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Contents

POLO TIMES

Publisher Margie Brett margie@polotimes.co.uk Editor Yolanda Carslaw yolanda@polotimes.co.uk Deputy Editor James Mullan jamesmullan@polotimes.co.uk Art Editor James Wildman james@polotimes.co.uk Advertising Tom House tom@polotimes.co.uk Subscriptions Georgie May georgie@polotimes.co.uk Intern Sophia Heath sophia@polotimes.co.uk

22 Gold Cup News 6

All the latest news (and a new competition!)

Comment Marketing and PR PJ Seccombe pj@polotimes.co.uk Accounts Debbie Mason accounts@polotimes.co.uk Contributors Andrew Dent, Antje Derks, Arthur Douglas-Nugent, Mark Emerson, Lorna Jowett, Clare Milford Haven, Corinne Hitching, Mike Hobday, Sophie Kyriazi, Leah Ludlow, Lucy Northmore, Jamie Peel, Brian Perry, Tony Ramirez, Herbert Spencer, Caroline Stern, Sarah Styler, Camilla Swift, Carlie Trotter

Front cover Sapo Caset (in blue) and Francisco Vismara in the Gold Cup final, by Tony Ramirez Designed and typeset by Wildman Design – www.wildmandesign.co.uk Printed by Stones – Banbury, Oxfordshire Mailers Jordan & Co – Witney, Oxfordshire Subscription per annum UK £55 Europe & Ireland £65 Rest of the World £75 Subscribe at www.polotimes.co.uk East End Farm, North Leigh Oxfordshire OX29 6PX Tel: 01993 886 885 Fax: 01993 882 660 email: admin@polotimes.co.uk © Polo Times Limited 2010 and Database Right 2010 Polo Times Limited holds the copyright & database right to the information it publishes in Polo Times and on the Polo Times website. No content may be reproduced or distributed without the consent of the Editor. ‘Polo Times’ is the trade ISSN 1461-4685 mark of Polo Times Limited.

12 14 16 18 20

Backchat with Clare Milford Haven Interview: Simon Tomlinson Herbert Spencer’s Global view Letters: more of your strongly worded opinions Arthur Douglas-Nugent’s Umpire’s corner

Reports 22 28 32 34 36 38 40 44

Gold Cup, Cowdray Park Beaufort Test match: England vs The Americas Royal Windsor, Guards Archie David, Guards British Beach Polo Championships, Sandbanks International Ladies’ Champs, Coworth Park Youngsters’ special, Warwickshire & Glos At home and abroad

32 Royal Windsor

Features 48 52

Polo-playing entrepreneurs Award-winner Julian Hipwood

The knowledge 56 58 61 62 64 68 72 75 77 78 80

Playing around: Ranksboro Duty vet with Mark Emerson: Tying up Your game with Jamie Peel: perfect penalties Pony power: Adolfo Cambiaso and Mi Gatita Feeding special with Lorna Jowett: case studies Travel: Riverlands, Australia & Henry Stevens Property: Mark Burgon and Maurice Ormerod As mad as polo with Andrew Dent: air racing Review: Midhurst restaurant Seven Fish Gear: six cameras suitable for amateurs What’s on in August and club contacts

48 Making business pleasure

Out and about 82 98

10 pages of sideline activity A week in the life of: Nick Wood

52 Julian Hipwood www.polotimes.co.uk August 2010 5

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News

from the Editor So what is the verdict on the rule tweaks and new interpretations of longstanding edicts, now that the “main” UK high-goal is over? I watched a dozen Gold Cup games, ranging from pacey, exciting affairs to fragmented, sluggish games peppered with whistle. Some teams adapted positively to the tightening up of the turning rule (see Umpire’s Corner, June) in a positive way, sending backhand passes zipping to team-mates instead of turning on the ball and keeping possession as was the “old” way. There’s no doubt the rule encouraged better team polo, at least early on. However, some teams and players gradually found a way to “get round” the rule and pursue a possession game, for instance by turning the ball to the left.

And the thing no rule tweak seems capable of beating is the just-faster-than-walking-pace tapping into the hind legs of an opponent.

The sight of the tapper and the blocker edging along raising their arms skywards verges on the comical – yet is maddening.

And while some players comfortably took part in entire games barely raising their arms or voices, others shot their stick arms in the air as a matter of course – sometimes even mid-dribble – and stalked the umpires with menace. As Terry Hanlon says: “Sticks in the air don’t win polo matches” – yet sometimes they seem to.

It was brilliant to see 20 teams playing in the Gold Cup, and as always the organisation, grounds and atmosphere were splendid. But it was a shame to hear of a few occasions when teams apparently didn’t play to win. As one of our columnists remarked one day at treading-in: “It seems wrong, that in Europe’s biggest tournament there are teams not trying at certain stages, because they know they’re through.”

Photographs by Yolanda Carslaw

Finally, the football World Cup seems old news now but watching the final – and England’s games – made me realise how relatively lucky we are in polo, and that we’re not the only sport to have “issues” with quality of play. “Ugly” contests happen in every game – yet I think it’s right to sweep away rules that make them uglier and to welcome innovations designed to encourage hot, watchable competition.

Yolanda Carslaw

6 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

Put your love of taking polo pictures to good use by entering our competition, which offers some exciting prizes

Snap happy – and win big ARE YOU ALWAYS at the sidelines with your camera? Do you have more talent than David Bailey? Well, now is your chance to prove it. This month Polo Times launches our first amateur Polo Photo Competition, with some fantastic prizes to be won, including an Olympus camera with a super-powerful optical zoom. We’ll announce the results in early 2011, and print the best pictures in the pages of Polo Times.

To enable us to assess the full spectrum of amateur photography we have devised four categories: Best Action, Best Horses, Best At the Sidelines and Best Junior (under 21) – and we will also pick one outstanding winner across all categories, Best Overall. So get creative!

We don’t mind whether or not you play yourself, and pictures can be taken anywhere you like – at matches, in the pony lines, behind the scenes, in the tea tent, around the yard or on exotic holidays.

It doesn’t matter what sort of camera you use, but if you are thinking of updating yours, look at our Gear page (p78) this month for ideas. Most importantly we want to see enthusiasm for the sport and the polo scene – and for photography.

We are looking for eyecatching, lively, bright and charismatic pictures.

Out top prize – for Best Overall picture – is Olympus’s most powerful ultra-zoom compact, the SP-800UZ (see p78). We also have lessons and prints from three leading professional polo photographers and, for Best At the Sidelines, a case of boutique champagne from Soutiran. This champagne has been praised by connoisseurs for its refined taste and light foam, and Soutiran appears on the wine lists of some of the best Michelin-starred restaurants in London.

All you need to do to have a chance of winning one of these or our other fantastic prizes is email us your photos to competition@polotimes.co.uk.

Photos must each be at least 500MB in size and each individual can submit up to five photos. No professional photographers may enter. The photo must have been taken between 1 July and 31 December. With it you need to tell us which category you are entering and enclose a 30-word caption about when and where it was taken, who it features and why you like it. Entries close on the 31 December and judges will include Polo Times staff and several leading professional polo photographers. The best photos and the winners will be featured in our January/February edition. So what are you waiting for? Get snap-happy! ◗ Photography lessons to be taken during the 2011

summer English season, location and timing to be arranged at between photographers and winners.

Prizes Best Overall – An Olympus SP-800UZ camera Best Action – Complete polo photography lesson with Vanessa Taylor (www.vanessataylor.co.uk), including tuition in editing and photoshopping Best Horses – An A3 mounted polo print by Alice Gipps (www.alicegipps.com) Best Junior (U21) – An outdoor polo photography lesson with Tony Ramirez (www.imagesofpolo.com) and one of Tony’s polo prints Best At the Sidelines – A case of delicious Soutiran Champagne

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Power to the pedigree AN ENTERPRISING POLO couple are setting up the 1984, and its breed, the Polo Argentino (see UK's first studbook for polo ponies. Nick and Emma www.poloargentino.com) has 24,000 registered (née Tomlinson) Wood plan to launch Polo Studbook broodmares. Horses do not appear to be searchable next year, following the lead of Argentina and the US, online, but you can download annual reports back to who have had their own way of recording polo 1986, which are full of interesting articles – from breeding for some time. As part of the project, the 1999 in English as well as Spanish. couple were behind the first pony lists incorporating The US version, the American Polo Horse breeding information at the semi-finals and final of Association, was set up in 2006 by former US player last month's Gold Cup. Sunny Hale – the only woman apart from Emma's The HPA-approved project aims to help improve mother, Claire Tomlinson, to reach five goals. As well the quality and value of the polo as breeding and career pony breed in the UK. Owners Nick and Emma are information of registered polo will be able to register horses ponies, the lively website following the lead of online, using DNA verification www.americanpolo Argentina and the US horse.com incorporates a “stall of provided by Weatherbys Ireland that will enable the studbook to fame”, a gallery of foals, a “polo build correctly tabulated bloodlines. pony lingo” page and other extras.

Nick Wood explains: “The documentation will allow The Gold Cup horse lists, handed out on semithe polo world to search for any UK-registered polo finals and finals days, detailed the names, year of pony, its pedigree and the vital breeding information birth, colour, gender, breeding, owner and breeder of attached to it, as recorded within the studbook's data. each horse. The lists made fascinating reading.

In time, Polo Studbook will prove invaluable to the breeder, owner, patron, player and sport as a whole.” ◗ To read more about the pony lists, turn to page 98.

To see the lists online, visit www.polostudbook.com Argentina has had a breeders' association since

All-female foursome to represent England in Austria AFTER THE HPA decided not to spend money on sending an England team to the FIP 8-goal European Championships in Austria, writes Herbert Spencer, in stepped England’s ladies to save the day.

Just before entries closed in mid-June for the September competition, the HPA entered a team that will be the first all-female side in the event’s history, headed by England’s top lady player, the experienced four-goaler Nina Clarkin. The team will be responsible for finding sponsors to get the players and their ponies across the continent to compete against 10 other European national sides.

Clarkin will choose the team travelling to Austria from a squad made up of two-goalers Tamara Vestey,

England squad members, Taylor, Wiseman and Ross

Emma Tomlinson and Rosie Ross, one-goal girls Sarah Wiseman and Lucy Taylor, and Claire Brougham, Heloise Lorentzen and Tabitha Woodd on zero.

The ladies have included just one male, threegoaler Bruce Dundas, as an alternate in case Clarkin is injured. England has won five of the seven FIP European championships since they began in 1993.

News in brief ◗ DUBAI’S VICTORY at Cowdray last month

made them the eighth team in history to win both the Queen’s Gold Cups in the same year.

The first to land the double was Woolmers Park in 1967, fielding Enrique Zorrilla, Jorge Marin-Moreno, John Lucas and Celestino Garros – and the side also won the then triple of the Cowdray Park Challenge Cup, too.

In the 1970s various combinations of Eduardo Moore, Hector Barrantes and Mark and Sam Vestey, along with several others playing for Stowell Park and Foxcote, achieved this feat four times.

Then there was then an 18-year gap before Cambiaso broke the pattern playing for Ellerston in 1998, and for Geebung in 2000.

Dubai also managed the double in 2005, but this time it was without Cambiaso, who broke his arm in the Gold Cup semi-finals. ◗ THREE PLAYERS from the Cowdray Park

Gold Cup final have gone up in handicap.

Dubai’s Pablo MacDonough has moved to 10, Lechuza’s Guillermo “Sapo” Caset to nine and Dubai’s Rashid Albwardy has gone to two. British player Satnam Dhillon has gone up to seven: “I’ve been a six for four or five years now so I’m really pleased that I’ve finally broken the barrier,” Dhillon told Polo Times. “I put it down to having some good ponies and playing in some great teams.”

Among those to go down are three ninegoalers: Bautista Heguy, Ignacio Heguy and Javier Novillo Astrada have gone to eight.

WANT TO LOOK AT a back issue of Polo Times? Or has someone pinched your current issue? If you’re a subscriber, wherever you are in the world, you can read our online editions, including more than a year of archives, by logging on at www.polotimes.co.uk. If you’ve lost your password, email georgie@polotimes.co.uk

www.polotimes.co.uk August 2010 7

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News AIMING HIGH

SHOPPERS: London-based subscribers will be delighted by the news that new high-goal sponsors Piaget are opening their flagship UK store this autumn on Bond Street. And, following Polistas’s recent move from its first shop at Burlington Arcade to a new venue in the Westfield Shopping Centre in Shepherds Bush, the polo clothing giant has also now opened a second shop in Shepherd Market, Mayfair.

IRRIGATORS: in what is looking set to be the driest year since 1929, clubs that have invested in irrigation are feeling pretty happy with that decision right now.

LAZY TRAVELLERS: those whose Spanish shows little improvement despite annual trips to Argentina can continue resting on their laurels thanks to a new polo-specific English/Spanish phrasebook to be published later this year. Regular Polo Times letter writer Atilio Degrossi tackles such queries as how to fire a groom in Spanish and how to describe a horse’s injuries to a vet. It comes with pronunciation tips and useful vocab in clearly defined sections.

SWINGING LOW

THREE-GOALERS: Popular arena player and high-goal umpire Tim Bown has broken part of his collar bone, having been bucked off a fresh mount in a Gold Cup league game on Ambersham Two. Also injured is fellow three-goaler Ed Magor, who is out for the season with a tendon injury to his right arm.

BRIAN MYERSON: the polo patron has hit the headlines again this summer, after the Takeover Panel investigating the millionaire’s joint acquisition of shares has banned the 47-year-old zero-goaler from carrying out mergers and acquisitions activity for three years.

This revelation follows the very public exposure of his double family life in court last year during his former wife Ingrid’s £11m divorce case settlement.

SHOW JUMPING CHAMPS: the British Open SJ Championships, which has featured arena polo in the past, has been cancelled for 2011.

HAWAIIAN POLO: Madelyn Gilmore Jason, the grande dame of polo in Hawaii and a regular organiser of USPA events, has died peacefully at home after a short illness.

THIEVES: More of them may be caught, and goods recovered, after a polo player’s mother, intent on retrieving stolen stuff, launched the website www.itsbeennicked.co.uk. Check it out!

8 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

Is this the snazziest, safest polo hat yet?

LA MARTINA HAS launched an innovative polo helmet to the UK market that aims to provide proven head protection, yet still look attractive. The new Evolution series, designed and made by La Martina, was developed with reference to parachute and military headgear. It is now undergoing impact testing in the UK with a view to achieving a British kite-mark.

Up to now, few polo helmets in common use have been impact-tested or have kite-marks – in contrast to helmets for other riding disciplines – and only in Pony Club and SUPA matches is there a requirement to wear a kite-marked helmet. One retailer told Lighter, stronger and safer than a traditional helmet, La Martina believes their PT earlier this year (see news, March latest polo product, launched last month, will revolutionise hat safety in the sport issue) that most players are more Center KREO of the Engineering School traditional polo helmet, thus reducing interested in appearance of a hat than stress and demand placed on the head of the Austral University, a private its safely credentials. and neck muscles.” university in Argentina, technicians “The main thing about this helmet The makers claim the hat improves that you get superb safety without extra develop several prototypes specifically sensory awareness during a match after designed for polo. bulk – it is still extremely flattering,” research studied the way in which says La Martina’s UK representative, The makers claim sound was perceived by a player Becky Simpson. the hat improves wearing a traditional helmet. After the The helmet, which was unveiled in Argentina last December at Palermo sensory awareness tests the inner padding and shell were adapted to improve the player’s hearing. and in the UK at last month’s Cartier whilst playing Another issue considered was the Day, costs £280 in a traditional canvas impact of wind, which can be influential A series of 3D models were tested, finish or in the sleeker carbon fibre at full gallop. Holes in the helmet and and in the laboratory hundreds of finish (£340), including a hat bag. It’s ventilation ducts were redesigned and available in sizes 54 to 62, with various different scenarios encountered by a re-positioned to minimise wind “rush”. “off-the-shelf” colours and the option to polo player during a match were Technicians also examined the reproduced. Based on this, customise it in team colours or with classical fixing points of the chinstrap. technicians were able to conclude logos and initials.

After analysing the different kinds of which prototype provided the best The helmet’s development process harnesses used in other activities and in protection to a polo player playing at began with a detailed analysis of polo itself, a new design based on the very top of the sport. traditional polo helmets and of another Simpson says: “The helmet features climbing helmets was added, to provide 10 types of safety helmets used in activities such as parachuting, climbing, four layers of materials that disperse the better security, fit and stability.

The helmets are available to buy in energy of an impact. The composition and helmets used for defence and the La Martina Guards store (01784 provides incredible safety and makes security purposes.

437962), or visit www.lamartina.com. the new helmet much lighter than a Following this, at the Innovation

News in brief ◗ MUCH-LOVED COWDRAY stalwart

Jose Luis “Ruso” Merlos, the uncle of current high-goalers Sebastian, Pite and Agustin, died last month, after collapsing whilst feeding his cat and chickens at home in Petworth. A former six-goaler and winner of the Gold Cup in Deauville alongside his brother Cacho and good friend Eduardo Moore, Ruso was well known

at Cowdray Park. Aside from playing and watching there for more than 55 years, he was revered for his successful determination to teach himself to walk again after a riding accident eight years ago. His funeral was held in West Sussex on the Friday before the Gold Cup final. ◗ A NEW POLO club in China is to open this September. The Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club, situated on the coast of mainland

China, will be a state-of-the-art setup with two polo fields, a clubhouse, a five-star hotel, indoor swimming pool, spa and gym, as well as its own theme park. ◗ AN ARGENTINE firm has launched polo’s first online polo gambling site – which includes the option to bet on action in England. After a good response to a trial version released in 2009, PoloStars has launched a new version where gamblers can try their

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‘Glassonbury’ to go to two days next year ORGANISERS OF A festival-style postGold Cup party in a field say the event was so successful they want to run it over two days next year. Four-goaler James Glasson, who teamed up with six-goaler Henry Brett to stage the party-in-a-field, told Polo Times that the pair plan to make the invitationonly event run from Saturday to Sunday in 2011.

The party came about after Cowdray Park pulled the plug on its

organisers checking new arrivals. Then it was a scramble down a steeply sloping meadow to two marquees (one teepee-style), the bar (which ran dry around midnight), straw bales for seats, four portaloos, a burger van, a decent music system and, to one side, a camping corner, with a bonfire stacked at the ready.

“Around 800 people came,” says Glasson. However, Polo Times often found it hard to see who these people

Photograph by Helen Couchman

The setting, shortly before the majority of party-goers arrived and the light faded

usual late-night party at the Lawns, expressing a wish to return the event to a family-orientated affair. Glasson and Brett got together to stage an alternative with a festival vibe and onsite camping. Just a week before the final, they spread the word about “Glassonbury”, in a private field near Lodsworth, five miles from the Lawns.

Tickets were £30 – to people they knew and friends of friends.

Glasson told PT: “We sorted the DJ via friends and hired the marquees through someone Jack Kidd knew. We organised a free bar, though people could also bring extra booze.”

Purple balloons pointed the way and cars bumped across a couple of fields to park, with bouncers and

were, as lighting was minimal, making marquee guide ropes and straw bales a bit of an obstacle for those who had had a few too many. Another hitch was the band.

“We had a Bob Marley tribute band down,” Glasson explains. “But nobody brought mikes or equipment, so they couldn't play!”

By 10pm cars were queuing to get in and the dance floor was packed, with the stage forming the VIP area.

The DJs began early instead, and music thumped on till around 6am, when the last revellers grabbed a few hours sleep in their cars or even just wrapped up on the grass.

The treading-in gang from Cowdray were then hired for the clear-up.

luck by predicting results and scores.

As PT went to press you could bet on Cartier International Day, predicting the winner, the score and the highest individual scorer – however, don’t expect to make your fortune: the jackpot for predicting the highest scorer appeared to be just $10. Check it out at www.polostars.net. ◗ YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU to eat curry! The British Forces Foundation is luring people to a charity fundraising

polo day, with the promise of an incredible curry lunch at Cirencester Park Polo Club as well as two games of polo, on Saturday 21 August. The foundation works to boost the morale of British servicemen and women.

Tickets for the Big Curry Lunch, which also include VIP grandstand tickets and a full tea later, cost £50.

For more details and to book, visit www.bff.org.uk/dayinthepark.cfm or call 01672 564911.

www.polotimes.co.uk August 2010 9

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News News in brief ◗ THE GOLD CUP final was watched live by

more than 10,000 people through Pololine.tv’s new streaming site. That was 7,000 more than the number that watched June’s Queen’s Cup final in their first live broadcast. ◗ QUALIFIERS WERE played this year for the

first time to decide who would feature in the Golden Jubilee trophy on Cartier International Day (25 July), which was played before the main international game between England and NZ. Sixteen British hopefuls fought it out on the Monday beforehand in four teams at Guards Polo Club to earn their place at the largest polo gathering of the year. As a result of the qualifiers, the Hurlingham Team fielded Oli Cudmore, Richard Le Poer, Satnam Dhillon and Ryan Pemble, and the Prince of Wales team comprised Max Charlton, Roddy Williams, Nacho Gonzalez and Lanto Sheridan. ◗ VAUX PARK Polo Club in Somerset is hosting

three big charity events this summer. On 21 August a family fun day and junior polo tournament will be held in aid of children’s charity Bibic, which helps children with conditions such as autism and cerebral palsy.

On Sunday 29 August the club stages the finals of a ladies’ tournament in aid of Breakthrough Breast Cancer. The event starts at 1pm, entry is £5 and under-threes go free.

Then on 11 September, Bibic holds its charity ball at Vaux Park. ◗ THREE BRITISH PLAYERS aim to qualify to

play the Hurlingham and Argentine Opens this year – all of them on the same team. Luke and Mark Tomlinson and James Beim, plus Argentine Guillermo Willington, form the 29goal La Quinta Beaufort side for the September/October qualifiers.

For full listings of all the teams for both the Tortugas Open and the Hurlingham qualifiers, as well as the dates of the whole Argentine Triple Crown, see the tournaments pages at www.polotimes.co.uk.

10 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

Latest from the HPA HPA chief executive David Woodd rounds up the news from UK polo’s headquarters Junior HPA and Pony Club Championships The Junior HPA and Pony Club Polo Championships are being held at Cowdray Park Polo Club this month, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday 6-8 August. Spectators are invited to watch the finals on the Sunday. Please see the Pony Club website for further information.

The 21 Cup Four teams, made up of young players selected at the Junior HPA and Pony Club Polo Championships, will play for The 21 Cup, also at Cowdray Park. The first two games will be played on Tuesday 10 August, and the winners will then play for The 21 Cup on Thursday 12 August, when the losers will play off in a subsidiary.

Young England games The HPA will also be selecting two teams to play for each of the following trophies: Saturday 14 August The Alan Budgett Trophy, Kirtlington Park Polo Club Saturday 14 August The Whitbread Trophy, Rutland Polo Club Sunday 15 August The Stagshead Trophy, Ham Polo Club

Courses coming up There are two development courses for under 15’s this month: the first will be held midweek at Beaufort Polo Club on 11-12 August; and the second will be held

with Buster MacKenzie in South Africa during the October half term. For more information and to register your interest please contact Amanda in the HPA Office amanda@hpa-polo.co.uk A coaching course is to take place at Beaufort Polo Club from Wednesday 22 to Friday 24 September. It’s open to all paid-up members with a zero-goal handicap or higher, though spaces are limited. Those interested must apply to the HPA by the end of August. For more on HPA coaching, see the HPA Year Book (page 282).

HPA play days Play Days have been developed to give young players the opportunity to play “four man” polo, putting them into action in a side captained by a player of five goals or above. The following took part in a Play Day at Cowdray Park last month, on Monday 5 July: Harold Hodges, Jack Mesquita, John Sleeman, Andrew Gebbie, Will Batchelor and Will Beresford. The team captains were Malcolm Borwick and James Beim.

Overseas trips this winter The following overseas matches are planned for the rest of 2010: Brazil – a 14-goal match in October (team tbc) Thailand – a 14-goal match in December (team tbc) South Africa – the HPA will send a 23-goal side to play a Test match on 30 December (team tbc)

THE HPA IS casting its net wider this summer to discourage any potential drug and alcohol abuse by amateur and professional players in the UK, writes Herbert Spencer.

According to the HPA’s chief executive, David Wood, the association’s Stewards have approved a new system under which players of all handicap will henceforth be randomly drug tested at a number of clubs around the country. Previous testing had been confined largely to teams in high-goal events.

“We won’t be announcing when or where tests will be conducted,” Woodd says. “The fact that they will be random and unannounced should help act as a deterrent.” Doctors from the consultants Medical Rescue International (MRI) will test and report on samples. For the first time, breathalysers will be used where alcohol consumption is suspected, with the same permitted blood alcohol level as for motorists.

HPA drug regulations have existed for two decades and as many as 337 tests have been done in a year (2008), but testing was held in abeyance earlier this season while the new system was being agreed.

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AN INTRIGUING NEW pony prize has been devised by a popular polo feed maker this summer.

Baileys introduced its “Best Conditioned Pony” award at two fixtures at Taunton Vale Polo Club.

The first was awarded to Clare Macnamara’s Ace (right), at the Ladies’ Tournament in June.

Lorna Jowett from Baileys – also PT’s resident feeding expert – said: “The lovely thing is that Ace not only plays polo but he also show jumps, hunts, team chases and does hunter trials.” The second went to Swallow, owned by John Yeoman. The prizes included vouchers, a rug and Baileys clothing.

What made Gilgit pull out? Not the loos, surely?

SHANDUR POLO Festival went ahead in Pakistan last month – albeit without one of the two protaganists, writes Bruce Cowley.

I travelled there for the event (pictured), arriving after seven hours on mountain tracks, with a mission to find Ashraf Gul (president of the Northern Polo Association). As we approached his camp my sister asked: “Where are the horses?”

The horses had left at midnight: Gilgit was going home. The final decision was over stables and loo facilities for the Gilgit team, but the dispute dates back to the 1980s when Chitral took control of the upkeep of the grounds, in a valley

used for communal grazing in summer. In recent years, the festival has attracted big sponsors, and none of the funds have made it to Gilgit, where many players are very poor.

The festival continued, with several thousand spectators, and paragliding displays. Chitral made up extra teams by playing five-a-side (instead of six), and there was some competitive polo, though the last day Chitral A floored Chitral B 10-1.

Despite the withdrawal, Ashraf joined our camp, and Emir Secunder AlMulk (Capt of Chitral) visited, bringing good-natured teasing to his friend. “They left cos they knew they didn’t stand a chance,” he joked.

Polo Times loves… ...the Activo-Med Combi Pro pulsed electromagnetic and massage therapy rug.

Pulsed electromagnetic therapy has now become commonplace in human and equine physiotherapy as a non-invasive method of reducing pain, inflammation and promoting healing and quicker recovery from strenuous exercise. This new design has 19 pulsed electromagnetic coils and 14 massage units covering the horse from tail to poll plus the shoulders and thighs.

It is used by professionals such as the El Remanso Polo Team, William Fox-Pitt (eventer) to Paul Nichols (NH trainer). For more information see www.fmbs.co.uk or call 01628 472440. www.polotimes.co.uk August 2010 11

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Comment Backchat With amateur player Clare Milford Haven, from the saddle and the sidelines

Polo: distraction, addiction, therapy or menace? Discuss on. In their place we gained Stephanie Haverhals, who played not only with a fractured wrist but also a rumbling appendix, which caused her to be rushed into hospital the night of our first game.

Rosie Ross was displaying a black and blue chin, Sarah Wiseman had a large haematoma on her right arm and Marianela Castagnola was as spectacular as ever, five months after the birth of her

Photograph by IPC Media

A

THIS JUNE’S Crabbie’s Coworth Ladies Tournament was brilliantly organised and it was inspiring to see how well all the teams went, in spite of a variety of ailments and injuries.

My team was a good example, having lost two players to broken bones early

12 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

of jeans and trainers. You may get directed to the pony lines but isn’t that better than people thinking you lost your way to Royal Ascot?

NO SOONER HAD I reported a dearth of polo parties and asados than I found myself in a positive social whirl, with a dinner one night, the Cowdray Centenary Ball the next, and

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Stephanie had appendicitis, Sarah a haematoma, Rosie a bruised chin, and Marianela recently gave birth. Don’t let me ever again hear men accuse each other of ‘playing like a girl’

England football coach Fabio Capello.

What would happen if polo coaches asked Argentine players not to bring their wives?

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s if there wasn’t enough high-goal polo to satisfy those of us with a thirst for top-level sport, we have been utterly spoilt for choice over the past month, darting from the sofa to watch the World Cup to the saddle for polo then back to the sofa again for Wimbledon. How fantastic to have so much excellent entertainment at one’s fingertips but what a shame that the England football team played so appallingly badly.

You can’t blame it on a lack of financial incentive or not enough training. No, I blame Capello for banning the WAGs. No one should be expected to focus on a sport 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without life’s natural distractions. Can you imagine the outrage if Argentine polo players were told not to bring their wives and girlfriends to the UK as it might impair their performance?

And, on the subject of distractions, I don’t think any could rate higher than polo itself. Someone recently told me he gave up playing polo competitively because he found it impossible to focus on the game once he set up his own company. He would be physically on the field but mentally back in his office.

