Volume 17 • Issue 7 • August 2012 • £6.50
www.polotimes.co.uk
GOOD AS GOLD
Yellow shines bright to put Kirby’s Cortium up on the podium
Plus: polo’s role in the Olympics & its heritage in Pony Club PT p1 cover MB.indd 1
20/07/2012 11:20
35–60ft Motoryachts from £210,000 to the limits you set...
THE SC35 FROM SEALINE. On board our innovative convertible sports cruiser the crisp, clean lines and modern, symmetrical interior create unexpected room and freedom all around you. Your welcoming home from home. Wherever the journey takes you. SHARE THE ADVENTURE. To explore our extensive range of motor yachts and discover your nearest dealer visit www.sealine.com
THE SC35 THE FROM SC35SEALINE. FROM SEALINE. On board On our board innovative our innovative convertible convertible sports cruiser sportsthe cruiser crisp,the clean crisp, lines clean andlines modern, and modern, symmetrical symmetrical interior create interior create
PTunexpected p2-3 Ad spread.indd 2 20/07/2012 14:32 unexpected room and room freedom and freedom all around allyou. around Youryou. welcoming Your welcoming home from home home. fromWherever home. Wherever the journey the takes journey you. takes SHARE you.THE SHARE ADVENTURE. THE ADVENTURE.
“Wesailing were sailing down really narrow strait the when the thickest “We were down a reallya narrow strait when thickest set in just had our instruments and our knowledge fog setfog in and weand justwe had our instruments and our knowledge to guide But we when we through came through there was this explosion to guide us. Butus. when came there was this explosion of sunlight and warmth with the island of sunlight and warmth with the island ahead.ahead. was apassage, short passage, butcome we’d a come longtogether.” way together.” It was It a short but we’d longaway
Visit us on berths M100- M106 Sealine South Coast Ltd, Hamble Point Marina, School Lane, Hamble, Southampton, SO31 4NB Tel: 02380 605 160 Website: www.sealinesouthcoast.com southcoastsales@sealine.com SOUTH COAST SOUTH SEALINE COAST SOUTH SEALINE COAST SOUTH HAMBLE COAST 023HAMBLE 8045 0022 023Email: SEALINE 8045 0022 SOUTH SEALINE COAST SOUTH BRIXHAM COAST 0845 BRIXHAM 313 3313 0845 313 3313
EAST COAST EAST BURTON COAST WATERS BURTON MARINA WATERS LINCOLN MARINA 01522 LINCOLN 567404 01522 BURTON 567404 WATERS BURTON BOAT WATERS SALESBOAT IPSWICH SALES 01473 IPSWICH 225710 01473 225710 THAMES PENTON THAMES HOOK PENTON MARINE HOOK SALES MARINE CHERTSEY SALES01932 CHERTSEY 570055 01932 IRELAND 570055CYRIL IRELAND JOHNSTON CYRIL JOHNSTON BELFAST 028BELFAST 9081 3121 028 9081 3121 WALES MAJESTIC WALESYACHTS MAJESTIC DEGANWY YACHTS 08704 DEGANWY 280028 08704 MAJESTIC 280028 YACHTS MAJESTIC PENARTH YACHTS02920 PENARTH 703555 02920 703555 NORTH SHEPHERDS NORTH SHEPHERDS WINDERMERE WINDERMERE 015394 46004 015394 SHEPHERDS 46004 SHEPHERDS LIVERPOOL LIVERPOOL 0151 707 6686 0151 707 6686 PT p2-3BALEARICS Ad spread.indd 3 BALEARICS SEALINE SALES SEALINE MALLORCA SALES MALLORCA +34 971 897+34 741971 SPAIN 897 NAUTICAL 741 SPAINCOSTA NAUTICAL BLANCA COSTA SL BLANCA DÉNIA +34 SL 96 DÉNIA 578 5653 +34 96 578 5653
20/07/2012 14:33
Proud sponsors of the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup
facebook.com/EFGInternational
The private bank for polo. Also proud to support: EFG Bank – Aravali team, Queen’s Cup and Gold Cup 40 Goal Challenge, Palm Beach RMA Sandhurst Polo Cambridge University Polo
Veytay Masters, Switzerland Desert Palm Nations Cup, Dubai Haryana Polo Club, Delhi Thai Polo Open Swiss Team, European Polo Championship 2010 Royal Salute Maharaja of Jodhpur Golden Jubilee Cup
Photos: Rory Merry (left page, left); David Lominska (left page, bottom right); Rodrigo Vergara (right page, top).
PT p4-5 Ad spread.indd 2
19/07/2012 13:41
Practitioners of the craft of private banking
EFG International’s global private banking network includes offices in Zurich, Geneva, London, Channel Islands, Luxembourg, Monaco, Madrid, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Taipei, Miami, Nassau, Bogotå, Montevideo and Buenos Aires. www.efginternational.com
PT p4-5 Ad spread.indd 3
19/07/2012 13:41
INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL
TUTORS TUTORS INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL +44 (0)+44 1865 (0)435135 1865 435135 enquire@tutors-international.com enquire@tutors-international.com www.tutors-international.com www.tutors-international.com
3ROR WLPHV DGV '%/ 9 LQGG 3ROR WLPHV DGV '%/ 9 LQGG PT p6-7 Ad spread.indd 2
Clarendon Clarendon House House 52 Cornmarket 52 Cornmarket Street Street OxfordOxford OX1 3HJ OX1 3HJ England England
19/07/2012 13:44
wind, wind, the the sail, sail, knowledge knowledge thought thought is the is the
and and wewe are are the the ship ship
We provide We tutors provide fortutors a range for a rangewith standard with standard schooling. schooling. The key Theteachers key for teachers each role for each – talented role – talented TutorsTutors International International of educational of educational circumstances: circumstances:to our service to ourisservice the care is we the take care we take individuals individuals who willwho reallywill make really make recruit recruit quality quality full-time full-time homeschooling, homeschooling, extra extra to ensuretoa ensure good match a good between match between a difference. a difference. Our select Our clientele select clientele teachers teachers to work to with work with support, support, families families the family the and family the tutor. and the Wetutor. have We receive have a receive personal a personal service, service, children children of all of ages, all ages,academicacademic abroad, or abroad, whereor family where family a thorough a thorough recruitment recruitment process process with complete with complete discretiondiscretion and and abilities abilities and needs, and needs, relocatingrelocating pursuits make pursuits formake a difficult for a ‘fit’ difficult ‘fit’ that ensures thatwe ensures present wethe present right the right confidentiality confidentiality guaranteed. guaranteed. anywhere anywhere in thein world. the world.
PT p6-7 Ad spread.indd 3
19/07/2012 13:44
Metropolitan Polo Club An Exceptionally Refined World at Your Service www.metropolitanpoloclub.com Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club, 16 Hai Tai Hua Ke Jiu Lu, Bin Hai Gao Xin Qu, Tianjin 30384, China.
PT p8-9 Contents.indd 2
T: (86) 22 8372 8888 F: (86) 22 8371 7733
18/06/2012 12:04
Contents
28
48
70
Contacts Publisher Margie Brett margie@polotimes.co.uk
What’s inside...
August 2012
Editor James Mullan jamesmullan@polotimes.co.uk
News
Sub editor John O’Sullivan john@polotimes.co.uk
10 All the latest news
62 Young England vs Australia, Suffolk
18 The big picture
64 Cover story: Pony Club Polo feature – an in-depth look at each section
Comment
Assistant editor
20 Backchat with Clare Milford Haven
Georgie May georgie@polotimes.co.uk
22 Herbert Spencer’s Global view
Advertising manager Duncan Wilson duncan@polotimes.co.uk
24 Arthur Douglas-Nugent’s Umpire’s corner 26 Your views: letters and tweets
Art editor
Features
Nicki Averill nickiaverill@polotimes.co.uk Marketing & PR
www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p8-9 Contents JOS JM PJ.indd 3
74 Know your horse 76 Ones to watch 78 How to spend it
Sidelines 82 Social: British Beach Polo and Ham Polo Club round-up
40 Cover story: British Open for the Gold Cup, Cowdray Park
Tel: 01993 886885 Fax: 01993 882660
72 Know your game
80 Gossip: Don’t be the last to know
Subscriptions
46 Victor Ludorum 18-goal round-up 48 Victor Ludorum medium-goal latest 50 Victor Ludorum 6 and 8-goal news
Knowledge
34 C over story: Herbert Spencer’s history of polo in the Olympics
Reports
Accounts Philippa Hunt - accounts@polotimes.co.uk
70 Harrow School’s polo trip to Mongolia
28 Interview with charming Gold Cup finalist Guillermo Terrera
PJ Seccombe pj@polotimes.co.uk
Sarah Foster sarah@polotimes.co.uk
Youth polo
52 Asahi British Beach Polo Championships, Sandbanks 54 Seven pages of Home and abroad
84 Social: Berenberg Polo and Suffolk Test 86 Social: Gold Cup; Tidworth; Westerlands and Majorca 88 Social: The Rundle Cup; Rutland; Ibiza Beach Polo and Mongolia 90 What’s on in August 98 Passions: Freddie Dear Cover photograph: Adrian Kirby and his Cortium team celebrate their Gold Cup success at Cowdray Park. By Action Polo
Polo Times, August 2012 9
20/07/2012 16:12
from the Editor I was determined this month that the one thing I wouldn’t be so unimaginative as to mention would be the weather. However, very sadly, I think it’s unavoidable, given the impact the conditions throughout the lion’s share of the summer have had on polo players, tournament organisers, and businesses. However, true to form, the resilient nature of the characters in the game meant – against all the odds – the Gold Cup at Cowdray Park was completed on time, thanks largely to the splendid drainage of the main ground at the club’s Ambersham complex, the scene of England’s victory over the USA in the opening Test Match of the season and the exciting Gold Cup semis. From the perspective of a man who likes his steak rare, his beer warm, his bunting wet and his hymns by Edward Elgar – that’s me by the way – it was gratifying to see two teams funded by English patrons make the final, for the first time since 1990. The game itself proved to be better than expected, given the conditions, with impressive performances by all the English players involved. Adrian Kirby looked much fitter than in previous seasons, and George Hanbury has deservedly seen his handicap raised in the end-of-season high-goal changes – the full list of which you can read over the page. The way he and brother Charlie frustrated Cambiaso in the semi-finals was particularly enjoyable. They rode off hard and it seems a compellingly heated competitive sub-plot is developing – something to look forward to next year. That semi-final was watched from beneath the inadequate sanctuary of the Polo Times gazebo mid-way through last month. Of course, there is something very British about people sitting stoically under umbrellas in the pouring rain eating egg sandwiches. However, it’s certainly not everyone’s cup of English breakfast tea, so fear not – also in this issue we take you on tour to sunnier climes, from the party islands of Ibiza and Mallorca to a wonderfully evocative report from the mountains of Mongolia. For those with a love of history, we have two fascinating features this month, that I’d urge you to read. Herbert Spencer has put together a special piece on the history of polo in the Olympics and, for those of you who find yourselves confused by your Ledners, Loriners and Langfords, we have a definitive reference special on the Pony Club, superbly compiled by Georgie May.
News
Lack of funding forces cancellation of 2012 FIP European Championships
A
S POLO TIMES was going to press, news was reaching headquarters that the FIP European Championships in Germany was likely to be cancelled. Although no official announcement had been released by the FIP, Wolfgang Kailing – the president of the host club Niedersachsen – announced that not enough sponsorship money has been raised to cover the costs of the international tournament. Therefore, with the championships fast approaching (due to take place from 7-16 September), Kailing said he had no choice but to cancel the tournament. “The FIP have not been in contact with us, but the tournament is now less than six weeks away, so it certainly looks extremely unlikely that it will be going ahead,” said Olly Hughes, deputy chief executive of the HPA. “It is a great shame. We were in the process of shortening our long list of candidates for the England team, which promised to be very strong.” Polo Park Zurich was originally due to host the event but pulled out at the beginning of this year for financial reasons. Therefore, this left
Niedersachsen with only six or eight months to secure sponsors. “We had simply underestimated the deficit generally in the world of sponsorship due to the economic crisis, and the short notice of this event,” Kailing said via the club’s website. “In addition to the normal costs of running such an event, we were looking to cover the costs of stabling for 200 horses, 40 players with respective
“It’s a shame. The English team promised to be very strong” – Olly Hughes grooms, and other event costs over a 10 day period… Despite the efforts of all our volunteer helpers, including the time and money invested in a second playing field, we are very saddened to let down the players from the 10 countries that had submitted entries.” The last European Championships were held in September 2010 at Schloss Ebriechsdorf in Austria, where an allfemale England side contested the eightgoal tournament, finishing third.
Now come on St Swithun. Time to give us a break...
10
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p10-11 News1 JM PJ.indd 2
Photograph by Tom House
Tweet me: @mullanitunder Email me: jamesmullan@polotimes.co.uk
Action in the last FIP European Championships, played at the 8-goal level in Austria in 2010
www.polotimes.co.uk
20/07/2012 18:09
News
Oli Ellis resigns from Guards Photograph by Tony Ramirez
OLIVER ELLIS, WHO has been polo manager at Guards Polo Club for the last 10 years, has resigned from the role. Ellis left his post before Audi International Day, although continues to be involved with the club on a consultancy basis whilst a new polo manager is sought. “Ten years is a long time,” Ellis told Polo Times. “I live in Petworth [West Sussex], and the commute begins to takes it toll, so I decided it was the right time to leave. I am developing my own consultancy firm, with various projects in the pipeline, both here and internationally. I’d like to continue with my umpiring and I’d also like to be able to spend more time on my farm, which I am planning to evolve more agriculturally. “It’s not easy running a polo club – you need to keep the majority of people happy and make sure the club is a fun place to be. I have many magical memories but it’s time for me to move on and concentrate on my business interests in polo elsewhere. I’d like to thank all my old and present colleagues, board members, patrons and pros for making my time at Guards so special.”
Oli Ellis has left Guards after 10 years as polo manager
w G uards Polo Club is currently looking for a new polo manager to fill Oli’s shoes – see the advertisement on page 13 for more information
Another polo-playing doctor dies STEVEN SADLER, A well-respected 44-year-old anaesthesiologist from Palm Beach, has died as the result of injuries from a fall in a practice polo match at Santa Barbara Polo Club early in July. A regular at Santa Barbara most weekends for the last four years, those who knew him described him as loyal, passionate and full of life. He was heavily involved in supporting cancer research
www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p10-11 News1 JM PJ.indd 3
News in brief
through his mother’s foundation, The Persian American Cancer Institute and is survived by both his parents Dr Charles and Hoori Sadler. Sadler is the second American physician to die from polo-related injuries in as many months, following the death of Dr Craig Ferrell, who also suffered from neck and back injuries (see the July issue of Polo Times).
wR ETRAINING OF RACEHORSES (RoR) has rescheduled its Racing to Polo Challenge for 3 September. The inaugural competition will be awarding cash prizes in each section – £1,000 for the winners and £500 for runners-up. The competition was originally due to take place earlier this summer, and an overall champion was to be awarded the Balding Trophy at the HPA dinner in July. However, with the competition postponed, the RoR were forced to pick a winner themselves – Roddy Williams’s Ciendra Girl. For September’s postponed challenge, all previous entries will stand unless RoR are informed otherwise. For more information, or to enter a pony, please visit the website: www.ror.org.uk w EQUILIBRIUM PRODUCTS are looking for new rising stars across all equestrian disciplines, including polo, with the chance to win £1,000 worth of products for their best horse. The company is seeking applicants who are looking for support to help them achieve their goals. From the entries received, one winner will be selected every month to win £100 of products. The monthly winners will then be put forward and a voting system will decide an overall winner, who will receive £1,000 worth of products. See more at www. equilibriumproducts.com
Polo Times, August 2012
11
20/07/2012 17:43
News
David “Pelon” ten after end of
News in brief ◗ SANTA BARBARA POLO CLUB in California, USA decided to implement the HPA’s penalty shootout rule for their 20-goal tournament in July. The rule was used for the first time in the Prince of Wales Cup in June and then in the Gold Cup (see page 42) .
DAVID “PELON” STIRLING has seen his handicap move up to 10 goals in the HPA’s high-goal handicap changes last month. Decided at the HPA handicap meeting on Wednesday 18 July, El Remanso’s star player now joins Adolfo Cambiaso, Pablo MacDonough, Juan Martin Nero and the Pieres brothers – Facundo and Gonzalito – as the only 10-goalers in the UK high-goal. Pelon moved to 10 goals in Argentina last December, after becoming the first Uruguayan player to ever win the Argentine Open (playing with La Dolfina). He also moved up to a 10-goal rating in the United States earlier this year. El Remanso may have to rethink their side next
◗ CIRENCESTER PARK POLO CLUB has secured a new sponsor for the 2012 Warwickshire Cup. The historic tournament has been re-named The Bledisloe Warwickshire Cup after Bledisloe House in Coates. ◗ RCBPC IS HOSTING their Polo Festival from Monday 30 July to Sunday 12 August. On finals day there will be a host of shops and amusements providing the backdrop for the 2-goal, 4-8-goal and 7-10-goal finals. See www.polofestival.com for more information about the event.
year, with the team’s George Hanbury also moving up in handicap, from two to three goals. Les Lions’ Sebastian Merlos, who played with a 10-goal handicap this season, has seen his handicap move down to nine for next year. Also moving down in handicap, is Lucas Monteverde – from nine to eight goals.
Photograph by James Mullan
◗ THE SCOTTSDALE POLO CHAMPIONSHIPS, Horses & Horsepower, in Arizona takes place on 20 October at Westworld of Scottsdale’s Polo Field for the second year in a row. The second of two games, which will include top American players Tommy Biddle and Nic Roldan, is central to the day’s many attractions against the backdrop of the stunning McDowell mountain range.
Two of Cortium’s Gold Cup winning team have gone up, but the excellent Polito Pieres stays on eight goals
David “Pelon” Stirling is now a 10-goaler in Argentina, the US and the UK after going up in the end of season high-goal changes
Effective horsemanship requires perfect communication
Choose Bombers Equestrian Equipment bits, for ultimate control on the polo field. Handmade in South Africa, the Bombers range offers bitting solutions for all horses and types of equine mouth conformation. Bombers polo bits: • Feature blue sweet iron metal that oxidises easily • Include hundreds of bitting solutions / mouth / cheek pieces • Encourage salivation & help bit acceptance • Boast a ‘Design your own bit’ service: www.bombersbits.co.uk
For stockists, call Equine Management: 01825 840 002 To buy, call: 01825 841 303 or visit www.bombersbits.co.uk / www.worldwidetack.com 12
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p12-13 News2 JOS PJ.indd 2
www.polotimes.co.uk
20/07/2012 17:42
News
Stirling is a perfect season changes
w F ind out what El Remanso seven-goaler Guillermo Terrera thinks about playing with his teammate “Pelon” by reading our interview with him on page 28
www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p12-13 News2 JOS PJ.indd 3
Moving to nine Merlos, Sebastian: 10 to 9 Novillo Astrada, Miguel: (9) to 9 Photograph by Tony Ramirez, Images of Polo
Two members of Adrian Kirby’s Cortium, who won this year’s Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup (see pages 40-44), have seen their handicap move up. Jaime Huidobro has moved up from seven to eight goals and Francisco Elizalde has moved up from six to seven. Polito Pieres, however, has not seen his handicap move up, despite some impressive play from the eight-goaler in the Gold Cup semis and final. Sumaya’s Facundo Sola and Juan Ambroggio have both moved up, Dubai’s Alec White has moved up to to eight and seven three goals having won the Queen’s goals respectively, Cup in his first high-goal season while Ellerston’s Tomas Garbarini and Alec White have moved up to four and three goals respectively. The only patron to move up in handicap this season is Salkeld’s Nick Clarke. He will play off a one-goal rating next season instead of zero, meaning the Salkeld lineup, which was unchanged this year, will receive a face-lift for 2013.
Moving to ten Stirling, David: 9 to 10
Moving to eight Huidobro, Jaime: 7 to 8 Monteverde, Lucas: 9 to 8 Novillo Astrada, Alejandro: (8) to 8 Pieres, Pablo: (8) to 8 Sola, Facundo: 7 to 8 Moving to seven Ambroggio, Juan: 6 to 7 Elizalde, Francisco: 6 to 7 Terrera, Guillermo: (7) to 7 Moving to six Vial, Matias: (6) to 6 Moving to five Plaza de Ayala, Manuel: 4 to 5 Moving to four Garbarini, Tomas: 3 to 4 Orthwein, Stephen: (4) to 4 Moving to three Hanbury, George: 2 to 3 White, Alec: 2 to 3 Moving to two Johnston, William: (2) to 2 Moving to one Clarke, Nick: 0 to 1 Packer, Jamie: (1) to 1 Zobel, Jacabo: (1) to 1
Guards Polo Club is seeking a new Polo Manager Guards Polo Club, founded in 1955, is one of the world’s best known polo clubs. The Club’s home is at Smith’s Lawn in Windsor Great Park and boasts a playing membership of 150 and a social membership of 1000. The Club benefits from a modern Clubhouse, a Royal Box and permanent grandstands. There are 10 Grounds at the Club, 2 grounds under management at Coworth Park and a further 2 grounds under construction near the Club’s stables at Flemish Farm. The Club organises polo for its members who play 2 to 22 goal polo and hosts a series of domestic and international events including The Cartier Queen’s Cup and The Audi International Day. Applicants should have a strong polo background and could have played the sport professionally although that is not essential. Candidates will need to demonstrate excellent organisational skills and a good knowledge of the sport in general and of the English polo season in particular. He or she will need to be able to mix confidently with Club members and representatives from all parts of the polo community. The role is salaried and full time but focused on the summer season during which the candidate will be expected to work long hours especially on weekends. Individuals who are interested in being considered for the position should send an up-to-date CV by 15th August 2012 to:
Mr Neil Hobday, Chief Executive Guards Polo Club, Smith’s Lawn, Windsor Great Park, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0HP www.guardspoloclub.com
Polo Times, August 2012
13
20/07/2012 17:42
News
Aiming high FUNDRAISING: a charity weekend at Guards Polo Club raised over £100,000 for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation in Argentina
UNIVERSITY: LEEDS membership at the university
polo club is on the up and they recently came second in the most recent SUPA competition
TIMES: the magazine POLO has been swinging in high society
for the last few months, having been personally requested by Her Majesty the Queen on the basis of our features on Monty Roberts, the Jubilee and the Queen’s Cup!
