skyline as a stunning backdrop and under the gaze of the London Eye, polo was played for the first time on Horse Guards Parade – with a certain equestrian synchronicity, the very spot where Henry VIII hosted jousting competitions in the 16th century and where, from 1749, the annual Trooping the Colour has taken place.

Riding into the arena at 6.30pm with a steely determination akin to that of the military men more often seen marching there, Clogau/DSTRKT London Team Wales, captained by Ricky Cooper and backed up by Roddy Matthews and Peter Webb, opened play in the first match against Silex Team Ireland. Silex captain Richard Fagan, who’d flown in from Sotogrande, where he was competing in the Silver Cup, played alongside team-mates Mikey Henderson and Sebastian Dawnay. Despite the rain, spirits remained undampened and the two scores remained close until the end. In last few seconds, Peter Webb scored the winning goal for Clogau/DSTRKT London Team Wales, making the final result 12–11 and sparking a spirited rendition of ‘Cwm Rhondda’ in the stands.

In the second game of the evening, commentators Karl Ude-Martinez and Sebastian Baker introduced EFG England (captain Chris Hyde, Max Charlton and Charlie Pidgley) and King Power Polo Team Bangkok (fielding Argentine professionals Santi Luján, Antonino Menard and captain Adolfo Casabal) to the crowd. There was strong play from both sides, but King Power Polo Team managed to hold the lead throughout, winning 15–11.

At the prize-giving, Sonia Menezes from the Clogau Gold jewellery house and Welsh designer David Emanuel presented the Westminster Cup (provided by Steven Sanson, director of bespoke silversmith Bezant) and a bottle of Pommery champagne to Cooper and polo-themed Clogau jewellery prizes to all the players. Meanwhile, Robert Mehm, senior vice-president of EFG Bank, handed over the London Polo Championships Trophy, a bottle of Pommery and more Clogau prizes to Casabal and his team-mates.

The Best Playing Pony award went to Indi, a five-year-old dark-bay gelding owned by Richard Blake Thomas and ridden by England professional Max Charlton in the second chukka. The horse was presented with a rug by Georgie Reeves from UberPolo, in conjunction with the Household Cavalry Foundation – the chosen charity for the event. Alison Cryer and Jamal Al Azki, from Oman Ministry of Tourism and Oman Air respectively, presented the Most Valuable Player prize to Adolfo Casabal of King Power Polo Team

Bangkok. Umpires Howard Smith and Tim Bown were handed Pommery by HM The Queen’s eldest grandson, Peter Phillips.

Post-match, Charlton, who has just seen his outdoor handicap rise to 7 goals, said: ‘It was a good-sized arena, the surface was amazing and you could go at any speed and turn. It was great footing for the horses and the new rules really helped the flow of play.’

It was no mean feat to organise two international games of polo with such high-profile players in the centre of London on a 50m by 85m field – complete with new amendments to the Arena Rules regarding side- or end-wall ride-offs and play, put in place specifically to make the game faster and more open. Not only were there the logistics of limited space and the number of ponies to be co-ordinated in two different locations to consider, but also the many stakeholders involved – from the many sponsors to the British Army, Royal Parks Board and even 10 Downing Street, which backs on to the parade ground.

As the lights went out around the arena, those of London beckoned the players, spectators and celebrity supporters – among them, Bruce Springsteen – who were all invited to gather at DSTRKT London for an after-party organised in conjunction with Clogau Team Wales. It was a memorable end to a momentous day.

To watch replays of all the polo action, visit hurlinghammedia.com

Opposite Santi Lujan of Thailand followed by England’s Chris Hyde This page Mickey Henderson of Ireland looks on as Peter Webb of Wales

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ACTION FIP EUROPEAN 8-GOAL CHAMPIONSHIPS, CHANTILLY, FRANCE, SEPTEMBER 2014

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS Team Apache won a close battle for the honour of representing England at the FIP Euros. As Victoria Elsbury-Legg reports, they proved the right team for the job

This year, it was France who played host to the Federation of International Polo (FIP) European 8-Goal Championships at the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly in September, with the World Equestrian Games having already taken place in Normandy during August.