However, as far as I am concerned, while the compulsion to watch can be distracting, I find playing is therapeutic for the mind. It is an hour in which, if you focus on the game, there is no room for outside thoughts. With the emergence of more sports psychologists connected to the game, perhaps the remedial benefits of polo may also be analysed as well as its irresistibly addictive nature.

first baby. Don’t let me, ever again, hear men accuse one another of “playing like a girl”…

WITH WOMEN AND POLO in mind, there is still a huge misconception that ladies have to dress up to come and watch games. They don’t. Just perhaps for the finals of the Queen’s and Gold Cup and the International. Otherwise, put those heels and dresses away and pop on a pair

a Fourth of July celebration to top it off. Or perhaps finish me off. How wonderful to have the season finally celebrated by fireworks, dancing and champagne. F Read Clare’s Backchat columns in our online archive. Subscribers can access current and back issues with their personal login. Contact georgie@polotimes.co.uk if you need to track down your password.

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PTAugust 2010 p14-15 As I see it JM MB

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Comment Interview

Simon Tomlinson Looking forward The new chairman of the HPA’s Development Committee tells Antje Derks about his ambitious plans to bring on Britain’s young polo players and make the English polo team a more competitive force to be reckoned with in a decade’s time he United Kingdom has the best polo infrastructure in the world – fact. Why then have we only managed to produce two ninegoal players since the Second World War? It is a question the HPA has been asking itself for some time. Things started moving in the right direction with the advent of the association’s Development Committee in 1995 and now its recently appointed new chairman, Simon Tomlinson, is hoping to evolve it further to produce talented young players for the England squad.

Photographs by Yolanda Carslaw, Brett O’Callaghan and Charles Sainsbury Plaice

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Simon, what are the aims of the Development Committee going forward?

The HPA’s Development Committee has been around for some time, and originally arose from a suggestion of mine to send children abroad to get them playing some decent polo. This still happens and we have bursaries in place to assist them. However, it has become clear that we need to concentrate our efforts on picking up talent at a younger age. The Development Committee has grown massively since its inception; it covers SUPA (Schools and Universities Polo Association), Young England, bursaries and coaching. It doesn’t cover Pony

14 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

Club as such, but does embrace youth polo.

Coaching has developed very well over the last 10 years, but there is still room for improvement. While SUPA has grown tremendously, its focus is not so much about excellence but, rather, is more about widening the “parish” – to encourage more people to play and watch polo. Thus, the HPA feels we should focus our efforts on seeking out and developing younger talent.

How will it do this?

We have three main objectives. One is to search out and identify young, talented players, who have the potential to become high handicapped pros. We want to assist their all round development as part of a structured programme over the course of their career. Secondly, as a committee we want to widen the accessibility of the sport. We will aim to encourage the development of the game in schools and universities, not only in the pursuit of excellence but also to increase the number and quality of players, in the hope that some will continue to play or come back as patrons. And the third important aim is to provide players with a rounded education in polo. We want

them to be ambitious – to be better than the best; we want them to observe the rules of the game; we want them playing four-man team polo; and we want them to learn about umpiring, horsemanship and pony welfare, as well as schooling and making polo ponies.

What age group do you see as “ripe for the picking” and how do you want to showcase their talent?

Our targets are ambitious. We want to produce a 16-goal under 18s English team by 2014. A 20-goal under 21s English team by 2016 and a 30-goal under 25s English team by 2020.

Obviously, 2014 is only four years away so anyone in the under 18s team will be 14, 13 or even younger now. Therefore members of the committee and I will be travelling the country to see as much junior polo as possible. We also rely heavily on the Pony Club and HPA Junior

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Clockwise from top: Simon gets a dressing down from What Not to Wear’s Trinny Woodall; at Palermo; at Cowdray Park during last month’s semi-finals of the Gold Cup

with decent ponies then you can’t fail to learn valuable lessons that will help you improve.

How are you hoping the wider polo community will help with these aims?

In order for this vision to become a reality, we need the support of all patrons across the board – not just those in high-goal. We want patrons to give young players the chance to play, rather than using an under-handicapped player from abroad.

Patrons could help with finance too – sponsoring a

“Linking a promising young player to a good established one, paid as a professional mentor, makes real sense. My son Luke benefited enormously from spending time with Carlos Gracida”

Polo set-ups and their coaches to bring talented children to our attention. It is no easy task but we hope that, by offering children a fun opportunity that will inspire and enthuse them, we may have the foundations to build on. In the end, playing in a team that represents your country is the chord you have to strike with youngsters, bringing home the honour that is attached to that chance.

Once you have spotted your talented youngsters, what happens next?

Well, there are three specific opportunities for youngsters under 15 once they have been selected. Firstly, the Junior HPA programme of polo will provide them with an opportunity to play better polo at an earlier age – the aim being for the children to be on a Hipwood or Langford Team. We are also running a two-day course at Beaufort after the Pony Club

Championships have finished in August. Here, youngsters will be focusing on key skills, such as stick and ball, as well as getting to try out some very decent ponies, which will give them a feel of what they should be looking for. Finally, we are organising a week-long course in South Africa at Buster McKenzie’s place during the October half-term. Buster has a great set-up over there and South Africa has a superb philosophy in developing young talent. The Development Committee aims to subsidise the courses for those attending, although obviously places are limited.

What else is the committee offering these aspiring young stars?

We are introducing a new concept this year involving the selection of young, talented players who will play serious practice games with one good professional of six or seven goals, to keep the ball moving around. The top players that have been selected will be placed with a professional mentor, who would be paid a fee to serve the HPA in a mentor capacity.

Linking a young player to a good, established one makes real sense. Indeed, my son Luke would tell you that his most valuable experience came from spending time with Carlos Gracida.

The youngsters would work with the professional, and maybe even play his second string. If you are around good, talented players

young player to gain experience overseas, for example. However, we also hope foreign professionals will give these young guys a “leg up” by having them in Argentina. The Novillo Astrada family is an amazing support – it is no easy task finding decent placements abroad where youngsters will learn and be nurtured. F ◗ Tell us your views at letters@polotimes.co.uk

Simon says Factfile on what qualifies Simon Tomlinson as the new chair Simon is a very familiar face to most on the polo circuit. He is one of the longest serving stewards on the HPA (mainly on the International Committee) and was the first chairman of the Beaufort Polo Club in Gloucestershire – which he formed with his then-wife, Claire, more than 20 years ago.

Simon started playing polo at Sandhurst at 17, continuing to improve in the Army and at Oxford. With their team Los Locos, he and Claire went on to win the Queen’s Cup, Challenge Cup and the Warwickshire. He is also father to Luke and Mark Tomlinson, established names on the England Squad and Emma, a respected polo player and pioneer of embryo transfer technology in the UK.

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PTAugust 2010 p16-17 Herbert JM MB YC

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Comment Global view With Herbert Spencer, who has been following polo around the world for 40 years

Why it’s time to bring on the breathalysers worldwide more severe. Recommended punishments for cannabis use, for example, range from a month’s ban from playing and a £500 fine for the first offence up to a threeyear ban and £5,000 fine for the third. For cocaine, the range is six months and £2,000 fine up to expulsion from the association for the third transgression.

This year there will be random drug tests at all levels of polo in the UK, carried out by the HPA’s Doping Control

Photograph by Helen Couchman

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apparently is considered a “sensitive” issue both in the US and Argentina and, when I’ve broached the subject, I’ve found it difficult to get complete or unequivocal answers from the polo associations in those two countries.

It seems ridiculous to me that even such top overseas players as Adolfo Cambiaso have been drug tested when competing in England but not in their own countries or the US.

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The HPA’s punishments for cannabis use range from a month’s ban and a £500 fine to a three-year ban and £5,000 fine. For cocaine, you could even risk expulsion Drink and ride: the HPA now tests for drunkenness among players they suspect have had a few

Officers, doctors from Medical Rescue International (MRI). Tests may also be conducted by Independent Sampling Officers appointed by UK Sport, the government agency responsible for encouraging and funding sports development in the country.

Far from being a knee-jerk reaction to any particular incident, the basic HPA drug and medication rules, and drug testing in the UK, have been in existence for two decades.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the Americans and Argentines have yet to formulate detailed regulations regarding substance control, testing and disciplinary procedures. This

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e are always looking for ways to convince the general public that polo is a “proper” sport, worthy of greater attention and respect, and not just the elitist, champagne-fuelled pastime of the rich often portrayed by the mass media.

Too often, however, polo shoots itself in the foot (or should I say hoof?), in the realm of PR, by remaining aloof from mainstream sport when it comes to rules and regulations. It’s what one might call the “special case” syndrome. Ask the rule makers and enforcers why polo doesn’t conform to other sports in one or another of its regulations or practices and back comes the answer “but we are different, we’re a special case”.

Nothing illustrates this better than some of the polo world’s attitudes towards drug and medication regulations and drug testing for the sport’s amateur and professional athletes. All the more popular sports everywhere – athletics, football, rugby, baseball, cricket, tennis, ice hockey, and equestrian disciplines – recognise and accept the need for substance control.

The HPA, however, is the only one of the three largest national polo associations, which represent more than half the world’s players, to spell out just which foreign substances are banned or restricted, whether performance enhancing or “recreational” drugs such as alcohol, cannabis, cocaine and the like.

In June the HPA amended its rules to allow for the use of breathalysers in testing players’ blood alcohol levels.

The permitted level is the same as that for car drivers. In practice, the HPA, like the police, will only test where there is a suspicion of intoxication.

The HPA’s rules on other drugs, testing of players and disciplinary sanctions are

The old arguments that polo doesn’t have any drug or alcohol problems at all simply do not stand up to scrutiny.

In any case such rationalisations are neither here nor there. What matters is the public perception of polo being out of line with mainstream sport.

Until all the world’s polo-playing nations, the US and Argentina included, agree to follow the HPA’s lead, the potential for image-threatening publicity hangs over us all. It would only take one death or serious injury on a polo ground, attributable to substance abuse, to bring the sport everywhere into the spotlight in the worst possible way. F ◗ Do you think it’s OK to have a drink or

two – perhaps at lunch, or the previous evening – before playing polo? Or should everyone abstain? Tell us by writing to letters@polotimes.co.uk Read past Global Views in our online archive. Subscribers can access current and back issues with their personal login. Contact georgie@polotimes.co.uk if you’ve lost your password.

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Comment Your views

Letter of the month Why the Gold Cup final 2010 thrilled the ignorant and bored the aficionado

Letters letters@polotimes.co.uk or The Editor, Polo Times, East End Farm, North Leigh, Oxon OX29 6PX Please include your postal address or nearest town on all Letters to the Editor

Handicap horseplay

It’s not exactly within my usual remit as Polo Times’s umpiring expert, but I would take issue with my colleague Herbert’s pronouncement in the July issue that the pony is 75 per cent of the handicap equation.

As far as I can tell, the player has two main skills: firstly, to be there to hit the ball; and, secondly, to ride the pony in such a way that he is there. These skills combined are what the handicappers – who, incidentally, seem to be doing an excellent job in the high-goal – are looking for.

Of course the pony is important but how often have you seen a substitute come on and play on strange ponies better than the player he has replaced? Those with long memories will remember Mike Azarro coming on as a substitute in the Gold Cup. The overall quality of the ponies is now so high that I believe it is the skill of the player that counts for most.

Once again this year’s Gold Cup final was an insult to high-goal polo, the memory of the late Lord Cowdray and Veuve Clicquot. If it had been played on just one soccer pitch, it could have provided the same limited pleasure to those watching. The reason that a polo field has the length of three soccer pitches is to create long hitting, which exhibits extreme ball velocity, connected to exhilarating anticipation that defines handicap differentials.

Fast ponies add to the wonders of polo, but their speed ought to be applied to teamwork, which generates rapid ball flight. Hence tapping the ball from one goal to the other should be the exception, not the rule.

Tommy Hitchcock (USA), between the world wars, and Juan Carlos Harriott (Argentina), after those wars, demonstrated to ecstatic large crowds the art of pivoting a four man team.

Only when there was no one to pass to did they display the individual skills with which Adolfo Cambiaso, in the Gold Cup, thrilled the ignorant and bored the real polo aficionado.

Winston Churchill said: “Loyal Two famous quotes say it all. First Winston polo teamwork renders a true Churchill insisted: “Loyal polo teamwork combination, so vastly superior renders a true combination, so vastly superior to any of the individuals of to any of the individuals of whom it is whom it is composed” composed.” Second, Wayne Gretzky, the Maradona of ice hockey, wrote in his book: “I won most of the matches by bringing my game down to the rest of my team thereby extracting the best from everyone, including myself.”

The HPA must surely now accept that they are custodians of the game and not of patrons and players. Hence they have no alternative but to copy the rugby example, of continually changing rules, to improve the spectacle for the supporters. Everyone who truly understands polo knows this could be achieved if new restrictions were added whenever required to force the return of the glorious long angled backhands, which Paul Withers and the Hipwood brothers used to give us. These turn the game from defence to attack in a split second, allowing all the team to be playmakers as heralded by my second book.

Cambiaso could conform to both Churchill and Gretzky and still win many tournaments, thereby bringing polo back to its rightful heritage while improving those who play in his team. Whatever happens, he has to be warned that he can never again humiliate us Brits by treating our officials with nil respect and endless abuse without suffering serious consequences. Instead he must become the shining role model of behaviour and discipline besides polo skills.

Polo commentators have a difficult job to entertain the crowd when the polo is as poor as it was last Sunday. However, the loveable great Terry Hanlon has no problem, because of his much enjoyed unique humour. Hence it was not necessary to mislead us by calling “the destroyer” of our high-goal the “master”.

Hugh Dawnay Waterford, Ireland The writer of the letter of the month wins a bottle of La Chamiza Argentine red wine

Arthur Douglas-Nugent Midhurst, West Sussex SUPA ain’t all that’s super for our kids

I note with interest Polo Times’s ongoing coverage of youth polo. As the polo manager for Wellington College, this topic is close to my heart. In general, schools polo receives less press coverage than it deserves and, when it does receive a mention in print, it tends to be under the umbrella of SUPA. I must 18 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

point out that, whilst SUPA does sterling work, it only accounts for about one per cent of polo played in schools. In reality, schools polo happens because of a small number of dedicated individuals who support and champion the sport in their respective schools.

At Wellington, I have more than 40 players, all of whom are able to take polo as their major sport every term, playing up to six times a

week. We have many fixtures (usually four chukkas) against other schools and clubs, host our own two-day tournament, and we are upgrading our on-site equestrian facilities. We are national champions at Novice and Under-16 level, but like many other top schools we don't enter the SUPA National championship.

Our players have handicaps up to two goals and are often invited

to play in professional sides, and one of our boys was even a winner at the Copa Potrillos in Argentina!

It is with some pride that I note our former captain (who learnt his polo at Wellington) was voted MVP in the recent Archie David final whilst our current captain was playing against him. Schools polo is growing, so please support it!

John Gale Polo manager, Wellington College

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are seeing at this year’s tournament, getting beyond the league stages can all come down to a single goal or mistake.

This season Carlos and Sumaya have been an absolute pleasure to watch with their open style, accurate passing, and great goals from all four players. Oussama, can you please bring them all back again next year?

Nowadays it is my children’s homework that has to be forgotten as we cheer on the not so new but still amazing “Mexican maestro”!

Why Dubai were like a brick wall

I fully understand that I run the risk of being burnt at the stake for polo heresy but I think someone needs to ask two important questions: 1. Does English polo need Adolfo Cambiaso?

The polo fraternity wails that it can’t make polo into a better spectator sport so it can attract more sponsorship and TV coverage.

Yet its most famous player is allowed to get away with slowing the game to a stop and calling for fouls 30 times a chukka.

In line with the new rule policy, most teams spent the whole of the Gold Cup tournament playing fast expansive polo, but the moment they came up against Dubai they may as well have been playing a brick wall.

I find it dubious that the Cambiaso who plays wonderful and exciting polo in Argentina is the same man who plays such boring, tactical and cynical polo in England.

2. Can someone quieten Terry down?

I have no issues with a loud, witty commentary that whips the crowd into a state of excitement but Mr Hanlon trots out the same bleatings in nearly every match. It’s made worse when he becomes so fixated on one player that he’s reduced to shouting their name whether they are playing the ball or not.

We don’t need awestruck sycophancy. As spectators, we’d like to know: what’s happening, not what Terry would like to happen; who’s actually playing (I’ve heard him call players by their fathers’ name and this year he took the biscuit by referring to Les Lions II as Les Diables Bleus throughout most

Teresa Wood Haslemere, Surrey Own up or keep quiet

The Gold Cup crowd was as large as ever (pictured at half-time). But what did spectators think of the action? Some of you have told us here on this page

of a match); which horses are on the ground; why the umpire blew the whistle.

Both emperors are naked. Am I the only person to see that?

Heather Dawes Chippenham, Wiltshire Editor’s note: We at PT think Terry Hanlon is a charismatic, entertaining commentator – although we also like hearing Glen Gilmore, who surfaces now and then at big matches, and we enjoyed John Kent’s inter-chukka wisdom at the Gold Cup. As Hugh Dawnay points out, it can be hard going keeping the crowd’s attention when the game is dull. Who do you think is best?

How Carlos inspires confidence

I really enjoyed your interview (July issue) with Carlos Gracida, who I have been supporting at the Gold

Carlos Gracida (centre) with his cousin Roberto Gonzales (left) and Tramontana jointpatron David Jamison: the Mexican “maestro” got all his team playing their best

Cup since the mid 80s. Homework and O-levels would be forgotten as my sister Yolanda (your editor!) and I cycled to Cowdray from our home near Midhurst to see this amazing new Mexican player in action.

Throughout the 1980s and 90s it struck me that not only was he the most versatile and stylish player, but also the most polite! No need to shout at his team-mates, opposition or umpires – he just got everyone playing to their absolute best right up to that final bell.

When mistakes were made a quiet word was said at the side of the field in private instead of the highvolume Spanish swearing sessions favoured by others.

“Think fast, ride slow” was a phrase I once heard him use on a TV interview and he has always been brilliant at anticipating or controlling each play, attacking at just the right moment, never appearing to rush and keeping ponies at the top level for eight or nine seasons. Am I right in thinking he used to play many games without gloves or spurs?

The encouragement and confidence he gave his players meant that not only did they play well and improve through the season, they also seemed to enjoy themselves, even if they occasionally lost.

It is easy to remember those spectacular wins at the Gold Cup finals, but the effort and organisation on and off the field to get there was phenomenal. As we

I am writing to question the decision by the editors of Polo Times to allow people to have their letters published anonymously, especially when the writer is clearly misinformed or has an axe to grind.

It makes me embarrassed to think that any polo person could be such a shrinking violet off the ground. What on earth could they be nervous about? Perhaps they don’t like being bumped into on the ground either – poor things!

John Wright Tidworth Polo Club Manager Can readers help me get fit for Africa?

I have ridden for almost 40 years and currently ride infrequently. I am due to go riding in Africa this summer and am after some advice as to what I should be doing – both from a fitness and a dietary point of view.

I currently jog a little, eat normally, drink coffee and enjoy a glass of wine or two! What can I be doing to ensure I get the most enjoyment possible from my forthcoming African adventure?

I’d love some suggestions that people have found have worked for them.

Kathy Green Cheshire Editor’s note: We have a fitness series in the pipeline, so watch this space, but can anyone help Mrs G meanwhile? How have you got riding fit? What works and what doesn’t? Send your advice to letters@polotimes.co.uk and we’ll forward it to Mrs G – and we’ll print the best responses, too.

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PTAugust 2010 p20-21 Umpire YC MB

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Comment Umpire’s corner With Arthur Douglas-Nugent, deputy chief umpire for the HPA

Is there a downside to all these backhands? order to save a goal, the team fouled shall be awarded a goal”. Such a rule in football would have sent Ghana into the semifinals rather than Uruguay. Instead, Ghana had a penalty, which they had a 30 per cent chance of missing (and did) and Uruguay’s later sending-off did little except aid the team’s next opponents (Holland in the semi-finals). Madness!

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THE BEAUTIFUL GAME? With the recent goal-line controversy of the football World Cup, FIFA could take advice from the HPA. Polo employs goal judges to decide whether the ball crosses the line or not. Another relevant polo rule that football would do well to adopt states that “if, in the opinion of the umpires, a player commits a dangerous or deliberate foul in the vicinity of goal in

20 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

MATCH PRACTICE I have had a query about the rule covering stick and balling on the ground before and during a match. As far as I am aware there

of minutes to stick and ball to get used to a pony he may never have ridden before.

But, this, of course, should fall within the 15 minutes allowed for a substitution (but which is so seldom achieved).

RIDE ON, NOT OFF The whistle went in a high-goal match recently which left those watching even more puzzled than usual as to why. It turned out that the umpire had penalised a player for riding off an opponent in the safety zone over the boards. There is no such rule in the book, though with so

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e’re at that stage of the season already when it is time to take stock. Certainly, at the higher level, two elements stand out: namely, the better quality of the polo, and the improved grounds on which games are being played.

Very few have cut up this year as much as in the past, presumably due in part to more money being spent on ground maintenance, almost no rain, and less hooking and turning. And so games have been faster.

However, faster polo has led to queries about turning. It is not a new rule in itself, I should point out, but the heightened interpretation and awareness of it this year has led to a sharp rise in the number of backhands being played with a teammate turning to capitalise on it. Good, because it is a great play and a match winner if carried out successfully.

But is there a downside? A letter writer in the last issue of Polo Times argued so, suggesting most players hit backhands blindly, which heightens the risk of the play.

However, I have seen no real evidence of more ponies or players being hit. When backhands were in vogue 20 years ago, it was considered good polo to ride them down. This is now against the rules but it remains true that the best backhands are not those hit straight but those either pulled or cut, and so hit away from the chasing player. As always, it rests with the umpires to penalise dangerous plays, whilst still being strict on the player who turns the ball in front of a following player.

I’m not aware of a restriction on stick-and-balling, but at games it should be done towards the outside of the field is no official restriction, except as possibly within the bylaws of a club to restrict wear and tear on a ground. However, stick and balling should be done towards the outside of a ground and not up the middle, where a player might also surreptitiously manufacture a divot or tee on the 60-yard line. Be vigilant! Should a player come on as a substitute it is fine to allow him a couple

many cars and spectators pressed up against the safety zones nowadays, it could well have been penalised as dangerous play. F Read past editions of Umpire’s Corner in our online archive. Subscribers have access to back issues when they login.

Contact georgie@polotimes.co.uk if you need your password.

Play goes on until the whistle blows…

This month’s puzzle A player is being ridden off. An opponent hooks his stick as he is striking the ball. What should the umpires do?

Last month’s solution A player dismounts during play shouting to the umpire that his pony is lame. What should the umpires do?

Nothing. If the player/pony are not interfering with play, he should wait until play is neutral then blow, and ascertain if the pony is lame. If yes, let both sides change and restart when the player is back.

If not, start play when the player has left the ground.

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In a final that provoked mixed reactions in the crowd, the world’s number one landed his second UK high-goal title of 2010, writes Yolanda Carslaw ot on the heels of his Queen's Cup win in June, Adolfo Cambiaso, the world's most skilled player, led the Dubai team to victory in Europe's biggest polo prize, the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup. However, his controversial style of play continues to pose problems for aficionados of polo, and it left many viewers feeling that they had watched an unsatisfactory game.

H

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Dubai, the eighth team in history to land both the Queen's and Gold Cup in the same year, and captained by Cambiaso, rode to a two-goal victory against Lechuza Caracas on Lawns II in front of a crowd of 15,000. It was an undeniable triumph for the team, on a perfect summer's day in a relaxed and festive atmosphere on one of the world’s best grounds, the culmination of a month of play among an entry of 20 elite teams. Dubai’s line-up this year

included Pablo MacDonough – at first glance an improbable choice, since he and Cambiaso are archrivals in the Argentine Triple Crown. However, the 28-year-old performed like the 10-goaler he is in Argentina and combined well with Cambiaso. They were joined by 27-year-old Francisco Vismara – an Argentine from near Mar del Plata who joined the team after trials in April – and 18-year-old patron Rashid Albwardy.

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Adolfo Cambiaso (blue and white hat) in control in the final, with Max Routledge to the right and Victor Vargas far left

Their opponents, Lechuza, won the Gold Cup in 2007 with an entirely different line-up – fielding the Merlos brothers and John Fisher. Venezuelan patron Victor Vargas's side of Argentines Miguel Novillo Astrada and 23-year-old Guillermo “Sapo” Caset – surely a 10-goaler of the future – is in its second year in England; Caset also plays for Lechuza in the US, where the team has been successful – though this was overshadowed by the death of 21 of their horses last spring after they were accidentally poisoned by wrongly mixed supplements.

Vargas, Novillo Astrada and Caset were joined this year by the brilliant British four-goaler Max

Routledge, 19, who played with Broncos last year and narrowly lost the final in 2008 with Ellerston.

Central to Lechuza's route to the final was their team-work, with stylish interplay between the three pros, plus the unswerving concentration of Vargas, a solid hitter who grabbed chances to score and kept his position well. Their strategy centred on plenty of passing, including the use of backhands, in keeping with the new interpretation of the turning rule.

Cambiaso, by contrast, sailed close to the wind on the new rule interpretation, steering clear of backhands: his ball control is so skilled that he still succeeded in keeping possession.

Before the final, Novillo Astrada told PT: “Dubai look very strong, but we hope that with our superior team-work and the right strategy we can exploit their weaknesses. I'm looking forward to the game: we have nothing to lose as they're the favourites.”

Victor Vargas added: “It's hard to play against Dubai, with their particular style of polo, but let's wait and see.”

Cambiaso himself was keen to land the double, as well as his first British Open since 2001: though Dubai won in 2005 the 10-goaler was substituted in the final after breaking his arm in the semis.

The past nine months have been outstanding for X

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In brief

Photographs by Tony Ramirez, Neil Egerton/www.imagesofpolo.com, James Mullan and Yolanda Carslaw. Previous spread by Rory Merry

SEMI-FINALS day featured more English players than in some years:: Max Routledge, Charlie and George Hanbury, Malcolm Borwick and James Beim. elatives, friends and supporters – to the tune of around 5,000 spectators, including corporate hospitality – turned out at Lawns I for the occasion.

The day provided one of the best games of the tournament, between Lechuza and Enigma. The early stages belonged to Enigma: after chukka one it was 3-0. Borwick in particular was on great form, putting in the goal of the match, a high hit from 80 yards out, in the second, which ended 4-3.

Then Lechuza picked up. Miguel Novillo Astrada told Polo Times: “We changed our line-up, moving me to the back and pushing Victor forwards to open up the game. It worked.” Routledge scored a great galloping equaliser before half-time. Though chances for Enigma came thick and fast in the second half, they failed to capitalise and Lechuza won 10-8.

Dubai's contest against El Remanso, however, was disappointingly fragmented, with plenty of whistle. The crowd in the packed stand, who had anticipated a cracker, wondered when the game would get going. They had a long wait: only in the final chukka did play speed up, after Dubai had opened up such a decent lead that they appeared to relax and implement the speedy passing play between Adolfo Cambiaso and Pablo MacDonough seen in June’s Queen’s Cup final.

Final score: 10-6 to Dubai.

Lechuza’s Max Routledge (left) with his older brother Guy, who helps produce Max’s young horses THE FINAL TEAM tally of 20 included several sides put together last minute. The best of these after the league stages was Combe, put together by Cowdray patron Nigel Warr, who won two and lost two. Also making an impact – though they lost all their league games – were Panthers, with Ed Magor, Tom Morley, Satnam Dhillon and Manolo Fernandez-Llorente. The foursome, formed right on deadline, took Talandracas and Lechuza to extra time and lost to Enigma by one. Tom said: “We had no expectations but going out and playing the best polo in the country was outstanding.”

UNUSUALLY, THE eventual winners were not top of their league after the early stages. Silver Spring led league one, with Dubai in second place. The other six quarter-finalists were last year's winners La Bamba de Areco, El Remanso, Lechuza, Enigma, Loro Piana and Queen's Cup finalists Les Lions II. The quarter-finals were played at Trippetts, Lawns and Brooksfield.

THE PROGRAMME on finals day this year featured profiles of the finalists for the first time – provided by staff at Polo Times.

To see a full list of teams, leagues and results visit the tournaments section at www.polotimes.co.uk See also Letters, page 18

24 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

X the 35-year-old – he won the Argentine Open in

December and the US Open in April – and if he continues his winning streak he could have his eye on Carlos Gracida's unbroken record from 1994 of the US Open, Gold Cup and Argentine Triple Crown in the same calendar year.

Cambiaso told PT: “I've won both British 22goal tournaments in the same year before, with Geebung [2000] and Ellerston [1998] – and Dubai did it in 2005 – but let's see.”

In the event it was no walkover – but Lechuza never found their stride. As Routledge said ruefully afterwards: “Every time we picked up a bit of steam, Dubai would get two goals ahead again.”

Cambiaso was on top of the game from the start, and though teamwork culminated in a goal

by Vargas for Lechuza (rec 1), by the end of the

second time he had been off his horse for a knock.

Replays on the giant screen, showing the force of the hit, made the crowd groan, but the game restarted with a penalty in Lechuza’s favour and Caset played on.

The fourth chukka gave Lechuza fans hope: two field goals and a 40 by Caset brought them back in touch, and when they equalised, 8-8, the crowd expressed a surge of support for the underdogs.

