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Sept/Oct 2017
September/October 2017 • VOLUME XVII NUMBER 6
Show Reports, News and Features, including: ➤ Longines Royal International Hickstead ➤ SsangYong Eridge Horse Trials ➤ BEF Futurity at Writtle ➤ British Showjumping National Championships ➤ Global Champions Tour London
09
Localrider Magazine
SHOWJUMPING • SHOWING • POLO • EVENTING
and lots more...
www.localrider.co.uk
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POLO REPORT Play between Cowdray Hunt White and the Cottesmore Hunt in the final of Surtees Division I
The El Remanso Pony Club Polo Championships Pictures by Michael Chevis
Royal Artillery Hunt, winners of The Frank Rendell Cup, being presented by Brigadier Christopher Price: Charlie Barker, Benedict Nott, Nell Macaire and George Hankinson.
T
he El Remanso Pony Club Polo Championships, were held from 11th to 13th August 2017 at the prestigious Cowdray Park Polo Club, West Sussex. 168 players made up the 42 teams who played 160 chukkas across the action-packed weekend, as the Championships featured the annual finals for The Pony Club Polo sections of Handley Cross, Surtees, Loriner, Langford, Rendell and Gannon. The action got underway on Friday morning and continued throughout the weekend, with teams on a mission to secure their place in the Sunday afternoon finals, held on Cowdray’s hallowed Lawns, in front of family and spectators. Sunday brought continuing beautiful weather and young polo talent in abundance, beginning with the parade of all players and the presentation of the Jambo Trophy, for the best combination that hunts and plays Pony Club Polo; awarded to Toffee ridden by George Telfer from the Cottesmore Hunt Branch.
Third time lucky!
The finals got underway with Beaufort Hunt (Blue Team) against North Cotswold Hunt in the hotly contested Gannon section; with the Beaufort Hunt mixed team of sisters Jaz and Lolly Stanhope-White, Will Penfold (New Forest Hunt) and Harry Hickmet (Old Surrey & Burstow), emerging victorious after
Cowdray Hunt White, winners of the Handley Cross Cup: Rufus Uloth, Beanie Bradley, William Drewitt and Wilbur Millard.
scoring the golden goal in a 3-3 draw. “It’s unbelievable!” commented golden goal scorer, Lolly Stanhope-White. “This is our last year as a team and we wanted to finish with a bang so this is the perfect way round it all off.” Harry Hickmet added: “This is the first time I have reached the Gannon finals, so to finally win it is a great feeling. It was third time lucky!” The team thanked everyone who helped them reach the finals, especially those who helped transport the horses and looked after them throughout their time at Cowdray Park Polo Club.
Winning afternoon As the afternoon progressed other section victories included; Surtees – Cowdray Hunt (White Team), Loriner – Cambridgeshire Hunt, Langford – Grafton Hunt and Rendell – Royal Artillery Hunt. The Handley Cross section final, for those aged nine to fourteen, proved just as nail biting as the upper sections, with just a single six minute chukka for teams to show what they had got. The Cowdray Hunt (White Team) and the Beaufort Hunt certainly did that; with the Cowdray Hunt Branch team of Rufus Uloth, Beanie Bradley, William Drewitt and Wilbur Millard emerging victorious on a score of 2-1 goals.
Feels so great to win
The prize giving saw a vast array of trophies awarded, not only to section winners, but also individual awards for up and coming talent including a generous week of polo development for a player under 15 courtesy of sponsors El Remanso, awarded to George Smith from the Cheshire Hunt South Branch. “It feels so great to win!” commented George. “It was such a surprise as there are a lot of great players out there. I would like to thank the Championship sponsors, my teammates and my family.” Spokesman for El Remanso commented: “This was our third year supporting The Pony Club Polo Championships and it’s great to see how much enjoyment everyone gets out of this event year after year. It seems like the standard just gets better and better! Most important are the friendships forged on and off the field that will last a lifetime. It’s all made possible by the huge team of people behind the scenes that make it all happen, so well done to everyone involved and keep up the good work!”
Jorrocks action at Hurtwood Park
Earlier in the week the Jorrocks section, for those aged under 11, enjoyed their Championships at Hurtwood Park Polo Club,
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Will Penfold of the New Forest Hunt received the Retraining of Racehorses prize for Cobweb.
Cowdray Hunt, winners of the Hillingdon Hall Cup and Loriner Division II: Martha Crosdil, Christoph Weissberg, Harrison Murphy and Oliver Conway-Johnson.
Cowdray Hunt White, winners of the Cooper Cup and Surtees Division I: Rufus Uloth, Beanie Bradley 3. William Drewitt and Freddie Pritchard.
Crawley & Horsham Hunt winners of Jorrocks II: Georgia Stephens, Gracie Bentley, Suzannah Clark and Maddy Flint.
Harry Hickmet of the Old Surrey & Burstow being presented with the South American Trade Services’ Saddle by Tony Emerson, for the Best Player of the Season. Below: Winners of the Texaco Trophy for Best Turned Out Jorrocks Team, Hampshire Hunt: Albert Bell, Bartholomew Bell, Olivia Allanand Mimi Evans
Myles Murphy of the Cowdray Hunt won the Young Telegraph Award for the most promising player in the U15/14 section, pictured with Jo Whittington.
Ava Greenland of the Cowdray Hunt, winner of the Jorrocks Cup for the Most Improved Player
which saw Bruno Bradshaw, Matias Maldonado, Archie Heseltine and Billy Barlow take the top spot for the Grafton Hunt Branch. Charles Whittington, chairman of pony club polo commented: “Pony Club Polo had yet another successful season with players enjoying four weeks of tournament Polo. The Championships for the Under 11 section, Jorrocks, at Hurtwood Park Polo Club, was spoilt by relentless rain, but the players and ponies enjoyed the competition. By contrast, the Championships, by kind permission of Cowdray Park Polo Club and the Cowdray Estate, were held in ideal conditions with moderate temperatures and very little rain.” SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 Localrider 51
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