Qualification to represent England in the European Championships took on a novel twist when Will Emerson came up with the idea of having a tournament that would enable teams to compete for the chance to play in France as Team England. He suggested it to the HPA, who agreed. HPA Deputy Chief Executive Olly Hughes said, ‘The qualification stages worked really well as all the teams competing had previously played together in other tournaments.

Ultimately, that process gave the team that later represented England in Chantilly a competitive edge and an advantage.’

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The qualifers gave the team that later represented England a competitive edge

Accordingly, four 8-goal teams competed at Audi International Day at Guards Polo Club on 22 July for their place in the championships, with the winner of the morning match the team that would be heading to Chantilly in September.

The true spirit of polo echoed through the team line-ups: husband and wife Clare and Chris Mathias played alongside Roddy Matthews and Nick Pepper for Clarita; brothers Max and Freddie Dear formed team Apache alongside

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Ralph Richardson and Olly Tuthill; James and Spencer McCarthy, Tommy Beresford and Michael Howe made up team Emlor. Chester Racecourse brought two ladies into the equation, with Lucy Taylor and Nina Clarkin joining forces with Richard Thomas and John Martin.

The qualification games all ended in very close results, but it was Chester Racecourse and Apache who topped the rankings and met in the final on Saturday 26 August on Smith’s Lawn. Apache won the day with an 8–5 victory to ensure they would be heading to France in the white shirts of England.

Joining England (for whom Jack Mesquita replaced Ralph Richardson) in Chantilly was Ireland: Richard Fagan, Sebastian Dawnay, and Max and Stephen Hutchinson (who unfortunately had to be substituted in Chantilly by Siobhan Herbst, after breaking a rib in their first game).

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ANTOINE DELAPORTE

Opposite The winning English team This page, from top Italy’s Matias Bertola and the Netherland’s Pablo Van Den Brink; the line-up of participating teams

With teams from the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Austria also competing in this tournament, which started on 4 September, it was great to see England and Ireland make it into the semi-finals – England having defeated Austria 8–5 and Spain 7–5, and Ireland defeating Spain 6–4 and Austria 7–4. In their last league match, they faced each other and Ireland squeezed out England 7–6.

Then England met France, and, as Janie Dear (mother to Max and Freddie) reports, ‘Luck was with us to beat France in the semis. Freddie scored our only 60, France missed a lot of their penalties and it was a scrappy game, very tough and stressful for the supporters. We won by one goal, so getting to the final was pretty special.’

England now faced Ireland, the only team so far to have beaten them, in the final after Fagan and co had beaten Italy in the semi. It turned out

to be a particularly memorable occasion for members of the Beaufort Polo Club, with five out of the eight players in the final being members of the club. As Janie Dear and Stephen Hutchinson both pointed out, the whole tournament really brought the home nations together, with all the players, their families and supporters cheering each other on during matches.

In the end, of course, one team had to come out the winner. The game was 2–2 at the end of the first chukka, then in the third, Ireland drew ahead through a goal by Sebastian Dawnay.

The third chukka belonged to England with goals

by Max Dear, Olly Tuthill and Jack Mesquita giving them a 5–3 lead. At the final bell, England were declared the winners with a score of 6–3.

The award for Best Playing Pony went to Olly Tuthill’s Cognac, a 16-year-old bay gelding that came from Juan Martin Nero.

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Stephen Hutchinson explained that, ultimately, the idea had been to get the two home nation teams into the final, and the best team won on the day. However, he was also quick to point out, with a wry Irish smile, that Ireland had beaten this England team in one league match and scared them in this final, and that this wasn’t the first time. In the 1999 Championships, the then English 8-goal team of James Beim, Mark Tomlinson, Will Emerson and Nina Vestey (now a 22-goal team) beat Team Ireland – Stephen Hutchinson, Seb Dawnay, Jonathan Cavanagh, Aaron Caffrey and reserve David Stone (who would now be a 5- or 6-goal squad) – in the final.

Fifteen years on, half of that Irish team is still competing against a new English line-up!

It seems the FIP European Championships continue to embrace the true spirit at the heart of the sport of polo.