POLO: Chantilly WOMEN’S Polo Club in France will be hosting
the country’s first Women’s Polo Championships this summer, from 1-16 September
Swinging low CAMBIASO: ADOLFO Dubai’s 10-goaler missed two penalties – a 30 yard and a 60 yard – in the semi-finals of the Gold Cup, before his side crashed out of the competition in a defeat to El Remanso GAME FAIR: the CLA countryside event was cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions. It was estimated to have cost the rural economy £116 million CHAKRAVARTY CUP: THE The Prince of Wales, and his sons, have reportedly cut all ties to the tournament which is named after businessman Saroj Chakravarty. See pages 80-81 for more EVENTS: the bad POLO weather has played havoc across the country, with Polo Rocks at Hurtwood, the Julian & Howard Hipwood Trophy at RCBPC and the Chinawhite marquee at Guards amongst those having been cancelled in late July 14
Polo players recognised f FOLLOWING THE FINAL of the Al Habtoor Royal Windsor at Guards Polo Club in June, Her Majesty The Queen presented several people with certificates in recognition of their pioneering efforts to encourage the violence-free training of horses using Monty Roberts’s techniques. As recommended by Roberts, those awarded with signed certificates included Carlos and Memo Gracida and Adolfo Cambiaso. The Gracidas, who sought Roberts’s assistance six years ago, were recognised for their extraordinary efforts to eliminate violence in horse training in Mexico and Argentina. Cambiaso asked Roberts to work on some of his horses a couple of years ago and now uses Roberts’s Join-Up technique at his La Dolfina estancia in Argentina. The awards were specifically focused on the improvement of the treatment of horses in South America, although a few of the recipients were from other countries. Satish Seemar runs Riding for the Disabled at Desert Palm, Dubai, while Catherine Cunningham runs an equine training centre in Guatemala. Although Monty Roberts and his daughter Debbie were present at the awards ceremony, The Queen handed out the certificates on Roberts’ behalf. The Queen is patron of Join-Up International, a non-profit organisation, which aims to further Roberts’s concepts. ◗ Find out more about Monty Roberts’s training techniques in the June issue of Polo Times
Australian clothing New book company in court worth a look battle with Ralph Lauren AN AUSTRALIAN CLOTHING company, Club Polo Clothing, are currently fighting a court battle with clothing giants Ralph Lauren. The company, which is popular among the Australian polo community, is fighting for the right to continue using their polo player logo, despite it looking relatively different to Polo Ralph Lauren’s logo. The trouble first started in 2008, when Club Polo Clothing’s owner Megan Philip lodged an application to trademark their logo – 16 years after the business first launched. Polo Ralph Lauren argue that the Club Polo logo is too similar to their logo and will confuse customers. This is not the first time Ralph Lauren has sought to protect their identity as a polo brand. In 1984, Ralph Lauren challenged the US Polo Association – who produce clothing and fragrance – over the use of the generic name of the sport. The US court ruled that they could both have the right to usage of the name.
A new book – Polo, The Nomadic Tribe – has been produced by nomadic Parisian photographer Aline Coquelle. She travelled the world for six years, tracing the sport back to when it first began through to the present day. The book is split into geographic sections and features text from some of the sport’s most prominent figures, as well as eye-catching photographs. ◗ It’s available at www.assouline.com
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p14-15 News3 JM PJ.indd 2
20/07/2012 17:41
News
d for training techniques Photograph by Alice Gipps
Back Row: Joel Baker, Charlotte Bredahl Baker, Satish Seemar, Eduardo Moreira, Debbie Roberts Loucks, Prince Phillip, Monty Roberts, Carlos Gracida, Ricardo Diniz, Luiz Moreira, Catherine Cunningham and Memo Gracida. Front Row: Tara Seemar and the Queen
Association for Polo Schools and Hirers to go ahead A GROUP OF 30 attended a meeting in June to discuss the next steps in forming the proposed Association of Polo Schools and Hirers, along with a lawyer and an accountant – whose costs were underwritten by the HPA. Having received unanimous support from those present, those two professionals are now expected to advise the newly formed steering committee on how to form the organisation. Their intention is that it will be a not-for-profit registered company, and one which would only represent those polo schools or pony hirers accredited by the HPA. Ultimately, it
aims to reduce accidents and legal incidents and thus, eventually, reduce insurance premiums for schools and players. Although not an HPA initiative, the governing body has confirmed it is prepared to fully endorse it, believing it will improve standards and welfare. The steering committee were due to hold another meeting just after Polo Times went to press, but it seems the decision has already been made that the association will definitely go ahead. w Tell us your views at letters@polotimes.co.uk
THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH of Andrew Hine’s Guards Polo Academy at Coworth Park took place on Friday 29 June. Attended by Polo Times, journalists were given tuition with foot mallets before they progressed onto horseback, www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p14-15 News3 JM PJ.indd 3
pictured. This was followed by lunch in The Barn, before watching the semi-finals of the Archie David at Guards Polo Club in the afternoon. Run by former England captain Andrew Hine, the academy aims to provide
Photograph by Tony Ramirez
Action at academy tuition and coaching to Guards members and the Dorchester Collection’s hotel guests.
Polo Times, August 2012
15
20/07/2012 17:41
News News in brief wT HE GOLD CUP, held in Deauville in France, from 26 July to 12 August, is now being held as a 22-goal competition instead of 18-20 goal, as it has been in previous years. There has also been some changes at the club, including John Horswell taking up the position of polo manager. The 16-goal Silver Cup will take place from 13-26 August. wT HE WORLD’S HIGHEST polo ground, at 3,734 metres above sea level, provided the venue for the three-day Shandur Polo Festival in Pakistan in July. Teams were made up of civilians, while officials and spectators flocked from afar to watch. The final was played between Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan. wW ITH THE WET weather affecting polo games at Sussex Polo Club, they have decided to extend their summer season until Sunday 21 October. The arena season at the club starts on Saturday 10 November. SCOT PARK POLO CLUB wA was forced to postpone their UK National Women’s Tournament and the IWPA re-launch party due to bad weather. The tournament, which was originally due to take place in July, will now be held over the August Bank Holiday weekend, on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 August.
16
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p16-17 News4 JOS PJ.indd 2
HPA seeks players for Africa trip THE HPA WILL be sending a team of Young England players to Zimbabwe in September. The association is seeking players who are willing and able to travel out to Africa for the 10-day tournament, from 1-10 September. With the FIP European Championships having been cancelled (see page 10), the HPA is hoping to consider some of the players expected to travel out to Germany, though they will not be funding the trip – those willing to go must be able to do so under their own steam. Polo in Zimbabwe in recent years has seen increased participation levels and, under the chairmanship of Grant Flanagan, the Polo Association of Zimbabwe is now dedicating itself to renewing ties with other polo-playing nations. Last summer, Zimbabwe sent a schools team over to England, and September’s trip will be the first time in more than 20 years that England has sent a team to Zimbabwe. The last time England
played there was during the 1980s, when the likes of David Jamison and Robert Graham represented the international team. Over the past decade, while Robert Mugabe’s brutal regime has overshadowed the country, sporting teams have avoided playing in Zimbabwe. Therefore, it is hoped that this visit by the England polo team will help the recovery of the game and encourage more nations to visit the country. Bushman Rock Wine Estate will host the tournament, nestled in the Nyamasanga River Valley – a short drive outside Harare. Bushman Rock, managed by Jono Passaportis, is one of the oldest vineyards in Zimbabwe and has undergone radical redevelopment in recent years. Commercial aspects of the event are being handled by 6andCompany, who have secured sponsors for the home team and the event. It is hoped this will become an annual event.
Polo reaches Iceland’s shores Club in Mongolia in 2011 while FOR THE VERY first time, making a documentary about polo has landed in Iceland. the Icelandic horse. He now Disa Anderiman, who has run plans to run the club’s first a horse rental company in training season, with various Iceland since 1968, recently riding school arenas around the founded the Iceland Polo country providing the venues Club, with the help of Satinder during the winter. The club is Garcha and Harpreet Bedi. keen to get as many people The club hosted its first involved as possible in order to game on Saturday 14 July in Polo at the Hördur Riding Club in Iceland form six teams for next year’s the arena at Hördur Riding Club National Horse Festival – Landsmót. in Mosfellsbaer. Icelandic ponies were used and Garcha and Bedi provided the polo equipment. Anderiman decided to introduce polo to the w See Home and Abroad, pages 54-60, for country after he visited the Genghis Khan Polo more polo news from around the world
www.polotimes.co.uk
20/07/2012 17:47
News
Latest from the HPA HPA chief executive David Woodd rounds up the news from UK polo’s headquarters
Audi International at Chester Racecourse On Saturday 8 September England will take on South America in the 24-goal Audi International at Chester Racecourse. Tickets are available through the Chester Racecourse website www.chester-races.co.uk
Development course Beaufort Polo Club is hosting a development course for young players aged 12 and 13 on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 August. For further details call the HPA office on 01367 242828
Camino Real National Schools League Millfield School will play Cheltenham College at 4pm on 4 August at Cirencester Park in the re-arranged final of the National Schools 4 Chukka League.
HPA coaching course A course to obtain an HPA coaching qualification is taking place at Beaufort Polo Club from 19-21 September. Open to all paid-up HPA members who are over 18 and with a handicap of 0-goals or above, places are limited and entries must be received before the end of August. Enrolment forms are available from the HPA office. For more information about coaching see page 290 of the HPA Blue Book.
Junior HPA and Pony Club Championships The Junior HPA and Pony Club Polo Championships take place at Cowdray Park from 10 to 12 August. Spectators are welcome, particularly for the finals on Sunday 12 August. Further information is available on The Pony Club website – www.pcuk.org. The Colts Cup (formerly the 21 Cup) A total of 16 players, with a target age of 15, will be selected during the Junior HPA and Pony Club Polo Championships to play in four teams in the subsequent Colts Cup at Cowdray Park. The first two games are on Tuesday 14 August with the final and subsidiary on Thursday 16 August. All prizes have been generously sponsored by Sebago.
Transporting horses The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) are clamping down on lorry drivers and are pulling over more equestrian vehicles than ever before to check the vehicle, the driver’s licence, the tachograph (if applicable) and the operator’s licence (if applicable). VOSA has put together an informative guide for transporting horses to help equestrian drivers. This can be viewed in the news section on the home page of the HPA website – www.hpa-polo.co.uk. Photograph by John O’Sullivan
Young England selection The HPA will also be selecting players to play for the following trophies: The Alan Budgett Trophy – England Colts versus New Zealand Colts – on Saturday 18 August at Kirtlington Polo Club; The Stagshead Trophy – for Junior Colts on Sunday 19 August at Ham Polo Club; The Gibley Cup – England Colts versus New Zealand Colts – on Tuesday 21 August at Cirencester Park; The Whitbread Trophy – England Colts versus Scotland Colts – on Wednesday 22 August at Rutland Polo Club Zimbabwe invitation The HPA has been invited to send a 10-goal team to play in Zimbabwe from Friday 31 August to Monday 10 September. There will be two weekends of polo with a shooting and fishing trip in between. If you would like to take a team, or be part of the team, contact the HPA office. Under-16 team for China The HPA has been invited to send an under-16 team to the Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club in Tianjin (two hours from Beijing) from 1-5 October as part of the club’s boldly named Super Nations Cup 2012. www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p16-17 News4 JOS PJ.indd 3
Last October a Young England team of Max Hutchinson, William Berner, Charlie Scott and Barney Wilson made it to the final of the Goldin 18 tournament in Tianjin. This year the HPA has been invited to send an under-16 team (TBA) to the Chinese venue for the Super Nations Cup
Polo Times, August 2012
17
20/07/2012 17:48
the
Big
picture
Jump around: Cirque de Cirencester Park Gloucestershire-based photographer Jim Markland shot this eye-catching image with a hand-held Canon D700 at Cirencester Park Polo Club in early June. It shows ballerina Kseniya Ovsyanick kitted out in appropriate gear for the venue, thanks to Richard Buckett of local polo supplier RJ Polo, and performing some of the gravity-defying leaps that are a feature of her work with the English National Ballet and Dance GB. As subscribers may remember from the letters page of the last issue, we were alerted to her acrobatics by fellow photographer, Christopher Fear, who was distracted from looking down the lens at the 8-goal Humphrey Guinness plate in favour of snapping her leaps at their highest point. Jim managed this at the polo, and also shot her separately later in a studio against a black backdrop – the intention being to create a contrasting set of images to be exhibited amongst a collection that demonstrate motion in dance in an unfamiliar context. It certainly turned plenty of heads. w To see more of Jim’s work or to commission him yourself, visit www.frozenmotion.co.uk or call on 07785 528746
Comment
Backchat with Clare Milford Haven
Polo under pressure and tears at the tennis
C
an I have a whinge please? Isn’t this just the worst polo season ever? We’re so lucky to play this sport. But, when we can’t, because we have our annual injury, or the jetstream suddenly decides to mess everything up, we feel terribly short-changed. It’s impossible to get any momentum going when you are reduced to playing half the number of games you would normally and then, when you do, it’s on a ground resembling a ploughed field. In a few weeks’ time it’s all over and I feel as if we’ve hardly begun. The best moments so far can be counted on two fingers. Firstly, the fabulously exciting Gold Cup league game between Sumaya and La Bamba. What a privilege and a joy it was to witness one of the best games in the past decade. End-to-end fast, open play leading to a no-scoring extra chukka and culminating in a nail-biting eighth chukka with widened goals. Facundo Sola was unquestionably my personal man of the match, closely followed by his teammate Juan Ambroggio. I promised people afterwards that, if Sumaya didn’t make the final, I’d eat my hat. I must remember to have a word with Adrian Kirby about that, after Cortium sprung a surprise and ensured I left semi-finals day with some serious indigestion!
For his 10-goal talent, Enigma’s Juan Martín Nero showed he is human after all with a missed 60-yard spot-hit in the Gold Cup’s inaugural penalty shootout at the end of the group stages. Nero also only narrowly scored his shot from 40 yards
Ellerston, Enigma and Piaget. The goalposts were tantalizingly set up opposite the clubhouse on Ambersham Two, where the spectators huddled under the awning to avoid the rain in anticipation of three pros from each team alternately taking a 40 then a 60-yard penalty. Matias MacDonough took the first successful shot, followed swiftly by
Photograph by Vanessa Taylor
Watching Andy Murray, we can draw some interesting similarities between tennis and polo The second thrill of the season (apart from Chapter 18 in Fifty Shades of Grey) was the penalty shootout for the last quarter-final place of the Gold Cup. Vying for this coveted position were 20
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p20-21 CMH JM MB PJ.indd 2
all other eight players. Juan Martín Nero only narrowly skimmed his through however, which helped to make us all feel that, despite his 10-goal brilliance and skill, he is human nonetheless.
All square with 100 per cent success rate, it was then up to the nine players to convert their 60s. Unfortunately for Enigma, Matias’s horse decided to change legs at just the wrong moment, forcing him to take the shot at an impromptu slow walk, and the ball shanked off to the right of the post. Juan Martín’s shot went in a similar direction and, after a close run thing between Ellerston and Piaget, it was left to JP Clarkin to seal the deal for Ellerston which he did perfectly on his wife Nina’s reliable mare, Muffet. It was hard to know what to watch when faced with the quarter finals at Ambersham or the Murray versus Federer final at Wimbledon. Tennis or polo? Polo or tennis? Luckily, my trusty Audi has TV, so I indulgently
managed to take in both at the same time and could certainly draw some interesting similarities between the two sports: 1) that world class players like Federer and Cambiaso always seem to play better under pressure; and 2) that there is no place for emotions during the game. It’s best to keep them under wraps until after the final whistle and then, whether with tears or with laughter, you will always win the hearts of your ardent fans, in either victory or defeat. F w Read about Sumaya and La Bamba de Areco’s extraordinary Gold Cup group game on page 44 w Read more “Backchat” from Clare at www.polotimes.co.uk www.polotimes.co.uk
20/07/2012 18:14
B32/2 7,0(6B50 0LVH HQ SDJH 3DJH
A RACING MACHINE ON THE WRIST
POLO TOURBILLON RM 053 PABLO MAC DONOUGH Manual winding tourbillon movement tilted 30째 Power reserve: circa 48 hours Baseplate and bridges made of titanium Free sprung balance with variable inertia Fast rotating barrel (6 hours per revolution instead of 7.5 hours) Barrel pawl with progressive recoil Winding barrel teeth and third-wheel pinion with central involute profile Case in titanium with bezel in titanium carbide Hand-polished and drawn bevelling Microblasted milled sections Drawn outer faces Polished sinks Limited edition of 15 pieces
www.richardmille.com
PT p20-21 CMH JM.indd 3
19/07/2012 13:56
Comment
Global view with Herbert Spencer
The bikinis on Horse Guards Parade is an Olympic show I’ll not be watching
Photograph courtesy of the Federation of International Volleyball
H
orse Guards Parade in central London has a proud history dating back to when King Henry VIII jousted there. It was HQ of the British Army in the Duke of Wellington’s time and today is the venue for the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony on the Queen’s official birthday in June. Trooping the Colour in this Diamond Jubilee year had the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on the podium taking salutes from the Prince of Wales, Prince William and the Princess Royal, riding as colonels-in-chief of regiments, and 1,600 troops including guardsmen in their red coats and bearskins, cavalry in gleaming helmets and cuirasses, not to mention hundreds of massed bandsmen. It was a spectacular, fulldress military show as always. This month, however, the historic parade ground will be transformed into what I consider to be a most inappropriate venue for the Olympic’s sexiest show: beach volleyball. Californians invented beach volleyball in the 1930s, first played on the sandy shores of Santa Monica. With shades of the later TV series Baywatch, with its scantily clad lady lifeguards, it is played two-a-side rather than with
Beach Volleyball will return to Horse Guards Parade during London 2012, but polo hasn’t featured in any Olympics since 1936
near Savannah. So the organisers created an artificial “beach” to accommodate this new Olympic sport. It was the real thing during the 2000 Sydney Olympics when matches were played on Bondi Beach, but back to artificial sand arenas at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing games, and now London 2012. Despite a number of Olympic events being staged some distance from London, including football in Coventry and sailing in Weymouth, Olympic organisers have opted to stage beach volleyball in the capital, importing
I still can’t figure out what criteria the IOC apply in choosing sports for the Olympics the six of standard volleyball. The sport became an Olympic discipline in the Atlanta Olympics of 1996. I am from Atlanta, but never spotted a beach there. The nearest Atlantic sands are 260 miles away on Wilmington Island, 22
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p22-23 Global View JM PJ MB.indd 2
more than 2,000 tons of sand to create a “beach” on Horse Guards Parade. Why couldn’t they have chosen the beautiful natural beaches of Bournemouth or Poole on the south coast instead? There will be prurient bums-
on-seats at Horse Guards Parade and millions more watching the near-bare bums of the female competitors on TV. As much as I appreciate a well-shaped derrière, I for one won’t be watching this sexy Olympic show, live or on the box. Instead I’ll be off to Gloucestershire to watch the Warwickshire Cup final and the new 26-goal polo at Cirencester Park Polo Club. I have singled out beach volleyball partly because of the inappropriateness of it being played at such a hallowed military venue as Horse Guards Parade and partly because I still can’t figure out just what criteria the International Olympic Committee (IOC) apply in choosing what sports to include in the games every four years. The IOC currently allows 26 sports in the Olympics, some encompassing several variants. I can understand the inclusion of individual competitions dating back to the ancient Olympic games in
Greece, such as running, jumping, javelin, discus, wrestling and the like. The Olympiads of the modern era, however, have added other sports that have come into being in the 19th and 20th centuries. Swimming has been expanded to include synchronised swimming, like Hollywood’s aquatic chorus lines in Esther Williams’s Million Dollar Mermaid. Classic gymnastics have grown into rhythmic, artistic and trampoline events. Modern mountain bike and BMX have been added to traditional road and indoor track cycling. In combative sports, taekwondo (a Korean form of martial arts kicking) has been added to boxing and wrestling. If any readers can provide a clue as to how to lobby the IOC for inclusion of another sport in the Olympics, perhaps one day polo will be back in the games. F w R ead Herbert’s piece on the chance of polo making an Olympic return on page 35 www.polotimes.co.uk
19/07/2012 13:53
3
3$''2&.6 )25 +256(6
PT p26-27 CMH JOS PJ MB.indd 3
,17(51$7,21$/ &5266 &28175< &2856(
6$/7 :$7(5 322/
7+$, 63$
17/5/12 17:21:10
Comment
Umpire’s corner with Arthur Douglas-Nugent
Rulings must be clear and concise or they’ll never be understood by all
O
n the face of it, a rule that needs interpretation is a bad rule. If it is not completely clear then it needs to be re-written. This does not, however, stop us including a certain amount of explanation in Annex B of the Blue Book, but we don’t go to the same extent as the USPA, who provide examples and interpretations of each rule. This, they claim, leads to a greater consistency in umpiring throughout all levels and on this they may have a point, providing of course that the umpires read the rules and the attendant verbiage that goes with them. We, perhaps, take the rather cynical view that this is not going to happen and thus reduce the reading matter to a minimum.
Muddying the water
Just as Darren Bent’s goal for Sunderland stood after his shot ricocheted off a Liverpool fan’s beach ball in 2009, so too will the game continue when a polo ball hits the umpire or his pony during play, whether it puts one side at an unfair disadvantage or not
and order was restored. Despite a certain amount of resistance by some players this rule has proved
Photograph from the SAFC website
We take the rather cynical view that long rule interpretations and examples will not be read Despite this, umpires and players remain in ignorance. In a recent match, a player who had not played in this country for several years was riding into an opponent and generally hassling him before a hit-in was taken. Our rules now state that there will be no contact between opposing players before the strike is taken, be it a penalty or hit-in, and so the umpires explained the ruling to the player
to be workable and in the best interests of the game.
Crime and punishment For many offences, the appropriate penalty to be awarded is laid down in the Blue Book. This is a good thing, though it tests the umpire’s power of memory. For example for unnecessary delay in hitting in, a Penalty 6 should be awarded. For
delay by any member of the team opposing the hit-in, the ball is moved up to the 30 yard line. And for delay in taking a penalty, the first call is to the Penalty 7. For the incident outlined above, the “No Contact” rule, there is no specific penalty laid down for breach of this but for the first offence a Penalty 7 should be awarded, to be upgraded thereafter for repeat offending. At least we have done away with the throw-in at right angles to the back line and have given the throw-in, when given as a penalty, the status of Penalty 7. We have not yet persuaded the Americans or Argentines to follow suit, not that we have tried very hard!