Caset, whose nickname Sapo (frog) was coined in his childhood by his father, said: “We tried to open the game, make passes, and in the fourth we came back to tie, but they took the lead again.”

The fourth chukka ended with a trademark high-speed dribbling run by goal by Cambiaso, reinstating Dubai's solid three-goal lead. It marked, however, the start of increasing whistle: every goal

“Cambiaso really is brilliant. But he’s such a one-man band that he stifles the game” – A seasoned spectator, south stand first chukka Dubai led 4-2. Caset ran the ball from end to end at a gallop to score in the second, while Dubai came back with three goals in as many minutes, some from MacDonough, some from Cambiaso, who appeared in just the right place at every play with his customary anticipation and superb horsepower.

MacDonough said: “The plan was to try to stop Max from blocking us. He started well and made it difficult for us, but we gradually took him out and created space for Adolfo, who had a great game.”

Just before the bell rang for half-time, with the score 8-5, Caset got a mallet in the back as he connected with Cambiaso's full swing – the

in the fifth chukka came from a penalty – indeed all Dubai's subsequent goals did.

The arm-raising – from both blue and white shirts – began in earnest and the style of play enthusiasts least like to see intensified. The open play that was such a feature of the Queen’s Cup final fell victim to the dominance of one man and the determination of his team-mates to create room for him to keep possession. As one seasoned spectator in the south stand said: “Cambiaso really is brilliant. But he’s such a one-man band that he stifles the game.”

Dubai opened their lead back to 14-10, and though Lechuza found a new lease of life two X

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This page, clockwise from top left: Rashid Albwardy, 18, with friends and relations; Lechuza patron Victor Vargas, whose positioning on the field was faultless; Pablo MacDonough (in white) takes the ball forward as British four-goaler Max Routledge (green hat) comes in for the nearside backhand; MacDonough and Rashid hug in celebration Opposite: Dubai and their entourage celebrate their third Gold Cup win in 10 years

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In brief HORSES THAT CAUGHT the eye this year included Borwick's striking grey/roan pony Irish, a 10-year-old

by Norman Pentequad bred by Ellerston (pictured right) and Mi Gatita, Cambiaso's Australian-bred bay mare (see Pony Power, page 62). Best playing pony on finals day was Dolfina Caridad (below), bred and played by Adolfo Cambiaso, by Rainbow Corner and out of Carenza. At the semi-finals and finals spectators could see for themselves who was riding which pony in which chukka. For more, see our news pages and page 98.

Best playing pony Caridad receives her prize MAX ROUTLEDGE was playing two greys, one of which – the US-bred Fush, owned by Victor Vargas – won the best retrained racehorse award on semifinals day. But Routledge told Polo Times his own grey, Rossi, a 12-year-old gelding he bought from Robert Graham and Will Healy, is even better.

“We've had Rossi since he was five, and this is his first year in high-goal: we had no idea he was this good until last year,” he said.

Photographs by Tony Ramirez, Neil Egerton/www.imagesofpolo.com, Rory Merry and Yolanda Carslaw

THE SECOND MATCH on finals day – watched by just a fraction of the crowd – provided great team polo and, for some observers, a better spectacle than the first. As the shadows lengthened Young England (Jack Richardson, Max Charlton, Lanto Sheridan and Eden Ormerod) took on Young New Zealand (Mark Henderson, Angus McKelvie, Glen Sheriff and Charlie Wood). Though the home side outdid the visitors on the scoreboard – the final score was 6-2 – this was a thrilling, pacey contest with outstanding performances on both sides, .

PT publisher Margie Brett said: “The second game produced better polo than the first – albeit not with such skilled stickmen. The shot of the day for me was a perfect backhand pass by Max to one of his team, who picked it up in perfect timing.”

Adolfo Cambiaso has a chat with an umpire and (top) teams get ready for the pre-final parade at Lawns II

X minutes from the end, putting in two more field

Veuve Clicquot’s guests enjoy their own ball game TITLE SPONSORS Veuve Clicquot had slick new décor and petanque in its tent, a public “Gold Bar” and a larger yellow presence than ever, brightening further the summery crowd. But one innovation PT wasn’t so sure about was the buggies that trundled about delivering fizz to people who had ordered it via their iPhones. PT saw a child stumble into the path of one buggy, whose windscreen was all but obscured by a large sign emblazoned “Concierge”.

The vehicle had to reverse slightly to free the child: mercifully no serious harm was done.

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goals, it was too little, too late. As the bell rang, the board read 14-12 and the green and white shirts could celebrate.

MacDonough, celebrating his first Gold Cup win, said after the game: “It still hasn’t sunk in that we have won the double. But we will party hard tonight and then I will think about what we have achieved. I didn’t really know Adolfo before this season but he’s a really nice guy and a lot of fun to play with. I’m happy this time I was on his side!”

MacDonough told PT he thought it unlikely he will play for Dubai next year, and Rashid said enigmatically: “It’s a secret what we do next year!”

As the Lechuza players reflected on the game over sandwiches in the team tent, Vargas told PT: “For us

it was amazing to be here and although I like to win, I’m happy we got this far. We won in 2007 and we reached the semi-finals in 2008.

“Today was tough: Dubai’s a very good team, but the polo they play is different – they tap and tap and stop and stop. Normally our team likes to play open polo, classical polo – like in our semi-final against Enigma [see left], who play the same kind of polo as we do.”

Novillo Astrada, who was due to fly home the following day for a post-season family ski break in Bariloche, Argentina, said: “The game never flowed for us: we tried to open it up and Dubai were trying to close it – and they were very good at fabricating fouls and getting away with it.”

Vargas added that he hoped to keep the team

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Brits lead Enigma all the way to semis A STANDOUT TEAM OF the tournament was Enigma, in their second season of high-goal with London-based French patron Jerome Wirth. Malcolm Borwick (6), James Beim (7), Matias MacDonough (8, Arg) and “Frenchie” (1) made a formidable quartet, with Julian Hipwood as coach, Miranda Banks as team psychologist – and wives and girlfriends lending plenty of support too.

Enigma's brilliant teamwork and fine hitting style was a joy to behold, and Borwick proved he is one of the most accomplished penaltytakers of the moment (see page 61 for his tips), as well as putting in plenty of impressive field goals. After their quarter-finals victory against Loro Piana, in which Borwick hit several perfect 60s in a blustery wind, he sat comfortably ahead of Cambiaso and Facundo Pieres in terms of overall goals scored.

Borwick told Polo Times: “We got what can only be described as a favourable draw, having made the quarter-finals of the Queen's Cup. In our league were two of the less

“Julian Hipwood kept some complicated characters facing the same direction”

Malcolm Borwick in Enigma’s quarter-final against Loro Piana, riding his eyecatching 10-year-old gelding, Irish

together next year. “I hope we keep the same handicaps in order to stay together.”

Coach Roberto Gonzales, the Mexican former eight-goaler, added: “Dubai is Dubai – to beat them you have to be outstanding, and in a couple of chukkas we just didn't play well. We didn't want to play a scrappy game and we tried to play man with man, and to cover Cambiaso and Pablo. But we'll be back next year!”

After the teams were conveyed to the presentation in a white Lamborghini and a red Ferrari Cambiaso picked up further prizes: his nine-year-old mare Caridad, which he bred, won best-playing pony (see top left); he was named most valuable player; and as the highest scorer of the tournament he was presented with a yellow leather saddle. F

Gold Cup, Cowdray Park, 22 June-18 July Result: Dubai beat Lechuza 14-12 Principal sponsor: Veuve Clicquot Handicap level: 20-22 goal Chukka scores (Dubai): 4-2; 7-4; 8-5; 10-8; 12-10; 14-12 Most valuable player: Adolfo Cambiaso Best playing pony: Dolfina Caridad, 10-year-old bay mare bred, owned and played by Adolfo Cambiaso Final teams: Dubai (23): Rashid Albwardy 1; Francisco Vismara 3; Pablo MacDonough 9; Adolfo Cambiaso 10 Lechuza (22): Victor Vargas 1; Guillermo Caset 8; Miguel Novillo Astrada 9; Max Routledge 4

prepared teams [who were formed for the Gold Cup late in the day]. We started against Panthers, who gave us an unbelievably close game. We won by a goal. Then we won our second game, against Cirencester Park, by 10, which gave us a big confidence boost.

“We needed one more win to go through.

Against Lechuza we squandered a two-goal lead in the last chukka and lost in overtime, so it was do or die when we met Talandracas.

Unluckily for them, Lucas Monteverde pulled his riding muscle in the second minute. John Paul Clarkin replaced him and played brilliantly, but he had already played a whole high-goal match the same day. We were losing at half-time but we won by four.

“We drew Loro Piana in the quarter-finals and that was a memorable day. Our team performance and tactics were right from the beginning, the penalties went in and we were happy. Our semi-final was a bridge too far for the horses and we didn't maintain our composure in the game that mattered – so we never got to face the mighty Cambiaso.

“It was brilliant that Jerome did so well – he has gone from eight-goal polo to reaching these semis in four years. Julian was brilliant – and he kept some complicated characters facing in the same direction.”

Borwick heads next to St Tropez with the Europe-based patron Shahe Kalaidjian.

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Herbert Spencer provides a no-nonsense assessment of the second International Test Match of the season and reports on a performance by an all-female, FIP Championship-bound England side that will have brought them down to earth eaufort Polo Club’s brilliantly organised Country Fair appeared to be just what the polo spin doctors ordered for attracting newcomers to the sport, with rousing family activities drawing in a big crowd to watch the main event, England’s national team in one of their three annual at-home internationals.

That June Saturday at Beaufort may have been great fun for the uninitiated, but for hard-core polo fans it was disappointing that the Audi England team had to play a scratch team of available foreign players rather than a truly representative side of another country. To be

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MVP Marcos Di Paola with former England rugby captain, Phil Vickery, who lives in Gloucestershire

honest, it was not a proper international and, one suspects, even the England players themselves consider the Beaufort Test just a “warm-up” game for the Coronation Cup on the HPA’s Cartier International Day. This year Audi England fielded their top-rated players at Beaufort, in effect their first team, against a made-up side misleadingly called “The Americas”, even though all four members were Argentine without a North American in sight. Not only that, but the Beaufort Test was once again only five chukkas, whereas six chukkas are the norm for polo at 22 goals and above.

One cannot avoid comparing the Beaufort Test

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Mark Tomlinson and Nico Pieres go head to head in the season’s second international Test match at Beaufort Polo Club. England were beaten, 9-81/2

Photographs by Charles Sainsbury Plaice

with the St Regis International Test Match at Cowdray Park Polo Club in May, when England played an official South Africa team in a regulation six-chukka match, which went to seven chukkas before the home team triumphed with a golden goal.

At Beaufort, England were a 27-goal team against The Americas’ 28-goal aggregate, so the home team started with half a goal on the scoreboard to reflect the handicap difference.

Whether deliberate or not, the line-ups agreed by the HPA meant that the Test could not involve any extra time. In the end, after leading for three chukkas, England fell to The Americas, 9-81/2.

The day was sunny but unseasonably cold, but there was plenty for the 3,000 visitors, including many families with children, to see and do before the main event. The array of more than 60 retail tents was impressive. England team sponsor Audi UK was there with their latest model cars. There

were Morris dancers, a jazz band, demonstrations of sheep breeds and dry stonewalling, with the Wick & District beagle pack and an exciting falconry display out on the main ground.

The Beaufort ground, much to the credit of the ground staff, was in perfect condition for a highgoal match. Then came the international that wasn’t really an international, although most of

Americas ahead. Luke Tomlinson responded with a field goal straight from the throw-in, then converted a spot penalty a few yards out. Marcos Di Paola found the posts just before the bell to end the period 21/2-2 for England.

The Americas briefly regained the lead in the second chukka when Lucas Di Paola scored from the first throw-in, but England hit back with a field

It was disappointing that England had to play a scratch team not representative of another country the crowd didn’t seem to mind. Interest was focused on two sets of brothers opposing one another: Beaufort’s own Luke and Mark Tomlinson for England and Marcos and Lucas Di Paola for The Americas.

Lucas Di Paola drew first blood halfway through a scrappy first chukka with a field goal to put The

goal by Mark Tomlinson followed by two from James Beim, leaving the home team 51/2-3 up.

The third chukka saw The Americas come back with goals from the field by Ignacio Toccalino and Lucas Di Paola and a conversion by Marcos Di Paola, but England held a 61/2-6 advantage with a conversion by Luke Tomlinson.

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Lucas Di Paola takes the ball on for The Americas in front of the Beaufort’s recently-created ground-side viewing mound; Young England (l-r: Eden Ormerod; Lanto Sheridan; Jack Richardson; and Ed Parsons) lifts the Horse & Hound Cup after a resounding victory over England Ladies; Tamara Vestey with her mother, Rosie

Photographs by centaurphotographic.com

X

The Americas held England scoreless in the fourth period and went ahead 8-61/2 with field goals by Toccalino and Marcos Di Paola.

In the fifth and final chukka, Luke Tomlinson pulled one back for England with a 30-yard conversion, matched by a 60-yard penalty shot by Marcos Di Paola. James Beim scored the match’s last goal on a fast run from deep inside England’s own territory – but The Americas had won, 9-81/2. n the second game of the day, Young England soundly defeated England Ladies 8-31/2 to take the Horse & Hound Cup. If the performance of England’s top ladies side is anything to go by, England’s female players had best look to their laurels if they are to be competitive against their male counterparts from nine other nations in the FIP European 8-Goal Championship in September.

On paper the ladies, average age 32, looked to be a more experienced side than the boys, average age 21, and they were led by Nina Clarkin, at handicap 4 the highest rated player on the

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ground. She had played for England in the FIP World Cup and was named Pommery Most Outstanding Lady Professional at the 2010 Audi Polo Awards.

On the day, however, Young England simply overpowered the women’s team, holding them scoreless for two of the four chukkas.

England Ladies started the match with half a goal on the scoreboard, reflecting the handicap difference between the two teams. Young England negated this with a field goal from 19-year old Jack Richardson and from then on the boys dominated the game.

England Ladies’ only scores, in the first and third chukkas, came from Clarkin who hit two field goals and converted one penalty shot. Young England’s eight goals came from Richardson and Lanto Sheridan, with one from Eden Omerod.

It was Nina Clarkin who stepped in to volunteer the ladies to put together an England team for the FIP 8-Goal European in Austria in two months time, the first-ever all-female side in the

competition. From the Beaufort result, they need a lot of practice before then. F Beaufort International Test Match, 19 June 2010; Beaufort Polo Club, Westonbirt, Gloucestershire Result: The Americas beat Audi England 9-81/2 Handicap level: 27-28 goal Chukka scores (The Americas): 2-21/2; 3-51/2; 6-61/2; 8-61/2; 9-81/2 Most valuable player: Ignacio Toccalino ROR award for best retrained racehorse: Tomorrow, played by Luke Tomlinson, owned by Will Lucas Teams The Americas (28): Lucas Di Paola 6; Nicolas Pieres 7; Marcos Di Paola 8; Ignacio Toccalino 7 Audi England (27): James Beim 7; Mark Tomlinson 7; Malcolm Borwick 6; Luke Tomlinson 7 Young England (11): Ed Parsons 2; Jack Richardson 3; Lanto Sheridan 3; Eden Ormerod 3 England Ladies (10): Rosie Ross 2; Emma Tomlinson 2; Nina Clarkin 4; Tamara Vestey 2

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When Clarita met Claire Against stiff opposition the Tomlinsons’ Los Locos clock their fourth victory in the Guards medium-goal 20-team showpiece – and their first with both mother and son at the heart of it, says Sophie Kyriazi or players and patrons unable to play high-goal, the Royal Windsor is the next best thing.

It’s the tournament everyone wants to win,” declared commentator Glen Gilmore as the finalists rode out onto the ground. This year, there was no clear favourite in the final between Los Locos and Clarita. Both had battled hard through the opening stages and harder still through the quarter- and semi-finals. Twenty teams were in the mix, fielding pros of all nationalities and handicaps, from Adolfo Cambiaso to Ruki Baillieu to Nina Clarkin.

“Every game we’ve played has been tougher than the last,” commented Clarita manager German Llorens after Clarita overcame the well drilled and well mounted Billingbear Park in the semis in extra-time. “Its easy to forget how hard this tournament is from year to year until you get back out there to play it!”

At the start of the final Los Locos took a swift lead, with Mark Tomlinson and Ignacio Toccalino

‘F

L-r: the Clarita team of Matt Lodder, Tomas Garcia del Rio, Roddy Williams and Chris Mathias; HM The Queen, Khalaf Al Habtoor; Los Locos: Claire Tomlinson, Mark Tomlinson, Ignacio Toccalino and George Gemmell

Tomlinson or Toccalino to leave the pathway clear for his pros. Clarita’s Matt Lodder (3) played well above his handicap, switching quickly between runs in attack to marking men in defence.

Calls of “Go, mum, go!” could be heard throughout the game as Mark roared downfield in

Photographs by Neil Egerton of Images of Polo

“You forget how hard this tournament is each year until you get out there!” – German Llorens, Clarita manager scoring three quick goals, catching the opposition off-guard. However, Clarita’s Tomas Garcia del Rio regrouped his foursome and returned two within the first two minutes of the second chukka. From then on, the teams matched each other goal for goal.

Whilst the professionals dominated the scoring, it was the work of the lower handicapped players that made the game so exciting. Juracy Santos of BHC, who were beaten in the semifinals by Los Locos, said: “In the semis George Gemmell and Claire Tomlinson were blocking all the time – and they’re doing the same today.”

Clarita patron and MVP Chris Mathias did a similar job for his team, often taking out Mark

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the wake of his mother. “Claire’s amazing,” declared Gilmore. “It’s still clear why she was once the world’s best female player.”

After a tough battle Los Locos won by a goal, notching their fourth Royal Windsor victory – their first for mother and son together. “The win is fantastic,” said Mark. “But it makes it all the more important to win it with mum.”

As always, horsepower played a huge part in both finalists’ route to the big day. “I always hate playing Clarita,” a Guards member was overheard saying, “because their horses are so well organised!” It was, however, Americana, mare of Ignacio Toccalino’s, that won best playing pony.

“Maybe it was down to horsepower in the end,” said Clarita’s Roddy Williams after the game. “We had to double ours in the quarters and semis to overcome two really tough teams, whilst Los Locos had a slightly easier run to the final.”

“This is our second final,” said Mathias. “Los Locos were fantastic opponents, and for sure we’ll be back next year!” F

Royal Windsor Cup; 28 May-20 June; Guards Polo Club Result: Los Locos beat Clarita 9-8 Principal sponsor: Al Habtoor Handicap level: 12-15 goal Number of team entries: 20 Chukka scores (Los Locos): 3-0; 5-3; 6-6; 8-6; 9-8 Best playing pony: Americana, a 12-year-old Argentine mare played by Ignacio Toccalino Most valuable player: Chris Mathias Teams: Clarita: Chris Mathias (1), Roddy Williams (5), Tomas Garcia del Rio (6), Matt Lodder (3) Los Locos: Clare Tomlinson (1) Mark Tomlinson (7) Ignacio Toccalino (7), George Gemmell (0)

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Clockwise from above: George Gemmell (left) battles with the higher handicapped Tomas Garcia del Rio, with Claire Tominson behind; Mark Tomlinson (left) and Tomas Garcia del Rio; Clarita’s young British three-goaler Matt Lodder at full gallop

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Report Meyado Archie David

Caroline Stern watches a determined foursome leave their opponents scoreless until half-time and add another title to their growing collection live Reid’s AFB team’s successes continued with a decisive victory over Asprey Equibuild in the Meyado Archie David Cup at Guards. This was a long-held ambition for Reid. “We have won the Holden White three times and the Victor Ludorum last year,” he said, “but the Archie David has always eluded me, so it’s exciting to win at last.”

Getting there was half the battle: “One of our toughest matches was against Santa Rita in the quarter- finals. Francois Le Barazer is a very nice guy, with a very serious team and we won by one goal. It was tough – but so were all our matches.”

In the final, AFB fielded a nine-goal team, following a predictable mid-season handicap increase for James Carr, giving Asprey Equibuild a half-goal on the scoreboard.

With most spectators in the bar watching football, James Harper won the first throw-in for AFB and opened the scoring. Standing in for the injured Pete Webb, Harper prevented Chris Hyde from retaliating after the next throw-in and passed to Carr, who also scored. Harper then put in another right away, making it 3-1/2 in the first three minutes.

Chukka two started close to AFB’s target and Seb Dawnay calmly put another in for AFB within

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Photograph by Tony Ramirez

L-r: James Harper, Seb Dawnay, James Carr and Clive Reid

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30 seconds. A foul saw Asprey Equibuild awarded a spot hit, but Hyde’s powerful strike was challenged

by Dawnay, who whacked an accurate nearside backhand to an unmarked Harper, who strolled the ball into goal.

Despite further attention from Dawnay, Hyde slipped the ball past three opposition players from centre to goal and was unlucky to hit wide. After a technical, Harper’s lofted shot increased AFB’s lead to 5-1/2 by half-time.

“One of our toughest games was against Santa Rita – a very serious team” – Clive Reid “Can Asprey get back in the game?” asked commentator Greg Keating. Hyde rallied to even greater efforts in chukka three, as Bown applied himself to marking Harper. Finally, Hyde put in Asprey Equibuild’s first goal, and his side made it 621/2 by the bell, also preventing AFB from scoring during this third and most competitive chukka.

Simon Holley was substituted in the fourth by 19-year-old Andreas Papoyans of Wellington College and Asprey Equibuild’s resurgence continued as Bown scored from the first throw-in.

Another mighty penalty from the centre had the

distance but went wide for Hyde, with AFB beset by similar accuracy issues.

With two minutes left, Hyde found himself alone at the back, enabling Harper to hammer yet another home, leaving the final score 7-41/2.

Tournament sponsor and ex-cavalryman Martin Young wished this year’s finals day to be a tribute to members of the Household Cavalry wounded in Afghanistan. A special guest was Lance-Corporal Martyn Compton, the sole survivor of an ambush on his reconnaissance vehicle in 2006; he is still recovering from extensive injuries. Corporal Compton presented the prize for the Best Playing Pony to James Harper’s Prize, a nine-year-old Australian mare. F

The Archie David Cup: 1-27 June, Guards Polo Club Result: AFB beat Asprey Equibuild 7-41/2 Handicap level: 4 to 8 goal Number of teams entered: 26 Chukka scores (AFB): 3-1/2; 6-1/2; 6-21/2; 7-41/2 Finalists: AFB (9): Clive Reid 0, James Carr 0, Sebastian Dawnay 4, James Harper 5 Asprey Equibuild (8): Paul Knight -1, Simon Holley 0 (substituted in chukka 4 by Andreas Papoyans 0), Tim Bown 3, Chris Hyde 6

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Hugh Daly, MD of Equibuild, has been constructing equestrian facilities for some 20 years and has been involved with many prestigious projects.

Working throughout Europe, recent polo projects have included the resurfacing of the Emsworth Polo Club arena at Barton Lodge Farm with “Softrack Wax Polo” and resurfacing the canter track. Currently JeanFrançois Deceaux’s La Bamba team are training on the facilities and are extremely impressed; Hugh Daly also built “La Arena” at La Baille in France for Monsieur Decaux some 10 years ago.

Gallop/canter track in Deauville

Equibuild is also behind the new canter track at Anningsley Park for Christopher Hanbury’s El Remanso team and the canter track and arena at Todham stables for Jerome Wirth’s Enigma team. Both installations are considered first class by the owners and players.

Other achievements include a full-size outdoor floodlit polo arena at the Sowiniec Polo Club, Poznan, Poland, and the 100x50m covered polo arena at Polo del Sol, near Jerez, Spain, one of the largest covered arenas in Europe. Further projects are shortly to be underway as far afield as Sri Lanka and Oman. Construction is also

underway of the Mellon Stud Complex, near Oxford, for some £2.5 million.

Hugh Daly works closely with Softrack and is well placed to provide the perfect balance of ingredients to make the waxed polo surface required for the demands of polo. Owners and riders alike all comment on its unique ride and recommend us whenever possible. Hugh now splits his time between construction of world-class equestrian facilities and promoting the Softrack throughout the world for all equestrian disciplines.

Visit www.equibuild.com & www.softracksurfaces.com

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Report British Beach Polo Championships

fter rain and cold blighted the 2009 British Beach Polo Championships, guests and organisers at the third year of the HPA-sanctioned event last month were relieved to be reaching for sun cream and champagne rather than scarves and coats. Many people still chose to employ their umbrellas, but this year with the intention of shielding themselves from UV rays rather than irritating precipitation.

Thus, with the biggest obstacle to the success of the two-day event nullified, the attention turned – sort of – to the polo. Whilst organiser Johnny Wheeler was at pains to remind us that “the real

Photograph by Paul Froud

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reason” we were there was “the top-quality action”, at times it wasn’t entirely clear whether it was a sentiment that everyone shared. The new layout of this year’s site meant that guests first discovered the bars, soft seating areas, trade stands and VIP hospitality marquee before they came across the activities in the playing arena. And, as a plethora of minor celebrities and models frolicked, posed and drank with collagen and silicone-enhanced wannabes, it was clear that many of them got distracted and didn’t even make it as far as the ground.

Nevertheless, even on the quieter Friday a constant splattering of interested spectators sprinkled themselves around the grandstands throughout the lengthy string of games, and the unusual sight of horses, camels and lean volleyballers drew plenty of attention from the general public on the beach and adjacent footpath.

Inevitably, the unpredictable and slow sandy surface meant the games themselves weren’t exactly the best advertisement for what the broad brush of “polo” can offer, but the ground did play considerably better than in 2009 and the players seemed largely happy with the orchestration of the event for them and their horses.

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Sophie Heaton-Ellis successfully devised a tournament programme to accommodate a remarkable eight three-man teams in total, and the logistics she put in place appeared to run smoothly.

The extra excavation of the beach itself in the arena avoided the fetlock-deep dramas of last summer, though the exceptionally dry heat meant that no amount of watering on the preceding evenings could prevent the ground from cutting up.

Despite rolling and raking the sand every two chukkas, even the enormous and much-debated beach polo ball found plenty of accommodating slots in which to sink, preventing the players from demonstrating the true thrill of polo’s usually exhilarating speed and skill.

However, plenty of good players were on show (and most brought their own ponies), joining forces with young talents and familiar patrons, and the games were played in a good spirit with plenty of goals and some fine moments. Fans for the 15-goal internationals at the close of each day’s play also left happy, as England’s Jack Kidd, Jamie Morrison and Charlie Wooldridge displayed their experience on the sand to win both contests against their opponents from Argentina.

In the two-day 12-goal tournament, Cameron Bacon’s Moore Capital side emerged on top at the end of the event, beating ELS International Law 9-6 in a one-sided final to take home the trophy.

Did many people watching care? Not particularly, but the games and other events made for a interesting spectacle and a fun day out, and once again expanded polo’s profile to a new and happy audience.

“It was a really good vibe and I loved the horses,” said Friday’s guest of honour Calum Best, son of legendary footballer George and now a TV

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personality in his own right. “I went to last year’s Cartier, so it wasn’t my first polo experience, but you have to give great credit to the players, as it looks very difficult indeed. I prefer the pace of the game on grass but the beach surrounding certainly sets a cool mood. The camels were also an interesting addition, though I definitely prefer the speed of the polo ponies.”

“The organisers tried really hard to improve the surface this year,” said Moore Capital’s winning professional Adolfo Casabal. “But it’s clearly a tough job because, after the first few games, the sand became loose again and the depth made it

The public were intrigued by the unusual sight of horses, camels and lean volleyballers really hard work for the horses. But, that said, it was good fun and everyone watching seemed to enjoy it. The party in particular introduced plenty of new people into the fun aspect of our sport.”

So, when taken for what it is, the response from most people appears to have been positive. In my view, things might be improved next year with one or two fewer teams (and therefore games), such that each could gain slightly more significance, and it would also allow for a welcome gap in the relentless ear-splitting commentary (which at times was counter-productive in tempting people over to the grandstands to watch).

However, set on the peninsula that has been dubbed “the world’s most expensive real estate” and against the gorgeous backdrop of boats and swimmers in the English channel with the Isle of

Wight beyond, it is hard to imagine not enjoying the opportunity to go back and see how the Championships progress. Plus, as David HeatonEllis’s final legacy, the event will surely get all the support from the polo community it needs. F ◗ Turn to page 82 for more action and some social snaps from across the weekend. ◗ The 2011 British Beach Polo Championships will take place on 8-9 July.

British Beach Polo Championships; 9-10 July 2010; Sandbanks, Dorset Result: Moore Capital beat ELS International Law 10-6, and England beat South America 6-4 and 1110 Handicap level: 12 and 15-goal Principal sponsor: Champagne Pommery Number of 12-goal team entries: six Most valuable players: Pablo Sylvia and Gonzalo Garcia de Rio Final teams Moore Capital (12): Cameron Bacon 1; Gonzalo Garcia de Rio 5; Adolfo Casabal 6 ELS International Law (11): Christian Badenhop 2; Will Blake-Thomas 3; Dave Allen 6 International teams England (15): Charlie Wooldridge 2; Jack Kidd 6; Jamie Morrison 7 Argentina (12): Pablo Sylvia 2; Matias Ballesteros 4; Adolfo Casabal 6

Action from Friday’s international between England and Argentina.

