Muddy Flats Polo Club hosts anniversary match

By Noel Rowsell

Muddy Flats Polo Club in Richmond was the host venue for Goulburn Polo Club to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the first Polo match played in Australia on Saturday 4th January, albeit 3 years overdue thanks to floods and Covid.

The match also celebrated the life of four brothers, who would take Australian Polo to England and the uSA, achieving great success and renown.

In 1930, Goulburn Squares and Goulburn Stripes played against each other, at a time when Australia had a population of just 7 million people and a cricketer don Bradman was only at the beginning of his legendary career.

Jim Ashton, Bob Ashton, Geoff Ashton and Phil Ashton were the sons of James and Helen Ashton, living on a property called Markdale, near Crookwell.

The boys developed a passion for Polo and played for Goulburn.

On the Friday before match weekends, they would walk their horses the 80km from their property Markdale to Goulburn, each driving up to 15 horses apiece, then return home on Monday following the completion of the tournament.

Jim was the undisputed boss of the group, described by his son Wal as ‘very strict and hard working’.

Bob was a ‘horse whisperer’ and could tame any horse he was placed on. He did however suffer from a legendary shocking temper, said son Tim.

Geoff was very relaxed, a good athlete and certainly the most gifted rider, said son Geoff. But he did not always have the best horses as his best mounts were often comandeered by Jim and distributed among others.

Phil was a nice man, physically tough but quite reserved in temperament, said daughter Cathy.

As a group, the boys were extremely close and formed a formidable combination at Polo.

In 1929, an invitation was made at the behest of uS President Roosevelt, thanks to a meeting with father James Ashton, to take an Australian Polo team to Long Island, USA. The boys planned to go on the trip and subsequently sell their horses to recoup the cost of the trip and of course make a profit. The Australian Polo Association were dubious and the boys put up the challenge - if they defeated Harden, who had beaten them on 19 previous occasions, in the Final of the dudley Cup, they would form the nucleus of the Australian team.

The boys won the Cup on this occasion and were never beaten by Harden again.

The organising committee subsequently chose a team of 6 players but left 2 of the brothers (Jim and Phil) out of the team, resulting in the subsequent withdrawal of Jim and Bob and the cancellation of the trip.

The Ashton brothers subsequently self-funded their own trip to England, where they would play in the London season in 1930 and defeat the strongest team in England at that time, the Hurricanes.

The trip to England was, of course, by ship and was planned methodically. A training box was erected on the main deck, so the horses could be exercised regularly and not lose too much condition. uS philanthropist Larry Sandford set up an auction for the brothers, climbing out of sick bed to be there in support. ultimately, the horses sold for

The worst moment on the trip was just after they exited the Suez Canal and entered the Mediterranean Sea. Freak waves almost took one of the horses and then Phil was also lucky not to be washed overboard.

The brothers went on to win the Whitney Cup, the Rainier Cup and the Indian Empire Shield, then were runners-up to the Hurricanes in the Hurlingham Challenge Cup, with their style of play described as ‘a revelation’.

The end of the season should have been a triumph but it was the onset of the Great depression and the Ashton’s were unable to sell their horses, which was going to be a financial disaster and possibly the loss of the family home, Markdale.

An offer to come to the uSA was made and the four boys packed up their kit and horses and travelled to New york, where they would play in a series of events on Long Island.

The Ashton’s won 5 of their 7 games and also dazzled on the social set, rubbing shoulders with celebrities such as Bette davis and Adele Astaire (sister of Fred).

An enormous crowd of 800 people attended the auction and ‘they wanted to pay top dollar for the Australian horses.

Titles beckon on Major Pennant Golf

By Noel Rowsell

THREE local golf clubs have won semi-final matches on Sunday 12th March and will all play in Finals on Sunday 26th March, at a course to be advised.

Stonecutters Ridge defeated Ryde-Parramatta 4.5-2.5 in a division 2 SF, led by its impressive array of junior talent. Ryan Cadle won 2&1, Jacob Carpenter won on the 21st hole, daniel Williams won 4&3 and Kade Webber halved his match to elevate Stonecutters into the division 2 Final and also promotion to Division 1 in 2024.

dunheved lost 4-3 to Cromer in the other SF, which will see

Cromer advance to the division Final and also win promotion for next season.

Richmond defeated Royal Sydney 4-3 in division 3 and will now move on to the division Final on 26 March, and be promoted to division 2 in 2024.

Glenmore Heritage Valley defeated Palm Beach 5-2 in division 4 and will now play in the division Final, in addition to being promoted to Division 3 in 2024.

Wallacia GC played Carnarvon in a division 4 Relegation match, losing 5.5-1.5. Wallacia will now drop back to Division 5 in 2024.

There was also great news locally in the 2023 Golf NSW Women’s Major Pennant, with two of the region’s top young golfers qualifying to play in the division 1 Final. uS$77,600 (uS$5,000,000) in today’s terms to ensure the Ashton’s could pay off their travel debt and mortgages on their individual properties.

Concord won 4-1 over The Lakes, with Grace Lee (Glenmore Park) playing #3 for Concord and winning 5&3. The Australian won 3.5-1.5 over St Michael’s, with 12-year old Camilla Kim (Kellyville) playing #5 for The Australian and winning 2&1. Concord and The Australian will meet in the Final - details TBA.

In Women’s Grade Pennant, Penrith appears to have a stranglehold on the title in division 4, following a crushing 5-0 defeat of Cumberland on March 10. Penrith play bottom-placed Moore Park this Friday, then host the final round of the competition on 24 March.

In 1937, the four Ashtons returned to England to play in the Hurlingham Challenge Cup, where they would defeat England’s current #1 ranked team ‘the Jaguars’ 9-7 to win the Cup.

The historic reenactment of the Goulburn Squares vs Goulburn Stripes was played in front of an impressive crowd of 250+ people and was widely acknowledged as one of the best Polo games of the season, with Squares prevailing by a single goal.

On hand at Muddy Flats for the match were several descendants of the Ashton brothers, including Wal Ashton and Toby Goodman, both playing in the Goulburn Stripes team.

Windsor Polo Club’s first tournament of the season was an unforgettable weekend of thrilling polo action, marked by the return of enthusiastic players and over 22 teams competing.

The winning teams were: 4-Goal Pool A: Arunga - Mark Greig, Ben Jones, dylan Jones, Thomas Martin (substitute Fletcher Thew); 4-Goal Pool B: Classic Safari Company- Julie McIntosh, Shannon Booth, Ray Bruce, Aiden Nunn); 0-Goal: TRFd PoloJack Raval, Tim Berry, Pete Handbury, Adam Meally; Subzero: M Polo - Tim Berry, Kim Mcdougall, Adam Sims, Ed Matthies; Groom’s prize - Sarah Nunn (thank you to LJ Thoroughbreds for sponsoring).