Our rules lay down that a player travelling in the same direction as the ball has the ROW (right of way) over any player meeting the ball, unless he is on the exact line. This is rather a good rule as it is simple and relatively easy to police and by and large is how the game is played. It may, however, be worth considering an exception, at the risk of muddying the water. Suppose a player is riding at an acute angle to the line of the ball and another player is meeting at a reciprocal of that line. If both retained the same course they would meet right hand to right hand. Has the player meeting fouled? Some would say no.
Best left unchanged Under our rules, if a ball hits an umpire’s pony, play continues with the ball on the new line, but no other action is taken. Is this fair when a side has been seriously disadvantaged? Probably not, but this is just one of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune which beset all players during a match. Should the umpires be required to stop the game if they felt one side had suffered unduly? This is one more decision that they could do without: better to leave things as they are. F ◗ Read more from Arthur at www.polotimes.co.uk
Foul for thought… This month’s puzzle A defender hits the ball forward but it rebounds over the back line off a teammate’s pony. What decision should follow?
24
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p24-25 Umpires Corner JM PJ MB.indd 2
Last month’s solution A team has been awarded a penalty but the striker who believes that no foul had been committed hits the ball out deliberately. What should the umpires do? This, happily, is a fairly rare occurrence but I saw it the other day. The striker, an ex-10 goal player, was mocking the umpires and so they should probably have awarded a technical penalty, reversing the penalty awarded. In the event, they were caught a bit off balance and let it go. And who can blame them? www.polotimes.co.uk
19/07/2012 13:51
8.BS
8.BSROR WLPHVB [ BMXQH LQGG PT p24-25 Umpires Corner JM PJ MB.indd 3
19/07/2012 13:52
Comment
Your views
Letters Write to the editor in the following ways: ◗ letters@polotimes.co.uk ◗ Tweet: @PoloTimes or
@mullanitunder ◗ The Editor, Polo Times,
Holbrook Farm, North Leigh, Oxon OX29 6PX
Come on kids! Sir, I was delighted to see the letter “Clubbing in South Africa” – penned by two of the children that came on this year’s Pony Club trip – in last month’s issue of Polo Times. With the support of the HPA, we’ve been successfully organising such overseas trips for a number of years, and the one described is open to Pony Club players of all abilities between the ages of 13 to 18. Eight consecutive days of riding and polo training always brings the children on in leaps and bounds. We are organising another trip to South Africa next February so, if any Polo Times readers or their children are interested, I’d encourage them to e-mail me on leppyr-w@hotmail.co.uk Leppy Richmond-Watson Towcester, Northamptonshire
Letter of the month
Sorry umpire, but I thought talking the talk meant taking a walk Sir, I am concerned about the apparent disregard for the “no-talk rule” instigated last season and wonder whether it should be enforced more or changed to allow for some dialogue? I only managed to see two Queen’s Cup matches this season – both involving Dubai, as I love to watch Cambiaso in action – and it seems the great man is being allowed to discuss calls with the umpires, as he did in both these games with Peter Wright. However, the guidelines clearly state; “Umpires should avoid talking to the players before, during or after a match. Neither the captain nor any other player may query or ask for an explanation of a call. Appealing and verbal abuse should be punished by the award of a technical penalty. For consistent abuse a yellow flag should be awarded or a Penalty 10a or b as appropriate.” I understand the need in low-goal for umpires to explain their calls, especially to beginners who are learning the rules, but think that something needs to be done in the high-goal especially. I would like to see the rule changed so that it only punishes players trying to influence the outcome of a game by constantly talking to the umpires – in rugby, players are not allowed to talk and it seems to work. It can be infuriating for those on the opposing team who are obeying the rules and staying quiet. However, in most cases, both teams backchat and the games become unmanageable and ugly to watch as well as unpleasant to play, and this isn’t just limited to the high-goal. In an interview on Polo Today network radio in Argentina, Martin Aguerre’s brother – who is a professional umpire in Argentina – has suggested telling players before the game that he will blow every single foul in order to limit the fouling. The interviewer was sceptical about whether this would work with the big boys but Aguerre says his experience is it stops persistent fouling and was confident it could be a successful policy at all levels. Something for us to consider perhaps. Finally, I’d also like to say that I thought the last issue of Polo Times was great, especially the front cover. It was so nice to see the Queen smiling at Cambiaso so warmly. In my view, she looked happier than in any of her Jubilee celebration photos and so perhaps we can deduce that she obviously enjoys attending polo more than many of her other duties! Toby Pejkovic Culham, Oxfordshire The writer of the Letter of the month wins a bottle of Berry Bros & Rudd Champagne
Ponies’ personalities captured in picture-perfect poses Sir, I wanted to thank Polo Times for introducing me to David Sinclair, having seen his wonderful photograph blown up on “the Big picture” page in the April issue. I subsequently arranged for him to come and shoot my ponies at White Waltham Polo Club, and what an amazing day it was. They watched David set up with interest, but he then took the time to put them at ease, building up a terrific rapport that meant they took on true star quality when they got in front of the cameras – the results, 26
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p26-27 Letters JM PJ MB.indd 2
below, speak for themselves. None of us know how long our faithful ponies will play for, so I wanted to take the opportunity
this year to photograph them in a natural way that captured their personalities and showed their strength and beauty. I have many
shots of my horses playing but somehow these ones by David are by far my favourites, even though they are perhaps less obviously “polo”. In truth, there were so many good shots that I struggled to choose which pictures to print and frame! Thanks again for highlighting his work, and showing, once again, that Polo Times recognises the true beauty and art of the sport. Lucy Bolton White Waltham, Berkshire www.polotimes.co.uk
19/07/2012 16:41
Your views
Comment
Tweets worth re-tweeting
We follow them on twitter, to save you bothering: @georgetapner (Georgina Tapner) – 10 July Just wondering if joules has an abundance of Badminton and Gatcombe 2012 polo shirts? Think we should write “cancelled” through them and sell? @sarahlhendo (Sarah Henderson) –13 July Wondering if Cambiaso had a sleepless night after missing a 30 yard penalty!@mullanitunder El Remanso to win all the way. @GlamourMagUK (Glamour Magazine UK) – 13 July Very excited for the #veuveclicquot #goldcup on Sunday! But what to wear? @VogueHouse (+pic) @madforitme (John Horswell) – 16 July Very stressful and emotional day at Cowdray yesterday for this happy, fat tweeter @EldoradoPolo (Eldorado Polo Club) – 17 July We’re getting excited for the #2012Olympics in #London! Too bad #polo isn’t one of the sports. [Read about Olympic polo on page 34] @LouisaDawnay (Louisa Dawnay) – 18 July Bi-POLO: A psychiatric disorder of moods defined by abnormally elevated energy levels or more depressive episodes relating to POLO! #bipolo
Remembering a friend Sir, in the June issue of the marvellous Polo Times, there was an interesting article on the late Sbu Duma of South Africa. At the end of the article there was a notice, an invitation, to send in any “memories” readers might have of Duma. I first met Sbu Duma in the UK at the Gold Cup in Cowdray Park in 2009, when Young South Africa took on Young England after the final and won the game 6-4. I was very impressed with Sbu and I silently said to myself that I would invite him to Kenya, if only to show my fellow Kenyans the possibilities life had on offer to anyone willing to try. In September 2010 the chance presented itself and I was able to convince Sbu, through Dieter Rowe-Setz, to come up to Nairobi to play in the General Motors-sponsored Kenya Open. The tournament, divided into two parts, has a low-goal section over the first weekend, where junior players get an opportunity to play with international biggies like Sbu, and here he played www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p26-27 Letters JM PJ MB.indd 3
“What do you mean there’s no polo at London 2012?!”
Polo is cool, and that’s a rap Sir, I’m delighted to see that verse has recently been appearing in Polo Times. Would this poem, entitled “Last rides”, be of any use to you? Oh when I die, pray let my pelt Shaped be with seam and welt Into a super ladies’ saddle, For fair equestrienne to straddle.
The late Sbu Duma in action in Kenya
with my daughter Hiromi and nephew Eugene. The following week was a higher goal 8-12 tournament, where I had the honour of playing with Sbu. We made it to the plate final, losing narrowly in an extra chukka with widened goals. Nevertheless, true to form, Sbu was the crowd favourite, endearing himself to one and all. My family has been Sbu’s Kenyan kin since his visit here. His death was, untimely, annoying and upsetting. I speak for us all when I say he will be sorely missed in Kenya. Raphael Nzomo MBS Nairobi, Kenya
So that at last, I’m laid to rest Between the things I’ve loved the best; And lest you think I’m being coarse I mean ‘twixt woman and a horse. I wrote “Last rides” way back in 1979. But a few years ago, in 2009, I also tried to interest the previous editor, Yolanda Carslaw, in a polo rap that began as follows: Add a C, lose a P, and move the Os, Ignore writers who work only in prose. This is a cert, you won’t have to bet it, POLO is COOL and don’t you forget it. What do you think? Would you be interested in a development of this concept? Roy Law Hampton Hill, Middlesex Editor’s note: certainly Roy, I’d definitely encourage you to develop it some more. If “Last rides” is anything to go by, I look forward to hearing more and discovering where you’ll take it! Polo Times, August 2012
27
19/07/2012 16:41
Feature
Interview – Guillermo Terrera
Gutsy Guillermo aims for the top Little over a year after being diagnosed with cancer, Argentine seven-goaler Guillermo Terrera made a remarkable return to the English high-goal with El Remanso. He talks to Polo Times about his polo aspirations, his love of ponies and when he played with Cambiaso
John O’Sullivan in Ottershaw, Surrey
A
Photograph by John O’Sullivan
rgentine seven-goaler Guillermo Terrera has capped a rollercoaster 18-months by making his tenth appearance in the English high-goal this summer. The 28-year-old from General Belgrano was one of the stand-out players in the Queen’s and Gold Cups as El Remanso made it through to the semis and final respectively. But the fact he is playing polo at all is extraordinary in itself. The former Talandracas, Black Bears and Cadenza high-goal player was diagnosed with cancer in April 2011 and had intensive radiation and chemotherapy to battle tumours in his brain and his chest. After six months away from polo, he was well enough to start riding again in October and now he is keen to make up for lost time with a new and refreshing outlook on life. I met him at El Remanso’s high-goal headquarters in Surrey and found him to be both charming and inspiring. Guillermo, this is your tenth season playing in the English high-goal, yet compared to some of your compatriots we know very little about you. How did you get started in polo? I first started playing polo when I was eight or nine years old. What is very weird is that where I used to live in Argentina, a little town called General Belgrano 200 km from Buenos Aires, I was the only one who would play polo. My
28
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p28-33 Interview JM PJ MB.indd 2
father used to play another horse sport called pato and he started playing polo when he was about 40 years old, but no-one else in my family – I have three sisters – ever played. So why did you first get into it? I started playing polo because I like horses a lot and, for many generations of my family, we have been around horses. I prefer horses to polo. I play because I want to have the opportunity to have better horses. I started riding and stick and balling in my father’s farm and when I was growing up I would go to other farms to play. At the age of 15 I had my first season in Buenos Aires, I played in Pilar at La Cañada. That was in 2000 and I played there for five
After playing the high-goal I didn’t go back to law school and my life has been lawless from that point in every aspect years, before Lolo Castagnola invited me to go to Cañuelas to play with him. Since then, I have been playing a lot there – at Cambiaso’s La Dolfina estancia and at Lolo’s place. When did you first know that polo would be your career? When I left school at 17 I began law school. That was 2002. I went for a few months and I got a call from Javier Novillo Astrada and they were looking for a four-goaler to play for Black Bears in the high-goal in England, so I decided to take one semester off. The team was Javier, brother Eduardo, and Urs Schwarzenbach the patron. I had never been in an organisation
like that before and the Novillo’s treated me really well. They taught me a lot of things about tactics. I had a lot of fun and it was good for my polo. We reached the semi-finals of the Queen’s Cup and lost to Fabian Pictet’s Emerging, who won the final. I enjoyed the Queen’s Cup, but then the Novillo’s brother Alejandro came in and played instead of me for the Gold Cup and they won! That was always the plan from the start of the season, so I was very happy for them. So was that when you knew polo was for you? After that year I came back home and went to law school and the same thing happened. I didn’t have it in my mind to take polo as a career but after six months of university, in December 2002 I went to Chile and I met José Donoso, who asked me to play the mediumgoal in England with him. Of course I said yes and we did well. José is a very good player and a very good teacher. When I was in England the opportunity came up to play for Tony Pidgley’s Cadenza in the Queen’s Cup and the Gold Cup with Bautista Heguy and Silvestre Garros. I couldn’t believe it – two years before, players like the Novillo Astradas and the Heguys seemed very far away from me, and all of a sudden I was playing with them. That was when I said polo is for me and law is no more. My life has been lawless from that point in every aspect! u Fighting fit: Guillermo Terrera is back to full strength after treatment from cancer last year, and has produced some of his best polo in 2012, winning on snow in China and impressing for El Remanso in the UK high-goal
www.polotimes.co.uk
19/07/2012 14:19
PT p28-33 Interview JM PJ MB.indd 3
19/07/2012 14:30
Interview – Guillermo Terrera
Photographs by Christopher Fear and Tony Ramirez
Feature
Playing with Piki Diaz Alberdi, Adolfo Cambiaso and Ignacio Toccalino, Guillermo (far right) thumped England comprehensively 10-4 in the Beaufort Test Match in 2006
u And after that we have seen you in the highgoal almost every year since. Yes, after 2003 I got a call from Édouard Carmignac, the patron of Talandracas and I played with him for seven years, until 2010. I had a good time with him and he gave me opportunities to play all over the world, with good players like Lolo Castagnola, Ali Agote, and Lucas Monteverde and on good horses. Eduardo and I had a very honest and open relationship, which is very difficult to come by in polo. We got to the quarter-finals of the Queen’s Cup three or four times and we won the Deauville Gold Cup in France twice. I was very happy that he won the Queen’s Cup last year because he deserved it. Obviously I would have preferred it if he won when I was in the team, but it didn’t work out like that so I will need to win it another time. And it was during this time that you first met Lolo Castagnola, is that right? Yes, I met Lolo and he asked me if I would like to be in his organization and I said: “of course”. Since then I have been playing with him in Argentina. I have had the chance to play in a few high-goal matches with La Dolfina, with Lolo and Adolfo Cambiaso, which is a real privilege for a polo player. The most important game I played in Argentina was the semi-final of the Hurlingham Open in 2010 with Adolfo, Guillermo “Sapo” Caset and David “Pelon” Stirling. I feel very privileged to be on the field 30 Polo Times, August 2012
PT p28-33 Interview JM PJ MB.indd 4
with such incredible people. I can’t believe it. And hopefully one day I will be one of them.
and George better and we have all got on well very naturally.
You are now playing with Pelon and Charlie and George Hanbury with El Remanso. Did Pelon set that up? Pelon gave me a call last December when I was in Chile and told me that we had a chance to play together and I was very excited. I had played in England many times, but always with an organisation like Black Bears or Talandracas, but this was the first time that it would be 100 per cent my horses and my
Have you been impressed with the Hanburys? What can I say about Charlie and George? I knew they played well, but I did not know they were this good. I have been very impressed with them. George is strong and his mentality is very good. Charlie is very skilful with the ball and he’s very smart on the field. Both of them are very well-mounted and I have had a very good time playing with them. It is amazing how they have improved. That means that they have been doing things right, both with their polo and their horses.
I feel very privileged to be on the field with people like Pelon and Adolfo. Hopefully one day I will be one of them grooms. I went back to Argentina and called Lolo and he sold me some horses and helped me to get organized. I am very happy with how things have gone. What has it been like playing with El Remanso? We have a good team and the most important thing is that we have fun and play well together. I had played with Pelon in Argentina and with Talandracas in Sotogrande – I have always got on well with him on the field. He is an unbelievable player and one of the best guys in polo. I have got to know Charlie
Of course, it’s remarkable that you are playing at all in the high-goal. How much of a shock for you was it when you became ill last year? Yes, a total shock, though fortunately I am still here to talk about it. I am a very lucky guy. In March and April 2011 I was not feeling very good and I went to hospital and it was not very good news. It was a big surprise. It is very weird what I am going to say, but I am happy that I have had this happen to me. For six to eight months I was out of business – I couldn’t ride or play polo – but I did all u Guillermo in action for El Remanso, an alliance that has proved successful – the team reached the semis of the Queen’s Cup and were narrow runners up in the Gold
www.polotimes.co.uk
19/07/2012 14:31
PT p28-33 Interview JM PJ MB.indd 5
19/07/2012 14:31
Interview – Guillermo Terrera
Photographs by James Mullan and Paul Terry of Action Polo
Feature
Guillermo with El Remanso teammates Pelon Stirling and George and Charlie Hanbury in the UK; and successfully showcasing his skills at the FIP Snow Polo World Cup in China
u of the things I didn’t have time to do when I was rushing around and travelling from one country to another playing polo. I spent a lot of time with my family and my friends and I learned a lot of very good and important things about life. Now that I am back playing again I make sure to keep doing these things because
I learned a lot of very good and important things about life when I was out of business for eight months
organised I was impressed. I hope it keeps going because China is a big market for polo. it is very good for polo when a new market like this opens. Finally, you mentioned earlier that horses are very important to you. Do you have your own breeding programme? I have already begun breeding in Argentina with embryo
32 Polo Times, August 2012
PT p28-33 Interview JM PJ MB.indd 6
w Read how El Remanso fared in the Gold Cup final at Cowdray Park last month on page 40 w Discover how he gets on in the Warwickshire Cup, playing for Charlie Gordon Watson’s Felix, in the September issue
they are good for my mind and for my life. I make the time for the important things. I have realised that you have enough time to do everything in life if you are calm and focused. I don’t want to talk about this as a bad thing, it is a good thing. I am enjoying my life – playing, having barbecues with the boys, being with my friends and I am very thankful to God and to all of the good people around me. There was a real fairy tale story in one of your first tournaments back when you won the FIP Snow Polo World Cup at the Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club in China. What was it like to play there? We did well and I had fun. I was not surprised to win because playing for Hong Kong, with Jon Fisher and Martin Inchauspe, I knew we had good players. The tournament was so well
transfer and using good stallions from Lolo and good mares from a lot of other guys – Lolo, Lucas, Adolfo. I will also take some of my mares from England back home when I am finished playing them. I think I am going to have a good breed because I am following steps that I have learned from all the good breeders. You don’t have to be smart, but you have to be logical and disciplined. F
Despite all his playing prowess this year, Guillermo Terrera says he prefers horses to polo
www.polotimes.co.uk
19/07/2012 14:31
(O
(O 5HPDQVR LV LGHDOO\ VLWXDWHG MXVW RQH KRXU IURP %XHQRV $LUHV ,QWHUQDWLRQDO DLUSRUW 9LVLW RXU QHZ ZHEVLWH DQG VWDUW SODQQLQJ \RXU EHVSRNH SROR KROLGD\ WRGD\ ZZZ HOUHPDQVRSROR FRP
PT (O 5HPDQVR LQGG p28-33 Interview JM PJ MB.indd 7
19/07/2012 14:12
Feature
Polo at the Olympics: medals more golden than the Gold Cup?
76 years in Olympic wilderness
Polo at the Olympics: medals more golden than the Gold Cup?
Herbert Spencer sets the scene
“Over five Olympic polo competitions, players from Great Britain won 11 Gold medals, 15 silver and four bronze, while Argentines won only eight gold”
Feature
Though polo doesn’t feature at London 2012, this month we consider its role and evolution in historical Olympiads, review which nations have had the most success, and question how feasible reintroducing the game is for future Olympics
T
he 30th modern Olympiad got underway in the UK last month in the week following polo’s annual International Day of the Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA) – a sporting spectacular that has drawn crowds of upwards of 25,000 at its peak. Attendance at Guards for the HPA’s Audi International in July was greater than that expected for more than a dozen Olympic sports this summer, with their various venues seating only 3,000-10,000 spectators. When polo was last played in the Olympics 76 years ago, the 60,000-capacity main
stand at Maifeld in Berlin was packed, with thousands more spectators around the ground. World-class international polo can still draw the crowds, yet London 2012 went ahead without the sport, as the Olympics have done since 1936. During the Atlanta Olympics of 1996, the General Assembly of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to accept again polo as a “recognised sport”, making it eligible for inclusion in the games. Since then, however, the Federation of International Polo (FIP) has failed in its efforts to convince the IOC to reinstate the sport in the Olympics. u Below: giant stands at Berlin’s Maifeld stadium during the 1936 Olympic final between Argentina and Great Britain
35
Feature
Polo at the Olympics: medals more golden than the Gold Cup?
In the beginning: matches during the 1900 Paris Olympics were played in the French capital’s Bois de Boulogne, shown above, home to the illustrious Polo de Paris club
All illustrations from Herbert Spencer Media, originally collected for the 2012 Hurlingham Polo Association Olympic display
u
competing were all from the British Isles: one from the Roehampton Polo Club, one from the Hurlingham Club and the third from the All Ireland Polo Club, then a part of Great Britain. Games were played at London’s Hurlingham Club, the epicentre of world polo in the early 20th century. In the first match, Roehampton – with brothers Charles and George Miller, Patterson Nickalls and
More’s the pity, given that dressage, show jumping and eventing are still included in the Olympics but, in my view, polo – as a fast, contact team sport – is rather more exciting to watch. Polo was played in five of the 10 Olympiads from 1900 to 1936, beginning with the second modern games at the turn of the century.
contest between nations, so competitors entered as individual athletes or individual teams. Thus, 20 polo players from four countries competed on mixed teams in the Bois de Boulogne, home of the Polo de Paris club. An Anglo-American squad, Foxhunters Hurlingham, took gold with England’s John Beresford, Dennis St George Daly and Alfred Rawlinson along with the USA’s Foxhall Keene and Frank “Jay”
Paris 1900
All teams competing in 1908 were from the British Isles, where the matches took place at London’s Hurlingham Club
The II Olympiad in Paris was a bit of a sideshow to France’s great world fair of 1900, the Exposition Universelle. It was the first time that horse sports were included in the games: polo and show jumping, but without dressage and eventing. The Olympics had not yet developed as a
Mackey. Silver went to Rugby Polo Club with Walter Buckmaster and Frederick Freake from England, Jean de Madré from France and Walter McCreery from the US. Third place for bronze in the 1900 games was shared by Bagatelle Polo de Paris (with Englishman Frederick Gill in their line-up) and Mexico.