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ACTION CENTRAL PARK HORSE SHOW, NEW YORK, USA, SEPTEMBER 2014

CENTRAL PARK HORSE SHOW

Held at Trump Arena in Manhattan, the Central Park Horse Show, presented by Rolex, featured the first-ever polo matches to be played in the park, not far from where once stood Dickel’s Riding Academy, where polo was first played in the US. The Central Park Horse show was the brainchild of Mark Bellissimo, one of the highest-profile people in the equine industry, thanks in no small part to his success running the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida. While WEF’s focus is on hunters, jumpers and dressage, Bellissimo is an enthusiastic supporter all things equestrian, and made his backing of polo particularly evident by placing it at the heart of the four-day Central Park event.

Far more than ‘just’ a horse show, this major event attracted 1,000 spectators and featured in strong media coverage across the US. ‘I wanted to make this a “celebration of the horse” that would benefit the industry as a whole,’ explained Bellissimo.

As well as the U.S. Polo Assn. Central Park Polo Challenge, which served as the finale of the

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four-day event, polo exhibitions by some of the country’s top young players also took place, in front of audiences that included inner-city youth groups as well as equestrian enthusiasts and general spectators.

Thanks to the outstanding efforts of the owners of Wellington’s Grand Champions Polo Club, Melissa and Marc Ganzi, as well as the United States Polo Association, the U.S. Polo Assn. clothing brand and a host of polo enthusiasts, the sport was extremely well represented.

Players in Sunday’s arena-polo match featured many well-known players, including Charlie Muldoon, Juan Bollini, Kris Kampsen, Nic Roldan and Wesley Finlayson.

‘We need to demystify people’s preconceived notions about the sport,’ emphasised Marc Ganzi.

‘Taking polo to Central Park gave us the opportunity to share the game with a tremendous number of people, helping them understand it’s not a game just for the super-rich.’

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In the final match, the US Trust team, which included Kris Kampsen, Marc Ganzi and Wesley Finlayson, took on the FlexJet team, featuring Melissa Ganzi, Charlie Muldoon and Juan Bollini.

Muldoon got the scoring started for FlexJet, but Finlayson soon put US Trust on the board.

Marc Ganzi gave US Trust the lead with a penalty conversion, then a goal from the field. Kris Kampsen added another while FlexJet struggled to reach the goal. With less than 10 seconds left in the period, Melissa Ganzi necked in a goal to put FlexJet closer at 4–2.

US Trust seemed to have the momentum going into the final chukka but FlexJet kept up the pressure. Kampsen added three goals, while Marc Ganzi and Finlayson each added one. FlexJet responsed with two further goals, but US Trust were ultimately declared the winners, 9–6.

Highlights of the match were broadcast on NBC’s Sports Network on 4 October, the first time there has been a nationwide broadcast of an

DAVID HANDSCHUH, KIT HOUGHTON

The inaugural Central Park Horse Show achieved its aim of bringing the sport of polo to a much wider audience, report Tina and Scott Derby

ACTION

Opposite Team introductions at the Central Park polo event This page Kris Kampsen (in white) and Nic Roldan (in purple) vie for the ball

Taking polo to Central Park gave us the opportunity to share the game with lots of people

arena-polo match, ‘which allowed us to share polo with those not already involved in the sport’, said Jackie Harrigan, vice-president of marketing, USPA Properties, Inc. ‘This television coverage is a tremendous opportunity for us to promote polo and the US. Polo Assn. as the official brand for the sport in the United States. It is our mission to generate revenue from sales to support the sport

and development of players through the many United States Polo Association initiatives.’

The US Polo Assn.’s team of Nic Roldan, Grant Ganzi and Juancito Bollini earned third place, while Kris Kampsen was named MVP and Open Corchos Best Playing Pony.

‘It was an outstanding event in an amazing setting,’ said Roldan. ‘Mark Bellissimo and Melissa Ganzi

did an amazing amount of work in very little time and created what was really a perfect event.’

‘I don’t think it would’ve happened without the enormous support shown by Marc and Melissa,’ added Kampsen. ‘They provided all the horses that were used to play and went above and beyond to be sure things went off seamlessly, which they most definitely did!’