England triumphed in their game on both days

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Report Crabbie’s International Ladies’ Championships

Humid heat, cool cocktails and cracking action awaited players and spectators at one of the ladies’ game’s most successful new tournaments, says Lucy Northmore ix strong teams entered the fray at the second running of Coworth Park’s late-June all-female tournament, organised by polo photographer Alice Gipps and Polonetworks. Though their team handicaps ranged from just 0 to 2 goals, the sides featured most of the best current female professionals, Nina Clarkin (4), Rosie Ross (2), Argentines Lia Salvo and Marianela Castagnola (both 2), Sarah Wiseman, Lucy Taylor, Freddie Rosso-Baldacchino and Charlotte Sweeney (all 1).

The five-day tournament on Coworth’s immaculate grounds culminated in a Sunday final – rescheduled to midday from 3pm to enable the 500 spectators to watch England’s fateful match against Germany afterwards. In 30-degree heat, the crowd was grateful for the free cocktails and alcoholic ginger beer provided by title sponsors Crabbie’s Crabbie’s also backed one of the finalists, which featured Wiseman, Gipps, Heloise Lorentzen and Aurora Eastwood. The foursome won both their

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Photograph by Alice Gipps

The final was rescheduled to midday to enable the crowd to watch England’s fateful football match against Germany at 3pm play-offs in, beating Claire Milford-Haven’s Jaeger LeCoultre, captained by Clarkin, and Ploy Bhinsaeng’s team King Power, captained by Sweeney. They faced local sponsor the Belvedere Arms, which featured Ross, Taylor, Lucinda Watson and Alex Jacobs.

The sides were well matched and no goals resulted from a tight first chukka, after which Crabbie’s found their attacking stride. Glen Gilmore, coaching Wiseman and co from the sidelines, said: “Both teams hit balls most of the way down the field and their backhands were perfect. The match

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Players from the final and subsidiary game converge at the post-match presentations. Crabbie’s (back, centre, in black, green and orange) won the tournament (l-r: Alice Gipps, Heloise Lorentzen, Aurora Eastwood, Sarah Wiseman)

was played at a speed you’d normally expect of a higher handicapped tournament.” Though Belvedere fought hard, their opponents’ strategy and teamplay won the day, and Crabbie’s won 6-2.

In the subsidiary final Yasmin Sheikh’s team BHC met King Power in an equally compelling game.

After fast-flowing, open action the scoreboard read 8-61/2 to BHC after four chukkas.

At the prize-giving and party at the nearby Belvedere Arms the stars of the weekend, nominated by New Zealander Roddy Wood, polo manager at Coworth Park, were revealed. Sarah Wiseman won MVP – earning a weekend for two in Paris courtesy of sponsor Dorchester Collection and a Full Swing Polo stick blanket. The mare Paulita, recently purchased by Aurora Eastwood, was named best playing pony: after a long, sweltering day her groom happily received a crate of Crabbie’s alcoholic ginger beer.

Best turned-out string went to Alex Jacob, who groomed her immaculate ponies herself with the support of sister Nell Jacobs and mum Nikki Jacobs.

Marianela Castagnola won MVP in the subsidiary

finals receiving Crabbie’s ginger wine and dinner at the Belvedere Arms, while best playing pony went to Balad, owned by BHC and played by Lia Salvo.

Other prizes were provided by Casablanca, Coco Boutique, Stickhedz and Aerborn. F ◗ Girls: is it more fun to play ladies’ or mixed polo?

Tell us by writing to letters@polotimes.co.uk Crabbie’s Coworth Park Ladies International Championships 23– 27 June, Coworth Park Polo Club Result: Crabbies beat Belvedere Arms, 6-2 Principal sponsor: Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer Handicap level: 2-goal Number of teams entered: six Most valuable player: Sarah Wiseman Best playing pony: Paulita, owned by Aurora Eastwood Final teams: Crabbies (2): Alice Gipps 0; Aurora Eastwood 1; Heloise Lorentzen 0; Sarah Wiseman 1 The Belvedere Arms (2): Lucinda Watson -1; Alex Jacobs 0; Rosie Ross 2; Lucy Taylor 1

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Report Youth special – schools and universities

School’s out –

and so is the talent To kick off our bumper youngsters’ special, Sarah Styler rounds up the action at the Roxtons SUPA National Senior Schools Championships n Sunday 27 July, 12 schools put forward their elite teams for the SUPA National Championships, sponsored by Roxtons, at Longdole Polo Club in Gloucestershire. On a sun-drenched day superb talent from the young players was on display, with the umpires Dan Banks and Lavinia Black (assisted by George Beresford) impressed with the spirit in which the polo was played.

For many of the players in Division One, this was to be the last opportunity to represent their school and thus, the 2010 title was hotly contested. An eventful two-chukka final between Marlborough and Millfield was to decide the winners.

The play was fast and furious from the offset with an impressive nearside forehand shot from Max Hutchinson to give Millfield an early lead.

Play was halted soon after by a painful injury for Millfield’s Ed Courage. Medics suspected a broken knuckle and a substitute was sought. Cheltenham College’s Thady Duff came to the rescue – and the delay gave spectators the chance to catch up on the World Cup score, 1-0 to the Germans!

The second chukka began with a second early goal to Millfield, followed by more drama in a spectacular fall by Marlborough’s Freddie Dear.

Pony and rider were eventually reunited and play continued. A mêlée in the Millfield goal resulted in a 40-yard penalty, taken swiftly by Harold Hodges but saved on the line with a stick high in the air by Max Hutchinson. Marlborough pressed hard and were soon rewarded with a goal from a penalty, superbly executed

by Freddie Dear.

With less than a minute to go, Marlborough were determined to equalise and in the dying

Photographs by Stuart Hill

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seconds were awarded another penalty. Freddie Dear took the shot but was denied the goal by a deflection and clearance by Jack Mesquita. The final ended in a 2-1 victory for Millfield.

In Division Two, four teams from Heathfield, Bradfield, Rugby and Wycliffe

Gatta poses politely with her owner Harriet French, Polo Times publisher Margie Brett and Jeremy Barber

fought it out with an eventual well-deserved victory for Rugby.

An array of silverware and prizes were presented by Jeremy Barber, starting with the Polo Times best playing pony rug won

by Gatta. The mare posed beautifully for her photo alongside her owner, Harriet French from Heathfield, and Polo Times publisher Margie Brett. The Cheltenham Ladies’ College Cup and kneepads donated by the Worshipful Company of Saddlers went to Rugby’s James Hudson as the most promising player of the tournament.

For many in Division One, this would be the last opportunity to represent their schools

40 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

Radley’s polo master Jonathan Wolstenhume was presented with a bottle of champagne on his retirement after 16 years of schools polo. SUPA would like to thank all the polo masters for their enthusiasm and commitment to schools polo. X

Results Division One: 1st Millfield, 2nd Marlborough, 3rd Harrow, 4th Cheltenham College, 5th Stowe, 6th Shrewsbury, 7th Radley, 8th Pangbourne Division Two: 1st Rugby, 2nd Bradfield, 3rd Wycliffe, 4th Heathfield Millfield: Camilla Beresford, Jack Mesquita, Max Hutchinson, Ed Courage/Thady Duff (sub) Marlborough: Roddy Seymour-Williams, George Meade, Freddie Dear, Harold Hodges Rugby: Maddie Purver, Ben Tubbs, Ciara McKibbin, James Hudson, Further awards MVP: Harold Hodges (Marlborough) Best Girl: Emma Boers (Wycliffe) Dubal Cup for Commitment: George Sunderland (Harrow)

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Millfield (l-r: Ed Courage, Jack Mesquita, Max Hutchinson and Camilla Beresford with Jeremy Barber) and below, action between Millfield and Marborough

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Photograph by Tom Reynolds

Report Youth special – schools and universities

The British Junior Team, which beat UK Juniors, with schools manager Sarah Styler (l-r): Meely Edmondson, Henry Rigby, Juan Jose de Alba and Charlie Pidgley

Mike Hobday reports from the Pidgley Foundation International SUPA Polo Festival at Cirencester, which was supported by La Martina X

lorious weather throughout July’s Festival gave the visiting Italian team a taste of home, and even though Saturday 10th at Cirencester Park Polo Club was a bit overcast the temperature was hot, just like the talent of all ages on show.

A large crowd gathered throughout the day and was admirably catered for by Relish, the club caterers, whose mobile noodle bar went down very well. It was a long day, starting at 11am with University Ladies, taking on the School Ladies.

After the last two years, when the schools had won, the University girls were set for

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Next up at 1.30pm were the Juniors, an eagerly awaited affair featuring eight of the best youngsters in the country. They didn’t disappoint as the crowd saw a fast open match with Charlie Pidgley and JJ de Alba overcoming the Hitchman/Severn/Gibbons combination to take the honours.

The Schools match provided a fitting pipeopener to the International Test, and with some of the finest schools’ talent on display this was probably the best game, with the British Schools side running out the victors over a very determined UK team. Great thanks go to Roddy Seymour Williams for standing in for this team as illness struck one of their players on Friday.

For the third year the schools gave the universities a right drubbing, Maddy Meacher and Amelia Scott Hopkins inflicting most of the damage revenge. Alas it was not to be and for the third year in a row they received a right drubbing, Maddy Meacher and Amelia Scott Hopkins doing most of the damage for the schools. There is always next year!

The British University team (for non-English students) was narrowly beaten by their English counterparts in the next game of the day. Jeremy Pidgeon (–2) proved very impressive and perhaps made the difference.

42 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

The finale of the day and indeed the International Festival week was the second Test between British International and Italia Polo Team for the Pidgley Foundation Junior Gold Cup. Although the Italians were slightly weaker than they were in the first Test at Guards Polo Club on Tuesday (which British International won 7–3) , the coaching they received from Jason Dixon at the Cirencester Park Polo Academy certainly paid off, and although British

Results Roxtons School Ladies (Emma Boers, Saskia Meadows, Amelia Scott Hopkins, Maddy Meacher) beat The Polo Magazine University Ladies (Lucia Mander, Blair Able, Rebecca Griffiths, Rhi Lee-Jones) UK Universities (Jeremy Pidgeon, Ed Foster, Ali Paterson, Barney Wilson) beat British Universities (Krishna Choudhary, Constantijn Huynen, Andrew Drummond Moray, Nicholson Boyd) British Juniors (Meely Edmondson, Henry Rigby, Charlie Pidgley, JJ de Alba) beat UK Juniors (Plum Schrager, David Gibbons, Ollie Severn, Charlie Hitchman) British Schools (Tim Pearce May, Thady Duff, Will Frankum, Alex Cary) beat UK Schools (Archie Rutland, James Hudson, Roddy Seymour Williams, Richard Hine) British International (Ciara McKibbin, Robin Spicer, Tom Meacher, Ed Batchelor) beat Italia Polo Team (Vittoria Marchiorello, Edoardo Ottaviani, Boris Bignoli, Costanza Marchiorello, Edward Foxon)

International again won, this time 6–2, the game could easily have been lost.

Tony Pidgley and the heads of sections were on hand to present La Martina and SUPA prizes to all the players and Robin Spicer collected the

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Camilla Swift marvels at another record turnout for the Akuma National Universities Champs wo fields, three days and 171 chukkas; impossible some might say. But, put Mike Hobday and the SUPA committee in charge of operations, and the result is yet another hugely successful SUPA championship.

After the astounding success of the SUPA Universities Arena Championships in February it was always going to take a lot of effort to make a similar success of the Summer Polo Championships, but incredibly the SUPA organisers managed it. Following the Guinness Record-breaking 107 teams who entered in February, the summer Championships at Offchurch Bury attracted an incredible 86 teams, a figure which has once again been submitted to the Guinness book of records in an attempt to break another record. And if the huge number of teams entering the championships didn’t do enough to illustrate how much the sport of polo is growing in popularity in Universities, the standard of polo on display certainly did.

Fortunately for everyone, we were blessed with three days of fabulous British summer weather, with the skies only breaking as Mike Hobday launched into his prize-giving speech on Sunday afternoon.

Despite the unfortunate scheduling of the Jack Wills Varsity match between Oxford and Cambridge at Guards on the Saturday meaning that there was no Open Section at this year’s tournament, this was probably a blessing in

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Tom Meacher and Edward Foxon in GB vs Italy

Polo Times Rug for the Best Playing Pony on behalf of his pony, Major.

Alessandro Giachetti, on behalf of the visiting Italian team, was on hand to make presentations and to thank SUPA and the Pidgley Foundation for their support and finally to invite a British SUPA team to play in Italy in 2011.

disguise for the SUPA organisers; given the huge number of teams entering the other sections this year, there probably wouldn’t have been room to fit an Open Section amongst the other chukkas.

However, both the Upper Intermediate and Combined sections showcased some extremely high level play, with old hands such as Newcastle’s Ed Bachelor, who won MVP in the Upper Intermediate section, leading his team to victory.

As per usual, the quality of horses on the pitch was astounding, and it took some debate before the Best Playing Pony Prize, proudly donated by Polo Times, was awarded to Tomba, played by Holly King for Nottingham in the Novice 1 section.

Plus, if by any chance the on-pitch action wasn’t sufficiently entertaining, the tournament’s title sponsors AKUMA thoughtfully provided both players and spectators with evening entertainment three days running. As well as the usual drinks and music, they also set up a huge screen for the England football match on the Saturday evening, which just goes to show that they definitely know how to keep students happy.

Following the 2010 National Universities Summer Polo Championships, there can be no doubt as to the increasing popularity of the SUPA tournaments; let’s just hope that SUPA can cope with their expanding membership. F

Dan Deville, president of the Association Polo des Grandes Ecoles, Ecoles and Universites (the French equivalent of SUPA), was a guest at the National Universities Tournament at Offchurch Bury in June. He talks to PJ Seccombe “I BECAME PRESIDENT of the first school polo section in France at the Institute of Paris and increased the membership from two to 120. I then started about 20 polo sections in different schools under the framework of the French Federation of Polo. Then, to become independent, I launched my association, which now has 1,200 members.

“It covers the whole of France and has 40 schools and universities as members. Several international schools play regularly with us and numerous British schools come and play in our tournaments.

“Most of our tournaments take place at Chantilly, which has 12 grounds, two of

which are sand, allowing us to play the whole year round.

“Five per cent of our players own ponies but encouragingly more and more players are buying as more and more players continue when they leave university.

“Having started young they are in love with the sport and are keen to represent their universities as alumni when their education is finished.

“We have several ambitions that I share with Charles Betz. We want to increase the number of players and become even more international.

This is another positive way to increase the number of players and followers of polo in France and worldwide.”

“Most of our tournaments take place at Chantilly Polo Club, which has 12 grounds”

Dan Deville with his UK counterpart Charles Betz

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Reports At home and abroad RCBPC

Far left (l-r): Juan Ambroggio (6), Ben Wilson (0), Patron Paul Obershneider (0), Diego Cavanagh (6) and Jack Richardson (3)

More is Moore

Left: Jack Richardson and Richard Le Poer ride off for the ball

Louisa Crofton reports from another busy season at the Berkshire, where Paul Oberschneider continued with winning ways

ntries for the 2010 Smatt’s International Eduardo Moore Tournament were up two from last year, as nine sides fought it out for the coveted 15-goal trophy last month. There were some closely fought group games but in the end it was Asprey, La Golondrina, Jada and Zacara that progressed to the semi-finals.

Two exceptionally tight semi-finals saw narrow victories for La Golondrina and Jada, who beat Asprey London and Zacara respectively, each by a single score.

Paul Oberschneider’s La Golondrina side went into the final on 4 July probably as marginal favourites, having scooped the 12-goal Tyro Cup earlier in the season and with Diego Cavanagh in fantastic goal-scoring form. And so it proved. Cavanagh’s understanding with his teammate, fellow six-goaler Juan Ambroggio, was too much for Jada and, combined with their confidence with the ball and sheer pony power, they were unstoppable, running out to a 6-2 lead after four chukkas. Jada’s Tomas Garcia del Rio

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Below: Best Playing pony Dolly, belonging to Diego Cavanagh, with Ashley Smatt of Smatt’s rum

then did his best to close the gap but it was too late and La Golondrina eventually triumphed 7-5.

The winners were rewarded with British Airways first class flights to Jamaica and a seven-night stay at the Jamaican Inn, which was much appreciated by the players and also by Anthony Smith Johnson, the Jamaican High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, who was amongst the 200 spectators. Tommy Garcia Del Rio won the coveted most valuable player award and Diego Cavanagh’s beautiful grey mare Dolly won best playing pony.

Eduardo Moore finalists La Golondrina (15): Paul Oberschneider 0; Diego Cavanagh 6; Juan Ambroggio 6; Jack Richardson 3 Jada (15): Maurice Salem 0; Richard Le Poer 4; Ryan Pemble 5; Tomas Garcia del Rio 6

Germany

Polo Times finishes top of ten POLO CLUB Berlin-Brandenburg, Germany’s largest polo club, has been a hive of activity this summer, having hosted the country’s low- and medium-goal championships in early June.

An all-German side from Niedersaechsischer Polo Club, representing Polo Times, triumphed in the low-goal tournament, finishing ahead of

the nine other entries in the largest competition of the season.

Eight teams took part in the mediumgoal championship, with Medienkraftwerk Polo from Rhein Polo Club in Düsseldorf the favourites. They were the outstanding side throughout the competition, dominating all the games and controlling a tight final with Zollpack to win 9-7.

The winning Polo Times team in some lovely shirts

France

Young frog leaps at his chance to shine CHANTILLY POLO CLUB (pictured left) hosted the Polo Charity Cup in late June in aid of UNICEF’s projects to help educate under-privileged children. The final pitted In The Wings against Castel.

In The Wings’ captain Andre Fabre, a respected thoroughbred trainer in France, combined well with on-loan high-goal professional Francisco Bensadon to bring them the victory, 44 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

11-9. However, arguably the most notable performance of the day came from young French zero-goaler Thomas Chouchanian on the opposing team, a player increasingly held by many to be the hope of French polo in the future.

The day was completed by a concert in the courtyard of the Ferme d’Apremont by the singer Ayo, French UNICEF patron, followed by a charity auction.

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College students go legit at the Berkshire AT RCBPC LAST MONTH, a number of resourceful law students launched what they hope will become a new tradition, the College of Law Invitational.

Arch rivals the College of Law and BPP recently exchanged battling in the courts for battling on Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club’s grounds, as six teams fought it out in two leagues.

In the advanced section final, SOAS overcame the College of Law A to become the first name etched onto a beautiful rosebowl trophy. In the novices division final, Roisin McCourt and Barnaby Levy formed an effective defensive partnership, which allowed their BBP team to hold on for victory over the College of Pete Barton (in green) shares a drink Law B team. Sam Outtridge was awarded the Advanced MVP with The College of Law’s Sally prize and Peter Barton claimed a well-deserved Beginners MVP. Brunton and Amit Kapur

Top pros provide splendid show ON SATURDAY 19 JUNE at RCBPC Team Hakkasan were the winners of the Pro Alvear charity match, writes Leah Ludlow. The American-style six-chukka tournament was designed to help raise money for the Fundacion Pro Alvear, which supports educational, social and economic development in the north Argentine Pampas region. The cause is one close to the Argentine players’ hearts, thus attracting the involvement of top highgoal professionals, Bautista Heguy and Gonzalito Pieres. Facundo Pieres had also been scheduled to play, but was forced to withdraw and watch from the sidelines. “The polo is for an important cause,” said Gonzalito. “It’s my third year here and is a fun exhibition that works really well.”

“It works well,” agreed English player Jamie Morrison, “because the short two-chukka contests allow spectators the opportunity to see so much polo talent from the big guys in one evening.” The polo was topped off with dinner given by sponsors Hakkasan, and a party.

Pro Alvear Charity teams Hakkasan (16): Edouard Guerrand-Hermes 0; Alexander Nix 1; Ruki Baillieu 7; Bautista Heguy 9 Automat (15): Lyndon Lea 1; Lucas White 2; Marc Noyer Maingard 3; Magoo Laprida 9 Arteviva (16): Mohammed Al Habtoor 0; Guy Schwarzenbach 2; Jamie Morrison 4; Gonzalo Pieres 10

Italy

Mixing polo and culture IN MAY, VLADI POLO Association, in partnership with the Italian Ministry of Youth, organised the first International Rome Challenge (pictured).

The event combined an exhibition by the cult fashion photographer Marco Glaviano and a three-way tournament between teams representing Italy, Russia and the USA. The evening before the tournament, there was a dinner at the Parco dei Principi Grand Hotel and the exhibition of Glaviano’s work,

which attracted more than 100 visitors. Five pieces of work, themed around “polo and fashion”, were displayed. Three pieces were on sale to the public.

More than 2,000 spectators came down the following day to watch as the three sides produced some terrific entertainment. Russia’s Vladi Polo Team faced Harpa Italia Polo from Italy in the final, but the home crowd left disappointed after the Russians ran out to a 4-2 victory.

Charlene Wittstock and Prince Albert of Monaco Below inset: Prince Harry of Team Asprey

Hurtwood Park

Rock meets royalty HURTWOOD PARK Polo Club played host to the Asprey World Class Cup on 17 July. With the ground beautifully prepared by head groundsman John Rankin and with more than 2,000 spectators, royal guests and celebrities such as Ronny Wood and Ruby Wax on hand to cheer on the teams, the day proved to be a big success.

Two entertaining games were played, the first of which was a celebrity match featuring Katie Price (aka Jordan), Amy Guy (from TV’s Gladiators), Steve Collins (former world middleweight boxing champion), and Hurtwood’s own Kenney Jones. The side, captained by Australian pro Glen Gilmore, was forced to find a replacement for the first two chukkas after Price arrived late for the contest. Jones’s side prevailed, winning 7-6.

However, all eight players were in place on time for the start of the day’s main attraction, the Asprey World Class Cup. Asprey’s own side included Prince Harry, American former 10goaler Mike Azzaro and Kenney Jones’s son Jay, but the team suffered defeat at the hands of a clinical and well organised Belstaff side, featuring Ignacio Toccalino and four-goaler James Glasson, who the next day co-hosted a new party following the Gold Cup final (see news pages). Belstaff, who received half a goal on handicap, won 51/2-3.

The Mahiki after-party was spectacular, complete with treasure chests galore and lashings of rum. Sponsors for the day included Asprey, House Of Fraser, Lotus, Belstaff and Mahiki Rum. Asprey World Class Cup teams: Asprey (14): HRH Prince Harry 1; Jay Jones 2; Mike Azzaro 8; Scott Devon 3 Belstaff (13): Nigel Warr 0; James Rome 2; James Glasson 4; Ignacio Toccalino 7

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Reports At home and abroad X

Ham

Cash for kids, thanks to Adolfos Casabal and Cambiaso THE LONDON POLO CLUB at Ham, which has raised more than £1.4 million for charitable causes over the past three years, continued to push this benevolent aspect of the club’s work with two fundraising polo evenings in late June.

The first was the 10th annual Childline Polo at Sundown exhibition match on 19 June, with the UK-based charity’s ambassador Esther Rantzen providing the biggest attraction off the field. On the field, Ham’s own polo manager Adolfo Casabal proved to be the difference between the two sides, scoring three impressive goals to clinch a

5-4 victory for the Childline team over Jet Bookings Direct.

Guests at the event then enjoyed a delicious dinner, during which they dug deep into their pockets, eventually raising more than £30,000 for this worthy cause in the course of the evening.

Charity was the name of the game a week later as well, as Adolfo Cambiaso played in another match at sundown for the children’s charity he created, Fundacion Ideas del Sur. The 10-goaler captained a Gaucho Argentina side against a Camino Real side led by his Dubai

teammate Pablo MacDonough, representing the Rest of the World. The sides produced a fast, even game, with Cambiaso displaying many of the skills he feels are unsuitable for the highgoal, tapping the ball in mid air as he galloped flat out down the ground.

The highlights of his personal performance were recorded from the player’s own perspective via a “bullet” video camera strapped to his trademark helmet emblazoned with the Argentine national flag: the film is viewable on the Polo Times website. Cambiaso’s side won.

Childline’s Esther Rantzen with Ham’s Pete McCormack; action from the Childline Polo at Sundown game; and Adolfo Cambiaso, winner in a second charity match in aid of children

Wales

Ireland

Water in Waterford and low-goal at Wicklow PERSISTENT RAIN on Saturday 10 July forced the cancellation of the annual exhibition match for the Argentine Republic Cup, an event jointly hosted by the Argentine Embassy and Waterford Polo Club. All was not lost, however, as the event, “A taste of Argentina”, went ahead as planned with more than 60 polo-goers enjoying empanadas, chorizo and Argentine wine in the clubhouse.

Luckily the sunshine returned the next day for club founder-chairman Major Hugh Dawnay and his Argentine-born wife Marie Inez to host a lunch party for 18 guests in their terraced garden.

Elsewhere in Ireland, slightly further north, two tournaments running simultaneously at Polo Wicklow over the same weekend created a typically exciting weekend of action at the east-coast club.

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Kay and Michael Bance with Ana Pisano de Ashton of the Argentine Embassy and Cllr Jack Walsh, former Mayor of Waterford

However, as in Waterford, after two fastpaced games on Friday, wet weather ruled out grass polo on the Saturday. The matches were transferred to the arena.

Sunday’s finals went ahead on grass once again, where Neptune won the –2-2 goal final and La Nina trimphed convincingly at the culmination of the –3-6 goal competition, 7-1.

Fundraising fun ANTHONY FANSHAWE led a GB team to victory against the Welsh in a charity match played at Glanusk Estate in Wales’s Usk Valley on 17 July. The aim was to raise money for the Welsh Guards Afghanistan appeal (www.welshguards appeal.com). The host of the event Harry Legge-Bourke has a special connection Action in Wales to the cause, having served with Lt Colonel Thorneloe, who was killed in Afghanistan last year.

Ricky Cooper, who captained the Welsh side, had flown in from New York to take part. GB played an impressive first chukka, quickly gaining a three-goal advantage. However, to the home crowd’s delight, Wales staged a valiant comeback. There was a controversial umpiring decision in the last few moments of the game which enabled the GB to win 4-31/2. The day was topped off with a post-match party. Goals, a clock, a scoreboard and plenty of advice was generously provided to the organisers by Beaufort Polo Club’s Claire Tomlinson.

Great Britain (4): Anthony Fanshawe 4; Alastair Paterson -2; Harold Hodges 1; Freddie Dear 1 Wales (4): Ricky Cooper -1; Juracy Sanotos 2; Andrew Blake-Thomas 4; Stuart Blake-Davies -1

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Home & abroad in brief

Binfield Heath

◗ VERE HARMSWORTH’S Ferne Park side was

Lucky ladies benefit from dry spell FOUR WOMEN’S teams had the privilege of playing on the hallowed turf at Black Bears, Shiplake, after a long spell of dry weather meant a switch of location for Binfield Heath's annual ladies’ tournament, sponsored by Sexy Kaftans.

Fierce competition in the first day’s games led to Charlotte Sweeney's Park Lane Polo and Sophie Heaton-Ellis's Team Phoenix meeting each other in finals on a Sunday. In a gripping contest, Park Lane Polo held onto the lead by a whisker until a last-minute goal by Phoenix saw them run out as tournament winners in the final seconds of the match. Outstanding plays by Charlotte Sweeney on her late father’s Gato led to him being chosen as the best playing pony.

the winner of the 12-goal Victor Ludorum Cup at Beaufort Polo Club last month, finishing top of the 10 sides that entered, having narrowly beaten Max and Stephen Hutchinson’s Tayto side in the final, 9-8.

There was consolation for Tom de Bruin on the Tayto side, as his South African eight-yearold mare Enchanced (above) – a Thoroughbred ex-racehorse – was judged by Claire Tomlinson to be worthy of the best playing pony prize.

Final Teams Phoenix (1): Jeanette Jones 0; Suzie Boyd 0; Lisa Spiers 0; Sophie Heaton-Ellis 1 Park Lane Polo (1): Ellie Hoogewerf –1; Katrina Thomas 0; Charlotte Sweeney 1; Holly McCulloch –1

Knepp Castle

South African player Tom de Bruin of Tayto with Enchanced, Polo Times best playing pony

Burrell and Clarke are kings of the castle THE FIRST LADIES’ tournament to take place at Knepp Castle Polo Club in 10 years was played in June. Four teams entered and, after strong group games, Sunday’s final saw Hoes Farm take on Uber Polo. Hoes Farm were hot favourites but a couple of quick goals from Uber appeared to indicate an upset. Hoes Farm were quickly back on their tails and at the start of the last chukka the scores were tied. In the tense final minutes Hoes Farm team captain Sophie Burrell scored to secure victory 8-7.

In the subsidiary final Jendens had a convincing win over Burton Park 6-1.