London 1908 There was no polo played in the 1904 III Olympiad in St Louis, Missouri, but the sport returned four years later for the IV Olympiad. The 1908 games had originally been awarded to Rome, but an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1906 meant Italy diverted funds to reconstruction work in the Naples area and so Rome backed out. London then stepped in to host the games, having only 18 months to organise them. This may account for the fact that the only polo teams One of polo’s all-time greats, 10-goaler Tommy Hitchcock Jr, led the USA team to their silver medal triumph in 1924
36
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p34-39 Olympics Feature JM PJ MB.indd 4
Herbert Wilson – beat Hurlingham’s Walter Buckmaster, Frederick Freake, Walter Jones and John Wodehouse by three goals to one. Roehampton then went on to dominate Ireland 8-1; the Irish players were John Hardress Lloyd, John McCann, Percy O’Reilly and Austen Rotherham. So the gold medals and an Olympic challenge cup donated by the Hurlingham Club went to Roehampton’s quartet. Hurlingham took silver, but there were no bronze medals awarded. A variant, bicycle polo, also made an appearance as a demonstration sport, played in the new, 93,000-seater White City Stadium that had been built in record time for the 1908 Olympics.
Antwerp 1920 After a hiatus of 12 years, with no polo in the 1912 V Olympiad in Stockholm and the 1916 VI Olympiad scheduled for Berlin cancelled due to the Great War, the sport was back in the 1920 VII Olympiad, hosted by Antwerp. Four nations competed in the www.polotimes.co.uk
19/07/2012 16:20
Polo at the Olympics: medals more golden than the Gold Cup?
Antwerp Olympics photograph by kind permission of David Agie de Selsaeten and the RAPC Trust
Games in the 1920 Antwerp Olympics were played at the Belgian seaside resort of Ostend. This photograph shows the USA’s James Montgomery taking the ball to goal in a match against Belgium
polo, played in the Belgian seaside resort of Ostend: Great Britain, United States, Spain and Belgium. Gold medals went to Great Britain’s Teignmouth Melville, Frederick Barrett, John Wodehouse and Vivian Lockett. Spain took silver with Leopoldo de la Maza, Justo de San Miguel, Alvaro de Figueroa and Leopoldo de La Maza. Bronze went to the USA team.
save that against Argentina and matched the Argentines in goal differences. Argentina, with Arturo Kenny, Juan Miles, Guillermo Brooke Naylor, Juan Nelson and Enrique Padilla, took gold and the USA silver. Bronze medals went to the Great Britain team u
www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p34-39 Olympics Feature JM PJ MB.indd 5
Polo roll of honour at the Olympics 1900 – 1936 II Olympiad Paris 1900 Nations competing: France, Great Britain, Mexico, United States Gold medallists – Foxhunters Hurlingham (GB/US): John Beresford (GB); Dennis St George Daly (GB); Foxhall Keene (US); Frank “Jay” Mackey (US); Alfred Rawlinson (GB) Silver medallists – Rugby Polo Club (GB/US): Walter Buckmaster (GB); Frederick Freake (GB); Jean de Madre (France); Walter McCreery (US) Bronze medallists – A team made up of players from Bagatelle Polo Club de Paris and Mexico
IV Oympiad London 1908 Nations competing: Great Britain Gold medallists – Roehampton (GB): Charles Miller; George Miller; Patteson Nickalls; Herbert Wilson Silver medallists – Hurlingham Club (GB) & Ireland (GB): Hurlingham’s Walter Buckmaster, Frederick Freake, Walter Jones, John Wodehouse; and Ireland’s John Lloyd, John McCann, Percy O’Reilly, Austen Rotherham Bronze medallists – Not awarded
VII Olympiad Antwerp 1920 Nations competing: Belgium, Great Britain, Spain, United States Gold medallists – Great Britain: Teignmouth Melvill; Frederick Barrett; John Wodehouse; Vivian Lockett Silver medallists – Spain: Leopoldo de la Maza; Justo de San Miguel; Alvaro de Figueroa; Leopoldo de La Maza
Paris 1924 The 1924 VIII Olympiad in Paris saw the emerging polo power Argentina entering a team in the games for the first time, joined by host country France, Great Britain, Spain and the United States. The battle for gold, fought at Bagatelle and SaintCloud, was a close-run contest between Argentina and the USA. The Americans were led by 10-goaler Thomas “Tommy” Hitchcock Jr, considered one of the three greatest players of history, with Elmer Boeseke, Frederick Roe and Rodman Wanamaker. The USA won all their games
Feature
Bronze medallists – United States
VIII Olympiad Paris 1924 Nations competing: France, Great Britain, Spain, Argentina, United States
Challenge Cup presented by the Hurlingham Club to polo’s winners at the 1908 London Olympics
Gold medallists – Argentina: Arturo Kenny; Juan Miles; Juan Nelson; Enrique Padilla (Reserve: Guillermo Brooke Naylor, who did not play) Silver medallists – United States: Elmer Boeseke; Tommy Hitchcock Jr; Frederick Roe; Rodman Wanamaker Bronze medallists – Great Britain
XI Olympiad Berlin 1936 Nations competing: Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Argentina, Mexico Gold medallists – Argentina: Luis Duggan; Roberto Cavanagh; Andrés Gazzotti; Manuel Andrada Silver medallists – Great Britain: Bryan Fowler; William “Robert” Hinde; David Dawnay; Humphrey Guinness Bronze medallists – Mexico Polo Times, August 2012
37
19/07/2012 16:20
At the 1924 Games in Paris, Argentina took gold in their first Olympic excursion. The team featured (from l-r): Juan Miles, Enrique Padilla, Juan Nelson and Arturo Kenny
u of Frederick “Freddie” Barrett, Dennis Bingham, Fred Guest and Percival K Wise.
Berlin 1936 Polo was again absent from the 1928 IX Olympiad in Amsterdam and the 1932 X Olympiad in Los Angeles, but was back for the 1936 XI Olympiad in Berlin. The IOC named Berlin as the host city in 1931, before Adolf Hitler came to power. Once the Nazis’
host country Germany entered the polo competition in the Berlin games. The USA, having missed gold by a whisker in 1924, declined to send a team in ’36. To enter, the US Polo Association (USPA) would have had to join the US Olympic Committee (USOC), but refused to do so because of the heavyhanded rule of USOC boss Avery Brundage. So the fight for gold was essentially between Great Britain and Argentina. The GB
The wide divergence in the strength of teams that poloplaying nations can field is just one of the problems facing the FIP in its campaign to get polo reinstated into the Olympics
The USA’s Frederick Roe goes to strike a nearside shot against Spain in 1924. The Americans beat France, Spain and Great Britain before falling to Argentina
38
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p34-39 Olympics Feature JM PJ MB.indd 6
dictatorial and racist policies became known, there were moves within the IOC to change the venue and then campaigns in Great Britain, the US and other countries to boycott the Berlin Olympics. In the end the boycott campaigns failed and the games went ahead. The polo competition took place at Berlin’s Maifeld (Mayfield) stadium immediately adjacent to the main Olympic stadium. Maifeld was the site of the Nazis’ giant May Day rallies at which Hitler harangued his followers. National teams from Great Britain, Argentina, Mexico, Hungary and
team was Bryan Fowler, William Hinde, David Dawnay and Humphrey Guinness. Argentina had Luis Duggan, Roberto Cavanagh, Andrés Gazzotti and Manuel Andrada. Great Britain won their game against Mexico 13-11. Argentina trounced Mexico 155. Then, in the final, Argentina embarrassingly blanked Great Britain 11-0, taking gold, leaving GB with silver. Bronze medals went to Mexico. In hindsight, this last Olympics for the sport was a portent of the future as, since World War II, Argentina has indisputably become the dominant power in polo. www.polotimes.co.uk
19/07/2012 16:20
Polo at the Olympics: medals more golden than the Gold Cup?
Goalmouth action in a match between Great Britain and Mexico in Berlin’s Maifeld stadium in 1936
Feature
German Olympic staff treading in the divots between games
London 2012 and beyond? Over the five Olympics in which polo was played, players from Great Britain won 11 gold medals, 15 silver and four bronze, while Argentines won only eight gold. But sic transit gloria for English polo Olympians. Had polo been included in this year’s Olympics, and played open without handicap restrictions, Argentina with their cadre of 10-goalers would have easily scooped the gold medals again. The wide divergence in the strength of teams that polo-playing nations can field is just one of the problems facing the FIP in its campaign to get polo reinstated into the Olympics: the USA can reach the dizzy heights of 30 goals, England 29 (if they select British-born nine-goaler Eduardo Novillo Astrada), while the Argentina can manage a perfect 40. Currently the federation has less than 50 Above: reigning Olympic polo champions, Argentina, with umpire Diego Cavanagh in Berlin in 1936. The member countries in which the sport is well team comprised (from left to right) Luis Duggan, Roberto Cavanagh, Andrés Gazzotti and Manuel Andrada established and there are less than 20,000 players Below: Argentina beat Great Britain (in the dark shirts) in the 1936 final to win polo’s last Olympic gold medals worldwide. This is hardly enough to convince the IOC that the sport has a wide-enough global following to deserve a place in the games. So, for the foreseeable future at least, polo can continue to bask in the glory of its long past Olympics, but players and faithful fans can only dream about a return of the sport to an Olympiad. F wD o you agree with Herbert? Do the London 2012 games suffer without polo included, or would it be almost impossible to find a workable means of including the sport, given the requirements for travelling and stabling horses? Tell us your views by writing to letters@polotimes.co.uk
www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p34-39 Olympics Feature JM PJ MB.indd 7
Polo Times, August 2012
39
19/07/2012 16:20
Reports
The Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup, Cowdray Park Polo Club
Sportsmanship and
40
PT p40-45 Gold Cup report JM PJ JOS MB.indd 2
20/07/2012 17:50
Gold Cup
skill in spades
How did they perform in the Gold Cup final? Tony marks the finalists out of 10, based on their effectiveness in terms of handicap
Cortium (22): Francisco Elizalde (6) Elizalde worked hard and showed himself a good team player, even if his stick skills suffered in the difficult conditions. Has risen in the handicap changes for the second consecutive year – up to seven.
Our correspondent rejoices in a hard but fairly-fought final, from which host club Cowdray Park and both British-based teams emerged with a lot of credit
Polito Pieres (8) Chosen as most valuable player, he scored eight of his team’s 10 goals and never missed a penalty. His energy and opportunism, and the performance of his brilliant stallion, Rolinga, in the last chukka were decisive. Jaime Huidobro (7) Intelligently, he looked to pass in attack and hit long balls in defence. He was the player least worried by the conditions, amazing given that he was recovering from a broken collarbone just six weeks earlier, and he was understandably emotional at the final bell. His handicap has been put up to eight goals for next year.
Tony Emerson in West Sussex
Cortium El Remanso
10 9
Adrian Kirby (1) A fitter-looking Kirby rode hard and fouled little considering how much he kept himself involved in the play. What more do you want from a patron?
T
Left: Cortium’s Jaime Huidobro attacks the ball in difficult conditions on Cowdray Park’s cut-up ground, watched by El Remanso’s David “Pelon” Stirling
6 9 8 7
El Remanso (22): Charlie Hanbury (4) Though he scored with a wonderful tail shot, which was arguably the goal of the day, his forehands did not adapt well to the sticky going and, in my view, he gave away too many fouls. George Hanbury (2) Though he admitted that his shot which hit the post in the fifth chukka will “haunt” him for many a year, he otherwise played well above his handicap, and scored a useful goal. The HPA has recognised this, putting him to three goals for 2013.
Photograph by Action Polo
he 2012 Gold Cup will mostly be remembered for the appalling weather. The patrons of those teams who did not make the quarter-finals were unfortunate not to be able to enjoy the various subsidiary tournaments, and the statistics will show a very low number of goals being scored. But the records will not reflect the fantastic achievement of the Cowdray Park Polo Club in holding all the matches that it did, nor the stoicism of the players and officials who braved the cold, the wind and the rain. Although the hunting and shooting fraternity may doubt the thesis, it appears that such weather tempers testosterone levels. There were fewer technicals given than for many a year and only three yellow cards (despite stricter regulations). Normally polo has little in common with the pain and endurance of a triathlon but, in this year that it did, the sport came out with great credit, if not with great enjoyment. Even cries of “fix” were redundant when some surprising league results did not benefit well-financed teams that failed to gel. The strongest criticism of the umpiring came from parents whose darlings failed to progress (vide Pony Club passim) and even in Spanish u
Reports
7 8
Guillermo Terrera (7) He was as hardworking as ever, but on difficult ground his choices I felt were not always the best. Too often he neglected to hit the ball long and full when he had the opportunity, and he missed a vital 30-yarder early on.
6
David Stirling (9) The orchestrator kept his side together throughout, and now joins an elite coterie of 10-goal players, having been rewarded by the handicapping committee in the end-of-season changes. He had a brilliant fourth chukka on his favourite pony, Rum and Coke, though was probably wrong to bring her out for the third time in the last, when Pieres eclipsed him.
8
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p40-45 Gold Cup report JM PJ JOS MB.indd 3
41
20/07/2012 17:50
The Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup, Cowdray Park Polo Club
Polito Pieres celebrates after a virtuoso performance
Shootout drama decides quarterfinalists Under new rules laid out by the HPA this season, a stand-alone penalty shootout was required at the culmination of the Gold Cup group games, when three Division C teams were tied on points with two wins and two losses each. The new rule – written into the tournament constitution for the Queen’s and Gold Cup this year rather than the Blue Book – states that goal difference is no longer relevant in the event of a tie, designed to prevent sides from augmenting score lines to shape who qualifies for the quarter-final stages. As such, Ellerston, Piaget and Enigma arrived at Cowdray Park in unfavourable conditions on Friday 6 July, when each team elected its three top players to take two penalty shots into an undefended goal, one from 40-yards and another from 60-yards. One by one, the nine players from Enigma, then Piaget and, finally, Ellerston each successfully converted their 40-yarders without fault. However, both spot-hit high-goal specialists for Enigma, Matias MacDonough and Juan Martín Nero, then missed their high-pressure chances from 60-yards, so the teams only chance at survival was if the other teams also missed. Although Piaget’s Magoo Laprida and Alejandro Muzzio failed to convert, a perfect set of penalties by Ellerston’s three professionals – Gonzalito Pieres, John Paul Clarkin and Tomas Garbarini – meant Ellerston ran out the winners and scooped the final position in the quarter-finals from their side of the draw. This was the first season back in the UK since 2008 for James Packer’s three-time Gold Cup winners Ellerston, who went on to play eventual finalists El Remanso in the quarter-finals, when they were beaten 12-9.
Photograph by Alice Gipps
Reports
u nobody’s parentage was called into question. Moreover, such was the equality of the teams that the chief umpire admitted that he gave the wrong forecast for 80 per cent of the results. The upshot come semi-finals day was that many big names were already out. Moved to Cowdray Park’s Ambersham complex for the first time in recent memory, in order to preserve Lawns for the final, the teams lucky to play at midday with dry conditions overhead, if not underfoot, were Sumaya and Cortium. Sumaya came on a roll with Facundo Sola seeming infallible with his penalty taking and his prowess at scoring with long shots. Though his side
was in the ascendancy for most of the match, Sumaya ultimately gave away too many penalties and, when their conversion mattered, an otherwise erratic Polito Pieres kept Cortium in touch. In the last chukka he shone on the field and, at the crucial moment, Pieres put Cortium ahead for the first time in the match, where they stayed to book their place in the final, 8-7. The second semi-final followed the customary long lunch, which became steadily wetter as a soft, soaking rain descended. Dubai had beaten El Remanso in the semis of the Queen’s Cup and few doubted a repeat. However, in the increasingly difficult conditions, David “Pelon” Stirling’s stick work and tactical sense were inspired. After an initial goal from Charlie Hanbury, Pieres consistently
The final was not a day for fancy stickwork but, rather, for adopting a 1960s’ style of tactical long hitting ensured El Remanso were ahead or level. Four minutes into the last chukka El Remanso were still leading by a goal, but conceded a 30-yarder. “Game over” said the experts, but then gulped as Adolfo Cambiaso missed an open goal. Cambiaso then had a second chance with a sixty yarder and blew that too. By then the great man was so out of sorts that he tried and failed to meet a half shot from Guillermo Terrera, and stopped playing assuming that the umpires would blow a foul in his favour. No whistle was heard and Terrera proceeded to score unmolested, allowing El Remanso – and George Hanbury in particular – to savour sweet revenge, 7-5. The finalists did create one record. For the first time since Kerry Packer revolutionised
Chukka by chukka: how the Gold Cup final 2012 unfolded... First chukka
Second chukka
Third chukka
Fourth chukka
Cortium 1, El Remanso 2
Cortium 3, El Remanso 2
Cortium 3, El Remanso 3
Cortium 5, El Remanso 6
Jaime Huidobro opens the scoring after dribbling up the boards, cutting into the middle of the ground to himself and shooting a nearside shot. But Guillermo Terrera levels with a 30-yard penalty. David Stirling then misses a 60-yard penalty rather feebly, but Huidobro messes up the hit-in, turns on it and fouls in doing so. Terrera converts the 30-yarder. Huidobro is penalised for turning the ball in defence and Terrera has a third 30-yarder, which this time he misses.
42
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p40-45 Gold Cup report JM PJ JOS MB.indd 4
Adrian Kirby just misses with a splendid neck shot, and El Remanso foul on the hit-in. Polito Pieres converts the 40-yard penalty. Cortium put in two good attacks and Stirling fouls while halting the second. Pieres scores with the penalty. Pieres and Terrera then both have narrow misses with long shots, with Huidobro and Pieres’s link-up play looking particularly ominous for El Remanso, whose play thus far has been scrappy.
A chukka of close shaves. Pieres saves a spot penalty by Stirling, then Stirling completes a spectacular goal-line save from a shot by Elizalde. George Hanbury then has a solo run, only for Huidobro to save on the line. But Pieres’s shot in the resulting play bounces off a post. Terrera also shoots wide. Stirling then dribbles a 5b and, in the ensuing melee, Charlie Hanbury is fouled and Terrera just converts the 30-yarder.
Cortium immediately retake the lead with a Pieres’ 40-yard penalty awarded at the end of the first half. But George Hanbury equalises with an under-the-neck. Huidobro has a long accurate shot at goal which is just saved with a safety-60 resulting. Pieres converts this with a lofted shot. Stirling runs the ball at full gallop from half-way and scores the best goal so far. A midfield foul gives Stirling a 60-yarder which he hits over the scoreboard. Spectacular.
www.polotimes.co.uk
20/07/2012 17:50
The Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup, Cowdray Park Polo Club
polo in the 1980s (some might say ruined it), the patrons of both teams were British. Let us hope we don’t have to wait another 20-odd years for a repeat. By the time the final was played, Cowdray’s iconic main ground had been saturated once again, though mercifully the final itself was dry. The noble turf of Lawns Two did not divot up, but the ball never bounced and its speed of rolling was inconsistent. It was not a day for fancy stick work but, rather, for adopting a 1960s’ style of long hitting. Ultimately, the team
that adopted this technique was successful. For the spectators, threatening-looking clouds and a cold wind made it feel more like Cheltenham Gold Cup day. However, neither team was an Arkle, and no more than two goals ever separated them. For the first three chukkas this was as well, for the conditions provoked error after error as the players settled their nerves and grew accustomed to the soggy playing surface. Only one field goal was scored in this first half. In the fourth chukka, quality was injected by David Stirling and the game became a spectacle. Jaime Huidobro and Polito Pieres responded well, the play got faster, the errors fewer. With five minutes to go it looked to be El Remanso’s match, but Pieres became inspired, as so many of his relatives have been before him, scoring three goals to put Cortium’s nose in front at the final hooter. By far the best aspect of the match was the sportsmanship, which made for an u
Photograph by Vanessa Taylor
Cortium’s Jaime Huidobro strikes the ball in mid-air during their semi-final win over Sumaya
Fifth chukka
Sixth chukka
Cortium 7, El Remanso 8
Cortium 10, El Remanso 9
El Remanso start with a 40-yard penalty, just converted by Stirling. But George Hanbury misses the chance to give them a three-goal cushion, hitting the right-hand post when he should have scored. Pieres and Huidobro execute the only successful “trencito” of the match and Elizalde finishes it off. Further pressure by Cortium leads to a goal-mouth scramble and a penalty tap-in. However, counter-attacking, Terrera then hits the ball across the Cortium goal and, as it bounces shallowly on the wet turf, Charlie Hanbury scores with a fine tail shot, lofting his shot over Cortium’s defence to send the El Remanso supporters into raptures.
www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p40-45 Gold Cup report JM PJ JOS MB.indd 5
Stirling picks up a rebound from Kirby’s horse, controls his run and scores. After a spot hit the ball gets buried close to El Remanso’s goal, they foul at the throw-in and Pieres converts the penalty. El Remanso are given a 60-yarder, but the shot is met by Elizalde who hits upfield for Pieres to pounce, duck behind his marker and score a wonderful goal with a running finish. Another Cortium attack is stopped when they foul in the corner, Stirling doesn’t clear with the penalty and is robbed by Pieres, who cuts in the goal that puts them in the lead. The match ends in the Cortium goal-mouth as a tennis shot from Stirling goes wide, deflecting off a post at the final bell. What drama!