BESPOKE SILVERSMITHS Unique Designs Hand Crafted Special Commissions Replica Trophies Silver & Bronze Models

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ACTION 43RD INTERNATIONAL POLO TOURNAMENT, SANTA MARÍA POLO CLUB, SOTOGRANDE, SPAIN, 25 JULY TO 30 AUGUST 2014

SOTOGRANDE

It was the year of Valiente at Santa María Polo Club in Sotogrande in 2014: the team won the Bronze, Silver and Gold Cups at the 43rd International Polo Tournament to claim the coveted Spanish Triple Crown, something last achieved in 2008 by Ahmibah – although Valiente surpassed that achievement by going through the three tournaments without losing a single game.

Playing for the first time in Sotogrande, Robert Jornayvaz’s team – Adolfo Cambiaso (10), Santiago Torres (6) and Santiago Laborde (5) – had a long string of fresh ponies flown in from the USA. The high-goal Gold Cup final against last year’s winners Ellerston, with Facundo Pieres (10), Gonzalito Pieres (10), Tom Brodie (1) and Felipe Gómez (1) proved to be a tough battle.

The 14–11 result didn’t reflect the closeness of the game, which was neck and neck until the sixth chukka, when Cambiaso’s skill and terrific horse speed took control of the game.

This year, the high-goal tournament in Sotogrande saw an increase in the number of

fresh ponies brought over just for the Spanish tournaments, rather than using the ponies that had played in the UK. At 22 goals, the high-goal at Santa María Polo Club is now a more desirable win and the competition has stepped up, with both Valiente and Ellerston playing new horses.

This was also the case with local club teams Ayala and Dos Lunas, who reached the finals of the Bronze and Silver Cups respectively.

The MVP trophy was renamed in memory of much-loved Javier Novillo Astrada, who passed away in May and had visited Sotogrande many times. It was awarded to Adolfo Cambiaso (pictured, chased by Gonzalito Pieres, above); One Magnífica, played by Facundo Pieres, won the Best Playing Pony of Argentine Breed.

Five of the world’s best 10-goalers were in Sotogrande for the summer: Cambiaso, Facundo and Gonzalito Pieres, Juanma Nero and Pelón Stirling. There were 12 teams competing, two more than last year, with Tal Srivaddhanaprabha’s King Power and Ben Soleimani’s RH, with 9-goaler

Nico Pieres, also making team debuts in Spain.

A new rule was introduced this year, which allowed players to stop and turn a ball that hit the boards at 90 degrees. This meant the first player to get to the ball could play it. Santi Torreguitar, the club’s polo manager, was pleased with how the new rule worked in Sotogrande, saying it encouraged the players to go for the ball instead of passing it by to avoid a foul.

It was also ruled that in the event of player substitution, a patron could be replaced by an international patron, but a professional would have to be replaced by a player federated in Spain (‘registered’ with the Royal Spanish Polo Federation) for at least three years.

The tournament resulted in several changes to player handicaps, including harsh 2-goal increases for UK players Tom Brodie, who went from 1 to 3 goals, and Hugo Lewis who went from zero to 2. Matt Perry, Ali Patterson, Dillon Bacon and Ralph Richardson also saw their handicaps rise by one goal each in the Spanish ranking.

View this match online at hurlinghampolo.com

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CAMILLA SYKES

At the close of a terrifc season in Sotogrande, one team remained unbeaten in the tightly contested high-goal tournament, reports Camilla Sykes

ACTION ROYAL MALAYSIAN POLO ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE, MALAYSIA, JUNE 2014

RMPA INTERNATIONAL

Firm favourites Thai Polo confrmed their league supremacy with victory in the Visa Cup Final of the 2014 RMPA International, writes Peter Abisheganaden

ARMAND ALI

Ameer Jumabhoy (left) and Benjamin Araya lead the players

Thai Polo had been the team to beat throughout the Malaysian season, and they finished it on a high on Saturday 21 June, winning the final 10-5 over La Sarita in front of a large crowd at the Royal Selangor Polo Club in Kuala Lumpur. It was the team’s third tournament win in the four-tournament 16-goal RMPA International League.

In January, Thai Polo had also triumphed at the Thai Polo Open, playing with Lucas Labat and Agustin Garcia Grossi paired with Thai Polo patron Dato’ Harald Link and his daughter Caroline; and at the Royal Pahang International in June, they won with their Malaysian squad of Raul Laplacette, Carlos Pando and Julian Sagarna.