Jendens was a name at the forefront of the action in July, when four teams fought it out in the Jendens Securities 0-40 Goal, Knepp’s biggest tournament of the season. The final, between Salkeld and ROK Energy, was watched by more than 300 people, many of whom had feasted at the club’s lunch beforehand. ROK received half a goal on handicap, and held their advantage as the sides matched each

◗ THE 20-GOAL season got underway last month

other goal for goal until the third chukka, when Jose Donoso gave Salkeld a narrow lead after finally converting a penalty at his fourth attempt. The previous three had been saved by plucky young Englishman, Jack Nick Clarke shoots at goal Richardson. However, thereafter Nick Clarke’s Salkeld slowly crept away with the game to lift the trophy, 7-51/2. Jose Donoso’s Chilean mare Pulga was awarded the Falcon Feeds best playing pony prize.

on the US’s west coast with the Mayor’s Cup at Santa Barbara Polo Club. Tom Barrack’s Piocho Ranch side beat Mansour 20-12 to win the tournament. As Polo Times went to press, teams were competing in the Robert Skene Trophy, due to finish at the end of July.

Next up will be the America’s Cup, when Cambiaso is expected to join the fray after his superb season in the UK, and then, finally, the Pacific Coast Open, with the final on 29 August. ◗ LAST YEAR’S WINNERS of the Assam Cup at

Jendens 0-40 Goal finalists Salkeld (11): Nick Clarke 0; Alec White 1; Jamie Peel 3; Jose Donoso 7 ROK Energy (11): Ralph Richardson 0; Jack Richardson 3; Lanto Sheridan 3; Richard Le Poer 4

Rutland were narrowly beaten in this year’s final last month by a Team Bob Music side with fourgoaler Michael Henderson at the helm, 51/2-4.

The 6-goal tournament drew eight competitive entres, all keen to win the impressive trophy, which dates back to Victorian times in Assam, a region of India. A further 12 teams played in the lower-goal Findlay Trophy and Findlay Plate.

Sussex

Square peg, round ball Photograph by Christopher G Photography

AS USUAL, the last weekend in June at Sussex Polo Club was given over to the club’s everpopular low-goal tournament, the Square Peg Polo Challenge. Sunday’s final was between Square Peg and the defending champions Aquila.

It was neck-and-neck in the first half, but Aquila then played spectacular polo in the final few chukkas to propel themselves to victory, 1912. The trophy is a work of art in itself, so to retain it was doubly satisfying for MVP patron Kwan Lo. Jimmy Mulligan won MVP pro and Telmo Maidana’s mare Mi Loca (“my crazy one”) took best playing pony. Sussex Polo’s new “boutique champagne” sponsor Soutiran ensured players had quality fizz with which to celebrate.

Winners Aquila accept the unusual Square Peg trophy

Finalists: Aquila (2): Kwan Lo -1; Duane Lent 0; Telmo Maidana 1; Jimmy Mulligan 2; Square Peg (1): Jamie Murray -1; Richard Buckfield -1; Freddie Instone 1; Nick Clague 2

Three-goal Australian Jonny Coddington at Rutland Polo Club with his best playing pony, MC

◗ SHANDUR POLO Festival in the Himalayas

went ahead last month, contrary to a news piece we published on our website and in our weekly email newsletter. However, due to political wranglings no teams from Gilgit took part, meaning the polo did suffer and wasn’t up to its usual high standard.

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Photograph by James Wildman

Feature Polo-playing entrepreneurs

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The husband-and-wife team LONDON-BASED Dimitri and Natasha Cherbotarev formed Ivan the Terrible Vodka after they were made “unlawfully redundant” from a City law firm in 1998.“ With the help of Cherie Blair, acting as our barrister, we received compensation which enabled us to set up a business,” says Natasha.

Identifying a niche for superior quality Russian vodka, they set up the premium brand: Natasha is marketing director and Dimitri the chief executive. “Daily, we research new markets and meet with everyone from journalists to distributors,” says Natasha.

The brand sponsors events at Guards and Cirencester Park– and Dimitri took up the game three years ago. “I was captivated watching my first match,” says the 45-year-old, who was coached first at FHM, then by Henry Brett, and plays out of RCBPC. The Cherbotarevs, who are anti-mass production, say that Ivan the Terrible – like polo – is “aimed at connoisseurs rather than the masses and happy to stay that way”.

The couple have hooked up with another

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entrepreneurial type, Roy Prisk, 33, who six years ago founded Polo London and combines events and party promotion with managing Brett Polo.

“I organise Dimitri’s polo, coach him and his friends and work as a consultant introducing Ivan the Terrible to London clubs,” says Roy, who played for Jerudong Park when he was 21. “When I started polo-themed nights in London in 2004, few agencies promoted polo and I felt the sport was poorly represented.”

Dimitri aims to compete in Moscow’s Russian Open Polo Championship this month. “We lost in the final last year and are coming back for revenge!” Looking forwards, he envisages playing low- to medium-goal at Guards and Cirencester.

“I would love to get to three goals in the arena and one on grass,” he says. “I also want to win the Arena Gold Cup more than any other tournament!”

And the business? The spirit has already won several awards, and the Cherbotarevs' ambition is to grow the brand into the luxury vodka market leader worldwide.

From the ground up THOMAS CLAYTON (above) is another player of diverse talents. Cambridge and Newmarket’s polo manager set up Greenheath in 2001 “to supply good-quality used equipment, consultancy and services at reasonable prices from an understandable and practical approach”.

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Feature Polo-playing entrepreneurs Two more enterprising aficionados

A hot prospect LIKE THE OJ crew (right), Charles Roberts, younger brother of the player and umpire Lavinia Black, set up a company after seeing a gap in the market – though he was dissatisfied with what he found on his plate rather than on his back. The former two-goaler put his food industry background to good use when he set out to “produce the best horseradish sauce”.

Within six months, Charles’s Inferno Horseradish was stocked by Waitrose and used by Nigella Lawson on television.

“My customers wanted other sauces: soon my Inferno Hot Tomato Sauce was rated five out of five in the Sunday Times Magazine whilst my Devilishly Brown Sauce became a favourite of the England Football Team.”

Sussex-based Charles stresses that his products’ success is down to quality ingredients and small-scale, rigorously overseen production. “All I am interested in is what is in the jar, not the packaging!”

X sector came from playing,” he explains. “I had

seen many amateur clubs struggle buying machinery they could barely afford.”

Greenheath's turnover has doubled every year for the last five. “Our market is huge, unlike other niche environments,” he says. “We are currently consulting on the construction of polo grounds in Poland and Mumbai and supplying all equipment for construction and ground care.”

Running Greenheath involves “huge fun”.

Says Thomas: “To sum up the job, 'The brave don’t live forever but the cautious don’t live at all’! One customer nicknamed me 'Thomas the Promise': that’s our slogan now: 'Delivering the promise'. Business is like a wheelbarrow: useless if you don’t push it – and push I do. I want to become one of the largest suppliers of used machinery in Eastern Europe.

In polo, Thomas plays off a comfortable one-goal handicap in up to eight-goal tournaments. “I play away at least twice monthly, but the grounds at CNPC are exceptional, so we get great teams travelling to us,” he says. “Playing competitive polo with people whose company you enjoy while having a laugh – it can't be a bad life!”

components are made, where the iron ore is mined and checking factory employees are well treated. “I've spent three months in China during the last 18 months,” adds Matt.

Launched last September, the scooters can be tried in London and are selling rapidly to commuters.

Concentrating on the business has put Matt's polo on the back-burner. “I haven't been playing much this season, but if I make money I will take polo up properly again and put a team together with my brother,” he says.

Putting shirts on their backs ONE YOUNG PLAYER who has yet to finish university has already set up a polo-related business. The Royal Agricultural College's polo captain Kieran Markham runs OJ Polo Shirts around his lecture timetable.

Surely that leaves very little pub time? “I try to balance

Answering commuters’ prayers

World of workers DAVID MORLEY IS known by many players as the UK’s leading producer of racing-bred Thoroughbreds for polo. But to employers, patrons and overseas players and grooms, he is perhaps even better known as the founder of Polopermits.

The business was formalised “when the legislation tightened up in 2001”.

“Prior to that,” says David, “we had already been processing work permit applications for several high-goal teams, but we then realised that all players would need work permits and started doing it commercially.”

He adds: “Polopermits works for employers to enable them to bring in the groom they choose to the UK under the newer, points-based system and take the pain out of the experience. Nowadays, we undertake permit applications for all the high-goal teams and around 90 per cent of people in UK polo.”

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GLOUCESTERSHIRE-BASED Matt Hitchman, 26, older brother of professional five-goaler Ed, ensures his new business ventures are ethical as well as potentially lucrative. The one-goal player, who reached that rating aged just 14 and played professionally for a time, is a partner in two companies – the Ivybird Scooter Company, which produces zero-carbon vehicles, and Ivycast Ltd, selling garden furniture.

“The name Ivybird comes from an exracehorse my mother bought for me when I was 14, which my brother Ed played in the Gold Cup and Queen's Cup,” explains Matt.

The Ivybird Lithium-ion battery scooter, the 1500 LI, does 45 miles per charge and the removable battery can be charged from a standard three-pin socket.

“The range is ample for a city-centre commute,” says Matt. “Carbon production per mile is 30 times less than a conventional petrol scooter even when using 'dirty' electricity from the national grid: it can be zero or lower if you use a green electricity provider. The Ivybird costs as little to run as 0.6p per mile.”

The firm has a policy of knowing where

studying, the business and playing polo with ‘normal student pastimes’,” explains the international food and agribusiness student.

OJ Polo Shirts is a 50/50 partnership between Kieran and Beaufort-based fourgoaler Olly Tuthill, who, according to Kieran, has the contacts needed to promote their shirt company.

Olly and Kieran set up OJ in May 2010 after “finding it hard to get hold of decent, good quality, reasonably-priced shirts”. One of OJ's USPs is its recently advertised “emergency shirts service”. “We can turn an order around in three or four days – one team ordered on a Wednesday and had their shirts on the Friday afternoon,” Kieran explains.

“We also provide a fast turnaround for embroidered shirts, just two to three weeks.

One-off orders are not a problem, nor for us to replace one lost shirt from a set, which we will supply at the same cost as one of the original set. Another innovation is our ‘Fem-fit’ polo shirts, designed for female players.” F Are you a polo player who has set up a clever business? Tell us via letters@polotimes.co.uk

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Photographs by Herbert Spencer, Valerie Halford and Yolanda Carslaw

Feature Julian Hipwood

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nglish polo’s most celebrated expat, Julian Hipwood, is having a splendid 12 months. A year ago he received a special award on the 25th birthday of Cartier’s backing of International Day; in February he became the first Briton to enter the Hall of Fame in Florida’s Museum of Polo; in May he was given life membership to the HPA, and last month the team he coaches, Enigma, reached the semi-finals of the Cowdray Park Gold Cup. I joined him in the Enigma tent to ask him about a career that spans nearly half a century, most of it as a leading international professional. At his age, might retirement in the Florida sunshine be on the cards?

“Absolutely not,” says Julian – and it seems the word “retirement” isn’t in his vocabulary. He’s in England from his home in the US, as vicechairman of Cowdray Park Polo Club and coaching Jerome Wirth’s 22-goal side with the advantage of one of the wisest heads in the sport. Julian is, if you like, the thinking pro’s pro. Of all the players

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I’ve known, I trust him above the rest to tell it like it is, nothing held back.

“Polo has become much more professional, in every aspect, than it was in my day,” he says.

“This includes the grounds, the ponies, the approach of pro players to things like fitness and

in summer, then hit the road for India, the US, Argentina and elsewhere in winter.

“I called England home,” Julian says. “But over the 48 years I was travelling the world, I only spent one Christmas in the country.” In the 1970s he began playing in the US every winter and

“Adolfo is incredible – a supreme professional athlete in the truest sense. I thought by now there might be a few to challenge him, but they aren’t there yet” coaching – the lot. And with new rules taking the game back to the fast-flowing spectacle it was in the 1980s, it’s now as it should be for spectators as well as players.”

Julian’s “day” harks back to the years when he and younger brother Howard were the highest rated English players since World War II, at handicap nine, and when first he and then Howard served for decades as captains of the England team. Back then Julian played in England

became part of the high-goal scene there. Then 13 years ago he and his wife Patricia relocated permanently to Wellington, Florida.

“It was the Florida sun that decided us,” Julian says, “and the opportunity to play more all over the States, from New York to California, which I enjoyed immensely. Home is now a house just across a canal from the big Palm Beach International Equestrian Center and I have a small X farm in Ocala.” www.polotimes.co.uk August 53

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Feature Julian Hipwood X

anywhere today. The big difference now, however, Julian hasn’t played competitively for three is in the depth of quality in high-goal players’ years after suffering a shoulder injury at polo. strings. We were usually lucky to have just one or “I had a rotator cuff repaired,” he says, “but the two really top mounts, now every player surgery didn’t work too well. I no longer has seven or eight.” feel safe crashing and bashing, Another big change, Julian although I still stick and ball and says, is that more and more play chukkas. Now I teams on both sides of the concentrate on coaching.”

Atlantic have taken on Coaching and keeping an coaches “and you see more experienced eye on how the using personal trainers and sport is developing both sports psychologists – like sides of the Atlantic. “I used teams in other sports.” to pay more attention to how Julian ties both the high teams were doing,” Julian says. point of his own playing career “Now I’m interested mainly in how players are progressing.” Hipwood at the height of his playing days and his “greatest regret” to two years in Argentina.

His “most admired players” “I had played with Gonzalo Tanoira at Boca of yesteryear are two 10-goalers he competed Raton and in 1978 he invited me to join Mar del with or against: the late Gonzalo Tanoira and the Plata for the Argentine season. The team was long-retired Juan Carlos Harriott with his Gonzalo, JJ Diaz Alberdi (and later Gonzalo Pieres), Alfredo Goti and me. We reached the finals of the Hurlingham Open and the Argentine Open in 1978 and 79, defeated on all four occasions by Juan Carlos Harriott’s great Coronel Suárez team.

“I can still remember getting goose pimples as I was first stick and balling on the main ground at Palermo before the start as that vast crowd began filling the big stands. Nothing else in polo can touch that thrill.

“And my greatest regret? Not accepting unassailed record of Argentine Open victories.

Gonzalo’s invitation to join them for a third year. I Today it is Cambiaso. turned down the chance to play at Palermo again “Adolfo is incredible. He does everything faster and better. He is a supreme professional athlete in because I felt I couldn’t afford then to build up a the truest sense. I thought by now there might be string of ponies in Argentina. I wish now I had made the effort.” a few boys who would challenge him for the top Julian is optimistic about the future of polo at spot, but they aren’t there yet.” all levels, including the high-goal game. “In a Julian agrees with the widely held view that the ponies players have at their disposal are 75 per funny way,” he says, “the recession has played a part. It has made a lot of patrons think more cent of their game. “We had some great ponies in the old days, as good as anything you see now,” he carefully about how much they can afford to says. “My all-time favourite was Guy Wildenstein’s invest in the sport. As a result, some pros have had to reduce their fees, which in turn means Everest, a thoroughbred racehorse sired by the some new patrons have been encouraged to put great stallion Habitat. It was the fastest pony I together teams. It’s impressive that the British ever rode and would be right up with the greatest

“I turned down the chance to play at Palermo a third time because I felt I couldn’t afford to build up a string in Argentina. I wish I’d made the effort”

Julian Hipwood coaching Jerome Wirth’s Enigma team, pictured here at Guards during the Queen’s Cup

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At a glance DATE OF BIRTH: 23 June 1946 PLACE OF BIRTH: Michinhampton, Gloucestershire, England MARITAL STATUS: Married to Patricia for 30 years, two children by a previous marriage CURRENT RESIDENCE: Wellington, Florida LEARNED POLO: When 14 years old in Pony Club, started adult polo with Rao Raja Hanut Singh on Jersey Lilies team HANDICAPS 9: goals for 9 years, currently handicapped 4 in US (NR in UK) but no longer plays competitively PLAYED IN: England, India, US, Argentina and others – a total of 24 countries PLAYED HIGH-GOAL FOR: England (captain for 20 years), Pimm’s, Maple Leafs, Cowdray Park, Les Diables Bleus, San Flamingo, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale WON HIGH-GOAL: Coronation Cup seven times, World Cup (US) five times, Queen’s Cup three times, Cowdray Park Gold Cup twice, Deauville Gold and Silver Cups, Indian National Championship COACHED: Broncos, Atlantic/Ravensbourne, Enigma, Coca Cola (US Open winners), Bendabout, Mt Brilliant, Faraway Farm HONOURS: HPA Lifetime Achievement Award, 2008; Life Member of HPA, 2010; Cartier 25th Anniversary Polo Award, 2009; inducted into America’s National Museum of Polo’s Hall of Fame, 2010

Open got 20 teams, more than last year, despite the economic climate.

“Everything that has happened in high-goal filters down to benefit the sport at all the lower levels,” Julian concludes. “Much better grounds, better ponies, and improved rules that make the game more fun for the players and more exciting for spectators.” F ◗ What memories do you have of Julian’s long career? Tell us at letters@polotimes.co.uk

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The knowledge Playing around – Ranksboro Our intrepid improver Carlie Trotter (–2) works her way around the UK’s clubs

All fun, no fuss – and only definitely need to brush up on my defensive play, I realise when Ranksboro assistant coach Peter Mwangi (1) takes a call on his mobile while I’m trying to wrestle the ball off him. Peter has spent the whole chukka offering words of encouragement (despite being the opposition) so I’ll forgive him a quick chat with the inbound farrier, and I can relax because Jorge Uviedo (0) is backing me up. It’s easy to slot into the home team because there are no egos or sober game faces here; just mutual appreciation and self-ridicule, which is much more fun.

At £35 for an hour’s lesson the bookings are coming in faster than ever at Ranksboro, with most starters taking two a week, and I’m sure the all-fun no-fuss approach helps.

Club founder and general cheeky chappy Joe North (2) jokes about his “polo for the people” image: “When I get out of my lorry all scruffy at most clubs they ask ‘Where’s your patron?’ I walk round the other side and say ‘I’m here!’”

My mount Simba is a working livery, and an arena star I’ll wager in light of his kneejerk pirouette, and it’s this tailor-made livery that draws young people and nomadic players. Dundee Polo Club member Peter Crawford (3), who practises physiotherapy in London, stabled his string at Ranksboro during a tournament and decided not to take them home.

Later I pick up the pace on a mare named Mariana, while being mindful of the hard clay in June, and then ride up to Ranksboro’s highest point to survey the extensive turnout

Photographs by Carlie Trotter and Nico Morgan

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56 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

Above and below: action this summer at Ranksboro’s “twin” club, Rutland. The two are closely linked

and hunting heartland of the Midlands.

Since 2005 the club has grown from one rented field to a year-round three-pitch facility, and Joe intends to keep it just for low-goal heroes and Pony-Clubbers. “One

“Players and pets flow constantly through the farmhouse kitchen and post-match beers on the porch are a tradition” four-goal tournament a year is plenty, we’re about easy, fun polo and that’s it,” he shrugs.

Members benefit from a good deal of crossover with Rutland Polo Club on the other side of the village – Ranksboro weekday chukkas are scheduled Thursday so people can play at both – but the base of hire ponies at Ranksboro opened the door to school kids and locals who previously believed they couldn’t afford polo.

There’s a constant flow of players, and pets, through the farmhouse kitchen and the North family have even taken aspiring pro Abi Watts (-1), aged 17, into their home so she can be near her ponies. Post-match beers on the back porch are a summer tradition, and 4-5 September makes for a busy weekend with Burghley Horse Trials down the road.

Perhaps because it’s small, the club feels like one big family and I can’t help but think that Ranksboro is this summer’s bargain-buy when it comes to casual polo. But beware: pound-a-pint night in a nearby Melton Mowbray alehouse may not the most sensible way to celebrate a win. F Read past editions of Playing Around in our online archive. Subscribers have access to back issues on the web using a personal login. Contact georgie@polotimes.co.uk if you need your password.

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£35 a go Soundbites from the sidelines Joe North Polo manager “I never would have crossed paths with polo if it hadn’t been for Pony Club. I play for fun and if I thought of the club as a business we would have gone down a long time ago. To see someone who says they can’t hit a backhand doing a nice angled back by the time they finish a lesson really does make me happy. People will always need a club like this; our average cost for an eight-year-old ready-to-play pony is £5,500.”

Abigail Watts Member “I thought Joe was a really good teacher when I met him at a Pony Club polo tournament in Yorkshire so I asked my Dad to book me some lessons down here. It’s two and a half hours from home, past two other clubs, but there weren’t many teams around me and a -4 goal tournament up North is equivalent to -8 goal here. The team here is very friendly like my second family – and there are always people hanging around.”

Lucy Butler Resident showjumper “I moved to the farm two and a half years ago and couldn’t leave; I think I’ve been fostered. I’m not totally converted to polo because I could never give up my jumping but chukkas are really relaxed so I play now and again. I groom for a player here, Steve Radford, and his ponies are a lot easier than the jumping horses. Players are generally local and someone’s always popping by for coffee.”

Ranksboro vital statistics Playing members 20 Non-playing members Mums, dads, and dogs in tow Facilities Boarded tournament ground, chukka ground, another full-size field under construction including plans for a clubhouse, floodlit 100m x 50m arena with viewing gallery, wooden horse, horse walker, tack shop, pony transport service, free overnight grazing for visitors, and grass landing strip.

Location Surrounded by the verdant hills of England’s smallest county, across the village from Rutland Polo Club, down an unnamed farm track 20 minutes off the A1 or five minutes from Oakham station (an hour and a half by fast train from London King’s Cross).

Philosophy To offer a polo lifestyle for less, and ensure improvers get the most out of matches.

Running the show After getting his first HPA coaching qualification at 18 Joe North set up the club with the particular help of his mother Amanda, who continues to be known as “th’office” though she also heads up a breeding programme. Joe’s voice is a regular soundtrack to Pony Club fixtures, while assistant coach Peter Mwangi fronts arena lessons this winter when Joe will be picking up tips in New Zealand. Pony welfare falls to groom Jorge Oviedo, returning for his sixth season, and Juan Manuel Torrens.

Crowd Local horsey types including youngsters from Oakham and Uppingham schools; Pony Club graduates; chicken farmers and building merchants.

Mostly weekenders without their own polo ponies who are not ready or willing to compete at Rutland PC. Supporting players also include members of Leadenham (an hour away) and Rugby (just over an hour).

Seasonal highlight To party with Young Farmers and gorge on asado, head to Ranksboro the penultimate weekend of August. The Assam Cup at neighbouring Rutland is also a very social weekend in July.

Livery 48 stables available for full livery including exercise and grooming at £95 a week, or maintenance livery (general stabling) for £70 p/w; working livery for £55 p/w; or DIY grass livery for £25 p/w. Pony transport is free if a Ranksboro team is already travelling. A farrier serves the yard twice weekly.

Full membership £500 (£250 for first season or under 25s), £100 for chukka champs Contact joe@ranksboropolo.co.uk; 01572 720046

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The knowledge Duty vet Mark Emerson MRCVS is a two-goal, fifth-generation polo player and an ambulatory equine vet

Tying up: don’t let it cramp your season The signs are alarming – a stiffened gait, excess sweating and quickened breathing – but tying up is a condition your vet can treat and that can be managed and even prevented

ying up is a condition affecting polo ponies that is analogous to severe cramping. It manifests itself as a stiffened gait and, in serious cases, an apparent inability to move. The condition is known by many other names, including: set fast, Monday morning disease, azoturia and exertional rhabdomyolysis.

Affected horses can develop a stiffened gait, sweat excessively and have a high respiratory rate – it is undoubtedly painful. The condition can come prior to or during exercise (even when playing) and may not become obvious until immediately after exercise; when walking back to the yard or coming off the ground.

Occasionally it may become apparent up to half an hour after exercise.

Horses often stretch as if to urinate, become extremely reluctant to move their hindquarters, show signs of colic (abdominal pain) and may try to lie down. Firm painful muscles may be palpated over the back and hind limbs.

Myoglobin released into the blood stream from damaged muscle cells in severely affected horses can cause kidney damage and result in darkcoloured or bloody urine. Severely affected individuals may show signs of muscle wastage over the hind quarters after a few weeks.

Photographs by Mark Emerson

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What causes horses to tie up?

It is difficult to attribute any specific cause to tying up. Some horses may experience one or two isolated episodes over their lifetime, suggesting an environmental influence. Others,

58 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

Above: a polo pony that tied up during exercise with extremely stiff and sore hind limb muscles

often mares with an excitable temperament, may have ongoing recurrent episodes that can compromise their ability to have a normal playing career. It likely these

tying up, and there is now evidence to suggest that susceptible horses have intramuscular calcium regulation abnormalities. Certain recurrent cases may be caused by a polysaccharide

A horse suspected of tying up should be unsaddled and veterinary attention sought horses have an inherent muscle dysfunction that is triggered by certain risk factors, including changes in exercise routine, high carbohydrate diets, electrolyte imbalances and cold and windy weather.

Several studies have shown that lactic acid build up is not involved in

storage disorder within muscle cells that is exacerbated by high carbohydrate diets.

Confirming a diagnosis In most cases a diagnosis can be made based on the symptoms alone. However it is common practice to confirm the

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diagnosis with a blood sample taken to measure the levels of certain enzymes that are leaked in to the bloodstream from damaged muscle cells. Examination of muscle biopsies under a microscope are required to diagnose the causes of recurrent cases.

How should tying up be treated?

A horse suspected of tying up should be unsaddled immediately and not moved any further than necessary.

The horse should be rugged appropriately (according to weather conditions) and prompt veterinary attention should be sought.

Most vets will commonly use an intravenous non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug such as Finadyne™ to combat the muscle pain and inflammation. Other useful treatments include sedatives, muscle relaxants, corticosteroids and antioxidants.

Replacing fluid and electrolyte losses is also paramount. Mildly affected horses should be given access to a choice of fresh water and an isotonic electrolyte solution. More severely affected horses may require administration of fluids via a nasogastric tube or even intravenously, especially if renal damage is suspected.

Management after tying up Most cases will make an apparent recovery within a few hours. However, it

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will often take several days (or even a few weeks) for the damaged muscle cells to recover, and bringing horses back into work prematurely will often precipitate a recurrence of the condition. Affected horses should be stabled or kept in a small paddock on a forage-only diet and walked out for short periods.

To minimise the likelihood of a recurrent episode, they should not return to work until a blood test has revealed that circulating muscle enzymes have returned to normal levels. Once given the all-clear, ridden exercise can be resumed, with the workload increased gradually over several days or weeks, depending on the severity of the episode, until the horses is match fit again.

How can tying up be prevented?

Risk factors that may trigger an episode of tying up should be eliminated. In particular one should find ways to minimise stress in susceptible individuals by sticking to a regular daily routine, including feeding and exercising them before other horses on the yard. Daily turnout with compatible companions can reduce stress. Days off with no exercise should be avoided, but if given a day off, susceptible horses should be turned out with access to forage without being fed a full concentrate ration that day.

Massage of the back and hind limb muscles, stretching, prolonged warm ups

Blood samples are used to check for elevated levels of muscle enzymes that are associated with tying-up

and the use of exercise rugs in cold weather may be of benefit. The sedative ACP can be given in low doses before exercise and the muscle relaxant Dantrium™ has been shown to reduce the incidence of tying up when given before exercise.

Dietary management has been demonstrated to play a significant role in the prevention of tying up.

Susceptible horses should be fed a high-forage diet consisting of good quality grass hay and the minimum amount of soluble carbohydrates (grains, sugar beet and so on) necessary. If more than about 3kg per day of grain is required to maintain body weight, then a fat source such as vegetable oil should be used.

Dietary supplementation of electrolytes, especially sodium and chloride (in other words table salt) which are lost in sweat, has been demonstrated to reduce the incidence of tying up. Depending on the weather, workload and sweating rate, between one to three heaped tablespoons per day of salt can be added to a horse’s feed.

There is no scientific evidence to suggest that vitamin E and selenium supplementation reduces the incidence of tying up. F ◗ Tying up can be such a serious issue,

that we considered it worth repeating this topic, which last appeared in a similar article in PT in May 2007. ◗ Mark Emerson works as an ambulatory

equine vet based near Ascot in Berkshire and has many polo clients across the south of England. Tel: 07973 800358 or email: mark@emersonequine.com Read past editions of Duty Vet in our online archive. Subscribers have access to back issues when they login. Contact georgie@polotimes.co.uk if you need your password.

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Couldn’t afford Cambiaso for the Gold Cup? Oh well, it’s not a problem you’ll have with our equipment

ATS We’ve got everything for polo Look on our website:

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60 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

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Your game The knowledge Vital riding and playing tips from Jamie Peel, three-goal pro and 2008 Gold Cup winner

A killer dead-ball specialist is the key am not sure if it is because I have been writing this article on penalties or if I have just been paying more attention this season, but it seems to me that there have been many more misses this year than usual. For those of you who were watching the Queen’s Cup semi-finals, you will remember Cambiaso's 30-yarder that did not even make the goal line!

The pressure is off – it was fantastic, a highlight of the season, a mere mortal moment from the great man who very rarely misses!

Now that 30-yarders are undefended, perhaps the change could be having a psychological impact on the penalty takers. Previously, the shooter had one or two defenders flying across the goal and there was always the chance that they would come out too early or that, if they managed to stop the ball, you could claim the line. Now there is nowhere to hide, no excuses and no second chances.