Reports
Analysis by Luke Tomlinson England’s captain says Cortium’s ability to play to the conditions, added to some magic from the side’s number two Polito Pieres, were the decisive factors The biggest factor in this game was undoubtedly how heavy and wet the ground was. It was as bad as I can remember in a high-goal game, and so the players – who wanted to go as fast as possible – struggled as the ball travelled really slowly. Passes weren’t as fluid as they’d usually be, hampered by the divots and the moisture on the ground, and players found it harder than normal to read and react to the game, which I think accounted for a lot of the mis-hits. The first half, in particular, was characterised by silly and uncharacteristic mistakes, with all but the very first goal coming through penalties. A further consideration was the extra pressure the condition of the ground put on the horses. They are required to stop and change direction more because of the deviation of the ball and this is much more demanding than playing in good conditions. Given all this, both teams – and all eight players – played incredibly well and fought out a very evenly balanced game. I felt Cortium were stronger in the first half, because their flexibility in terms of positions was a big positive – everyone seemed comfortable filling in for a teammate when required, and I thought they got the tactics right. As a rule, when the conditions are bad, the simplest tactical plan is the most effective. Cortium hit the ball from the back to get their opponents to rush towards the ball at speed, which then made it difficult for them to back it to safety. El Remanso, meanwhile, seemed to be adopting a tactic of blocking Cortium’s players in order to let Pelon come through with the ball. Though usually effective, it was too complicated in this instance, because little mistakes crept in because of the conditions. However, in general, the scoreline showed that there was really very little to choose between the teams. The pace of Polito Pieres in the Cortium line-up was countered by the speed of Pelon Stirling and Guillermo Terrera for El Remanso, though it was when Pieres got the better of them in the final few minutes that the game was effectively won. I know from personal experience just how tough a player he is to mark, and he gave Cortium all the momentum at the key moment. Up until then, I think we can say Cortium had control in the first three chukkas in terms of possession, but that the fourth and fifth belonged to El Remanso. The Hanbury’s side had also dominated the early part of the final chukka but, given a platform by the simple play of Jaime Huidobro, Polito Pieres turned the game when he took control in the final moments with two magical goals. F Polo Times, August 2012
43
20/07/2012 17:50
Reports
The Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup, Cowdray Park Polo Club
Photographs left and below by Action Polo
Historic game delights spectators
u R ole of honour Sumaya (22): Ahmad Aboughazale 1; Facundo Sola 7; Javier Novillo Astrada 8; Juan Ambroggio 6 La Bamba de Areco (22): Jean François Decaux 0; Nico Pieres 7; Facundo Pieres 10; Max Routledge 5
44
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p40-45 Gold Cup report JM PJ JOS MB.indd 6
Photograph by Tony Ramirez
For the first time since 1990, a second extra chukka featuring widened goals was required to find a winner in a Gold Cup game. In the highestscoring contest in the UK high-goal since 2007, La Bamba de Areco and Sumaya could not be separated The Gold Cup’s topafter the six regulation scorer, Facundo Sola chukkas of their early group game on 23 June, tied at 16-16. When the scores were already 9-9 at halftime, spectators wondered if they might be witnessing a classic. And, while the scoring slowed down slightly in the next three chukkas, so it proved. Ironically, however, no-one could find the posts in the extra seventh chukka, when a golden-goal for either side would win it. Cue an eighth period, with widened goals. Surely, with La Bamba’s Facundo Pieres already in double figures for the game and eventual tournament top-scorer Facundo Sola on the grounds, the winning strike wouldn’t take long. It didn’t, but it was the impressive Juan Ambroggio who stole the headlines, pinching the ball from La Bamba and galloping away to score the decisive 33rd goal of the game to win it to Sumaya, 17-16. The last time British spectators witnessed a high-goal game with more than 32 goals scored was when Lechuza Caracas beat Cadenza 18-16 in the 2007 Queen’s Cup, and when widened goals were last required in the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup, La Bamba’s Max Routledge wasn’t even born. In truth, on this memorable occasion neither side deserved to lose a game of such attacking quality, and they should bask in the achievement. However, for La Bamba, the loss (though it was only their second game of the tournament) ultimately cost them a place in the quarter-finals. Sumaya reached the semi-finals, where they were narrowly beaten by eventual champions Cortium.
David “Pelon” Stirling winds up to hit a nearside under-the-neck with the crowds and big-screen television behind
u extremely pleasant contrast to some previous finals. Sticks weren’t waved, and only once was a voice raised after a foul was blown. In the fourth chukka, Stirling had lost his stick and Huidobro stopped playing to retrieve it. The spirit of the game was epitomised when Cortium arrived for the presentation and the first person to congratulate them was Christopher Hanbury, owner of El Remanso. Finally, in the post match interviews to the sports media, Pieres just commented that they were the lucky team in what were very difficult conditions. Winning patron Adrian Kirby was also quick to praise his opposition as much as his own side: “It’s a long route to the final,” he
told Polo Times editor James Mullan. “Any side that reaches it, deserves to be there and has already shown that they are a magnificent team. Then, it’s a question of belief, when one team will have enough – and enough luck – to win it. Fortunately, that was us this year, and it’s a wonderful feeling.” At the end of the traditional presentation ceremony, a special prize was awarded to the third man, Paul Withers, for – in the words of jovial commentator Karl Ude-Martinez – 50 years service to polo at Cowdray Park. In fact it has been much more than that: Paul was a member of the winning Gold Cup team in 1961 and played at Cowdray Park for several years before to reach his handicap. He will have enjoyed the spirit of this year’s final as much as anyone. F w Turn to page 87 for social photographs from the final w Discover which high-goalers have had their handicaps amended in the end-of-season changes on pages 12-13
Game rating
Charlie Hanbury goes on the attack in the final
• • • • • • • • • •
u The Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup; 19 June to 15 July 2012; Cowdray Park Polo Club Result: Cortium beat El Remanso, 10-9 Handicap level: 22-goal Most valuable player: Polito Pieres Best playing pony: Rolinga, owned by Hernan Pieres and played by Polito Pieres Cortium (22): Francisco Elizalde 6; Polito Pieres 8; Jaime Huidobro 7; Adrian Kirby 1 El Remanso (22): Charlie Hanbury 4; George Hanbury 2; Guillermo Terrera 7; David Stirling 9 www.polotimes.co.uk
20/07/2012 17:50
Congratulations to the Cortium Team on their Gold Cup victory
Always mix with the best 1870 mixers are made with pure British spring water, blended with the finest ingredients from around the world to deliver optimum taste and refreshment. Available from all good retailers nationwide.
PT p40-45 Gold Cup report.indd 7
www. 1870mixers.co.uk
19/07/2012 13:58
Reports
Victor Ludorum 18-goal round-up
Clinton’s Emlor end Black Bears’ 18-goal dominance Clinton McCarthy’s Emlor C were the undoubted stars of this year’s 18-goal Julius Baer Victor Ludorum competition, winning three out of the four tournaments during the season to break Black Bears’ three-year reign as champions
Caroline Smail reports
T
penalties were the order of the day – Emlor C’s first field goal wasn’t until the third chukka and their only goal in the fifth was the result of a foul by Black Bears. The final chukka was action packed with both teams taking and then losing the lead in quick succession. Ultimately the winning goal was scored by Tom Morley, who gave Emlor C a 10-9½ victory. This kept them at the top of the Victor Ludorum leader board with 150 points with Black Bears and El Remanso tied in second place with 40 points apiece. The 18-goal Apsley Cup at Cirencester Park,
Ludorum season. Clinton’s Emlor C won the 18-goal title for the first time
Photographs by Tom Reynolds
he 18-goal Victor Ludorum began in May with the highly prized Indian Empire Shield at Coworth Park. A total of nine teams entered and it was a case of third time lucky for Clinton McCarthy’s Emlor C, who had lost out to Black Bears in the final in each of the last two years. With Black Bears out of contention this year only El Remanso stood between Emlor C and the coveted Shield. As ever, the weather made its mark and the poor conditions caused frequent fouls and an excess of penalties. Eight out of the total 15 goals were penalty conversions, with El Remanso only achieving one field goal in the whole game. The score remained close
throughout, but Emlor C had the edge and ran out the winners, 8-7, to take the early lead in the Victor Ludorum standings. Seven teams entered the second tournament, The Duke of Sutherland’s Cup at Cowdray Park, with Black Bears taking on Emlor C in the final. Black Bears received a half goal start and they retained this advantage throughout the first half, leading 5½–5 Clinton McCarthy, at half time. left, in action against Once his brother Spencer during the Victor again
46
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p46-47 VL 18 goal report JOS MB PJ.indd 2
www.polotimes.co.uk
19/07/2012 20:24
English rising-star Jack Richardson of Altamira (blue hat) and Tom Hunt of Black Bears race towards the ball during the Apsley Cup final at Cirencester Park in July, as their teammates jostle for position in the background
entered by six teams, was the only tournament not to be won by Emlor C. Black Bears were attempting to win the title for the third year running, but narrowly lost out to Adriano Agosti’s Altamira 8-7 ½. Black Bears got off to a strong start, opening the scoring with two field goals, but a couple of mistakes brought Altamira into the running and they started to dominate to lead 8-4½ going into the last chukka. Black Bears staged a dramatic late fight-back and with 40 seconds left
“We play a strong team game and this gave us the edge” – Emlor’s Tom Morley on the clock Jack Archibald brought them back to within half a goal at 8-7½. But it was too little too late and Altamira ran out the winners. “We played well as a team, hitting passes rather than running to goal every time and the experience of Pepe Heguy and Gaston Laulhe showed on a heavy and difficult ground,” www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p46-47 VL 18 goal report JOS MB PJ.indd 3
commented Altamira’s Jack Richardson. With Emlor C in first place with 170 points and Altamira in second with 150 points it was all to play for in the final tournament of the competition, the Duke of Beaufort’s Cup. The two sides fought through to a mouth-watering, winner-takes-all final in mid-July. Emlor C had the edge throughout and, despite a valiant comeback by Altamira in the final chukka, Emlor C were once again victorious, 5-4, winning not just the tournament but also the 18-goal Victor Ludorum crown. Emlor C’s Tom Morley who was instrumental in their success throughout the season, playing alongside McCarthy, Marcos Araya and Manolo Fernandez-Llorente, commented: “We have a lot of experience as a team and are friends as well. We all fit well and feel comfortable in our positions which means we play a strong team game and this gave us the edge throughout.” F w See over the page for coverage of the mediumgoal and low-goal Victor Ludorum seasons
u Julius Baer Victor Ludorum 18-goal finals
Indian Empire Shield, Coworth Park Result: Emlor C beat El Remanso 8-7 Emlor C (18): Clinton McCarthy 0; Marcos Araya 6; Manolo Fernandez-Llorente 6; Tom Morley 6 El Remanso (18): David Miller 4; Charlie Hanbury 4; Eduardo Heguy 8; George Hanbury 2
Duke of Sutherland’s Cup, Cowdray Park Result: Emlor C beat Black Bears 10-9 ½ Emlor C (18): Clinton McCarthy 0; Marcos Araya 6; Manolo Fernandez-Llorente 6; Tom Morley 6 Black Bears (17): Guy Schwarzenbach 2; Jack Archibald 4; Jean Du Plessis 6; Tom Hunt 5
The Apsley Cup, Cirencester Park Result: Altamira beat Black Bears 8-7 ½ Altamira (18): Adriano Agosti 0; Pepe Heguy 7; Gaston Laulhe 7; Jack Richardson 4 Black Bears (17): Guy Schwarzenbach 2; Jack Archibald 4; Jean Du Plessis 6; Tom Hunt 5
The Duke of Beaufort’s Cup, Beaufort Result: Emlor C beat Altamira 5-4 Emlor C (18): Clinton McCarthy 0; Marcos Araya 6; Manolo Fernandez-Llorente 6; Tom Morley 6 Altamira (18): Adriano Agosti 0; Pepe Heguy 7; Gaston Laulhe 7; Jack Richardson 4 Polo Times, August 2012
47
19/07/2012 20:24
Reports
Victor Ludorum 12-goal and 15-goal round-up
Montana’s men make their mark While Tony Gerrard’s Montana sit top of the 12-goal Victor Ludorum standings, Chris Mathias’s Clarita Black and Nikolai Bahlsen’s Dell Park are level pegging in the 15-goal
Georgie May reports
A
s we reach the middle of the season, five medium-goal Victor Ludorum tournaments – three in the 12-goal and two in the 15goal – have been completed, with a further two tournaments coming to a close as Polo Times went to press. In the 12-goal section, Tony Gerrard’s Montana currently sit at the top of the table having played all of the 12goal tournaments so far – the Dollar Cup at Cowdray, the John Prestwich at RCBPC and the Queen Mother Trophy at Cirencester Park. The team, which features mainstays Nicholas Antinori and Michel del Carril, clocked a win in the John Prestwich Trophy in June, after they beat W N Thomas & Sons, 12-7½ in the final. The same side went on to compete in the Prince of Wales Cup at Beaufort, which was due to conclude on 21 July, after Polo Times went to press. Gerrard is also fielding a 15-goal Victor Ludorum Montana team this season and they sit in the middle of the pack at the moment. Behind Montana in the 12-goal section, Hollycombe/Hurlingham Media and Poulton are currently tied in second place – having contested only one tournament each so far. The former, joint-owned by Roderick VereNicolls and Virginia Hoare, won the Dollar
Photographs by Tom Reynolds
Defending champions Black Bears have started slowly Cup at the start of the season (see page 63 of the July issue), while Martin Ephson’s Poulton picked up the Queen Mother Trophy title on Sunday 8 July. Martin’s sons, one-goalers Ludo and Patrick, formed the team and were joined by George Meyrick and Max Charlton. They beat Simon Arber’s Four Quarters – last year’s 12-goal Victor Ludorum winners – in the final, 7-6. Arber’s side have played all three tournaments so far and have picked up 70 48
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p48-49 VL medium goal report JOS MB PJ.indd 2
Tom Morley of Four Quarters and Poulton’s George Meyrick and Patrick Ephson during the Queen Mother final
points, keeping them very much in contention. The first 15-goal Victor Ludorum tournament of the season, the Arthur Lucas, is still yet to conclude. The bad weather postponed the final – between Laird and La Golondrina – and Beaufort is still trying to find a gap in their busy schedule to rehold it. However, following two completed tournaments, Chris Mathias’s Clarita Black and the Bahlsens’ Dell Park currently hold the top position in the section, having both tallied up 90 points. Clarita Black picked up their points after winning the Al Habtoor Royal Windsor on 24 June at Guards. With Jack Richardson successfully filling in for Ed Hitchman who had broken his foot before the final, the side beat Loro Piana/El Remanso 7½-6. Dell Park – Nikolai Bahlsen, Nicolas Roberts, Max Charlton and Malcolm Borwick – failed to reach the semi-finals in the Al Habtoor Royal Windsor. However, they certainly made a comeback in the Eduardo Moore tournament in July, beating Foxcote/Laird in the semi-finals and Spencer McCarthy’s Emlor S, 10-7, in the final. McCarthy’s side are currently in third position and all three teams were due to contest the 15-
goal Coworth Park Challenge in late July. Guy Schwarzenbach’s Black Bears, the 15goal Victor Ludorum defending champions, have remained out of the limelight this season. His 15-goal side failed to make it past the league stages of the Al Habtoor Royal Windsor, as did his 12-goal team in the Queen Mother Trophy. However, with further tournaments still to play at each level – the Cheltenham Cup and Autumn League in the 12-goal, and the Harrison Cup, County Cup and Arthur Lucas final in the 15-goal – as well as the conclusion of the Prince of Wales Cup and Coworth Park Challenge it’s very much all to play for. Holders Black Bears and their rivals have a busy few weeks of hot competition in prospect. F u 2 012 Julius Baer Victor Ludorum medium-goal tournament winners to date 12-goal Dollar Cup: Hollycombe/Hurlingham Media John Prestwich Trophy: Montana Queen Mother Trophy: Poulton
15-goal Royal Windsor Cup: Clarita Black Eduardo Moore: Dell Park www.polotimes.co.uk
19/07/2012 20:23
PT p48-49 VL medium goal report JOS - headshot.indd 3
19/07/2012 14:59
Reports
Victor Ludorum 6-goal and 8-goal round-up
All to play for in August The race to claim the coveted 8-goal Victor Ludorum title this season is heating up with Charlie Walton proving influential, just as he is in the newly-created 6-goal league
Caroline Smail reports
T
he inaugural Victor Ludorum 6-goal trophy has been a popular addition to the Julius Baersponsored calendar this season, with much excitement at the climax of the first tournament – the Junior County Cup at Cheshire Polo Club – in early July. This event welcomed five teams with Steve Jones’s Express Polo beating Henbury Polo in the final, 4-2. Kirtlington Park is expecting at least eight sides at the 6-goal’s second tournament this month. Patrons and players will hope for a change in the weather as they fight it out to lift the Budgett Everett Trophy on 19 August. Both of these tournaments were previously part of the 8-goal Victor Ludorum. The third and final tournament of the new 6-goal season and a newcomer to the Victor Ludorum, the Kingscote Cup at Cirencester Park, follows in late August and early September. Most valuable player in the Junior County Cup was Charlie Walton, who is certainly enjoying a fantastic season across this level, having also triumphed in the £10,000 Coutts Cup at Chester and the historic and prestigious Gerald Balding Cup at the 8-goal Victor Ludorum level.
Photograph by Images of Polo
The 8-goal Victor Ludorum is shaping up to be as close and exciting as ever before However, despite winning the Gerald Balding with Richard Thomas’s San Miguel Fresca team, Charlie’s side has work to do if they want to win the overall 8-goal Victor Ludorum prize. As Polo Times went to press in late July, the competition was shaping up to be as close and exciting as ever. At the top of the leader board with 110 points was Sarah Hughes’s Supanova team, who beat Irongate 5-4 in the Eduardo Rojas 50
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p50-51 VL low goal report JOS JM PJ MB.indd 2
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
Roddy Matthews, Alex Jacob, Hilali Noordeen and Ryan Pemble of Sifani won the 8-goal Archie David at Guards
final at Beaufort in June. Following closely in second place is Hilali Noordeen’s Sifani with 100 points, who beat Ray Fine’s Las Estrellas 6-5 in the dying seconds of the Archie David at Guards. This game was one for the history books as patron Noordeen is in his first year of playing. Having dominated the tournament and the final, Las Estrellas were looking to be a dead cert to win until Ryan Pemble put Sifani in the lead with a successful penalty seconds before the final bell. Third-placed San Miguel Fresca – with 80 points – were the only team in the top three to have entered the Julian and Howard Hipwood Trophy at RCBPC at the end of July, but the cancellation of the tournament just as Polo Times went to press means they missed out on the opportunity to move up the 8-goal Victor Ludorum leaderboard. Tied in fourth place are Las Estrellas and Amelia Scott-Hopkin’s Irongate with 60 points apiece. This means that it is still all to play for in the 8-goal Victor Ludorum heading into the final tournament of the season, the Holden White Challenge Cup at Cowdray Park in August. F
w Read more about Hilali Noordeen (and Ryan Pemble’s injury above) in Gossip, on page 80 u Julius Baer Victor Ludorum 8-goal so far Gerald Balding, Cirencester Park Result: San Miguel Fresca beat Harum Scarum, 6-3 San Miguel Fresca (8): Charlie Walton 0; Kelvin Johnson 4; Oli Taylor 4; Richard Thomas 0 Harum Scarum (8): Jonathan Hare -1; Alexander Nix 1; Frederico Boudou 3; Ryan Pemble 5
Eduardo Rojas, Beaufort Result: Supanova beat Irongate, 5-4 Supanova (8): Sarah Hughes 0; Sterling McGregor 2; Harry White 2; Olly Tuthill 4 Irongate (8): Christina Thome 0; Amelia ScottHopkins 0; Kelvin Johnson 4; Adrian Wade 4
Archie David, Guards Result: Sifani beat Last Estrellas, 6-5 Sifani (8): Hilali Noordeen -1; Roddy Matthews 3; Ryan Pemble 5; Alex Jacob 1 Las Estrellas (8): Ray Fine -1; Nick Pepper 3; Gareth Evans 6; Tommy Beresford 0 www.polotimes.co.uk
19/07/2012 18:13
Polo_Times_Aug2012.ai 1 7/11/2012 1:09:31 PM
bringing you
the best
C
M
Y
in private aviation
CM
MY
$LUFUDIW &KDUWHU Óª $LUFUDIW 0DQDJHPHQW Óª $LUFUDIW 6DOHV
CY
CMY
we know how every minute counts!