Ameer Jumabhoy played the final in place of Dato’ Harald Link, who had left for England before their last match to play in the Gold Cup. Dato’ Harald played in the RMPA International until he knew Thai Polo had a place in the final. It meant Thai Polo would earn enough points that they could not be beaten in the league.

It also set up a tasty match, with Ameer playing against his father, Asad, who is the patron of the La Sarita team. Whichever way it went, a Jumabhoy was going to win the Visa Cup, and the on-field duel was won by Ameer, who was on fire, scoring five goals.

Thai Polo were back with a vengeance this season, with only four defeats in 20 games

Carlos Pando (6-goal) was also in fine form and, with Raul Laplacette (6) and Julian Sagarna (3), formed a formidable team that dominated the league. Thai Polo have fielded the same team since 2012, when they last won the league.

In 2013, they were beaten by Ranhill – but only after Pando was hampered by a severe groin strain. They have come back with a vengeance this season, suffering defeat just four times in their 20 games – and, of those, only twice when the result really mattered.

Having beaten La Sarita 8-5 in a qualifying match, Thai Polo were firm favourites in the final.

Benjamin Araya (6) and Matias Vial Perez (6) did their best to contain their opponents, but with Shaik Reismann (3) out of the final due to illness, and replaced with Nico Pieroni (3), La Sarita were not up to their usual standard. Other than

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a moment when La Sarita led 2–1 in the first chukka, Thai Polo were always in control.

Pando has had an excellent season and was the engine room of the Thai Polo team, while Laplacette was the architect of many a victory, and the pair tore through La Sarita’s defence time and time again. Thai Polo were comfortable winners of an exciting final that was played at top speed on a good ground. It was a perfect afternoon for polo and more than 800 aficionados and guests enjoyed Chivas cocktails, canapés and wine during the match.

Stuart Tomlinson presented the trophies on behalf of the the presenting sponsors, Visa.

Reena Tan, Malaysia brand manager of JaegerLeCoultre, presented watch vouchers to the winners, who also received Royal Salute whisky, presented by Richard Lee, prestige trade manager of Pernod Ricard Malaysia.

Raul Laplacette was named Most Valuable Player, and the Thai Polo-owned pony Mandinga that Laplacette played in the final chukka was named Best Playing Pony by the umpires, Steve Evans and Daniel Boudou, who judged both awards.

Earlier in the day, KotaSAS-IBIL won the round robin for third place in the tournament. Ranhill finished fourth, ahead of Royal Pahang.

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ACTION GRASS ARENA POLO WORLD CUP, ELITE HORSE CLUB, BAKU, AZERBAIJAN, SEPTEMBER 2014

AZERBAIJAN WORLD CUP After months of intensive training, it was a successful debut for an inexperienced Azerbaijani team, writes Jürg Reinger

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ACTION

TONY RAMIREZ/IMAGESOFPOLO.COM

Opposite Traditional Azerbaijani horse acrobatics the opening act of each day of the tournament This page, clockwise from left Action during the Chopard and Embawood game; more horse acrobatics; Maserati’s Pablo Miguens with his eye on the ball

Between 5 and 7 September, the Equestrian Federation of the Azerbaijan Republic (ARAF), World Polo and the Elite Horse and Polo Club Bina hosted the second edition of the Grass Arena Polo World Cup Azerbaijan at the capital city, Baku. Four professional teams participated in the tournament: Chopard (Argentina), Baltika 7 (Europe), Maserati (USA) and Embawood A (Azerbaijan), plus an amateur Azerbaijani Embawood B team.

The Azerbaijani squad was made up of former players of an ancient form of polo called chovgan, which is still played in the country. This newly formed team has been professionally trained by the coaches at the Alegría Polo Farm in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Adrian Laplacette was the head coach, while his brother Raul Jr resided in Azerbaijan throughout the whole training period to monitor the team, assisted by professional players Simon Crotto and Thomas Winter.

The Azerbaijani team won only one match of the total six – 8–4 over Maserati – but that victory, for a team making its polo debut in that tournament, was absolutely rewarding, after more than five months of intensive training.

Adrian Laplacette was delighted the team’s hard work had paid off: ‘It was a very good game.

They showed they can really play,’ he said.