I think this change in the rules is a positive move. With the speed that the ball is travelling, there is always the risk of a serious injury. With a 40-yard penalty, the extra distance allows you marginally more time to judge the flight of the ball. However, what I do not understand is why a player is still allowed to stand on the 30-yard

I

Practice might seem boring, but few of us in the UK were complaining when Wilkinson’s “dull” approach won us the Rugby World Cup in 2003

In Jonny Wilkinson's book Tackling Life he mentions how he probably kicks a ball 20 times during a match but he will kick about 1,000 balls a week in training. That is nearly 50 rehearsals for each single event, a ratio he finds totally acceptable. Many of you might think this

Jonny Wilkinson probably rehearses each kick he takes in a game another 50 times in training line when defending a 60-yarder or a corner?

Surely they are in the same danger as a player who is defending a penalty two from 30 yards!

In so many of this year’s Gold Cup games penalties have been the difference. As I write this in the build up to the semi-finals, all four sides still in the competition have a specialist penalty taker: Enigma has England’s very own Malcolm Borwick, who was the tournament’s top scorer after the league games with 31 goals; El Remanso has Pelon Stirling, who is even more accurate than his fellow countryman and FIFA Golden Ball winner Diego Forlan (!); Lechuza has Sapo Caset, who is lethal from anywhere inside the range of a penalty 5b; and Dubai has Cambiaso.

With penalties being so important, surely players should take more time to practise them.

rather excessive but we were certainly not complaining when he drop-kicked us to World Cup glory in 2003! Tennis stars are equally dedicated to developing their serving techniques. We can all see that practice makes perfect but very few of us really put time aside to develop this skill or seek advice from someone who knows better. F ◗ Tell Jamie what you think or ask him a

question by writing to letters@polotimes.co.uk Read past Your Game columns in our online archive. Subscribers can access current and back issues with their personal login.

Contact georgie@polotimes.co.uk if you’ve lost your password.

The perfect penalty Metronome Malcolm Borwick’s sharp-shooting tips: 1 Practise, practise, practise – repetition is the only way to develop muscle memory.

2 Create a small target – when practising, do not use standard-width goals. Place two balls one meter apart in the centre of the goal and only count the shots that pass through the smaller goal.

3 Find your rhythm – everyone has a unique swing. Find yours and stick to it.

4 Shake it out – most pressure penalties people hit thin and to the right, this is due to shortening of the muscle fibres caused by tension. On your circle approach, shake the tension out of your shoulders.

5 Pick a target behind the goal – your objective should not be to hit it to the goal, but to a point beyond and through the goal.

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Photograph by Alice Gipps

The knowledge Pony power

Mi Gatita Yolanda Carslaw talks to Australian breeder Peter Haydon, spotter Jim Gilmore and owner Adolfo Cambiaso about the world number one’s favourite UK-based mare

Vital statistics Name: Height: Age: Colour: Origin:

Mi Gatita 15.1hh 9 years old Dark brown Bred by the Haydon family, Australia

How was the mare bred?

Peter Haydon: We can trace her breeding back 10 generations (under her previous name, Angel Jewel). Her mother is Haydon Emerald, a proven polo mare played by Australian eight-goaler Jim MacGinley against Argentina in 1986. She is by the Thoroughbred Haydon Drawn, a compact 15.1hh horse who was Australian champion three-year-old in 1986 and broke a track record at the Sydney racecourse Rosehill; he has sired a Brisbane Cup winner among others.

Are any of her relatives playing polo?

PH: A lot of them are, including the first foal of Angel’s full-sister Tourmaline, eight-year-old Haydon Victoriana, who this year went to the Archibald family in Argentina after playing with Charlie Hanbury at Ellerston in 2009.

How was she brought up?

PH: Angel grew up on our farm in the Upper Hunter Valley, the horse capital of Australia. My family has been breeding Australian stock horses there since 1832, and we have 30 broodmares and use three stallions. She had a solid basic training, then playing on the locals fields of Scone Polo Club and Ellerston, which is where Jim Gilmore [the Ellerston manager] spotted her in February 2009. He saw her playing and thought she would fit very well into Adolfo Cambiaso’s string in the UK. We were blown away just a few months later when we saw him playing her in the fifth chukka – and then when she won the champion pony award at Cartier International Day last July.

How did she come to England?

Jim Gilmore: Peter was playing the horse one day and I happened to spot her – I bought her and kept her at Ellerston for six weeks before sending her to Cambiaso in England. She has a great action, temperament and lateral movement. She’s a lovely little mare, and I think she could play anywhere – and Cambiaso makes her look unbelievable, although I think she’d be good with any player.

What does her name mean?

Adolfo Cambiaso: I renamed her after a song I like called Mi Gatita [the rap song Mi Gatita Y Yo (my little cat and me) by reggaeton band Daddy Yankee, which features racing in its video].

What is Mi Gatita like to play?

AC: She's a machine: very handy and fantastic at turning. She has become better and better in the past year – although she was very easy to get used to in the first place. I'm very happy with her.

For the moment she will stay here, but I hope one day to play her in the Argentine Open.

What is the white strip on her nose?

AC: It's a bit like the thing soccer players wear – something natural to help the breathing. I don't really know if it helps or not, but we use it on some of my horses. It's more noticeable on her because of her colouring. [Or as commentator Terry Hanlon said of the strip: “It's like what men wear at night to stop them snoring – as you ladies know!”]. F ◗ Do you know a pony we should feature in Pony

Power? Write to jamesmullan@polotimes.co.uk

Page sponsored by Baileys Horse Feeds - experts in polo nutrition Tel: +44 (0)1371 850247 www.baileyshorsefeeds.co.uk 62 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

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The knowledge Feeding Lorna Jowett, specialist equine nutritionist, gives expert advice on all things edible

From tricky customers to happy eaters Polo Times’s resident feeding specialist Lorna Jowett describes the success stories of four very different ‘problem’ horses she has encountered Cuando la exigencia aumenta le dan cuatro tasas de Lo-Cal para asegurarse que reciba todas las vitaminas y minerales que necesita, reduciendo las posibilidades de sufrir otro envaramiento por razones relacionadas con la dieta.

Nativa – Played by GB

pro Max Charlton; moving from low- to high-goal

Chilean mare Caluga is a good doer, but prone to tying up. Various tweaks to her diet have improved the situation

Caluga – Plays at Taunton Vale; prone to tying up

CALUGA IS A 15-YEAR-OLD Chilean mare who generally holds her weight well and I would class her as a “good doer”. She is played three times a week in chukkas or matches at Taunton Vale Polo Club. When I was first introduced to Caluga she had been suffering regular episodes of azoturia (tying-up) but finding a feed that suited her was a problem as she did not need to put on weight.

Caluga’s owners had taken advice from a vet and read around the subject, so they adopted a diet high in oils and fibre but low in cereals/starch.

I suggested we put Caluga on Baileys Lo-Cal balancer to ensure quality protein was being received for muscle function and development, as well as supplying a full balance of vitamins and minerals. She needed three coffee-mugs per day bulked out with chaff, accompanied by two mugs of Outshine high oil supplement as an energy source instead of cereals/starch.

She lives out at grass overnight in summer and

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receives hay during the day when stabled. When Caluga is working particularly hard her Lo-Cal is increased to four mugs per day to ensure her diet is always balanced with vitamins and minerals, thereby reducing the risk of azoturia occurring again from a nutrition-related problem.

As you can see from the photograph, Caluga has maintained her topline muscle and performs well in the polo being asked of her, which is quite often double chukkas!

Caluga – Envaramiento Caluga es una yegua Chilena de 15 años y es lo que llamaría “mantenida”. Juega tres veces por semana en chaquers y partidos de bajo hándicap.

Cuando la conocí había sufrido reiterados casos de envaramiento. El desafío era encontrar una dieta que le diera proteínas de calidad, vitaminas y minerales pero sin darle cereales/almidón.

Sugerí una ración de tres tasas de Lo-Cal por día y dos tasas de Outshine que es alto en contenido de aceites y fuente de energía. Caluga vive afuera de noche con acceso a pasto verde y adentro de día, donde recibe pasto seco.

NATIVA IS A NINE-YEAR-OLD Argentine mare, who is owned and played by Max Charlton at all levels of polo. When she first arrived from Argentina four years ago she was a little “hollow” and tucked up from her long journey.

Working with Max’s groom Ella, I suggested we introduce Nativa to Top Line Conditioning Cubes, gradually building up to two round-bowl scoops per day whilst resting and recovering from her travels. She also had a prebiotic, Digest Plus and the probiotic supplement Protexin Quick Fix, both working in unison to establish a healthy hind gut to aid fibre digestion.

Once she started playing, Nativa’s feed was increased to three scoops of Top Line Conditioning Cubes per day, with hay fed according to appetite and continuing with Digest Plus and electrolytes. She is stabled day and night. As she’s a quiet worrier, living off adrenaline, and not a big eater, Nativa never holds too much weight, therefore continuing with the prebiotic is of benefit.

Since Nativa has arrived Max’s handicap has risen from one to four, so the demands asked of her have increased.

She remains on the same diet of cubes and ad lib hay but we have added two coffee-mugs of the low-energy, high-nutrient Stud Balancer per day to ensure she is receiving all the protein, vitamins and minerals to support her increased workload. She also has two mugs of Outshine per day to up her calories and stamina.

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Nativa, a “quiet worrier” who needed extra energy and topline as she moved up a level

Nativa played for Max in the 22-goal Queen’s Cup this spring on the same diet and she still has plenty of energy and speed, but as you can see from the recent picture, although she is a little leaner, she still has top line muscle!

Nativa – Pasando del bajo al alto Nativa es una yegua Argentina de nueve años. Desde que llego a Inglaterra en el 2008 algo flaca y chupada por el viaje, su dueño, Max Charlton, subió de uno a cuatro goles de hándicap y pasaron de jugar polo del bajo a jugar polo de alto hándicap, habiendo participado de La Copa de la Reina esta temporada.

Nativa es una yegua nerviosa por naturaleza que vive de adrenalina y no es de gran comer. El desafío era sugerir una dieta que le permitiera adaptarse al nivel de exigencia del alto sin que se viniera abajo.

Nativa come tres cucharones de Top Line Conditioning Cubes por día y dos tasas de Stud Balancer (un balanceador bajo en calorías pero alto en nutrientes) mas dos tasas de Outshine que le dan calorías extra y resistencia. Además tiene acceso a pasto seco todo el día en su establo y recibe Digest Plus y electrolitos como suplementos.

Si bien esta mas levantada por jugar polo de mayor exigencia, sigue estando en buen estado y mantiene su línea muscular superior.

Francesca –

Played by GB pro Oli Hipwood; needs help to winter well

FRANCESCA IS A 13-YEAR-OLD Australian Thoroughbred who came from

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Geebung to Oli Hipwood five years ago and has maintained a firm place in Oli’s string, playing all levels. After this winter Fran was not holding her weight as well – looking a little ribby and hollow in the flanks, and lacking top line, which is typical of so many ponies coming out of the winter.

We put her straight onto Conditioning Cubes. Kerri, Oli’s groom, fed her two round bowl scoops per day whilst in walk work for three weeks, enabling muscle and condition to be built but her good nature to be maintained!

To reduce the “hollowing” (see photo overleaf, taken in March) we gave her Digest Plus prebiotic to assist hind gut bacteria to work efficiently, as Kerri feeds all her ponies ad lib haylage. The hollowing in the flanks reduced, the ribs nicely covered and top line muscle improved.

Once she began “singling”, Fran’s cubes increased to three scoops per day, and once she began playing matches we added two mugs of Stud Balancer, two mugs of Outshine, Digest Plus and electrolytes, with ad lib haylage at all times.

The second picture overleaf (June 18) shows she now has plenty of top line muscle with big, powerful hind quarters and looks in great condition for her job.

Fran won best playing pony in the 15-goal La Martina Queen Mother’s Centenary Trophy at Guards this May.

Francesca – Después del invierno Francesca es una yegua Pura Sangre Australiana de 13 años de Ollie Hipwood que vino de Geebung hace cinco años y es parte de su mejor lote de caballos.

Francesca volvió del invierno flaca y costaba hacerla engordar asique empezamos a darle 2 cucharones de Top Line Conditioning Cubes por día durante las primeras 3 semanas de la temporada cuando sólo X

Key

Mug = typical average coffee mug holding around 225g/0.5lb of Lo-Cal, Stud Balancer or Outshine Scoop = typical round-bowl “Stubbs”-style scoop holding approximately 1.8kg/4lb of Top Line Conditioning Cubes

Tasa = típica tasa grande de café contiene alrededor de 225gr de Lo-Cal, Stud Balancer o Outshine Cucharón = tipo Stubbs contiene 1.8kg de Top Line Conditioning Cubes

Tasty titbits A NEW ONLINE FEED store is offering a helping hand to the polo world, with customers able to have feed delivered to their doorstep at the click of a button. Efeed.co.uk offers feeds from leading brands at competitive prices, delivering across the UK from the Orkney Islands to Cornwall – and from the polo districts of Gloucestershire and Berkshire to Essex and Yorkshire.

The company, set up this April by event rider Stuart Fitzgerald, already has a large customer base which is growing by 60 per cent month-onmonth. The website sells some of the top feeding brands including Spillers, Allen and Page, Blue Chip, Dodson and Horrell and Dengie. Haylage and horse bedding are also available.

“Our feed prices can better 98 per cent of feed merchants’ and our delivery prices are hugely competitive,” Fitzgerald tells Polo Times. “The more you buy the more the delivery cost reduces.

Polo yards tend to buy in bulk; 20 bags will only cost £5 to deliver. We offer more than 100 products and if there is a feed we do not have we are happy to buy it in for a customer.”

Orders are delivered on the third working day from ordering online, and the website also offers a next-day delivery service at an extra 20p per bag. To start ordering, go to www.efeed.co.uk.

A REVOLUTIONARY WAY of feeding hay and haylage is gathering an increasing following in yards across the world. The Hay Bar, made in the UK, is a shatter-proof and durable hay feeding mechanism that can be easily fitted into the corner of stables, field shelters or paddocks, at slightly above ground level.

Six years ago, show rider and breeder Raylia Dugmore realised that, as she always fed her horses from the floor, she needed something that kept hay all in one place and reduced waste. She came up with the Hay Bar. “Horses should always be fed from the floor; it is particularly crucial for youngsters’ jaw alignment and muscle growth. My design reduces waste and is a time saver on mucking out or having to stuff hay nets. There are vast numbers of polo ponies on polo yards and little labour so these Hay Bars are a great help time-wise.”

Vets, physiotherapists and dentists have all recommended the feeders, with equine rehabilitation yards, veterinary hospitals and racing yards all among the clientele. Soaked hay can also be put into the Hay Bars as they have a partial base to allow for drainage. For more information see www.haybar.co.uk.

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The knowledge Feeding

Tasty titbits FEED STORAGE AND DELIVERY has had a makeover this year, with Chestnut Horse Feeds (www.chestnuthorsefeeds.co.uk) bringing the equestrian world “bulk bins” – a waterproof, rodent-proof, lockable, bin on wheels. The storage system, which comes in two sizes (1x1m or 1x1.5m) has already caught on in the polo community with Rugby, West Wycombe and Vaux Park polo clubs all having them at their yards.

A number of polo players also have their feed delivered in them. The bulk bins are delivered with a Chestnut feed of choice, and are replaced with a clean bin of fresh feed when the yard is running low. The bins are on free loan for the life of the feed.

“We have around 500 bins in circulation and we are constantly growing,” said Lisa Roberts, sales manager for Chestnut. “They are working very well and we sell 80 per cent of our horse feed in bulk bins.”

Chestnut Alpha Cool and Chestnut Stud and Performance Mix are the two biggest sellers to polo clients, while Alpha Cool is sought after for ponies that get “hot” and the Stud and Performance Mix is ideal for energy and condition. At the moment, a polospecific mix is being trialled by a polo player; depending on the results, this will hopefully be available in due course.

HAPPY TUMMY, the brainchild of Keith Foster of Fine Fettle Feeds, has had a superb response from the equestrian world since coming on the market seven months ago. The supplement, made from treated hardwood charcoal, helps maintain digestive health by carrying away toxins and intestinal gases. Polo ponies can benefit from this as it aims to help prevent “tying-up” (see pages 58 and 64), as well as helping horses carry oxygen around their body more efficiently.

Keith Foster explains: “When a horse is under intense exercise, the spleen contracts to release reserve red blood cells and carry extra oxygen to the muscles. This release of energy can be dissipated when there are excess toxins in the system. Happy Tummy rids the horse of toxins hence helping the horse run faster and become more active.”

Horses can be fed five small scoops (15ml) per day, with results visible quickly – and Foster points out it can help clear up laminitis. Cats, dogs and even humans can take Happy Tummy. One teaspoon with a vitamin C tablet in water can clear up a hangover; Polo Times’s Tom House, who tried it after “Glassonbury” (see news pages), reports that it swept away his headache.

Fine Fettle Feeds supplements are available through mail order. To find out more visit www.finefettlefeed.com.

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Above: Francesca in March 2010 (left) and after careful post-winter feeding in June 2010 Right: Mimosa, a 24-year-old Pony Club pony

X se la caminó para que tuviera la posibilidad

de desarrollar músculo y de engordar. Como estaba sumida le dimos Digest Plus que son prebióticos que ayudan a las bacterias del intestino grueso a trabajar en forma eficiente y le dimos acceso libre a pasto.

Una vez que la empezaron a trabajar en forma individual, le empezamos a dar tres cucharones de Top Line Conditioning Cubes por día y con los primeros partidos le agregamos dos tasas de Stud Balancer, dos tasas de Outshine, Digest Plus y electrolitos, además de seguir con acceso libre a pasto.

En Mayo último, Francesca ganó el premio a la mejor yegua en el torneo de 15 goles La Martina Queen Mother’s Centenary jugado en Guards.

Mimosa – plays club

polo, Pony Club and arena with the Tucker family: needs OAP treatment!

Mimosa is a 24-year-old Argentine pony who first came to England with a professional player and, after being at various yards, came from Gill Lines to the Tucker family five years ago to play Pony Club Polo with Ella Tuckers’ children.

Mimosa has in the past struggled to hold weight over winter and we have now established a diet that varies from winter to summer. She is fed Top Line Conditioning Cubes in winter, as she plays a little arena polo and is kept in moderate work.

In summer Mimosa has a busy schedule playing three times per week in club tournaments or Pony Club. At this point she sometimes lacks a bit of energy so in summer she is moved from Top Line Conditioning Cubes to All-Round Competition Mix, for a bit of oat- based “va-va-voom”!

Due to her age and type she is prone to weight loss, so she has Outshine added to her diet to ensure she maintains condition as well as stamina. She lives out at night in summer

and stays in during the day so her grass intake can be monitored as she lives on a farm with grass aplenty! Whilst in she still has hay to eat so she is never without fibre.

Although Mimosa is an OAP in equine terms, a diet has been found to maintain her condition but to give her the energy she requires for the work asked of her.

She was named Surtees Best Playing Pony at the 2007 Pony Club Championships and in 2009 played at the championships for the winning Ledner team – not bad for a 24-year-old!

Mimosa – Caballo viejo Mimosa tiene 24 años. Un profesional la trajo de Argentina y desde entonces paso por varias manos y hace cinco años que juega en el Pony Club.

Debido a su edad le cuesta mantener su peso durante los meses de invierno por lo que diseñamos una dieta distinta para cada epoca del año: come Top Line Conditioning Cubes durante el invierno cuando juega un poco de polo de Arena y All Round Competition Mix y Outshine durante el verano cuando juega tres veces por semana y de otro modo se quedaría sin energía y resistencia.

En el verano vive afuera de noche y adentro de día pero en todo momento tiene acceso a forraje.

Si bien Mimosa tiene sus años, esta dieta le permite mantenerse en buen estado y le da la energía que necesita. Anda tan bien que en el 2007 ganó el premio Surtees al mejor caballo en el campeonato del Pony Club y en el 2009 jugó para el equipo ganador en categoría Ledner. Nada mal para una yegua de su edad! F

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The knowledge Travel – Australia

As Polo Times unveils a new partnership with Europe’s beginners’ hub Ascot Park (see July issue), we discover how Australia’s equivalent, Riverlands, has evolved. Founder Adam Meally talks to Yolanda Carslaw Why did you set up Riverlands?

We started as a livery stable for established patrons, 45 minutes outside Sydney, but it was soon apparent there was a big gap in the market for tuition. Before Riverlands was developed the main way to start playing was to know a polo player and hope to use their horses or to go out and spend a lot of money buying your own

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property and horses. Riverlands, which we set up in 2003, is the first club of its kind and is now responsible for providing over 25 per cent of today's playing members in New South Wales.

When does your season run?

We’re open year round for coaching and chukkas, but our main seasons are autumn and spring.

How do people new to polo find you?

Some through word of mouth, and we’re heavily involved with some major polo events in Sydney, including the very popular polo in the city series.

We get a lot of media attention in the lead-up to these events (both written and on television) as well as on the day. Our main market is young corporates coming out of Sydney.

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Action at Riverlands, 45 minutes west of Sydney, which specialises in bringing new players on. Owner Adam Meally (inset and in blue) identified a gap in the market in 2003

How has Riverlands developed?

We started from very humble beginnings, In 2001 I saw a need for polo management so together with my parents we leased a property close to Sydney and close to other polo clubs. We started off with three clients, managing their horses and also playing for them. It wasn't long before we where getting e nquiries about learning to play.

Some nine years later we own our own property with polo fields, stables and clubhouse. We teach more than 150 newcomers a year and we manage polo for up to 20 other clients. We have 15 livery horses, 20 playing lease horses and 12 school horses that we use for coaching. With 30 playing members, Riverlands is also the second biggest club in Australia [behind Scone, four hours north of Sydney] in terms of membership.

enquiries for lessons are from women and we have at least 10 full-time female players based at the club. Ladies’ polo is probably the fastest growing area in Australian polo.

Do some of your learners go on to become members of the other clubs near you in a sort of “feeder” system, as well as staying with you?

Because of the complete polo service we are able to provide at Riverlands we don’t lose too many to other clubs. Although we are the biggest coaching facility in the country we have been successful at putting together winning teams for our more established clients as well. The people that move on from Riverlands are those that go on to buy their own properties and horses and employ their own managers and players.

Are you involved in women’s polo?

Our Riverlands Ladies’ International in November is the largest event of its kind in Australia, attracting more than 30 female players from around the country. This year we are hosting a four-nations cup with teams from Mexico, Argentina and New Zealand coming over to play our Australian ladies’ team. More than half our

Has the recession made much difference to your business?

If anything it has helped us. Yes, we saw a downturn in the amount of money patrons were spending on teams – in terms of hiring professionals, buying horses and so on – but the coaching side of the business grew steadily, so we

just focused on that during that period. What we have now is the new batch of patrons who are ready to play and spend money.

Did you teach any of Australia's current big patrons?

We have coached and managed polo for various high-goal patrons like John Marshall (owner of fashion labels such as Sabba and Sports Craft) and Peter Higgins (owner of Mortgage Choice). Spencer Young [who played high-goal in England as Yindarra] is my neighbour and a very good friend of more than 10 years who regularly comes to Riverlands to play chukkas. He also comes on some of our overseas polo trips: the most recent was last year when Riverlands took a team to Beijing to play the first Beijing international. F ◗ COMING SOON: Carlie Trotter profiles Ascot Park in ‘Playing Around’. All new subscribers to Polo Times get a £50-off voucher for Europe’s premier beginners’ club, Ascot Park. For details, email georgie@polotimes.co.uk and see the news pages of the July issue of PT ◗ For more visit www.riverlandspolo.com.au

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My travels The knowledge

My travels with Henry Stevens

Georgie May asks about the voyages, for work and play, of one of the UK’s busiest travelling pro umpires Have you been away recently?

I was in Berlin for some low goal tournaments in June, where I umpired up to five games a day. I spend a lot of my year in Europe, darting to and from Germany and Switzerland mostly.

It’s like a circus in Europe, you have to travel around a lot and if you do a decent job you get asked to go back.

I’ve umpired abroad for five years and I really enjoy it – apart from all the air travel, which is boring and tiring. Last year I spent more time abroad than I did in England – this year I’m splitting my time evenly so that I can spare time for my young horses here and my clients that I look after.

Where do you most like umpiring?

I love Gstaad. It’s great fun, even though the polo isn’t of the highest standard – about 1618 goal usually – but it attracts big names; this year Marcos Heguy is said to be playing.

The organisers do an excellent job, the entertainment is great and they parade the

Did you get into umpiring in the UK or abroad?

I used to be a rugby player – I played until I had grey hair! – and I fell into polo after I set

I’d like due to all the travelling I do. I’m based near Cowdray, so it’s a great place to be during the English summer. Otherwise, I think the best holiday I’ve had in a long time was a two-week holiday to Jamaica last November. My children and grandchildren came along too.

The first four days we stayed at the Jamaica Inn in Ochos Rios – coincidentally I stayed in the “Cowdray Suite”, where Lord Cowdray used to stay. The hotel had a 70th anniversary book about Cowdray in which I was pictured – I was God from there on in!

One of the bays at Ochos Rios, Jamaica, where Henry went on holiday with his family last November

up a nightclub in Haslemere in the 1980s. It attracted all the polo folk during the season and one night I ended up buying two polo ponies when I was drunk!

When I moved to the US with Carol, as she had a job there, I started umpiring under Bennie Gutierrez – the chief umpire for the USPA – and he wrote to Arthur DouglasNugent in the UK, recommending me to umpire in the UK. It has been 10 years now that I have been involved in umpiring.

What has been your most enjoyable non-polo trip?

Well, firstly I have a lovely home in England, where I don’t get to spend as much time as

The Jamaica Inn was probably the best hotel I’ve stayed in; efficient staff, good hospitality and very close to the beach.

For the rest of the holiday, we stayed in a villa down the road which sat beside the ocean. I was able to dabble in my other hobby – golf – as well as swim with dolphins. It was an amazing holiday but unfortunately I had to do a lot of umpiring to pay it off!

What are your travel essentials?

I never forget sun cream and some easy shoes to lounge around in. My mother always said, “Don’t die with your dirty knickers on” – so I always make sure I take enough boxer shorts with me wherever I go!

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Photographs by James Mullan and Yolanda Carslaw

After the UK season where do you head next?

Straight after the Gold Cup I am heading to Sylt in Germany for the German Polo Masters then on to Gstaad. Following that I go to the Swiss Open then back to Germany in September.

I travel straight from Gstaad to Zurich for the Swiss Open and don’t come home in between – it’s such a beautiful train journey between the mountains that it’s an opportunity missed if I get on a plane.

I spend winters in Florida, where I do a lot of umpiring and where I have a home there with my partner, Carol. The US has zerotolerance to umpires talking to players; personally I like to be able to express an opinion, as it’s good to let players know where they went wrong. In the UK we have a better system I think.

I’ve never been to Thailand or Malaysia to umpire, but I’d really like to see how it all works there: maybe this winter I’ll go.

teams through town. The field was laid along the side of a runway just for this annual event – although they stop air-traffic coming in during the polo!

The German Polo Masters is another great event. It takes place on a small holiday island off northern Germany and attracts players of five, six or even seven goals.

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The knowledge Property

Made for players, sold by players Corinne Hitching discovers how a polo-playing property developer has built a portfolio in one of the UK’s polo hubs, and asks about his current projects roperty developer Mark Burgon is often seen enjoying polo from the sidelines at Cowdray Park and since moving his company to Midhurst in 2008 is now even closer to the action. Burgon created the Watersfield Group in 1992 with the aim of specialising in creating quality developments and conversions across Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire with an emphasis on traditional homes with quality finishes.

Watersfield’s latest development is Angel Yard, a project that created 14 properties, five new build cottages and nine converted apartments, from part of the Angel Hotel all set in a secluded area with private garden and lovely views a stone’s throw from the centre of Midhurst. With just three properties still available, this is the latest success in a series of Midhurst projects that included Chartwell Mews, Northgate Mews and the Rockeries.

“We like to build properties that are in keeping with the surrounding area, so typically that includes tile hanging, leaded windows and

P

Mark Burgon (pictured with Maurice Ormerod) has a sideline in conservatories

Just one apartment remains. With an asking price of £350,000, the two bed, two bath property has a large open plan living room and kitchen with wooden floors throughout. Situated on the second floor, the apartment enjoys spectacular views to the Cowdray ruins, polo fields and beyond. Two cottages are left. Priced

Burgon is too busy to play outdoor polo, but he takes part in arena polo with his colleague Maurice Ormerod – the pair can be seen hightailing it to Salisbury in winter whatever makes the property blend into the locality,” says Burgon. “I get a lot of satisfaction from finding ways to make a property different in some way, perhaps by vaulting a ceiling or creating an unusual space or feature.”

The speed at which the Angel Yard project went up was astonishing, not least as it happened in the height of the recession. “We were lucky as seven properties were sold off plan,” says Burgon.

“We had people moving in as we were putting the finishing touches to the paintwork, just nine months after work was started.”

at £395,000, each property has a south facing patio garden and is finished to the usual Watersfield high standard, with top of the range kitchen and bathroom appliances and a bright and airy feel.

The layout and position is one reason the properties have been so popular. “It’s the old story that location always wins, even in the depths of a recession,” said Burgon. “We try to be selective about where we develop but are always interested in talking to people about sites, be that a piece of land or the re-development of a building.”