K
/RQGRQ ([HFXWLYH $YLDWLRQ W H TXRWHV#IO\OHD FRP I ZZZ IO\OHD FRP
7KH LQWHOOLJHQW ZD\ WR WUDYHO
PT p50-51 VL low goal report JOS.indd 3
19/07/2012 16:57
Reports
Asahi British Beach Polo Championships, Sandbanks
Pluck of the Irish Winners Ireland and runners-up Wales can both reflect on satisfactory debuts in the British Beach Polo Championships this July, though they were helped enormously by the vast advantages they received on handicap over the English and Scots
Kian Gheissari in Dorset
L
Photograph by Mark Beaumont
auded as one of the best beaches in Britain, Sandbanks played host to the Asahi British Beach Polo Championships as the home nations battled it out for supremacy in blustery and wet conditions early last month. Wales caused an unexpected upset in the first match of the two-day Polo Times-supported extravaganza, beating a more experienced England side 12-11. The Amikasponsored England team (Roy Prisk, Charlie Wooldridge, Jamie Morrison) faced a sixgoal deficit from the
start owing to their higher team handicap and battled hard to reduce the gap. The scores were close going in to the fourth and final chukka but Wales – sponsored by jewellers Clogau – defended valiantly from waves of England pressure to hold on for victory. The handicap system once again showed its worth in the second match of the first day – Friday – as Scotland left it too late to overcome Ireland’s eight-goal advantage received on handicap. With such a mountain to climb, the
“The polo purists may pick holes in it, but the event really puts on a show” – Wales captain, Ricky Cooper Scots were wasteful in front of goal when they should have been more clinical and, despite outscoring Ireland by eight goals to three, the Irish ran out 11-8 winners. Scotland were strengthened by the return of regular captain
Jamie Le Hardy on Saturday and after a slow start they beat England 11-7 in the subsidiary final, putting last year’s winners into fourth place. Then the weather’s attempt to dampen the event waned significantly in the face of the closest-fought match of the tournament: as Colm Purcell led his Ireland team out to face Wales in the final, the rain eased and the sun even threatened to emerge. The scores were level at 2-2 after the first chukka but Guy Higginson expertly put Ireland in front with a fine volley in the second. However, Ireland were unable to pull away and the scores were tied at half time, 4-4. Captain Ricky Cooper put Wales ahead in the third chukka and, after adding another goal early in the fourth at 6-4, they looked set to hold on to victory. But Ireland were not done yet. Spectators witnessed a cracker as the men from the Emerald Isle converted two penalties and, at 6-6, a tense finale beckoned. Late chances fell for both sides but, with just one second remaining, Ireland’s Niall Donnelly snatched a goal and, with it, championship glory for 2012. Now in its fifth year, organiser Johnny Wheeler says the event is continuing to go from strength to strength, a perspective echoed by England’s
Ireland’s Guy Higginson takes the ball out of reach of Wales’s Ricky Cooper on route to victory for the men from the Emerald Isle
52
PT p52-53 Sandbanks report JM PJ MB.indd 2
19/07/2012 16:25
Asahi British Beach Polo Championships, Sandbanks
Reports
On both days of this year’s championships, the polo pony came out on top in the now customary best-of-three races against an Audi Q7 (pictured, racing on the Saturday)
well-travelled captain Jamie Morrison, who said it is already on par with the Miami Beach Polo World Cup if not better. Nevertheless, while polo may be the focus of the championships, the game is by no means the only attraction. Fine dining in the hospitality areas was provided by celebrated chef Mark Hix, a fashion show took place, as did beach volleyball, and once again there was a charity race between an Audi Q7 and a polo pony, which kept guests entertained in between the polo. World Cup winning England rugby player Josh Lewsey rode the winning pony on the Friday, which helped raise £2,500 for Help for Heroes through the betting tickets sold on the races. The organisers also showed their ambition for this event to evolve each year by putting on a floodlit match on Friday evening, treating guests to a unique spectacle as Christian Badenhop, Will Blake-Thomas and Dave Allen won this friendly fixture. Amika London hosted a fantastic party under cover in the marquee on the beach each evening, as hedonistic guests and players alike relished the extravagant and glamorous vibe. Yet, even acknowledging the prominence of the parties for many polo goers, the polo is far from a pure exhibition. Apart from raising the profile of the game amongst a new audience, beach polo poses unique challenges for the players, who have to adapt to the change in www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p52-53 Sandbanks report JM PJ MB.indd 3
conditions, with extra importance placed on tactical positioning and powerful riding off, which certainly suits the skills and strengths of some more than others. “I’m sure the purists in polo may pick holes in this,” said Wales’s Ricky Cooper, “but really it is just getting it out there and putting on a show.” In my view, that is exactly what the British Beach Polo Championships continue to do so well. F w Turn to page 82 for social photographs
Game rating
••••••••••
u A sahi British Beach Polo Championships; 6-7 July 2012; Sandbanks Beach, Dorset Result: Ireland (Flame Agency) beat Wales (Clogau), 7-6 Principal sponsor: Asahi Handicap level: Open Number of team entries: four Chukka scores (Ireland): 2-2; 4-4; 4-5; 7-6 Most valuable player: Guy Higginson Finalists Ireland (10): Colm Purcell 1; Niall Donnelly 4; Guy Higginson 5 Wales (10): Ricky Cooper 1; Roddy Matthews 4; Richard Blake-Thomas 5
Welsh and Irish captains Ricky Cooper and Niall Donnelly go head to head in the dramatic setting of the rain-swept arena
Polo Times, August 2012
53
19/07/2012 16:25
Reports
Home and abroad
In between his Queen’s Cup and Gold Cup commitments with Dubai, Argentine ten-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso let his hair down at the Ibiza Beach Polo Cup in late June
Ibiza – Ibiza Beach Polo Cup
Parties prove more popular than the polo Nicola Hodges reports from Ibiza
Better known for parties than polo, the island of Ibiza drew some of the top players in the polo world, as well as the music business, for the 3rd Ibiza Beach Polo Cup sponsored by Air Europa. Adolfo Cambiaso, Andrea Vianini, Jodie Kidd, Nina Clarkin and James Blunt were just a few of those attending the three-day competition that took place from the 22-24 June. With six male and four female teams, the tournament was as fierce and fun-filled as ever with the relaxed island atmosphere weaving its magic over the normally focused players and encouraging them to let their hair down. Spending nights in the VIP areas 54
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p54-55 H&A 1 JOS MB PJ.indd 2
of Ibiza’s top clubs, watching fashion shows and listening to DJ’s, dancing and hangovers provided the backdrop to the beach polo, held at the Balearic Island’s First Polo Club. In the men’s competition Adolfo Cambiaso’s Dolfina – Cambiaso, Paolo Veronessi and Cedric Schweri – took the title for the second year running beating, Ciroc Vodka led by Andrea Vianini, 4-2. The relaxed island vibe made its mark and fun was definitely the focus. Eight-goaler and model Nic Roldan was seen umpiring in flip flops while entrepreneur Cedric Schweri had to contend with a wayward saddle that spun round to his horse’s belly. However, he valiantly, and most entertainingly, continued. The girls appeared to take their competition more seriously, showing up their male counterparts. Hazel Jackson led her team Air Europa to victory after a hardfought game against Team Evian, consisting of Jodie Kidd, Nina Clarkin and Victoria
Devin. Having both given birth in the last ten months it was a welcome opportunity for Nina and Jodie to let their hair down before returning to their parental duties in the UK. Jodie commented: “There was an amazing vibe, cool atmosphere and I really enjoyed my first tournament since having baby Indio. “Playing on the sand was quite tricky but I had a very good partner in Nina Clarkin and am now looking forward to playing more polo this autumn.” The Ibiza Beach Polo Cup is fast becoming a permanent calendar fixture for some top players and a chance to relieve the enormous pressure they are under during the season – plus, “what happens on the island stays on the island!” Ibiza is not about winning, it is about having a good time. Thanks must go to organiser Gabriel for his great hospitality – please can we come again next year? w See pages 88-89 for social photographs www.polotimes.co.uk
20/07/2012 17:09
Home and abroad
Reports
Sussex Polo Club – Square Peg Polo Challenge
Gaynes Park – Duke of Essex
the teams tied 4-4 going into the final chukka. THE SIXTH ANNUAL Square Peg Polo Hincha Pelotas then upped their game and Challenge, held in memory of Lt Colonel sped to victory. In the -2-goal competition Rupert Thorneloe and raising money for KSJ performed well to beat Empires. Best the Welsh Guards Afghanistan Appeal, saw playing pony was awarded to Niall Donnelly’s Hincha Pelotas beat Sussex Polo, 7-4, in the Squeaky while Zul Junus was awarded best 2-goal final and KSJ beat Empires, 7-5, in the playing amateur across the two tournaments. -2-goal tournament. Twelve-year-old Toby Addison – a former Eight teams travelled from across the winner of the South East to Rupert Thorneloe compete for the Memorial coveted Square Trophy at the Peg Trophy at Pony Club Polo Sussex Polo Club championships and, in spite of – committed the bad weather, himself to hundreds of fundraising for spectators turned the Welsh Guards up in support Appeal and, after of the Welsh collecting £2,000 Guards. The final for the cause this of the Square year, his total Peg Trophy was nail-bitingly close The Red Tigers’s Claire Donnelly, John Humphries, Chas Taylor and raised is now £5,500. throughout with Niall Donnelly – with Toby Addison and three Welsh Guards
ALBEIT WITH DIFFICULT playing conditions, and a host of badly behaved minor celebrities threatening to steal unwelcome attention away from the polo, the Duke of Essex event did go ahead on 14 July at Gaynes Park in Epping, Essex. It was one of very few events able to do so, though organisers decided to allow only two chukkas per game because of the soft ground. In the first match, LEA drew with Stobart Air, 3-3. The latter looked as though they had secured a win but a last minute penalty was converted by LEA’s George Galanopoulos to equalise. In the Duke of Essex Trophy, the Great Britain Select side – Jamie Morrison, Roy Prisk, Tristan Pemble and Ben Riordan – beat the South America Select side, 5-4.
Photograph by Christopher Pollard
Addison raises thousands Aviation action
www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p54-55 H&A 1 JOS MB PJ.indd 3
Eddie Stobart and LEA’s George Galanopoulos lift the cup
Polo Times, August 2012
55
20/07/2012 17:09
Reports
Home and abroad
Coworth Park Polo Club – Berenberg International Cup
Home of the brave Winning patron Tristan Phillimore benefited from the strong support of his impressive three-pronged all-professional attack of James Harper, Oli Hipwood and Dave Allen, while the superb Tommy Wilson was unfortunate to be on the losing side
James Mullan reports
Photograph by Paul Froud
Hurlingham GB The Commonwealth
7½ 7
Though the idea of battling through the Royal Ascot traffic to get to a charity match probably wouldn’t normally appeal, there were three compelling attractions for guests at this year’s Berenberg Bank-sponsored Polo for the Brave at Coworth Park: the two charity beneficiaries; a high-quality main “International” game with a significant incentive for both sides; and the always excellent Coworth Park cuisine. None of these things disappointed. After a superb lunch, and a moving tribute to the work of the British Forces Foundation and the Household Cavalry Operational Casualties Fund by tireless organiser Ben Vestey, umpires Roddy Matthews and Chris Hyde oversaw an intriguing contest on the pristine, well-drained Coworth Park number one ground. There was little evidence of the heavy going plaguing so many other fields as a result of the persistent rain throughout May and June, especially early on in the match, when the Hurlingham GB and Commonwealth teams sent the goals flying in. The sides were playing to win holidays in Morocco, Cyprus and Tenerife, provided by sponsors Original Travel, and it seemed as though Dave Allen and watching girlfriend Steph Targett were particularly keen for an escape to the sunshine as he landed two stunning long-range strikes in the opening chukka. The pace of the game slowed late on but, despite the Commonwealth taking an unexpected lead in the final chukka, the Hurlingham GB side finally clinched it with a late penalty. Nevertheless, as the teams arrived in Rolls Royces for the presentations 56
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p56-57 H&A 2 JOS MB PJ.indd 2
later in the day, both sides were able to reflect on some decent performances. Losing patron Nick Britten-Long, who was born in Nairobi and so played for the Commonwealth under the auspices of his Kenyan roots, has clearly been practising his backhand, whilst New Zealander Tommy Wilson deservedly collected a large Baha Mar painting, having been selected as the game’s most valuable player. Hurlingham GB’s six-goal number three, Oli Hipwood, picked up the How To Spend It best playing pony rug for his 15-year-old Irish thoroughbred, Guess, though Wilson and Gareth Evans also looked to be extremely well mounted at times, which helped make for a very enjoyable game.
Berenberg Bank and polo Berenberg Bank, established in 1590, has been an active supporter of polo since 2001 – one of the earliest companies in Germany to integrate polo sponsorship at the top of its brand communications strategy. As well as increasing involvement in selected polo events in the UK and Switzerland, Berenberg Bank is now the game’s main sponsor in Germany. It gives its name to five of the biggest tournaments, including three of the highest-handicapped events in Hamburg, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf, which form part of the German Polo Tour. “Looking back on a company history of more than 400 years, Berenberg’s engagement in a sport with such a longstanding tradition fits perfectly,” says Karsten Wehmeier, Berenberg’s head of corporate communications. “Moreover, values such as dynamism, team play and precision stand both for polo and for our bank.”
A second match followed, which maintained the interest of a sympathetic crowd – despite the increasingly cool afternoon breeze – because it pitted members of the Household Cavalry against an exciting line-up put together by Prince Carl-Eugen and Princess Anna zu Oettingen-Wallerstein, and led by an on-form Bobby Dundas, riding some of Dave Allen’s ponies. The Wallerstein Polo team’s victory was never really in doubt and they eventually triumphed to help the day raise in excess of £40,000 for two worthy causes. w See page 84 for social photos The Commonwealth’s Tommy Wilson
w Read more about Dave Allen on page 76 www.polotimes.co.uk
20/07/2012 17:14
Home and abroad
Germany – Girls Only Cup
First victory for plucky Princess
Hosted by Princess Anna zu OettingenWallerstein at Wallerstein Castle in Germany, the fourth Girls Only Cup welcomed six teams, pictured above, with Rolls-Royce claiming victory over Acqua di Parma 5½-5 in a nail-biting final. Each team included a professional male player who had to pass the ball every third hit and wasn’t allowed to score within the 60-yard line. The final, which included British player Charlotte Sweeney, was the first victory in the tournament for the minus-one-goal Princess. “As the host one doesn’t like to win,” said Princess Anna zu Oettingen-Wallerstein.
“Nevertheless, I was extremely delighted especially as I was playing for the first time with my daughter Yoanna.” Team Falke defeated 2011 titleholder Desert Palm to take third place whilst Ruinart beat Architare, 5-1½ to take fifth place. Taking place over three days, the tournament included an asado on the Friday and a typical Bavarian brunch on Saturday. A hurricane of biblical proportions left a trail of destruction, which was cleared up by a group of energetic helpers in time for the final on Sunday, although this was unfortunately accompanied by heavy rain.
Kirtlington Park Polo Club – Rupert Thorneloe Memorial
Fonmon Castle – Wales
Photograph by Amanda Deadman
Wales continue PK wins at KP run of success
KIRTLINGTON PARK HOSTED the third Rupert Thorneloe Memorial Tournament at the end of June, where the Welsh Guards – Will Douglas, Philip “PK” Kaye, Nick Hunter and Sam Gairdner – beat the home side, Kirtlington, 8-6. A lunch for family and friends was hosted by the Thorneloe family in the clubhouse after which everyone braved the intermittent rain to watch the teams fight it out for the title on Kirtlington Park’s number three ground. The game was held in tribute to the late Lt Col Rupert Thorneloe, who was killed in action in Afghanistan in July 2009. Philip “PK” Kaye and Will Douglas at the presentation
www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p56-57 H&A 2 JOS MB PJ.indd 3
WALES MAINTAINED THEIR unbeaten run from last year by defeating South America Select, 6-4, in their first match of the season. Held at Fonmon Castle, the Welsh side – captained by Ricky Cooper – led from the start and, despite drama in the final chukka when Richard Blake Thomas fell from his horse, they managed to retain the lead until the final bell. At the beginning of this season, the HPA agreed to recognise the Welsh polo team and the Welsh Polo Association officially. The team, sponsored by Clogau Gold, has matches planned in Wales, England and the USA at the end of the summer.
Reports
News in brief w Germany – Wallerstein Castle in Bavaria, hosted the inaugural British Polo Day Germany on 7-8 July. Prince Carl-Eugen zu Oettingen-Wallerstein invited teams from India, Thailand and the UK to compete in the tournament, however, it was the home team – Wallerstein (pictured below) – who came out on top after winning all three of their games. The UK side finished in last place, having only won one of their games.
SA – Powered by 10 goals from w U captain Tommy Biddle, Cornell Weill secured a 17-11 win over Black Watch in the final of the USPA Arena Open Championship in July. Held at Country Farms Polo Club, New York, this was the first time in 79 years that the tournament has taken place. The competition for the cup was suspended in 1933 and, although it was revived for the Arena Open in 1940, the cup was then put away for more than 70 years. w Guards – Martin Davison’s Twelve Oaks won the 6-12-goal Phoenician Cup on Sunday 8 July, after defeating Momin Sheikh’s BHC Polo, 8-7. Thirteen teams entered the competition but it was the mix of Davison, Nick Pepper, Peter Webb and Will Emerson that remained unbeaten throughout and went on to win the coveted title. w H am – The fourth annual Gaucho Polo at Sundown took place at the end of June, sponsored by Havana Club and Tanqueray Gin. Both companies sponsored a team, with the latter starting with a half-goal advantage. Alexi CorySmith scored in the dying seconds for Tanqueray Gin, securing a half-goal win, 3½-3. Earlier in the day, guests were treated to Argentine steaks at Gaucho Restaurant in Richmond before moving onto the club in the evening for a Tanqueray Gin reception and polo. See also page 83. Polo Times, August 2012
57
20/07/2012 17:14
Reports
Home and abroad
Tidworth Polo Club – Rundle Cup
THE ANNUAL COMBINED Services tournament offered spectators three matches to brighten up an otherwise overcast day on Saturday 14 July, writes Georgie Haycraft. A one-chukka charity match in aid of the Inspire Foundation opened proceedings, featuring the instantly-recognisable Katie Price, pictured below, playing in pink alongside boyfriend Leandro Penna, jockey Andrew Tinkler and polo player Max Lopez Valido. They played against the BBC’s Silent Witness star Tom Ward, who lined up along with Pedro Lopez Valido and jockeys Daryl Jacob and Andrew Thornton. The latter side won before the teams played out a onechukka bicycle polo game and a wheelchair race, which ensured a merry start to the day. An enjoyable lunch followed before those populating the trade stands, gazebos, marquees and sponsors’ tents turned their attention to two of the most prestigious trophies in the armed forces calendar: the Indian Cavalry Polo Trophy and the Hackett Rundle Cup. The first of these pitted the Combined Forces team, CSPA, against the American ECUSPA team, both 3-goal sides. Air Commodore Tim Brown led his side – also including Captain Piers Heelis, Captain Phillip Kaye and Lieutenant Colonel Nick Hunter – in fine fashion, helping CSPA to a closely-fought win over the amiable Americans and earning himself the most valuable player prize in the process. The ECUSPA team, who had flown over from the States for a three-part challenge against the Combined Forces, comprised Bash Kazi, Sebastian Lagenberg, Juan A Salinas-Bentley and Mohey El Dien. “The match was fantastic fun,” said ECUSPA’s Salinas-Bentley. “I have had the pleasure of playing against most of the members of the CSPA team before and the games are always enjoyable. The play was open, horses were good, and I’m looking forward to next year.” The main match of the day was the Hackett Rundle Cup, played for by the Army and the Royal Navy. The Army, playing in Hackett Red were Lieutenant Doug White, Colonel Justin Stanhope-White, Captain 58
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p58-59 H&A 3 JOS MB PJ.indd 2
The Army’s Major Rupert Lewis and the Royal Navy’s Captain Arnie Lustman battle it out during the Rundle Cup
Matt Eyre-Brook and Major Rupert Lewis, all playing off one-goal handicaps. The Royal Navy, represented by Captain Arnie Lustman, Captain Adrian Aplin, Lieutenant Hiro Suzuki and Commodore Richard Mason, began with a half-goal advantage on the scoreboard because of a lower aggregate handicap. However, the sides looked well-matched on the whole, and play was closely fought as the Royal Navy managed to maintain their advantage and triumph 6½-5. A special mention should go to the Royal Navy’s number three, Hiro Suzuki, who looked a cut above, as did the best playing pony ridden by the Army’s Captain Matt Eyre-Brook. Also invaluable, as ever, was commentator Simon Ledger, who kept the crowds thoroughly entertained for the duration of the day. The event was hugely successful, and the polo was a pleasure to watch. w Turn to page 89 for social pictures from the day
Spain – 20th Memorial Fundador Enrique Zobel tournament Photograph by Gonzalo Etcheverry
Photograph by Georgie Haycraft
Royal Navy avenge defeat in 2011, as Katie Price makes a comeback too
Pedro O`Farrel, Kaveh Shakib, Carlos Piñal and Diogo Gallego lift the trophy in Sotogrande
British delight in Spain BRITISH PATRON Kaveh Shakib’s CapialShakib Polo team won the 20th Memorial Fundador Enrique Zobel at Santa Maria Polo Club, Spain, in July. The Guards-based patron’s side were the lowest handicapped side in the tournament at 10-goals and played admirably to get through to the final. They were forced to fight hard to overcome the stronger 12-goal Ayala polo team and secured a shock 10½-10 victory. www.polotimes.co.uk
20/07/2012 16:29
Home and abroad
Reports
Guards Polo Club – Inter-Regimental
THE QUEEN’S ROYAL LANCERS won this year’s Inter-Regimental tournament, held at Coworth Park on Sunday 15 July. They defeated the King’s Royal Hussars, 6½-5, in a close, low-scoring final. The tournament is one of the oldest polo tournaments in the country, dating back to 1878 - nine years after the first game was played at Aldershot in 1869. Even with the demands of modern military life and the pressures of ever-increasing operational commitments, polo continues to flourish and the playing population in the services continues to grow. The Royal Navy had claimed the title for the past two years but this year were defeated in the semi-finals by the King’s Royal Hussars – Officer Cadet James Cooper, Captain Philip Kaye, Captain Robert Freeman-Kerr and Lieutenant Colonel Nick Hunter. Even
ESTABLISHED 1986 www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p58-59 H&A 3 JOS MB PJ.indd 3
though the latter are currently deployed in Afghanistan, they still managed to put a team together for the competition.
In the second semifinal, the Queen’s Royal Lancers beat the Household Cavalry to secure their place in the final. In the final, both teams were well supported from the sidelines in what turned out to be a hard-fought and open game. The Lancers – Lieutenant Arthur Purbrick, Major Mark Cann, Brigadier Piers Hankinson and Captain Martin ffrench-Blake – were the winners with a characteristically strong performance from ffrench-Blake, whose grandfather played in the tournament in the 1930s. Capt Philip Kaye (KRH) going for the big hit closely followed by Major Mark Cann (QRL)
HOO
FAR
Photograph by Stephen Godwin
Lancers topple King’s Royal Hussars in Inter-Regimental tournament
Polo Times, August 2012
59
20/07/2012 16:29
Reports
Home and abroad
News in brief w F rance – The third International INSEAD Polo Cup, sponsored by JaegerLeCoultre and in aid of UNICEF, was held on 1 July at Polo Club de Chantilly. Fontainebleau were the winners, defeating Singapore, 11-2. The score was reasonably even at half-time, 4-2, but Fontainebleau scored seven goals to none in the second half, securing a resounding win. The winning side’s Fadi Farah was named most valuable player.
White Rose Polo Club –Castle Howard Cup
Argentine pro leads team to win at Castle Howard
CASTLE HOWARD HOSTED White Rose Polo Club’s Paladin Capital Castle Howard Cup on 24 June. Now in its third year, the event is the highlight of the Yorkshire social calendar as guests are treated to a morning of polo followed by a gourmet lunch.
w Rutland – The Assam Cup, which was due to take place from 3-8 July, has been postponed to 25-27 August due to the bad weather. However, the club still held its Macmillan Cancer Support lunch on 8 July, where more than 200 people attended. A 0-goal exhibition match was played in place of the Assam Cup final. See page 88 for social photographs. w Russia – The seventh annual Argentina Cup, hosted by His Excellency the Argentine Ambassador to Russia Juan Carlos Kreckler at Moscow Polo Club, was played on 17 June. The six-chukka match featured Moscow Polo team and Tseleevo. The home team scored the winning goal on the buzzer to beat Tseleevo 9-8. The next major tournament on the Moscow Polo Club calendar will be the High Goal Festival from 4-12 August. w U SA – For the 21st consecutive year, Ireland travelled to the USA to play in the Newport International Polo Series (pictured below). Captained by Polo Wicklow’s Siobhan Herbst, the Irish side – which also featured Eamon Laverty, Tom McGuinness and Jack Armstrong – were on level scores with the USA at full time and, so, a penalty shootout ensued. While Ireland missed one of their penalties, the USA successfully converted all of theirs to secure a 14-13 win. Herbst was named MVP and Princess – owned by Jim DeAngelis and played by Herbst – won the best playing pony prize.