‘They proved they had the passion and the will to play polo. One year ago, I would have never expected such an outcome. They are very good riders and with Raul Laplacette Jr as a great leader, the team produced great results.’

The tournament consisted of three days of matches, as well as an opening act of horse acrobatics, which is a tradition in the Caspian country. Finally, after some really exciting polo, Team Chopard were crowned champions.

Team Embawood player Raul Laplacette Jr was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament,

After its successful debut, the Azerbaijani team will travel to Argentina for further training

and Vugar Seyidov was commended for his sporting behaviour and fair play. Elchin Jamalli was proclaimed the Best Newcomer of the Polo Cup and the Argentinian pony Torreja received the prize for Best Playing Pony.

After the successful debut of the Azerbaijani Polo Team, the secretary general of ARAF, Bahruz Nabiyev, confirmed that the Azerbaijani

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team would travel to Argentina for further training. These men would almost certainly never have imagined they would cross the ocean to consolidate their training. Azerbaijan has been a member of the World Polo Association FIP since December 2013 and, under the leadership of ARAF and its vice-president, Ahadpur Khangah, polo is developing into a recognised sport across Azerbaijan.

World Polo GmbH Zürich, ARAF, Elite Horse Polo Club and Tatyana Sulzenbacher from Aztexnika Baku were responsible for the successful organisation of the event, which was sold out on all three days, with more than 15,000 visitors attending. Reto Gaudenzi, president of World Polo, has already confirmed there will be an edition of the tournament next year.

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ARCHIVE

ALL IN GOOD TIME This year marks the 120th anniversary of Cirencester Park – an institution that is central to British polo history and key to the sport’s future, writes Victoria Elsbury-Legg

The oldest polo club in England celebrates its 120th birthday this season. Founded in 1894 by the 7th Earl Bathurst, the scenic Bathurst Estate that serves as Cirencester Park’s backdrop no doubt explains its longevity and century-long popularity. Having begun with just two grounds, it increased in time to four, then, in 2008, to seven and now eleven, with the much-celebrated Ivy Lodge pitches not being boarded for the frst 15 years, until permission was granted by Lord Bathurst.

Tim Keyte, the club’s executive manager, explains why he thinks it has held a place in players’ hearts for so long and still remains successful today: ‘Cirencester Park is different because it has retained its traditional country polo club feel – it still has old values and hosts only a couple of commercial days a year.

Historically, August is when players enter tournaments here – the 12-goal Cheltenham Cup and the 15-goal County Cup are the last two Victor Ludorum qualifers of the season and are always well attended. People like spending time in the clubhouse – part of it dates back to the founding of the club, and

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Cirencester Park is different – it has retained its country polo club feel and old values

the tea room was converted 60 years ago from an Army chicken shed.’

Tradition and family is clearly very important at a club the president of which is the current 9th Earl Bathurst and whose past chairmen include the Hon Mark Vestey, Major COP Hanbury, Urs Schwarzenbach, Col Jonathan Seddon-Brown and Richard Britten-Long.

The current chair is Kuldip Singh Dhillon.

It may be less customary these days for players to participate in the game on loaned ponies, but, as in previous years, many celebrated faces continue to grace the Park’s grounds.

TRH The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry regularly take part in charity matches, following in the hoofprints of their father,

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HRH The Prince of Wales, whose namesake played at the Club in the Twenties. In the Eighties, Jilly Cooper gleaned inspiration for her bestselling novel Polo from time spent at Cirencester Park, her friendship with players and their infectious passion for their sport.

Refecting on the club today, Keyte observes that Ollie Cudmore is its most talked-about player, having played for the UAE in the 2014 Cartier Queen’s Cup and Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup: ‘He was also the youngest member to be picked for the England team for the Audi International at Guards this season.’

So, what does the future hold for an establishment whose archives chart monumental moments in military history, noting when Britain declared war on Germany in August 1914 that ‘the Open Tournament was at once abandoned and military duties entered upon,’ and that, in the 1939-45 confict, the Ivy Lodge felds were ploughed up for the war effort?

This winter will see the start of a programme, planned for 25 years, to irrigate those felds.

Its old soil, still always soft under-hoof, could tell many a tale of battles won and lost.