For further information with regard to equestrian property sales contracts, please contact Mark Charter at Blake Lapthorn directly: on 023 8085 7116; via email, at mark.charter@bllaw.co.uk; or write to Mark Charter, Partner, Real Estate, Blake Lapthorn, New Kings Court, Tollgate, Chandlers Ford, Eastleigh, SO53 3LG

72 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

The Watersfield Group has also created a sideline in bespoke conservatories and orangeries.

“We try to include some kind of garden room on most of our developments and in so doing have managed to specialise,” explained Burgon. “We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from clients so know we are providing a quality service.”

While Burgon is too busy to play outdoor polo, he does take part in arena polo throughout the winter, a passion he shares with his colleague, semi-professional Maurice Ormerod, whose family own Druids Lodge Polo. Ormerod manages to divide his time between playing polo and working for the Watersfield Group, something he has done for the past five years. During the summer, Ormerod plays outdoor off a three-goal handicap as well as sand polo, while in winter, both Ormerod and Burgon can be seen hightailing it over to Salisbury to take part in arena polo tournaments.

“We have our own team and have even created a Watersfield Trophy – although it’s been a while since we’ve won it,” admitted Burgon. However, if the speed and quality of his developments are anything to go by, his polo team will soon be picking up trophies. F To find out more visit www.watersfield.com Are you selling an interesting polo property? Let us know at PT HQ: georgie@polotimes.co.uk

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www.ballards-uk.com

B A L L A R D S

Holyport, Berkshire. £2,350m Freehold An attractive and beautifully presented family home located in a semi-rural location with superb equestrian facilities set in grounds approaching 5 acres. The property benefits from versatile high specification accommodation incorporating a two storey annexe and double integral garage. Gated enclosed grounds comprise formal gardens, paddocks, manège and stick & ball field and an all weather tennis court. The stable block features six loose boxes, a tack room, feed store and two workshops.

Viewings strictly by appointment with: Tim Feaviour 10 Wargrave Road Twyford Berkshire RG10 9PG Tel: 01189 320044

Emma Smith The Gallery 3 High Street Windsor Berkshire SL4 1LD Tel: 01753 834600

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As mad as polo The knowledge Seasoned adrenalin junkie Andrew Dent seeks out thrills off the field

Scores of amateur pilots in a vast array of aircraft create a remarkable sight when fighting it out for one of Britain’s several Handicap Air Racing crowns.

And it’s not as difficult as some might think to get involved iving for the finishing line with your engine screaming and your propeller tips breaking the sound barrier is not a good time to find your temperatures are over the red line and that another competitor is descending into your line of flight and hasn’t spotted you below. But it’s all in a day’s work for a competitor in Britain’s Handicap Air Racing series, run at airfields around the UK on as many as 10 weekends a year. The fixtures are not to be confused with the Red Bull Air Races, which are staged round inflatable pylons, often at sea, and are strictly for professionals. This, by contrast, is entirely amateur.

Handicap Air Racing is open to anyone with a pilot’s licence and 100 hours of flying experience. And those in the polo fraternity will understand the familiar concept of handicapping, arranged in Air Racing so that everyone starts the event at staggered time intervals designed to ensure that they all cross the finish line simultaneously. The beauty of the system is that faster aircraft are frequently beaten by slower

D

ones, with the emphasis put on flying skills and accuracy rather than horsepower.

Generally, races take place over around 25 miles and comprise four or five laps of a course centred around an airfield. Spectators are therefore able to see both the start and the finish. Racing pilots - men and women - come from all walks of life and localities. The aircraft

All finish simultaneously, with the emphasis on flying skills rather than horsepower they fly are just as varied, ranging in speed from 100mph to near 250mph and from executive twin engine aircraft and single seat racers to classic tourers, homebuilds and war-birds.

Races regularly feature very exciting lastminute dashes and, with a Civil Aviation Authority exemption, the subsequent stream landing can also be testing – everyone jockeys for runway position as they come in with the bare minimum of fuel remaining.

There are several famous historical venues and tournaments with war-time links but just as much fun, and as much of a challenge, are those events run at grassy airfields like Compton Abbas.

Camaraderie and easy banter in the morning at these venues often disguises hard-fought battles with split-second outcomes that follow. If you don’t have a pilot’s licence already, it’s well worth getting one just for this sport alone. F ◗ Andrew Dent sponsors the annual Dent Cup

at Kirtlington Park Polo Club ◗ Got a licence already? Then try Handicap Air

Racing for yourself. A one-day course at Britain’s Air Race School costs £230 but, when budgeting for a typical air racing weekend with two races, a night in a hotel, entry fee and aircraft hire, you need to allow at least £1000. More expensive aircraft will put the price up higher. Visit www.airraceuk.co.uk for more information Read Andrew Dent’s columns in back issues online. Subscribers have access to the whole Polo Times catalogue: contact georgie@ polotimes.co.uk if you need your password.

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Eating out – Seven Fish, Midhurst The knowledge

Where you can feast on fish all day Is the latest occupant of Rothermere in Midhurst, with a garden view to the Ruins, the answer to Cowdray regulars’ prayers?

Yolanda Carslaw checks out Seven Fish, which this month turns one year old ince the closure two years ago of Gaudi's, the Midhurst restaurant where the polo crowd used to hang out till the small hours, Sussex's polo hub has struggled to give polo folk a town-centre feeding and watering hole that has “stuck”.

Word reached us, however, at Polo Times, that a new restaurant and bar at the bottom of North Street this summer was cutting the mustard – or perhaps the mayonnaise.

Seven Fish, which replaced Loch Fyne a year ago, was set up by a pair of restaurateurs who have a similar place in Ringwood, Hampshire. Their stated philosophy (expressed on their bright, informative website): “We don’t stand on ceremony; we preach casual all-day drinking and dining. We like customers to drop by on a whim, alone or with company.”

I visited with company – though not on a whim, and not for all-day drinking – after the semi-finals of the Gold Cup. The pretty stone high-street cottage is cheerfully welcoming, from the blackboards and bistro tables on the street to the enthusiastic front-of-house face, Carrie Wilson-Watson, who showed the two of us to a table for four at the back of the airy dining room.

Through full-length windows we could spy on an office party in the paved garden ordering pre-dinner drinks, while inside a polo group including Tom Morley was settling down for supper. There’s room for 60 inside and 30 outside – from where you can see the Ruins – and the small carpeted bar, facing the street, has a friendly vibe. While the dining room décor is somewhat ubiquitous – tile

Photograph by Yolanda Carslaw

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flooring with plain rugs, solid square tables and high-backed wooden chairs – thoughtful touches make the place shine: comfy upholstery on the chairs; a giant skylight; one wall painted lime green; exposed brick features; oversized maritime prints on the walls; clever lighting.

In addition “tiddlers’” menus (mains £5.90) with a fishy colouring-sheet on the back, and a full-length freestanding mirror by the ladies’ loo – requested by Wilson-Watson when she used to be a customer, hence “Carrie’s mirror”

rope-grown mussels in ginger, chilli and lemongrass broth (£7.20/£14.25). Oysters are £1.70 each.

My South Coast skate main course (£16.95) was a revelation in texture and taste. Perfectly smooth shards of flesh peeled smoothly from the wing, and the sauce of parsley and white wine was not too rich – especially when mixed up with crushed new potatoes and a pile of watercress. My companion’s seared duck breast with soy and honey glaze and stir-friend veg (£15.95) was juicy and fragrant.

Through full-length windows we could spy on an office party enjoying drinks, and inside, a polo group including Tom Morley was settling down for supper scrawled on the glass – add to the feeling the owners really care. Young staff in white cotton shirts featuring the restaurant’s neat, colourful logo replenished water, bread and butter when we asked, and on each table sat flaked sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper.

As expected there’s seafood aplenty, but the star-turn of our starters was my companion’s pan-fried wild mushrooms (£7), which melted in the mouth and tasted of cool, summery wood. My tempura battered prawns (£7.50) were tasty and light and I loved the pot of chilli jam that came with it, though I struggled to detect much zing in the wasabi mayonnaise.

Other starters we liked the sound of were salt and pepper chilli squid and, from the specials, grilled Cornish sardines on toast.

Shellfish available on our visit, as starters or mains, included scallops (£8.25/£16.50) and

Portions were decent, bordering on hefty. We rounded off with excellent crème brulee and ice-cream: the puddings menu tended to the rich side and we had the impression the head chef, Piers Martin, likes a bit of “goo”.

I left wanting to return – perhaps at lunchtime, for the £10.50 two-course set menu with wine, or for an early evening bargain (£13.95 for two courses and a glass of wine; Sun-Thurs 5-7.30pm) – or maybe for a morning coffee or happy-hour cocktail (halfprice from 5-8pm). Given the generous portions on our visit, I can’t promise I’ll manage all-day eating though. F

PT RATING: ★★★★★ ◗ Seven Fish Canteen, Bar and Grill, Rothermere,

North Street, Midhurst, GU29 9DJ; 01730 716280; www.sevenfish.co.uk. Look out for its one-year anniversary party coming up in August.

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The knowledge Gear

TX9 Sony Cyber-Shot Leica X1 From Leica Mayfair Store (www.leica-storemayfair.com; 020 7629 1351) This stylish retro option can achieve exceptionally high resolution and quality photos for a camera of such small dimensions. It offers clearly laid-out functions, as well as numerous automatic features. There is currently a waiting list for this good-looking gadget.

The damage: £1,395

From Sony UK (www.sonystyle.co.uk; 0845 600 0124) This slim, lightweight model is available in various colours. It features the “sweep multi angle”, which shoots a high-speed burst of 15 frames, creating a “3D-style” image that can be viewed from different angles. It also has the extra refinement of a new “background defocus”, which aims to make it easier to achieve pro-style images. Available from the end of August.

The damage: Price to be released in August

Fuji Finepix XP10

CX305 Sony Handycam

From Jessops (www.jessops.com; 0800 083 3113) Affordable, fun option for catching all the best moments this summer. Robust, waterproof, shockproof, freeze-proof and dustproof, it is easy to use with its “scene recognition”, which automatically chooses the best settings based on conditions. It also has an “Easy Facebook and YouTube” feature, which helps you to share and upload your images, wherever you are in the world.

The damage: £129

From Sony UK online (www.sonystyle.co.uk; 0845 600 0124) This offers both still photos and high-definition video footage. It has a special “golf shot function” to capture moving images. The results can then be seen as a slow-motion video, or as an image with every frame shown by a series of thumbnail-sized images. A versatile hybrid of both static and video footage.

The damage: £749

Olympus SP-800UZ

Nikon Coolpix S4000

From Olympus (www.olympus.co.uk 0800 111 4777) Olympus’s most powerful ultra-zoom compact. The 14-megapixel camera has high-speed shooting at up to 15 frames per second, and a 30x wide optical zoom function, making it perfect for action shots. This is combined with a high-definition video camera, making it great for any occasion.

The damage: £300

From Jessops (www.jessops.com; 0800 083 3113) This slim, sleek 131g body conceals a host of helpful features to make taking great photos easier. These features include a “motion detection” which automatically identifies fast movements and adjusts the shutter speed. A “best shot selector” takes up to 10 consecutive pictures and selects the sharpest. The model is exclusive to Jessops.

The damage: £119

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The knowledge Dates for the diary

What’s on in August Principal fixtures at home and abroad UK highlights High-goal Cirencester Park – Warwickshire Cup (17-20 goal): 20 July – 8 August Cowdray Park – Cowdray Park Challenge Cup (18-20): 9-15 August Beaufort – Beaufort 20 Goal (18-20): 16-21 August Medium-goal Guards – Duke of Cornwall (12–16): 17-29 August Cirencester Park – National 15 Goal Championship, the County Cup (12-15): 10-22 August RCBPC – 12-15 Goal Championship (12-15): 23-29 August Intermediate-goal Ham – Dubai Trophy (8-12): 27 July – 8 August Guards – Duke of Wellington Trophy (6-12): 1-15 August Coworth Park – Valerie Halford Memorial Trophy (8–12): 11-30 August RCBPC – 8-12 Goal Championship (8-12): 16-22 August Cirencester Park – Cheltenham Cup (8-12): 24 August – 5 September Guards – Autumn Nations, Kerry Packer (10-12): 28 August – 12 September Special events Rutland – Masters (Over 40s) (Open): 7-8 August Cirencester Park – The British Forces Foundation Day in the Park (Open): 21 August Taintfield Farm, Sussex – Help for Heroes Charity Polo 2010 (Open): 21 August Vaux Park – Junior Tournament and Bibic Family Day (Open): 21-22 August

High 20 Goal Cirencester Warwickshire Cup Cowdray Cowdray Park Challenge Beaufort Beaufort 20 Goal

20 July - 8 August 9-15 August 16-21 August 17-29 August

Medium 15 Goal Cowdray Harrison Cup Cirencester National 15 Goal RCBPC 12 15 Goal Championship

19 July - 1 August 10-22 August 23-29 August

Intermediate 12 Goal Ham Dubai Trophy Guards Duke of Wellington Trophy Coworth Valerie Halford Memorial RCBPC 8 12 Goal Championship Cirencester Cheltenham Cup Guards Autumn Nations

27 July - 8 August 1-15 August 11-30 August 16-22 August 24 Aug - 5 Sept 28 Aug - 12 Sept

Low 10 Goal Beaufort The Non Playing Members RCBPC Polo Festival

Youth Tidworth – Qualifying Pony Club Tournament (Open): 1-2 August Hurtwood Park – Jorrocks Championships (Open): 4 August Cowdray Park – Pony Club Championships (Open): 6-8 August Cowdray Park – The 21 Cup (Open): 10-12 August Kirtlington Park – Alan Budgett (Open): 14 August Rutland – Whitbread Trophy (Open): 14 August Ham – Stagshead/BBVA/Kingfisher Trophy (Open): 15 August Longdole – Longdole Junior Tournament (Open): 28-29 August

Overseas Spain Santa-Maria Polo Club, Sotogrande – Bronze, Silver and Gold Cups (at each of 4-6-goal/1012/19-20): 27 July – 29 August Netherlands Deuverden – Invitation Ladies Polo Cup (-2–0): 14-15 August

Kirtlington Budgett Everett Trophy Ham Roehampton Cup RLS The Wilson Cup Vaux Park International Trophy

3-15 August 12-22 August 13-15 August 21-22 August

Low 6 Goal

Medium 16 Goal Guards Duke of Cornwall

Ladies Ascot Park – UK National Women’s Tournament (various levels): 31 July – 1 August White Rose – Stimpson Ladies Trophy (Open): 1 August Kirtlington Park – Thorneloe Ladies Tournament (Open): 6-8 August Beaufort – The Beaufort Ladies Tournament (0-4): 7-15 August RCBPC – The Ladies Tournament (-2-2): 21-30 August Dundee – Ladies Cup (-6-4): 28-29 August

31 July - 8 August 26 July - 8 August

Low 8 Goal RCBPC Polo Festival 31 July - 8 August Guards Town & County Championship 1-14 August

80 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk-

Lacey Green The Scottish Tournament RLS The Arthingworth Cup Vaux Park Chairmans Cup Druids Lodge Harvest Cup Cowdray The 21 Cup New Forest Blue Jackets Summer Ascot Whaka Cup Rugby The Towns Trophy Hurtwood 6 Goal Cup Cirencester Kingscote Cup Taunton Vale The Houldsworth Cup Kirtlington Seeneys Tournament Knepp Sotheby's, Lycetts and Savills RLS The Ferring Cup

31 July - 1 August 30 July - 1 August 31 July - 1 August 7-8 August 10-12 August 12-15 August 14-15 August 14-15 August 17-22 August 17 Aug - 4 Sept 20-22 August 24-30 August 26-30 August 27-29 August

Low 4 Goal Ham Summer Tournament Kirtlington August Chukka Cup Longdole Kaimira Wine Challenge

24 July - 8 August 29 July - 1 August 31 July - 1 August

France Deauville – Lucien Barrière Coupe d’Or (20): 15-29 August St Tropez – Cote d’Azur Cup (8-12): 5-15 August Switzerland Polo Club Gstaad – Hublot Gold Cup (16–18): 19-22 August Polo Club de Veytey – Jaeger-LeCoultre Polo Masters (6-8): 18-29 August Polo Park Zurich – Sarasin Swiss Polo Open: 25-29 August Australia Logan Downs – Motorline BMW Cup (4–10): 21-22 August

Other dates for the diary Brightwells, Ascot – Summer Bloodstock Sale (flat and National Hunt horses in and out of training, point to pointers and untried stock): 24 August Doncaster – August, Bloodstock Sales (flat and National Hunt horses in training, NH Stores and NH Broodmares): 3-5 August

Polo on TV Highlights on Horse & Country TV (Sky 280) 2 August, 2pm: 2009 Beach Polo, Sandbanks 3 August, 2pm: 2009 Westchester Cup 10 August, 11.30pm: 2009 Beach Polo, Sandbanks 16 August, 2pm: 2009 CV Whitney Cup 17 August, 11pm: 2009 CV Whitney Cup 19 August, 7pm: 2009 CV Whitney Cup 23 August, 2pm: 2009 US Open 26 August, 7pm: 2009 US Open

Rugby The Miller Cup Beverley John Nuttall & Lincolnshire Lynt Ruth Parker Equine Dentist Cheshire Demetriadi Cup Druids Lodge Aspiga Trophy Lynt Ruth Parker Equine Dentist Binfield Heath Chairman's Cup Cambridge Moorley Horsebox Cup Frolic Club Tournament Hurtwood August Challenge Knepp Shotter and Byers RLS The Victors Shield Dundee Highland Ball Tournament Edgeworth Last Days of the Raj Haggis Farm Baileys Horse Feed Vaux Park Farmer's Challenge Beverley Tribfest Polo Weekend Burningfold Alfold Bowl Cheshire Indart Cup Kirtlington The Lousada Trophy Silver Leys Charity Event RLS The Warwickshire Shield St Albans The Charity Plate

31 July - 1 August 31 July - 1 August 31 July - 1 August 31 July - 1 August 31 July - 1 August 31 July - 1 August 7-8 August 7-8 August 7-8 August 3-8 August 5-8 August 6-8 August 14-15 August 14-15 August 14-15 August 14-15 August 20-22 August 19-22 August 21-22 August 17-22 August 21-22 August 20-22 August 21-22 August

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Chester Churton & Aldford Challenge Frolic Harvest Hawkie Tournament Lacey Green Sponsor Cup Edinburgh Edinburgh Autumn Rutland The Ruddles Cup

23/7/10

28-29 August 28-29 August 28-29 August 29-30 August 28-30 August

Low 3 Goal Tidworth King's Royal Hussars' Cup

7-8 August

Low 2 Goal Sussex Mid Summer Cup 31 July - 1 August Taunton Vale The Dubai Trophy 31 July - 1 August RLS The Champagne Trophy 31 July - 1 August Lacey Green The Scottish Tournament 31 July - 1 August Dedham Vale Othello of Brodie Trophy 31 July - 1 August Hurtwood El Milagro Holiday 27 July - 1 August RCBPC Polo Festival 26 July - 8 August Waterford Eduardo Albaraccine Trophy 31 July - 2 August Beverley Coneja/Diosa Cup 7-8 August Barcombe The Summer Cup 7-8 August Cheshire Jean Kewley Trophy 7-8 August Edgeworth The Amir Trophy 7-8 August Kirtlington The Winwick Cup 3-8 August Rutland Hartopp Trophy 7-8 August St Albans The Crystal Cup 7-8 August Hurtwood Club Friendly Tournament 10-15 August Binfield Heath Alpha Suisse 14-15 August Cheshire Henbury Cup 14-15 August Dundee Highland Ball Tournament 14-15 August Epsom General's Cup 14-15 August Lacey Green Club Tournament 14-15 August Lynt Baileys Horse Feed Challenge 14-15 August RLS The Herbaceutica Bowl 13-15 August Sussex Taste International 14-15 August Tidworth Canada Cup 14-15 August W Wycombe Countryside Cup 14-15 August Ascot Augustine Cup 21-22 August Lacey Green La Mariposa Cup 21-22 August Lynt Stroud Farm Services 21-22 August Longdole Roxtons 2 Goal 21-22 August Taunton Vale The Hong Kong 21-22 August Tidworth Frost Cup 21-22 August Beverley Carl Swindon Memorial Cup 28-29 August Druids Lodge Emerson Trophy 28-29 August RLS The Lord Chamberlain Cup 27-29 August Rugby The Rugby 2 Goal 28-29 August Sussex The Terence Lent Trophy 28-29 August Taunton Vale Orchard Portman Trophy 28-29 August Tidworth Light Infantry Trophy 28-29 August Vaux Park Sponsors Tournament 28-29 August Edgeworth Stroud Farm Services 28-30 August Knepp Sussex Saddlery Trophy 29-8 August Hurtwood Erin's Plate 24-30 August

Low 1 Goal Knepp Under 25 Cup

15 August

Low Below 0 Goal Waterford Coolfin Cup Kirtlington Mid Summer Cup Lacey Green The Scottish Tournament New Forest Celebration Cup Ascot Ascot Park Cup Cambridge Moorley Horsebox Frolic Club Tournament New Forest Punch Bowl Trophy RLS The Susie Challenge Trophy St Albans The Crystal Cup Tidworth King's Royal Hussars' Cup Kirtlington Rousham Trophy Lacey Green Club Tournament

31 July - 2 August 29 July - 1 August 31 July - 1 August 31 July - 1 August 7-8 August 7-8 August 7-8 August 8 August 5-8 August 7-8 August 7-8 August 10-15 August 14-15 August

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Longdole Emerging Tournament Taunton Vale Weston Super Mare White Rose Yorkshire Open Kirtlington Tylor League (Amateur) Knepp Club Tournament RLS The Lindy Whiteley Memorial Lacey Green La Mariposa Cup Moyne Moyne Plate Offchurch Bury The Ed Phillips Cup Silver Leys Charity Event St Albans The Charity Plate Tidworth Frost Cup Kirtlington Autumn Plate Binfield Heath Corney & Barrow Cup Frolic Harvest Hawkie Tournament Lacey Green Sponsor Cup New Forest Siamese Cup Rutland Preston Lodge Bowl Edgeworth Wednesday Night Intro Lynt Cash Tournament £1000 prize Beverley John Nuttall & Lincolnshire Vale of York Conservative Trophy Rugby The Kangaroo Challenge Beverley Coneja/Diosa Cup Rutland Belvoir Trophy Vale of York Tribella Trophy Asthall Farm Cinta Cup Sussex Harvest Challenge Dundee Highland Ball Tournament Rugby The No Pro Challenge Sussex Taste International Vale of York York and Ainsty Hunt Cup W Wycombe Countryside Cup Tidworth Canada Cup White Rose Yorkshire Open FHM Essinghigh Trophy New Forest Stick and Ball Trophy Silver Leys Silver Leys Cup Sussex Back to School Trophy Vale of York Crown Hotel Mid Week Beverley Carl Swindon Memorial Cup Rugby The Toft Shield Sussex The Terence Lent Trophy Vale of York Parkinsons Polo Ascot Robert Burke Trophy FHM Breast Cancer Campaign Tidworth Light Infantry Trophy Sussex 3 A Side Novices Vale of York Epworth Show

14-15 August 14-15 August 14-15 August 17-22 August 19-22 August 20-22 August 21-22 August 21-22 August 21-22 August 21-22 August 21-22 August 21-22 August 24-30 August 28-29 August 28-29 August 28-29 August 28-29 August 28-30 August 31 Aug - 1 Sept 28-30 August 31 July - 1 August 31 July - 1 August 31 July - 1 August 7-8 August 7-8 August 7-8 August 7 -8 August 7-15 August 14-15 August 14-15 August 14-15 August 14-15 August 14-15 August 14-15 August 14-15 August 14 August 21-22 August 21-22 August 21-22 August 25 August 28-29 August 28-29 August 28-29 August 28-29 August 28-30 August 28 August 28-29 August 30 Aug - 4 Sept 30 August

Young England Cowdray The 21 Cup Kirtlington Alan Budgett Rutland Whitbread Trophy Ham Stagshead Trophy

10-12 August 14 August 14 August 15 August

Combined Services RMAS Heritage Cup Tidworth AGC Cup

7-8 August 30 August

Pony Club Tidworth Qualifying Pony Club Hurtwood Jorrocks Championships Cowdray Pony Club Championships

1-2 August 4 August 6-8 August

Ladies Ascot National Women's Tournament Ascot National Women's Tournament Ascot National Women's Tournament Ascot National Women's Tournament Ascot National Women's Tournament

31 July - 1 August 31 July - 1 August 31 July - 1 August 31 July - 1 August 31 July - 1 August

Club

contacts (UK and Ireland)

AEPC, Hickstead – 01273 834315 All Ireland – +353 (1) 6896732 Apsley End – 01462 712444 Ascot Park – 01276 858545 Ash Farm – 01932 872521 Asthall Farm – 01367 860207 Beaufort – 01666 880510 Belmont, Mill Hill – 01344 829955 Beverley – 01964 544455 Binfield Heath – 01491 411969 Border Reivers – 01890 840777 Brannockstown – +353 45483708 Barcombe – 07872 058095 Bunclody – +353 876605917 Burningfold – 01483 200722 Cambridge & Newmarket – 07769 976781 Carlton House – 01986 892231 Cheshire – 01270 611100 Chester Racecourse – 01244 304602 Cirencester Park – 01285 653225 Cowdray Park – 01730 813257 Coworth Park – 01344 875155 Curraghmore – +353 51387102 Dedham Vale – 01473 280900 Donaghadee – 02891 882521 Druids Lodge – 01722 782597 Dundee & Perth – 07831 365194 Edgeworth – 07879 825660 Edinburgh – 0131 449 6696 Epsom – 01372 748200 FHM – 07778 436468 Fifield – 01628 620061 Foxhill – 0115 9651790 Frolic Farm – 01223 812922 Guards – 01784 434212 Haggis Farm – 01223 460353 Ham – 020 8334 0000 Hertfordshire – 01707 256023 Hurtwood Park – 01483 272828 Kinross – 07831 365194 Kirtlington – 01869 650138 Knepp Castle – 01403 741007 Lacey Green – 07947 725305 Ladyswood – 01666 840880 Limerick – +353 872373903 Little Bentley – 01206 250435 Longdole – 01452 864544 Lynt – 07957 468220 Maywood – 01962 885500 Moyne – +353 851313224 New Forest – 02380 811818 Offchurch Bury – 07785 223383 Orchard – 01258 471000 Park Lane – 01491 411969 Ranksboro – 01572 720046 RMAS – 01276 412276 Royal County of Berkshire – 01344 890060 RLS – 01926 812409 Rugby – 01788 817724 Rutland – 01572 724568 Silver Leys – 01279 652652 St Albans – 07710 262435 Stewarton – 01560 483411 Suffolk Polo – 07990 576974 Sussex Polo – 01342 714920 Taunton – 01823 480460 Tidworth – 01980 846705 Toulston – 01422 372529 Vale of York – 07788 426968 Vaux Park – 01460 242684 West Wycombe – 01865 858475 White Rose – 01430 875750 Wicklow – +353 (0) 404 67164 ◗ To contact the HPA, tel: 01367 242828 ◗ To contact SUPA, tel: 01344 625124

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Out and about

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In association with Aprés Polo

British Beach Polo Championships Sandbanks, Dorset – 9-10 July

Thousands take to the beach The massive after-parties at the British Beach Polo Championships, now in its third year, are already legendary. With its carnival feel, the whole weekend provides something of an excuse for Bournemouth’s local glitterati, a number of celebrities and a decent handful of members of the polo community to party. During the day, this year organisers also entertained guests with new additions to break up the cycle of polo matches.

Wiltshire arena and outdoor club Druids Lodge supplied have-a-go polo lessons throughout; a selection of students gave a simultaneous demonstration of beach volleyball for spectators in a break between play mid-afternoon on each of the two days; and specially-trained “polo” camels from Warwickshire provided what its organisers believe was the first ever display of camel polo in Europe, much to the amusement of spectators.

Moore Capital (in green) and ELS International Law fight it out for the third British Beach Polo Championships title in Saturday’s final

In the interest of happy local relations, on the Thursday evening before the start of the event organisers held a free drinks reception and polo demonstration for local beach hut owners, whose access to the beach had been restricted by the staging of the championships. ◗ Read a comprehensive report of the action on page 36

Jamie Morrison wets the Kidd’s head after an England victory

The six participating 12-goal sides celebrate at the presentations

Anneka Tanaka-Svenska

DJ Brandon Block and party host, Calum Best

Photographs from www.sandpolo.com

Camels displayed unexpected agility as polo mounts

Action from the Saturday of the tournament, where Priva (in all-black) took on Mercedes-Benz 82 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

Volleyball players were a new addition

Model Sophie Anderton

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Out and about The Heaton-Ellis Trust Bicycle Polo Tournament Frith Farm, Hampshire – 26 June

Pedalling and partying for David Polo fanatic Charlotte Casson put together the second annual bike polo event in memory of her former coach David Heaton-Ellis at her parents’ Hampshire home, Frith Farm, in late June. She and her family welcomed 12 teams, who battled it out in blistering heat for the Heaton-Ellis Trust Bicycle Polo Tournament trophy.

The first round was a warm up (not all the teams had played before) but then the tournament took the form of a straight knock-out, which gave way to a three-way final between Thehuntingground.net, Chapps Champagne and Reading. Fittingly, the eventual winners Reading were all first taught to play polo by David Heaton-Ellis (who set up the HeatonEllis Trust before he died last year).