60
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p60-61 H&A 4 JOS MB PJ.indd 2
Spectators witnessed an exciting, fastpaced game in which Paladin Capital beat Castle Howard, 5-3, for the second year in a row. Argentine professional Hugo Suarez, who heads up the retraining of racehorses programme at the club, formed part of the Paladin Capital team and was joined by Ollie Yeo, Milo Watson and Tim Rose. Organisers are keen to raise the profile of polo in Yorkshire and see this event as the perfect opportunity to do so. “We’re delighted to welcome White Rose Polo Club and other local polo sides for the third Castle Howard Cup,” the Hon Simon Howard of Castle Howard said. “Castle Howard is a wonderful location for polo, with plenty of space for the ponies and for people to enjoy a day out.” Milo Watson, Hugo Suarez, Tim Rose and Ollie Yeo with sponsor Paladin Capital’s Sylvester Vince-Odozi
West Wycombe Park Polo Club – West Wycombe round-up
Gymkhana games join polo agenda at West Wycombe WEST WYCOMBE PARK recently hosted the Spring Shield and Hell Fire Trophy, that delivered not only the usual full quota of polo, but also gymkhana games to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee and entertain the spectators. La Rufina Oxford battled it out against local team Funkhogs in the upper league of the Spring Shield. Ably abetted by best playing pony Dream, Funkhogs came out on top – something team-member Sarah Frankum has repeated recently with a successful ascent of Mount Kilimanjaro. With the Jubilee weekend came the Hell Fire Trophy and some cracking polo, including a high-octane battle between Mal Maison and Los Corks. Hell Fire was destined to be an unusual weekend from the start when lorries were opened to reveal 13hh ponies amongst their usual cargo. Fully plaited and ready to show – the call for gymkhana competitors had been taken very seriously amongst players’ children. And so the games commenced, with egg and spoon and apple-bobbing breaking up the usual diet of polo.
The “Chase me Charlie” (a jumping competition where the jumps get higher each round) unearthed budding young jumping talent in the form of Lydia and Alice Eastwell. Their newly discovered jumping ability will more than likely result in them exchanging a lazy winter for outings with the local hunt! West Wycombe Park will continue playing well into October, with the Ladies’ Charity Festival (mid-August) and Sponsors’ Cup (beginning of September) being two of many tournaments to whet the appetite.
Justin Farr-Jones being chased by Andy Cork, with Ollie Cork, Jackie Dean and Hannah Gamble also in pursuit during the Hell Fire Trophy at West Wycombe
www.polotimes.co.uk
20/07/2012 16:30
9 * 7 8 .
9 * 7 8 .
ZZZ EUP PDQXIDFWXUH FRP
/21'21 )UDVHU +DUW 8QLW 68 1HZ &KDQJH 3DVVDJH (& 0 $* 7HOHSKRQH )URVW RI /RQGRQ 1HZ %RQG 6WUHHW : 6 () 7HOHSKRQH -XUD :DWFKHV E %XUOLQJWRQ *DUGHQV : 6 (3 7HOHSKRQH 7KH :DWFK *DOOHU\ )XOKDP 5RDG 6: 57 7HOHSKRQH :$/(6 0DUWLQV -HZHOOHUV &LEL :DON 13 $- $EHUJDYHQQ\ 7HOHSKRQH
PT p60-61 H&A 4.indd 3
19/07/2012 14:10
Youth polo
International Polo in Suffolk
Presented by
Boisterous Brits bury blokes from Down Under The makeshift ground and unsettled weather patterns held up well for the inaugural Suffolk Test Match, which welcomed more than 5,000 people to witness a compelling English victory over Australia
Georgie Haycraft reports
Photograph by Wendy Turner, Red Shed Photography
Young England Australia
T
10 8½
rinity Park, Ipswich – home to the Suffolk County Show along with a multitude of other events, such as flower shows and car boot sales – has played host to public proceedings for over 180 years. Ideas for new and different attractions brought about polo as a concept, and 18-months of planning by the Suffolk Agricultural Association (SAA) culminated on 30 June when they hosted an HPAsanctioned
Test Match between Young England and Australia. For the first outing of the game of kings at Trinity Park, they converted what is usually the venue's main car park to host the game – forming a ground, putting in boards, adding all necessary utilities and erecting marquees and temporary stands. Fine weather brought many more than the anticipated 3,000-strong crowd, with organisers estimating that more than 5,000 spectators entered the grounds on the day, filling all the seats and designated picnic spots. A
trade village was put up behind the ground, giving the public the chance to peruse the wares in between the four polo contests, which ran throughout the day. These demonstrated a broad spectrum of standards, giving an holistic taster of what polo is about for first-time viewers, with a junior county match offering a distinctly contrasting feel to the county match between Suffolk and Norfolk and then the main focal point of the day: Young England versus Australia. The Australians fielded an 18-goal team, and received half a goal on handicap on the
Australia's Jake Daniels gets good purchase on Richard Le Poer's stick as he goes in for a hook
62
Polo Times, August 2012
www.polotimes.co.uk
Polo in Suffolk
Photograph by Wendy Turner, Red Shed Photography
Action from the 4-goal contest between Suffolk and neighbouring county Norfolk, which the visitors won, 6-5½
scoreboard over their rivals because they faced a 19-goal English team. England were led by captain George Meyrick, who arrived with the benefit of the experience of playing the Audi International Test Match against the Commonwealth at Beaufort earlier in the season, and the 18-goal Berenberg Bank “International” at Coworth Park. Alongside Meyrick was Lanto Sheridan, Max Charlton and Richard Le Poer. Opposing the hosts was Aussie captain Rob Archibald, who led Jock Mackay, Kelvin Johnson and Jake Daniels in an experienced-looking Australian side. Meyrick had Archibald in his sights right from the off, having been beaten by him in the game at the Beaufort just two weeks previously, and – ultimately – he had his revenge. England won 10-8½, playing well as a team and successfully counteracting the at-times impressive horsepower of the visitors. “It was an open, fast-paced game, which was closely fought,” said Richard Le Poer, who reflected on the side's best chukkas in the middle of the match, when they looked particularly dangerous. “It is exciting to see what this England team can do – it is very promising for the future.” Former SAA president Lady Tollemache – a friend of David Woodd – presented the cup to the winners at the culmination of their five-chukka match. The other winners on the day were Norfolk, who narrowly toppled host-county Suffolk 6½-5 in the 4-goal county game, and Norfolk also finished on top at the end of the Pony Club game, when they won www.polotimes.co.uk
through an exciting run-down after the two junior sides drew their game 2-2. “International Polo in Suffolk” was an exciting product of organisers striving for something new and something different – the result was a success and, reportedly,
"It is exciting to see what this Young England side can do, and is promising for the future" – Richard Le Poer organisers are already beginning to make plans for 2013 – a date to put in the calendar I'd suggest. HPA deputy chief executive Olly Hughes echoes the view, giving particular credit to the organisers: “It was a fantastic day. If more people were able to put on such an event, the game would be far more widespread throughout the country.” F w See social photographs which give a feel for the atmosphere on the sidelines on page 84
Game rating
••••••••••
u Suffolk Test Match; 30 June 2012; Trinity Park, Suffolk Result: Young England beat Australia, 10-8½ Handicap level: 18 goal Best playing ponies: Max Charlton's Leche and Rob Archibald's Penny Teams England (19): Lanto Sheridan 4; George Meyrick 5; Max Charlton 5; Richard Le Poer 5 Australia (18): Jake Daniels 3; Kelvin Johnson 4; Rob Archibald 6; Jock Mackay 5
Youth polo
Education from every angle Our education expert Adam Caller gives advice each month on dealing with the quandaries facing young players looking to balance their polo and their studies. If you are seriously planning on making polo your profession, the likelihood is that you will need to consider a period of training outside your home country. For someone from England, learning under the guidance of the best coaches in Argentina, for example, would certainly provide an edge that some of your peers may not be able to experience. But, since most agree that it would be sensible to ensure you get the academic requirements needed for a chance of going to a good university just in case, how can you marry a stint overseas with your current educational plans? When the chance for some serious overseas coaching comes along, this problem applies no matter what age you are. How can you be expected to give the polo training your all, in the hope of one day making it your career, if you need to go to school at certain times of the day and fit homework and exam preparation in too? One way to solve this problem is to take your school with you. There are several ways that this can be done, such as engaging private tutors by-the-hour locally, or perhaps enrolling on online courses, or even arranging skype lessons with a tutor you know back home. All good but, where possible, by far the best option is to take a full-time private tutor with you. That way the tutor can refine the content and concentrate it into the times you have available so that you maximise productivity. Obviously you’ll need to get just the right person, someone self-sufficient and easygoing, yet highly organised and knowledgeable across all your subjects. Taking a carefully selected full-time private tutor with you – and providing accommodation for them too – is, of course, an additional expense. But, set against potential career earnings, or in perspective when considering the costs of maintaining a stable of superb horses, this extra cost represents an excellent investment. w Adam Caller has been the Senior Partner of Tutors International for 12 years. Tutors International is a specialist private tutoring and educational consultancy headquartered in Oxford Polo Times, August 2012
63
Youth polo
Understanding the Pony Club polo sections
How it all began... As Pony Club polo players, parents and ponies get set for the Audi Pony Club Polo Championships and Jorrocks games this month, we look back at when the sections first evolved and why
Georgie May
Main photograph courtesy of the Pony Club
reports
F
ifty-three years ago, in 1959, Brigadier Jack Gannon and Major Claude Davenport organised the first Pony Club Polo Championships â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 26 years after polo had been inaugurated into the Pony Club. Just five branch teams took part in the first-ever championships at Aldershot and, having grown considerably since then, 79 teams 64
Polo Times, August 2012
Above: the parade of teams on the final day of the Pony Club Polo Championships at Cowdray Park has become a much loved traditional sight
took part at the championships at Cowdray Park in 2011. The championships have been played in five different locations: Aldershot; Cirencester Park; Kirtlington Park; Windsor, and, since 1977, they have been held annually at Cowdray Park. In 1993, the Jorrocks section was introduced and their championships are held separately at Hurtwood Park a few days
before the main three-day long Pony Club Polo Championships. There was a boom in Pony Club polo players in the 1980s and 1990s. Buff Crisp, who was chairman of Pony Club Polo from 1977-1989, was instrumental in this growth and, during his tenure, numbers rose from approximately 10 teams to more than 60. In 2003, the tournament featured more than www.polotimes.co.uk
Understanding the Pony Club polo sections
Youth polo
Julius Baer says keep your eye on... Hugo Taylor, 12, Cheshire Polo Club Later this month, Hugo (-2) will be joining three other young players on a trip to Tang Polo Club in China. He has been picked to go on the HPA trip to Argentina twice and last year was selected to play in the Stagshead Trophy at Ham Polo Club. This game is between eight up-andcoming 13-year-olds chosen by the HPA Development Committee for their future potential. Hugo started playing polo at eight years of age, having watched his father Simon – a 0-goal player – from a young age. He played in the Surtees section of the Pony Club for two years as well as in adult polo games at Cheshire where he was awarded the best young player award in 2011. In early July this year Hugo was in the final of the National sixgoal championships at Cheshire with his father and two Argentine pros. Unfortunately they lost the game but Hugo impressed spectators with his ability on the ground. Hugo is now playing in the Hipwood Junior HPA for Silver Leys with Olly Corks, James Fuster and Harry Hutchins.
100 teams – the largest participation to date. “Each year is different but, this year, Surtees is our biggest section,” said Theresa Hodges, the current Pony Club Polo chairman. “Unfortunately, since the recession, we have seen a dip in the number of teams taking part in the championships and I think the reason behind Surtees increasing in size is because people are holding on to their all-rounders, www.polotimes.co.uk
who can hunt, jump and play polo too – rather than buying two, three or four polo ponies, which they cannot use in the winter.” In 2008, in recognition of the everincreasing standards of play, the HPA stepped in to take over two of the sections (Gannon and Langford) and introduced one further section (Hipwood). These three sections are now affiliated to Junior HPA and cater for
those who own polo ponies and want to play three or four-chukka polo, helping them make the step into mainstream polo. Many of the UK’s top polo players learnt to play through the Pony Club, having started out on their “fluffy” at their local club. In 2011, all the players that took part in the Golden Jubilee Cup (played on the morning of the Coronation Cup) had played Pony Club polo, u Polo Times, August 2012
65
Youth polo
Understanding the Pony Club polo sections
The first-ever Pony Club Polo Championships in 1959 was held at Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot, Hampshire, and won by The Hampshire Hunt team above
u as had all four members of the England team in the Coronation Cup in the same year. The coveted Pony Club Polo trophies are hugely historic and bear the names of some of the country’s great polo players. Here, we look at each of the nine sections in more detail.
Gannon
Photographs courtesy of the Pony Club
Affiliation: Junior HPA (since 2008) Age: 16 to under 21 Chukkas played: four Brigadier Jack Gannon (1882-1980) was instrumental in getting junior polo going and the first section is named after him. As well as organising the polo in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, he started the annual Pony Club Polo Championships in 1959. New Forest, Old Berkshire, Staff College, Bisley and Hampshire Hunt branches of the Pony Club participated – the latter won (read the clipping opposite). The section used to be played as twochukka polo but after a Pony Club team went to Zimbabwe and struggled to play six chukkas against the local team, chairman Buff Crisp
must have taken their HPA rules test, be a member of the Pony Club and HPA and hold a handicap. Teams must be between 0-5 goals in handicap. However, with sections always evolving Captain Victor Peglar teaching polo at an Instructors Conference in the 1970s to cope with increasing standards of play and also a member of the Worshipful Company of safety, it is likely that the handicap will rise Loriners (WCL) and it was through him that in 2013. the connection was made between WCL and “The only difference with the section since the Pony Club. it became Junior HPA, it that players can select The section is designed for those that want their own teams now,” Theresa Hodges said. “It’s a mixed blessing: on the down side it means to play Gannon or Langford but do not have enough or good enough ponies to participate. some players are missing out because they Although this section isn’t affiliated to the haven’t been selected by their fellow players.” HPA, for safety reasons players must have passed their HPA rules test – this also applies to Loriner and Ledner, as well as the Junior Affiliation: Pony Club HPA sections. Age: 15 to under 21 In 2008, the number of chukkas played was Chukkas played: two increased to two in order to offer the players Named after Frank Rendell, the section is one the opportunity to play a bit more polo. of the oldest along with Gannon. Rendell’s
Rendell
The coveted Pony Club Polo trophies are hugely historic and bear the names of some of the country's great players decided to increase it to four chukkas in 1988. Then in 2008, the HPA took over the section. Under the Junior HPA rules, players 66
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p64-69 Youth 2 JM PJ MB.indd 4
business, Rendell & Son Shirtmakers, which he took over from his father, made the iconic purple and pale blue Pony Club ties. He was
Ledner Affiliation: Pony Club Age: 16 to under 21 Chukkas played: one Ledner – which is Rendell spelt backwards – was introduced in 2008 to provide one chukka polo for under 21s, when Rendell moved up www.polotimes.co.uk
19/07/2012 21:41
Youth polo Right: Horse & Hound reported on the Championships in 1959
Timeline
to two-chukka polo. It allows those with only one pony to still be able to play Pony Club polo. This year, the Pony Club has changed the section rules and it will now be played as “mixed doubles”, meaning that all sides must comprise two girls and two boys. This was instigated to offer girls a chance at this age level, as it was felt that the Junior HPA committee tend to select all-boys sides.
1933 – Pony Club introduces polo as a discipline
1959 – Hampshire Hunt win first-ever Pony Club Championships at Aldershot
1959 – Col Jacobs becomes Pony Club Polo chairman
1961 – Col Cubitt becomes chairman 1967 – Col Pat Langford becomes chairman
1977 – Buff Crisp becomes chairman 1977 – The Pony Club Polo Championships is held at Cowdray Park for the first time. It has been held there ever since
1981 – Buff Crisp secures Texaco as main
Langford Affiliation: Junior HPA (since 2008) Age: 14 to under 18 Chukkas: four In 1998, a threechukka section was introduced for under 18s, named after Col Pat Langford, who was Pony Club Polo chairman from 1967-76 before he went on to become chairman of the Pony Club in 1979. The HPA took over the section in 2008 and increased the number of chukkas played to four, forming a section for younger players who want to play a higher standard of polo. Next year, the age will be increased to under 21, though still at a lower handicap level than Gannon.
Loriner Affiliation: Pony Club Age: 14 to under 17 Chukkas played: one The Worshipful Company of Loriners has supplied prizes to the Pony Club since the two were introduced by Frank Rendell. With their generosity in mind, the Pony Club decided to name a section after the bit makers in 1989. Since then, the company has supplied prizes for the section. www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p64-69 Youth 2 JM PJ MB.indd 5
sponsor of the Championships
1986 – Bank of Ireland takes over as main sponsor
1988 – Jaguar takes over as main sponsor
1989 – Loriner section introduced 1990 – Daily Telegraph takes over as main sponsor
1990 – Brigadier John Wright becomes chairman
1993 – Jorrocks section introduced 1998 – Luke Borwick becomes chairman “This section used to be enormous,” said Jilly Emerson, a member of the Pony Club Polo Committee. “But the generation seems to have moved on, either to the higher sections or onto other things.”
Hipwood Affiliation: Junior HPA Age: 11 to under 15 Chukkas played: three (four in the final) Named after two of polo’s greats, Julian and Howard Hipwood, this is the youngest Junior HPA section. It was instigated in 2008 to provide those under 15 years old with threechukka polo. However, in the final, the teams play four chukkas. Three trophies are awarded in this section including The Smail Trophy. Betty Smail gave the Pony Club the trophy in memory of her u
for one year
1998 – Langford section introduced 1999 – David Cowley becomes chairman 1999 – Hackett takes over as main sponsor
2003 – Surtees section introduced 2005 – 3C takes over as main sponsor 2008 – Theresa Hodges becomes chairman
2008 – Junior HPA introduces new Hipwood section and takes over Gannon and Langford
2008 – Ledner section introduced 2010 – Audi takes over from 3C as main sponsor
Polo Times, August 2012
67
19/07/2012 21:41
Youth polo
Understanding the Pony Club polo sections
The grass-roots view The latest from Theresa Hodges, UK Pony Club Polo chair, in her regular column Photograph courtesy of the Pony Club
At the Audi Pony Club Polo Championships, the breadth and depth of Under 21 polo is on display at Cowdray Park on 10-12 August. The Championships bring together over 40 teams from the Junior HPA sections (Hipwood, Langford and Gannon) and the Pony Club sections (Handley Cross, Surtees, Loriner, Ledner and The Jorrocks section was introduced in 1993 and holds its own championships at Hurtwood Park every August Rendell). The immediate words that come to mind to describe these extraordinary ponies who are 14.2hh and under can play u late husband Col Trevor Smail, who did so Championships are lawns, heritage and fun. in Handley Cross and they must not be polo much for Pony Club polo. It was first awarded ponies – they must take part in other Pony to Rendell at Cirencester (until they stopped Club disciplines. awarding trophies at the qualifiers) before Lawns The age range overlaps with Jorrocks in Bridget Baxter – Betty Smail’s daughter – Talking to a professional player earlier this order to allow bigger and stronger children assigned it to the Hipwood section, which she season about what contributes most to to move up to Handley Cross, while smaller helped set up and now runs. improving a polo player’s game between children will remain in Jorrocks. ponies, umpires and grounds (all other things being equal, which they unfortunately are not!), the general consensus was that it comes down to 50 per cent grounds, 25 per cent ponies and 25 per cent umpires. Pony Club players are so hugely lucky to have such incredible facilities available. The Pony Club is deeply indebted to all owners who allow junior players to train, practise and play on their grounds.
Heritage The wonderful trophies being played for at the Cowdray Championships have many famous names on them who have represented England and/or carved out significant careers within the polo world. To get one's name on any of the trophies is a huge honour and competition is intense. A huge thank you to parents, players and organisers who have supported Pony Club Polo for more than 50 years.
Fun Camping, partying and friends are such a part of the Cowdray Championships scene. Good luck to everyone and I look forward to seeing you on the Audisponsored circuit over the next few weeks.
My contact in London:
68
Polo Times, August 2012
Surtees
Affiliation: Pony Club Age: 11 to under 15 Chukkas played: one The Pony Club has always had a strong hunting link so it seemed only right to name a section after hunting author Robert Smith Surtees (1805-1864). He was an editor, novelist and founded the New Sporting Manual, which included many hunting anecdotes. “Hunting teaches you to gain an independent seat, which is also important in polo, hence the link,” Hodges said. “It was introduced in 2003 in order to divide up the Handley Cross section, which had grown too large. There were also “fluffies” and polo ponies all playing together, which was too dangerous, so we created Surtees for those with polo ponies.”
Handley Cross Affiliation: Pony Club Age: nine to under 14 Chukkas played: one RS Surtees published a novel named Handley Cross in 1843, in which the character of Mr Jorrocks – who originally featured in Surtees’s New Sporting Manual – was reintroduced as master of the foxhounds. This section was the first of a trilogy to be named in connection with the author, with Jorrocks following in 1993 and Surtees in 2003. Since the introduction of Surtees, only
Jorrocks Affiliation: Pony Club Age: six to under 11 Chukkas: one RS Surtees’s contributions to the New Sporting Manual in the 1830s were collected to form Jorrocks’s Jaunts and Jollities (published in 1838), which included the character of John Jorrocks – a sporting cockney grocer. The Jorrocks section – which holds its own separate championships – was introduced in 1993 as it was decided that it was too dangerous to allow small children on fluffies to play against bigger children on polo ponies in the Handley Cross section (before Surtees was brought in to accommodate those with polo ponies). Those eligible to play in this section must be aged between six and under 11 with ponies 13.2hh and under. Jorrocks teams only have to attend one qualifier and do not have to qualify as such – unlike the other sections’ teams, who must attend three qualifiers and the top eight teams go through to the championships. The teams in Jorrocks must simply be seen by the committee so that they can decide which division to put them in to – a really good team will not be put in the same division as a weak side. F w Two-goaler Freddie Dear is playing in the Gannon section this year. Read more about Freddie on page 98
stuart.bates@juliusbaer.com, tel. +44 203 205 1609 www.polotimes.co.uk
Swiss movement, English heart
Swiss made / 25 jewel customised automatic chronograph movement / 250-piece limited edition / Exhibition backplate / Anti-reflective sapphire crystal / Water resistant 5atm / Diameter: 43mm / Calibre: ETA 7750.