Victorious Reading, all of whom were taught by David Heaton-Ellis

An asado and many drinks followed with a long recovery for both players and spectators the following week. Stickhedz kindly sponsored the team shirts, Thehuntingground.net sponsored the goals, and Chapps Champagne ran a sell-out bar, which kept the after party going until the early hours of the morning. Many players and spectators then camped.

All in all, the event was responsible for £4,000 funding towards a cure for motor neurone disease at Kings College London. Next year’s event will be held at Frith Farm on 25 June. Visit www.hetbikepolo.co.uk for more.

Thomas Irvine and Alexander Alban-Moore

Chapps Champgne (blue) vs Thehuntingground.net in the semi-final

Claire Richardson and Danielle Casson enjoying the action

Photographs by Charlotte Casson

David Knight, George Braithwaite and Henry MacHale enjoy the apresfinal asado

Andrew Stibbard and Jack Canning line up a “Top Gun” high-five while playing for The English Scots 84 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

Hugh Forsyth, captain of the Stubbi Sticks

David Heaton-Ellis’s widow Sophie with Richard Oliver from Rose Polo Team

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Thehuntingground: Thomas Goulding, Jamie Dundas, Alexander Murray, Hamish Lauder

Henry MacHale for the Purple Helmets

Alexander Murray takes a major spill

Charlie Prymaka Chapps Champagne Captian, runners-up

The red and white shirts of the Theakston’s Ale Team talk tactics. Note the protective socks

Organiser Charlotte Casson

Jorge and Christain in charge of the asado

Laura Audley and David Knight for Tacado Team relax after their matches www.polotimes.co.uk August 2010 85

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Out and about Cowdray centenary ball, Lawns ground, Midhurst – 25 June

Club celebrates in fine style Cowdray Park’s Lawns resounded to music, dancing and fireworks as 550 members and guests enjoyed a memorable party to mark 100 years of polo in laid-back Cowdray style. The dress code of “glamorous” for girls, and “smoking jackets and funky trousers” for boys meant that for once the men had just as much chance to shine as the ladies.

With the Ruins providing a dramatic backdrop, guests mingled happily in the warm evening sunshine before sitting down to dinner, which included fillet of British beef, provided by Jacaranda Catering. One of the highlights of the evening followed: a six-minute film made in an afternoon soon before the ball. It starred members of the Cowdray family and club old-timers, including Lord Cowdray; Charles Pearson’s son George, who plays for Eton; Emily Pearson, also a player; Carlos Gracida; and former chairman David Jamison. The footage reflected Cowdray’s future as well as its illustrious past.

After the film Paul Withers proposed a toast to Lord Cowdray, and a superb firework show followed, designed by Michael Lakin. Then it was back to the bar for pudding – and Ivan the Terrible vodka cocktails!

Goalposts and Cowdray colours greeted guests at the entrance

Harry Hoare’s interesting legwear Buster and Penny Mackenzie

Sebastian and Amanda Pearson with Lord and Lady Cowdray

Ed, Lulu and Frankie Hutley

Cressida Bonas and Harry Wentworth-Stanley

Photographs by Clive Bennett

Harry Hoare and Perry Pearson

Nigel and Katie Warr and guests. Pite Merlos (bow tie) played for Warr’s Combe 86 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

Brook and Sally Johnson

Wendy Glue, Lord Cowdray’s oldest son Sebastian Pearson, Nick Dann and Martin “Sticky” Glue

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Heloise Lorentzen, JJ Boote and Genevieve Britten

The Cowdrays’ middle daughter Emily (second left) and friends

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Ben Turner, Simon McCowen and Mark and Lucie Hyde

Cowdray members and polo photographers Robert and Joan Wakeham

Carla and Tonno Itturate

Club chairman Robin Butler (in braces) and his mates

Lila Pearson, co-chair of the ball committee introduces Paul Withers

Stefanie Brown and Nicci Bethell

Mother and daughter Fiona and Alice Kent make a pretty picture in front of Cowdray Ruins

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Out and about Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic, Governor’s Island, New York – 27 June

Piaget presides over players, a prince and the paparazzi Wonderful weather and smiling celebrities welcomed Prince Harry to New York this summer, as the British royal travelled to the States to raise funds and awareness for his charity, Sentebale, for the second consecutive year. Once again, a polo match on Governor’s Island was the highlight of his visit.

City mayor Michael Bloomberg watched on with the likes of actors Val Kilmer and Susan Sarandon, singer Mary J Blige and heiress Ivanka Trump as the Prince’s Sentebale side – led by American ninegoaler Nicolas Roldan – suffered a 7-6 defeat in extra-time to a Black Watch team captained by Ralph Lauren model Nacho Figueras.

Harry suffered a minor fall in front of the sold-out crowd.

Black Watch team captain Nacho Figueras celebrates his side’s victory

Teams: Black Watch (16): Carlos Mansur 1; Ricardo Mansur 7; Nacho Figueras 6; Gonzalo Avendaño 2 Sentebale (17): HRH Prince Harry 1; Ignacio “Nico” Taverna 6; Nic Roldan 9; Larry Austin 1

A gourmet picnic lunch prepared by chef Michael Romano

Polo action on Governor's Island, with the Manhattan skyline in the background

VIP spectators in the Royal Enclosure look on to see Prince Harry recover after a fall from his pony on the far side of the ground

Photographs by Patrick McMullan

One of just 10 speciallydesigned limited edition Piaget Polo FortyFive timepieces created to commemorate the game

Above: Nic Roldan, Piaget ambassador and captain of Prince Harry's team Left: Actress Alexis Bledel

Above: Guests enjoying their picnics shelter from the sun under huge Veuve Clicquot umbrellas Prince Harry in action 88 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

Left: Prizegiving by Larry Boland of Piaget North America

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The Rupert Thorneloe Memorial Cup Kirtlington Park Polo Club – 3 July

Rupert remembered Almost a year to the day when Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe was killed in action in Afghanistan, the inaugural Rupert Thorneloe Memorial Cup was contested at Kirtlington Park Polo Club on Saturday 3 July. Rupert, who began playing polo at Kirtlington and in the Bicester Pony Club, was commanding the 1st Battalion of the Welsh Guards at the time of his death and remains the highest ranked officer to have lost his life in Afghanistan.

Players, relatives, soldiers from the Welsh Guards and officials from Kirtlington line up after the game, with Sophie Thorneloe (Rupert’s younger daughter) holding the inaugural trophy (centre)

The day was superbly organised by Rupert’s sister, Jessica Tomblin, and raised an astonishing £72,000 for the Welsh Guards Afghanistan Appeal. Guests enjoyed a champagne reception and lavish lunch, and were then entertained with a dazzling display of precision parachute landings by the RAF Falcons. The teams, made up of players from the army and players from Kirtlington who had played with Rupert, were then led onto the ground by the Band of the Welsh Guards. With the scores tied after four chukkas, a penalty shoot-out saw the Welsh Guards edge to victory over Kirtlington Park.

Teams: Welsh Guards (10): Guy Bartle-Jones 0; Ben Vestey 3; Jamie Le Hardy 5; Nick Hunter 2 Kirtlington Park (10): Rupert Lewis 1; Andrew Barlow 2; Henry Brett 6; Christopher “Puff” Whiteley 1

Smiling airmen from the RAF Falcons after landing on the ground

Action from the contest for the Rupert Thorneloe Memorial Cup

Rupert’s widow Sally with younger daughter Sophie

Rupert’s neice and nephew, Alice and George Tomblin

Jessica Tomblin, who organised the whole day

Rupert’s mother, Veronica Thorneloe, talks to Johnnie Lewis

Spectators enjoying the action during what proved to be a very close game in perfect conditions

Photographs by Charlie Dailey Photography

Hannah, Rupert and Sally Thorneloe’s elder daughter

Rupert’s father, John Thorneloe, thanks the RAF Falcons www.polotimes.co.uk August 2010 89

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Out and about The Polo Lifestyle Company official launch party Mahiki, Mayfair – London, 15 July

This is the life: cocktails and Kings launch new venture After the excitement of the Gold Cup semi-finals, a host of guests were invited to celebrate the launch of the Polo Lifestyle Company at London’s most fashionable den of iniquity of the day, Mahiki. Free cocktails aplenty flowed in the busy underground room that was provided for the launch of this polo property, holiday and concierge service, and the party numbers quickly swelled to almost 200, filling the venue to capacity.

The evening started in a relaxed fashion with a mixture of investors, polo players and friends of the company’s young polo-playing founders Amy King, Maria Sauro and Freddie Moore attending the event. Later on the lights were dimmed, the music was cranked up and business talk gave way to bacchanalia. There was even a rare appearance on the dance floor by Polo Times’s very own “Strictly Come” advertising manager Tom House.

Patrick Morton with Arabella and Maximillian Bassadone

Matias Jolly Araya and Ollie Piers Cummings

Alexandra Lefort, Tomas Morixe and Rehemet Kassim-Lakha

Katie Gillespie

Amy King and Maria Sauro with their party planner Roy Prisk

Jack Cullen and Gemma Leach

Photographs by John Jennings

Above: Lily Van Bilderbeek, Maria Johansson and Amal Barbingi are all smiles as the blondes have more fun Polo Lifestyle investor, Robin King

Left: Billy Godsell, Argentine polo property owner www.polotimes.co.uk August 2010 91

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Club information

August Tournaments 7-8 Aug 14-15 28-29

Chairman’s Cup Alpha Suisse Corney & Barrow Cup

0-4 goal -2-2 goal -4-0 goal

LOCO 'inner seam free' horse riding jeans and whites

Bridget Hancock on 0797 624 2877 www.binfieldheathpoloclub.co.uk

Rob Cudmore England Coach, 2 HPA Instructors • International Equitrack Polo Arena • Fantastic clubhouse with licensed bar & excellent viewing of the arena • Polo Pony Hire, School Ponies • Chukkas and Matches - call the office for Info • Individual Coaching, Group Lessons, Social & Corporate Events For information on membership, polo lessons and general enquiries please call: Tel: (office) 01452 864 544 Mobile: 07974 532 841 email: rob@longdolepolo.com Longdole Polo Club, Birdlip, Gloucestershire, GL4 8LH

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Classifieds DESTINATIONS

DESIGNER GOODS

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Classifieds LIVERY

GROUND MAINTENANCE

PROPERTY TO RENT

TO RENT IN CENTRAL OXFORDSHIRE Up to 15 stables with super facilities. Horse walker, all weather exercise track, superb 60m X 40m all weather arena, polo/stick and ball ground, turnout and on site groom’s accommodation. Also beautiful 2 double bed barn. Tel: Brett family on 01993 886885 or email hugh.brett@btinternet.com EQUIPMENT

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Classifieds EQUIPMENT

ART

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Classifieds PONIES PRICED TO SELL Six top class low to medium goal ponies under 12yrs, passed vet, uncomplicated patron ponies, can be tried at Sussex. 01342 714920 SELECTION OF HORSES FOR SALE 13 year old TB mare, very easy, perfect Pony Club pony, £2500. 9 year old TB mare, very easy, not going to be good enough for top level, £8000. For more information about these two lovely ponies and others for sale telephone 07786 985034 SUPERB ARGENTINE MARE Superb chestnut Argentine well built mare. 14hh, 11 years. Has played 4 goal. Willing, bold, good mouth, good turns, very quiet, kind, sensible, easy to play. Also ideal for Pony Club Polo. Handly Cross/Surtess.

Always been sound (mothers dream). £6,750.00.

Must go to kind home. Contact 07949 237586 (Warwickshire) HUSBAND/WIFE PATRONS MOVING OVERSEAS Four wonderful ponies match fit and priced to sell: 13 year old, chestnut mare, perfect PC or beginner's, £3000. 7 year old, grey mare, a star for lucky new owner, £7000. 13 year old, chestnut mare, a real joy, light mouth, £6000. 12 year old, bay gelding, strong powerful reliable, £6000. Call Clinton on 07789 906467.

STRING DISPERSAL VIDEOS AVAILABLE Playing ponies aged between 6 -22 played from 0-15 goal, 2 youngsters, relaxed now playing slowly, all horses can be seen on youtube search: Ali Paterson Polo Ponies. Tel 07899 862200 FOUR RELIABLE, SAFE PONIES FOR SALE Foolproof and sound, all these ponies are confidence givers and have played up to 6 goal.

Aged between 11 and 15, their prices range from £3000 to £6000. Call Mandy on 07885 534129 for more information. Based at Kirtlington Park Polo Club, Oxfordshire.

15.1HH THOROUGHBRED MARE is for sale as the player has left for university and no longer has time. Has played Langford at pony club and 6 goal. Can be tried in Cambridge. Tel 07951 164750 15.2HH MARE FOR SALE Suitable for young beginner. Played high-goal and played 2-4 goal with owner for past six years. Easy temperament and to handle. £2500. Telephone Ed on 07745 783330 HANDSOME YOUNG THOROUGHBRED PONY £1800 stick and balling and now playing farm chukkas, good natured 15.2hh bay gelding. Great prospect and project for rest of the summer. Tel 01488 670484 LOW/MEDIUM GOAL PONIES Sienna: 15.1hh (9 yrs): NZ TB, agile and powerful. £8,000. Ben: 15.2hh (10 yrs): English TB, reliable all-rounder. £10,000. Both are playing 4-15 goal with 3 goal pro. Nick Pepper: 07939 935076

96 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

STUNNINGLY TALENTED Six polo ponies are now for sale, from a private string based in Oxfordshire. Two young ponies and four fabulous made playing ponies. Please call 07887 538843 for more details about the ponies. You won’t be disappointed!

TWO POLO PONIES FOR SALE Xanthos: 15.3hh dun gelding, 14 years old, played up to 4 goal.

Gizmo: 15.3hh dark bay gelding, 14 years old, played up to 15 goal. Both ponies are good natured, easy to shoe/travel in a lorry. Both are well-schooled and have good pace and will double chukka. Currently based in Cheshire playing 0-6 goal polo. Owner has to downsize. £5,000 each. Please call Ralph 07917 786181.

PONY CLUB/LADIES PONY - REAL CRACKER Argentinean chestnut gelding 15hh, 12yrs.

Delightful nature. Same home for 7 years. Done PC, schools and university but jockeys now in London. Sad sale. Good home required. £3500.

Tel 01730 812388 (Midhurst) FIVE PLAYING PONIES Two Argentine Ponies 9 and 10 and three Irish Thoroughbreds 7, 9, and 10 between £2,000 and £6,000. Will do deal on the group. Tel 00353 872 057841 15.3HH GELDING BY DANEHILL 15.3hh 11yo dark bay gelding by Danehill. Played up to 8 goal.

Fast strong and agile. Loves to play. For sale as owner downsizing string. Currently at West Wycombe. £3,800. Tel 07958 675521.

TWO POLO PONIES FOR SALE 15.2hh 9 year old polo mare. Played 3 seasons of polo. Quick, agile and very bold £4,500. 15.1 9 year old gelding.

Very easy. Fantastically schooled. £4,250. Tel: 01329 236496. Both sound, fit, ready to play and easy.

GREAT PONIES FOR SALE Selection of ponies, all easy, playing well, most as good in 2 goal as they are in 12 goal. £4000-10,000. Tel 07799 416417 EIGHT YEAR OLD ARGENTINE BAY MARE 14.3hh brilliant pony for beginner/Pony Club 7 up. Heart of gold, good to do. Double chukkas, always sound. Plays outside and arena. Hacks out alone or in company. Lovely horse in all respects. Good home only. £3500. 01452 770222 or email kate@horsoholic.com UPGRADE YOUR STRING? 15.1hh black mare 9 years £15,000; 15.2hh bay gelding 9 years £12,000 playing 12 goal and could go higher. Also 15.2hh chestnut mare 12 years £6000; 15.3 dark bay gelding 13 years £5000 and 15.2 bay mare 17 years free to the right home - all playing up to 12 goal and need to go lower. Also 15.3hh bay mare 7 years £3500 playing pony club - 4 goal and 15.1 bay mare 5 years £3500 playing chukkas. Contact Billy Aprahamian 07739 819804 PONIES FOR SALE FOR ALL LEVELS 13yo stunning TB mare arena only £1000, 13yo gelding

by Catisfield Kid £2250 ono, 6yo Argy Mare high goal breeding, needs finishing, amazing mover, great project £9500 ono, 9yo med/high goal gelding £18,000 for quick sale. Px possible.

07970 697593

PRETTY BLACK MARE 6yrs, 14.2hh, pocket rocket, needs confident rider as has a personality, currently playing with -1 and 1 goaler in Berkshire. Genuine reason for sale. £5,000.

07801 198904 STRING FOR SALE 3 horses 10-16yo played up to 22 goal, quiet and know their jobs. Two TB 6yo mares played for two season. Three 3-4 year olds TB, good to stick and ball and in the school, now playing chukkas. All £2000-5000. Tel 07525 176054.

ONE PONY CLUB STAR AND ONE DREAM DUN 15hh liver chestnut gelding 13 years. Took our son from beginner to school teams and winning PC teams in one season. 15.1hh dun mare 10 years. Absolutely stunning mare with talent to match. Has played up to 8-goal. £8000. Change of circumstances forces very sad sale of these two much loved ponies. Tel: 07710 305039 15.1HH 12 YRS ARGENTINE TB MARE Very pretty bright bay, easy to play, quick and sharp.

Excellent temperament, would suit competent low goal player. Fit and playing now £4,500. Call 07769 652794 FANTASTIC PONY FOR THE LOW GOAL 12yo Argentine chestnut mare, suitable for beginner/pony club and up, been playing up to 4 goal this season, lots of club chukkas, double chukka no problem. Steady, calm, very handy, good brakes, can be quick when required.

Wonderful nature and good to do. Has brought me on a lot in a short time - confidence giver. Clean legs, in wonderful condition and well schooled.

Based at Tidworth, welcome to try in chukkas/stick and ball. Asking £5500, open to reasonable offers for a quick sale. Contact: edwardjonkler@googlemail.com or 07743 963247.

THREE FANTASTIC PONIES FOR SALE 7 yrs, 15.2hh, bay mare - £7500. Kind natured and does everything well. Perfect for adult or child. 9 yrs, 15.2hh, Dark bay mare - £7000. Easy to play and has improved consistently year on year. Both played up to 6 goal by 2 goal pro. 6 yrs, 15.2hh, Chestnut mare - £6000. Very agile on the field and shows huge potential. Perfect for controlling the game. All fit and ready to try at home in Worcestershire or at Rugby Polo Club. Call Ben 07830 156958 TEN PLAYING PONIES A Mixture of Argentine, Uruguayan ponies, and English Thoroughbreds between 5 and 12 years old. All currently playing from 0 to 12 goal polo at Cirencester, Royal Berkshire and Edgeworth. Easy and honest ponies. Prices from £2,500 to £12,000. Tel. 01488 670484 LOVELY 9 YEAR OLD GELDING 9 year old Argentine gelding, perfect temperament, completely reliable and great fun to play. Has played 2-12 goal. £7,000. 07805 840271 or acfabes04@hotmail.com TWO OUTSTANDING SECOND SEASON TB GELDINGS Rock: 15.1hh 5 yrs old, very easy kind gelding, perfect pony club horse £5,000. George:

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15.3hh 5 yrs old, very talented and giving £6,000.

Both playing regularly with 2-goaler. Unfortunately must sell. Kirtlington, Tel 07989 712104 TRANSPORT AND MACHINERY PROFESSIONAL HORSE TRANSPORT DEFRA approved. Hants/Wilts based. 20+ years horse and transport experience in UK and Europe. Also freelance drivers/grooms. 01794 323195 or 07786 475123/07786 255538 EQUIPMENT SCOREBOARDS AND CLOCKS ESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR POLO Outdoor and arena sizes.

Fully electronic, displaying the time counting down, both scores and chukka number.

Automatic bell/horn. Controlled wirelessly by a remote control you can even wear on your arm.

Visit www.SportingDesigns.co.uk or call +44 (0)7860 303217 PROPERTY AMAZING OPPORTUNITY - HANTS/BERKS 18 Monarch boxes to rent in modern self contained yard. 60m x 40m rubber floodlit arena. 5 horse walker. Individual turnout paddocks. 24 hr supervision. Excellent security. Lovely 2 bedroom

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house also available. Reasonable rent for right applicant. Tel 07774 135709 BEAUTIFUL FOUR HECTARE POLO FARM FOR SALE horse walking distance from Sotogrande’s polo grounds. Spectacular views over Gibraltar.

For more information visit www.polofarmsotogrande.co.uk.

SITUATIONS WANTED SECRETARY FOR 2011 POLO SEASON Must be computer literate, energetic and versatile. The right person for this job will be crucial to the day to day running of a busy club.

April – Sept fulltime Tuesday to Sunday. Please contact Peter Fewster on 07799 411126 or the Kirtlington Park Polo Club Office on 01869 350138. CV to info@kirtlingtonparkpolo.co.uk.

GROOM REQUIRED A private yard near Newbury urgently requires an experienced groom for a livery client playing low goal polo, accommodation provided. Please contact 07900 272488 for further details.

POLO GROOM REQUIRED Part time polo groom required at friendly yard in Buckinghamshire.

Weekend availability essential and must be able to drive a horsebox, non-HGV. Please contact Claire on 07890 328197

Advertisers in August 2010 African Horse Safari Association 01578 760222 www.aardvarksafaris.co.uk Asprey 01344 890960 www.aspreypolo.com Audi www.audi.com Baileys Horse Feeds 01371 850247 www.baileyshorsefeeds.co.uk Ballards 01189 320044 www.ballards-uk.com Binfield Heath Polo Club 01491 411969 www.binfieldheathpoloclub.co.uk Blake Lapthorn 023 8090 8090 www.bllaw.co.uk Chestnut Horse Feeds 01455 558808 www.chestnuthorsefeeds.co.uk Classic and Sport Finance 0845 026 4242 www.classicandsportsfinance.com Cowdray Park Polo Club 01730 813 257 www.cowdraypolo.co.uk Druids Lodge Polo Club 01722 782597 www.druidspolo.co.uk EFG Private Bank www.efgbank.com Equibuild 01367 820960 www.equibuild.com Equine Logistics Company 01264 810782 www.equine-logistics-company.com Estancia Don Manuel +54 9 11 4998 9800 www.estanciadonmanuel.com Fine Fettle Feeds 01600 712496 www.finefettlefeed.com FMBs and Magnet Medics 01628 472440 www.fmbs.co.uk Generations 01509 210321 gordon@generationsinc.co.uk Gladiator Sports 020 3371 8428 www.gladiator-sports.com Greenheath 01638 507785 www.greenheath.co.uk Hololio +64 (9) 292 8650 www.hololio.co.nz Horseback Africa +27 127 359 909 www.horsebackafrica.com

Horse First 02830 848844 www.horsefirst.net Ivycast 07793 919395 www.ivycast.com Jackson-Stops & Staff 01730 812357 www.jackson-stops.co.uk Jeremy Curling Fencing 01483 894888 www.jcfc.co.uk Kate’s Art 07887 678421 www.katesart.com Kestrel Ltd 01256 880488 www.kestrelcontractors.co.uk Knepp Castle Polo Club 01403 741007 www.kneppcastlepoloclub.co.uk La Mariposa 07947 725305 www.lamariposa.com.ar Laundry Machine Ltd 01214 863566 www.laundry-machine.com Longdole Polo Club 01452 864544 rob@longdolepolo.com Lotus www.lotusevora.com Lycetts 01672 512512 www.lycetts.co.uk Marshall Earthmoving 01264 782176 marshall.earthmoving@virgin.net Paddock Woods Stallions 07845 328442 Pampeano 08712 001272 www.pampeano.co.uk Park Feeders 44 17 238 82434 www.haybar.co.uk Patey Hats 01285 841250 www.pateyhats.com Piaget www.piagetpolo.com Polo Permits 01798 869496 www.polopermits.co.uk Polo Plates 07917 802322 chris@poloplates.com Polo Splice 01730 814991 www.polosplice.co.uk Sandriver Trading www.melvillandmoon.com SATS (South American Trade Services) 01285 841542 www.satsfaction.com

Scott Dunn 020 8682 5400 www.scottdunn.com Sebastian Ucha +54 11 4780 1816 www.sebastianucha.com Seven Fish 01730 716280 www.sevenfish.co.uk Shahira Industries +92 52 4597 606 www.shahiraind.com Snobs of Amersham 01494 431848 Sussex Polo Club 01342 714920 www.sussexpolo.co.uk Sydney Polo Country Club +61 24 588 5000 www.sydneyinternationalponysale.com T&S Harker Horse Boxes 01325 332649 www.tandsharkerhorseboxes.co.uk Tally Ho Farm 01344 885373 www.tallyhofarm.co.uk The New Muscovy Company www.newmuscovy.co.uk Toast Festivals www.toastfestivals.co.uk Van Oppen Family 07976 252991 mlvanoppen@btopenworld.com Viagen www.viagen.com Waterhall Polo (Apes Hill) +1 246 4329550 www.apeshillclub.com Watersfield Group 01730 816018 www.watersfield.com White Horse Bedding 01672 838202 www.whitehorsebedding.co.uk White Horse Contractors 01865 736272 www.whitehorsecontractors.co.uk Wildman Design 01993 842582 www.wildmandesign.co.uk Wood Mallets +64 68 568 119 www.woodmallets.com Yardandgroom.com 020 8144 1636 www.yardandgroom.com

www.polotimes.co.uk August 2010 97

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The last word

A Week

in the life of. .

MY WIFE EMMA [née Tomlinson] and I [pictured] have been laying the foundations for a UK polo studbook and one of our missions this season was to produce pony lists and breeding information for the Gold Cup, and to display horse names on big screens. After the quarter-finals were over, our work began gathering information from the semi-finalists.

Photograph by Zahra Hanbury

THE IDEA FOR THE SCREENS came from Alan Kent and Emma whilst they were at the Argentine Open, where pony information is available. Alan made it his job to persuade Cowdray to underwrite the screens and sort out radio runners for each team camp whilst our company, Polo Studbook (www.polostud book.com), was responsible for gathering breeding information and printing the information sheets. Cowdray unanimously agreed to underwrite the screens and Lucy Northmore of Polonetworks took on the challenge of finding sponsorship with only three weeks' lead time.

AS THIS WAS this was the first year we decided to cover just the semi-finals and the final, thus only having to collect information from four teams. All teams were surprisingly co-operative considering the pressure they were under. I visited Dubai's base near Holyport during a practice afternoon so I could catch all of the players. I stayed to watch half the practice then left Martin 98 August 2010 www.polotimes.co.uk

Nick Wood

One of the brains behind the horse infosheets and names on the big screen tells Yolanda Carslaw how a great plan came to fruition in Gold Cup final week Valent, the manager, with sheets to fill in basic horse details while I went to Billingbear Park to meet Lechuza's horse managers to do the same.

Back at Dubai, I chatted to the players after their practice. Adolfo Cambiaso is a huge breeder of polo ponies and has always been supportive of Polo Studbook. He knew all his horses' pedigrees by heart and was the easiest player I dealt with.

THE SAME DAY ALAN KENT asked Julian Hipwood, Enigma's coach, to gather information from his boys on their ponies, and he got it back pretty quickly. Emma does the vet work for El Remanso so she was able to ask them for their horses' details. Some players had to search deeper than others for passports and

so on and many pedigrees are simply unknown. What was apparent, apart from the ponies bred by Cambiaso, was the prominence of Ellerston Australia and Ellerstina Argentina ponies.

ON THURSDAY, semi-finals day, we set up in a van behind the screen, which at 15sq m turned out to be too small. We placed runners in both team camps to radio through to Emma, who was at my laptop ready to type in horses' names as they were being changed. We had the odd communication problem – some of the runners had accents, or couldn't understand grooms' accents and so on, but more seriously, as the match started we realised the laptop wasn't properly configured to the screen. We managed to sort it out about one minute in and after the first chukka it mostly went to plan. It was good that spectators could watch the names being typed mid-chukka, so people could see we were changing names as players changed horses. Spectators were able to refer to the horse information sheets, which were handed out before the match.

THE SHEETS HAD the teams, players and handicaps, and each horse's name, age, colour, sex, sire, dam, breeder, owner and country of origin. On Thursday we re-did the sheets for the final, adding a few more details we'd picked up.

FOR SUNDAY’S FINAL we had a 60sq m screen, which was the right size. Matt Perry was on the radio in the Lechuza camp and and Alan placed a New Zealander and an Argentine with Dubai. We had better radios and we were even able to watch some of the game as we could see the other big screen from the van. Four people handed out the information sheets, including Katie Finnegan, Emma's PA. After the game Katie, who had been picnicking at the sidelines, suggested we put up the details of the best playing pony on screen, which we were able to do, including breeding information, just as it received its prize.

THE PLAYERS LOVED IT and admitted to referring to the screen at various moments during the match and they couldn't believe how accurate we were – although when I handed the sheet to [Dubai patron] Ali Albwardy at first he thought I was showing him the betting odds available and asked what price Dubai were! Hats off to Cowdray for having the foresight to be the first to stage the screens: hopefully other clubs will follow at big games as it adds an important dimension in terms of spectator interaction and knowledge of the horses and their breeding. The next step is to complete the software programming for Polo Studbook – it'll be up and running next season. F

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