PT&KULVWRSKHU:DUGB3ROR7LPHV LQGG p64-69 Youth 2 JM.indd 7
19/07/2012 15:41
Youth polo
Harrow School's trip to Mongolia
Magical Mongolia Eleven lucky Harrovians spent two weeks with the Genghis Khan Polo Club, where they experienced mountain excursions, a traditional festival, and the benefit of the locals' horse riding skills and polo tuition – something the boys aim to give to Mongolia's local children too
D'Artagnan Giercke (aged 14) reports
T
his summer a group of 11 boys from my school Harrow travelled to the Genghis Khan Polo Club (GKPC) in Mongolia for two weeks of riding and polo hosted by my father, Christopher Giercke, the club's founder. Polo plays an important part in Mongolian history as it was used by Genghis Khan to train his large cavalry in the thirteenth century. The
The war cries of the group as they charged on horseback echoed those of Genghis Khan's 800 years ago GKPC was founded 17 years ago to rejuvenate polo in Mongolia and promote the sport and riding to outsiders and urban citizens. Situated 390km southwest of the capital, Ulaanbaatar, the club is surrounded by breathtaking scenery. With tents known as “gers” comprising the
Despite first appearences, such as the above, the ponies had endless stamina and no problem playing four chukkas
kitchen, dining room, communication tent, storage room, tackroom and bedrooms, it is a unique experience for anyone visiting. A typical day started with a four-hour excursion into the mountains with eagles circling overhead and beautiful vistas in every direction. Each ridge is distinguishable by the dramatic rock formations along their crests and luckily the ponies were sure-footed on the precipitous slopes and could gallop across vast
plains with endless stamina. The war cries of the group as they charged echoed those of their predecessor Genghis Khan’s 800 years ago. At 6pm, as the sun began to set behind the camp, chukkas were played on a ground overlooking the majestic Orkhon river with teams a mixture of Mongolian and Harrow players. The matches were fast and furious and ponies had no problem playing four chukkas. The highlight of the trip was a traditional festival
70
PT p70-71 Youth 3 JM PJ MB.indd 2
19/07/2012 21:42
Harrow School's trip to Mongolia
Youth polo
Sunsets and mountains provided constantly breathtaking scenery
called ‘Naadam’ which started with Harrow A beating the Mongolian national team, 3-2. This was followed by a huge feast and entertainment consisting of musicians throat singing. Earlier in the day the boys witnessed the killing of three goats which were then cooked in the traditional way with hot stones in their stomachs. The trip was a resounding success and everyone has been left with unforgettable memories of the magical place that is Mongolia, not to mention the GKPC, who showed us incredible hospitality and the chance to benefit from the locals’ amazing horse riding skills. The young Harrovians all joined the GKPC as temporary members and their donations will go towards promoting the sport to the country’s talented youngsters. Polo has recently been introduced into schools in Mongolia, so it was particularly apt that this trip will benefit other school children and help secure the future of the sport in Mongolia. F
Harrow's staff and pupils enjoy a well-earned rest on a formation of rocks during their four-hour trek
w S ee social snaps from the trip on page 88 Right: evening chukkas with their temporary homes – called"gers" – on the sidelines behind
71
PT p70-71 Youth 3 JM PJ MB.indd 3
20/07/2012 18:32
Knowledge
Know your game
The must-read professional-player’s perspective – from Jamie Peel, three-goal pro and 2008 Gold Cup winner
England’s next generation With the polo community flocking to Guards for the Queen’s Cup final, I decided to go to Cowdray Park to watch the final of the Bryan Bethell. However, watching Adolfo Cambiaso against Gonzalito Pieres is usually a mustsee game and, after reviewing the DVD, I can confirm it was an epic encounter. The Bryan Bethell, on the other hand, was one of the most one-sided games I have seen all season, but was excellent to watch. George Pearson’s 14-goal Cowdray team were the impressive winners (13½-8) and it was fantastic to see a young side so well mounted and playing to such a high standard. Over the last couple of seasons we have all been looking at our young English players and debating which of them will become
Photograph by James Mullan
Representing England on International Day is the dream for all young players seasoned high-handicapped players. For every young player their dream is to emulate the achievements of the likes of James Beim and Luke Tomlinson – representing England on International Day is the pinnacle. In the coming years our young homegrown players are going to start challenging the current England team for the places. Max Routledge and Ollie Cudmore have been the most high-profile of those players as they have been involved in high-goal
Jack Richardson, centre, and Max Charlton, right, in action at the 2011 World Cup, are the future of English polo
teams. This season, although their teams have not been the most successful, they have performed extremely well. I am not sure if their handicaps will go up this season, but they are definitely going in the right direction. Charlie Hanbury’s performances this season have been exceptional. As I keep saying, he is always extremely well mounted, but he has improved hugely from last year.
He has increased his work rate and is now more disciplined with marking his man. He continues to be a threat with the ball and looks very comfortable in the high-goal. Outside of the high-goal, Jack Richardson is making great strides towards being one of England’s next high-handicapped players. His performances in the finals of the Bryan Bethell and Royal Windsor have
Playing tips with Rege Ludwig – Time to get Each month, renowned polo coach Rege Ludwig gives his expert advice about how to get more out of your game
72
Polo Times, August 2012
When not swinging the mallet to hit the ball, most players will hold the mallet handle with a light, open, or pistol grip. To accomplish that grip, the majority of the gripping effort is applied between the thumb and the index finger; while the ring and little fingers are applied softly, allowing for the wrist to be unrestricted. Unfortunately, though, for a lot of players, when the thought of hitting the ball
comes to mind, the grip on the mallet handle changes to a more closed, tight fist grip. This tight grip, compared to a more open, relaxed grip, will cause the head of the mallet to move out away from the horse, and therefore also from the line of the ball and the desired plane of the swing. This, quite obviously, is most undesirable when it comes to hitting the ball. Suffice it to say, the majority of the gripping
www.polotimes.co.uk
Know your game
are rising
earned much well-deserved praise. It amazes me that he has not had an opportunity at high-goal level, I was convinced that he was in the frame for the Zacara job, but unfortunately it was not to be. In attack Jack is as good as any five-goal player and, on his day, even better. Max Charlton is another player who has not been able to showcase his talent at high-goal level. He consistently plays over a
hundred games a season and has some very nice horses. Off five-goals and under 25, Max is well on his way to emulating the likes of Chris Hyde and James Harper, who was six-goals at the age of 25. Unfortunately this year I have not had the pleasure of watching last year’s young player of the year Richard Le Poer. I was lucky enough to play with him a couple of years ago and he is a great teammate. I know first-hand how hard Richard works on his polo and he certainly deserves to go all the way. He is well mounted and has a good supply of quality thoroughbreds coming through to support him. George Meyrick is another young player who I believe will be challenging for an England place on International Day before long. George has a lot of experience playing with the best players in the world and looks very comfortable in the high-goal. It is a shame that these players have not all been involved in this year’s high-goal season but they have all been making an impact at different levels. These players are hungry for success and, if they continue working hard, this will come. F w Do you agree with Jamie’s views? Email letters@polotimes.co.uk
a grip on it effort on the mallet handle should always be established and maintained between the thumb and the index finger. This will produce a more open grip and improve your swing. w Rege Ludwig is a world renowned polo coach and author of “Polo in the 21st Century”
www.polotimes.co.uk
The left image shows the correct, open grip, while the right images shows the incorrect, tight grip. Both images taken from Rege Ludwig’s book Polo in the 21st Century
Knowledge
Fitness with James de Mountfort James de Mountfort, polo player and personal trainer to the Red Bull F1 Racing Team reveals the exercises and techniques that will help your polo Following a list of questions, I think it’s time to define circuit training. Put simply, it means a series of movements repeated in sequence, back-to-back. Rest periods are not specified during the circuit and, of course, any rest taken lengthens the duration of the workout, which reduces total power output (power = work divided by time). There are many objectives, too Complementary circuit many to discuss here, but energy training alternately management should not be ignored. stresses different Sometimes total time is used as a muscle groups measurement. For such measuring to have any meaning, all movements must be executed strictly and full range of motion respected. In this case, the goal is to do the greatest quantity of work in the least amount of time, so high intensity output is expected. We identify two types of circuits: “Complementary” and “Focus”. Circuit training means repeating a series Complementary of movements in sequence circuits alternately stress different muscle groups (e.g. via squats and then pull-ups). Focus circuits stress the same muscle groups in a different manner, alternating between grinding and explosive stimulus (such as a dead lift exercise and then, say, a box jump), or by changing stimulus and/or load (e.g. via bear crawls and then push-ups). Circuits using a heavy load or technically difficult movement should accommodate fatigue with progressive reduction of reps. Circuit training was originally conceived to prepare individuals without good conditioning to begin formal training. Don’t expect miracles. w Contact James on 07949 455712 or james@personally-trained.co.uk
Focus circuit training applies different stresses to the same muscle group
Polo Times, August 2012
73
Knowledge
Know your horse
Mark Emerson MRCVS is a two-goal polo player and an ambulatory equine vet
Injured tendons must be Despite the ongoing wet weather and the cancellation of many polo matches, I have seen a large number of tendon injuries over the last few weeks, particularly injuries to the superficial digital flexor tendons of the forelimbs, that run down the back of the leg from below the knee to the fetlock. In simple terms, tendons are like bungee rope with numerous elastic fibres. When they are stretched beyond their elastic limit, the fibres begin to snap, which typically happens when ponies are galloping at top speed. After fibres snap, they bleed into the tendon leaving a pocket of blood which shows up as a black hole on an ultrasound scan. These lesions are usually in the middle of the tendon
polo ponies it is most likely these injuries are caused by trauma – sticks, balls or legs striking into the tendons when they are under tension. These injuries present like a strain injury, but often with heat and swelling localised to the affected area of the tendon, with or without signs of lameness. On ultrasound examination however, the location of the tendon fibre damage suggests a traumatic cause. In respect of either type of tendon injury, aggressive anti-inflammatory treatment should be implemented immediately. Calling your vet out for a preliminary examination and to administer powerful anti-inflammatory drugs is advisable, but failing this, a couple of sachets of ‘bute’ twice a day for a few days may be
Photograph by Mark Emerson MRCVS
Tendons are like bungee rope – when they are stretched beyond their elastic limit, the fibres begin to snap, which typically happens when ponies are galloping at speed. Most tendon lesions take the best part of a year to heal (‘core lesions’) and externally the tendon often appears bowed. The degree of lameness that accompanies the sprain can be variable with horses often appearing surprisingly sound. As you can imagine, lesions relating to speed are not what I have been seeing recently. Without exception, all the tendon injuries I have seen in the last month have been peripheral or border lesions – damage being located in the outer margins of the tendon. In
Feet first
Polo Times’s monthly farrier focus
Common polo injuries
74
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p74-75 Horse JOS JM PJ MB.indd 2
given. The application of real ice, as an ice pack or an ice boot, is the most effective way of reducing swelling, however, ice should never be applied for longer than about 20 minutes at a time or it can do more harm than good. As soon as the worst of the swelling has been reduced, the only effective way to assess the amount of damage to the tendon is to have an ultrasound scan. The treatment plan and prognosis will be based largely on
Externally, a damaged tendon will often appear bowed
Some of the most common injuries seen in polo are brushing, over-reaching and bruising. All of these can cause lameness and can be prevented or at least reduced. Brushing injuries are caused when one limb strikes another, usually on the coronary band or fetlock. One of the causes of brushing is gait abnormality, which can’t be prevented (those horses with poor conformation for example), but correcting the hooves’ medial-lateral balance can help reduce the incidence of it
occurring. Over-reaching (shown in picture) is caused when the toe of the hind hoof catches the back of the front foot. There are a number of reasons why this can happen, including bad riding, inappropriate shoe fitting and the use of heavier shoes. Changing the break-over of the hind hooves, and/or fore hooves, can help reduce this problem. A less noticeable but very common problem in polo is bruising of the hoof wall as a result of direct trauma caused by a mallet head or the
www.polotimes.co.uk
19/07/2012 20:22
Know your horse
Knowledge
Lorna Edgar – specialist equine nutritionist
given time
Two ultrasound scans highlighting a core lesion (top) and a peripheral lesion (bottom)
the findings of the scan and will vary according to the type and degree of injury, as well as the level of polo played, age of the horse, owner’s expectations and cost. New core lesions in valuable horses are candidates for stem cell therapy – a treatment which is now readily available in the UK and can be carried out by most equine vets
boards hitting the feet. If your pony goes lame due to trauma – and not by foot imbalance – then there is little the farrier can do. Instead seek your vet’s advice. ◗ Performance Shoeing International is a collaboration of three-time world champion farrier Darren Bazin and Argentine player and farrier Luigi Ferrarese: tel 07896 991489. See www.highgoalfarriers.co.uk for the full article on this topic
www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p74-75 Horse JOS JM PJ MB.indd 3
on the yard. Other treatments range from injections of other biological products into the lesion such as PRP, to tendon splitting, blistering or plain old rest. Regardless of the treatment, the most important aspect of recovery is the management of the horse over the weeks and months following injury. A long-term programme of box or pen rest with controlled walking exercise is essential, and the habit of throwing the injured horse out in a field at the earliest opportunity is more likely to result in re-injury the following season. Regular ultrasound scans are useful to assess the quality and rate of healing and to determine when the horse will be ready to undertake an increase in its workload. Regardless of treatment, most tendon lesions will take the best part of 12 months to heal and many take even longer. Even with stem cell therapy (the most successful of all available treatments), the re-injury rate in racehorses is currently around 30 per cent. F ◗ Mark Emerson works as an ambulatory equine vet based near Ascot and has polo clients across the south of England: tel 07973 800383 or email mark@emersonequine.com
Stop-start polo diets With the unpredictable weather we have had so far this season and after reading Mark Emerson’s article in the June issue about tying-up, I thought I would add my contribution about feed management to reduce the onset of tying-up. When the rain stops play it can cause disruption to the fitness of our polo ponies and one of the biggest concerns is “my pony will get fat” or will have too much energy. Straight away, the natural reaction is to reduce their forage intake and cut the hard feed back. What we actually need to do is to maintain a ration that is still providing a balance of nutrition – particularly proteins, vitamins and minerals – but reduce the starch (cereal) intake. By reducing the starch we are reducing the energy and calorie intake, so whilst work is reduced they will not have too much energy and they will not put on too much condition. How do we do this? We reduce the cubes/mix in the diet by a third to half of their usual playing amount, remove oats or oat-based feeds from the ration and introduce a balancer*. However, one must make sure plenty of forage is still fed. By adding a balancer we ensure protein, vitamins and minerals are all received, thereby reducing the risk of tying-up that can be caused by inadequate amounts of vitamins and minerals in the diet. Should you be concerned about forage putting on too
By adding a balancer, we ensure protein, vitamins and minerals are all received, reducing the risk of tying-up much condition, double up hay nets so the holes are smaller, making forage last longer and increasing chewing time. When the ponies are schooled and worked hard at home during these quiet times electrolytes should still be used when they are sweating – in a wet feed, not a dry feed. *There are many balancers on the market, but always read the manufacturer’s instructions. They are expensive to purchase compared to a bag of cubes or mix, but they last a lot longer as you feed smaller amounts. ◗ Contact Lorna Edgar of Baileys Horse Feeds on lorna@baileyshorsefeeds.co.uk and 07808 863864 Polo Times, August 2012
75
19/07/2012 20:22
Knowledge
Ones to watch
David Allen is good value at five-goals and will impress in August’s Warwickshire Cup, says Caroline Smail David “Dave” Allen started his polo career with the Cotswold Pony Club aged 10 and, since then, has won some of the world’s most prestigious tournaments including the Gold and Queen’s Cup in 2000 with Geebung. His first encounter with polo nearly put him off for life as he was forcefully encouraged by his grandmother, Susan James, to go to a Pony Club Camp. Luckily, he stuck with it and his Pony Club days saw him playing with James Beim, Nina, Ben and Tamara Vestey, and Luke and Mark Tomlinson. In addition to his successes with Geebung he has also gone on to win the Pakistan Open, the County Cup, the Royal Windsor and the Victor Ludorum 8 and 12-goal titles. Currently based just outside Cirencester, Dave is playing for Daoud Zekrya’s Ariana, Christina Badenhop’s Indupitable and Ross Cutts’s CDP this summer. He’s also taking part
Irish
Height: 15.3hh Age: 11 Colour: Grey Sex: Gelding Breed: Ellerston Thoroughbred Sire: Norman Pentaquad Dam: Blue Owner: Malcolm Borwick
Photographs by Amber Gibbs and James Mullan
England player Malcolm Borwick, and his favourite pony Irish, are now out in Sotogrande for the BMW International Polo Tournament. Malcolm tells us why Irish holds pride of place in his string
in the Warwickshire Cup this month alongside Satnam Dhillon and George Meyrick, and his impressive string will make him one to watch. He has 10 English and New Zealand thoroughbreds, two of which he bred and the rest which he bought as youngsters and then made. Dave has a serious talent and passion for bringing on young horses and has set up a programme at his New Zealand base Porthill Polo Club, where he spends most of the winter. When he returns at the end of the summer, he will be working on six youngsters with the aim of bringing them to England in the near future. His best pony, 10-year-old Razorlight, was played by victorious high-goal patron Adrian Kirby in this year’s Gold Cup final. 76
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p76-77 Ones to watch JOS JM PJ MB.indd 2
What is Irish’s background? He was bred by Ellerston in Australia, out of a mare called Blue, by Norman Pentaquad. Norman Pentaquad also sired Melbourne Cup winner Doriemus and 11 per cent of the horses in the Gold Cup semi-finals in 2010. Ellerston brought Irish to England and I got him in 2008. What makes him so good? He has speed, power and a great mouth. Both Beimy and Rob Archibald have played and loved him. You couldn’t find a horse with a better nature and he is fantastic to handle both on and off the ground. I like long-striding thoroughbreds like him. What’s been his most memorable moment? That would have to be the semi-finals of the Gold Cup in 2010 when he played two full chukkas. Or perhaps the first time he met my daughter, Ines – they were terrified of each other but now they are best of friends and she asks to see him everyday. Does he have any quirky character traits? Not really but if you are late with his food, he may
well show his disapproval by giving you a bite on the way out of the door. What is his exercise routine? He is a horse that does better playing matches and going on sets, he has a very short attention span, so I avoid riding him too much between matches. Would you sell him? It is very hard to part with your best horse. I have had enquires, but it would have to be a considerable sum to make me part with him. Your best horse is your biggest asset in trying to improve and get better jobs. What do you feed him? My horses all eat Baileys custom recipe, it is a brilliant food that gives sustained energy and performance over a long season. When high-goal starts, we add in rolled oats for a bit more top end. Does he live in or out during the season? I try to give my horses some corral time over the season, as it’s the best remedy for stiffness. However, principally the horses live in so we can monitor food and water intake. I have a fantastic team of grooms headed up by Cesar Pastor. Has he won any best playing pony prizes? No not yet. But that’s probably the fault of the player, not the horse! www.polotimes.co.uk
19/07/2012 21:43
The Gold of Royalty Each piece of Clogau jewellery contains a touch of the very same rare Welsh gold used to create wedding rings for some members of the Royal Family since 1923. The tradition of Royalty using Welsh gold is over 100 years old. In 1911 when Prince Edward was invested as The Prince of Wales, his coronation regalia, known collectively as The Honours of the Principality of Wales, were fashioned from Welsh gold.
Wales Polo Clogau is proud to be official sponsor of the Wales Polo Team and Welsh Polo Association. From this collaboration, both Clogau and the Wales Polo Team are able to strengthen their most distinguished ties to both Wales and Royalty, with His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales acting as patron of the team. Both the excitement and glamour of Polo, a sport steeped in rich heritage and tradition, has inspired the stylish Wales Polo collection.
Clogau is proud to be official sponsors of the Wales Polo Team
www.clogau.co.uk
PT p76-77 Ones to watch JOS.indd 3
0845 606 88 77
19/07/2012 15:20
Knowledge
How to spend it
It makes sense to come fly w London Executive Aviation Patron George Galanopoulos, pictured right, captained LEA against Stobart in the Duke of Essex Polo Trophy (see page 55 for more), but he has been busy off the polo field too, as managing director of London Executive Aviation (LEA), one of Europe’s largest executive aircraft charter operators. LEA manages more than 20 business jets, serving over 5,000 destinations across Europe and the Middle East. The company operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and regularly flies in excess of one million miles annually. It provides a full range of business aircraft services, including management, chartering, consultancy and sales. Owned by Galanopoulos and chief executive Patrick Margetson-Rushmore, the company has twice been named Best General Aviation Operator in the Baltic Air Charter Association’s Excellence Awards, and won Gold Awards in the Executive Aircraft category from Buying Business Travel magazine. For more information visit www.flylea.com or call +44 (0)1708 688420
Jewellery – Clogau’s polo collection Welsh jewellery brand Clogau, recently voted Brand of the Year at the UK Jewellery awards, is celebrating its sponsorship of the Wales Polo Team with the launch of an exclusive polo collection this month. In the 20 years since its inception Clogau has been producing jewellery containing a touch of Welsh gold. Welsh gold taken from the Clogau St Davids mine and the Dolgellau gold belt, has been used to create wedding rings for the Royal family since 1923 and most recently for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The Clogau collection includes a bracelet, a bangle, a moneyclip, a men’s ring and men’s cufflinks. From £129 78
Polo Times, August 2012
PT p78-79 Spend it JOS MB PJ.indd 2
Travel – El Remanso polo estancia There is no doubt that two of the real stars of the high-goal season in the UK have been the Hanbury brothers, Charlie and George, who guided their El Remanso team to the semi-final of the Queen’s Cup and the final of the Gold Cup. So there has never been a better time to visit the picturesque estancia in Argentina, where the boys hone their skills during the English winter. El Remanso is privately owned by the Hanbury family and is in the heart of one of Argentina’s most renowned polo regions in Lobos, outside Buenos Aires. The estancia, which includes a swimming pool, tennis court, gym and stables, offers lessons for polo players of all abilities, from newcomers to pros. For more information contact euan@elremansopolo.com www.polotimes.co.uk
20/07/2012 17:36
How to spend it
with LEA
Drinks –1870 mixers Jubilant English high-goal patron Adrian Kirby obviously has a thing for expensive metals as the owner of drinks company Silver Spring finally got his hands on the coveted Gold Cup at Cowdray Park last month. And if you’re looking for the key ingredient for his recent triumph, it could well be that there is something in the water. Soda and tonic water are two of the leading products in Silver Spring’s range of premium mixers – 1870. With Sicilian lemons used in 1870’s Bitter Lemon, and Brazilian essential oils used elsewhere in the range, Silver Spring’s mixologists promise an exceptional taste in all of their mixers. The carefully selected ingredients satisfy the palate whether mixed in evening cocktails, or by the side of the polo field. For more information see www.silverspring.co.uk
Watch – Backes & Strauss Regent Diamond Jubilee Backes & Strauss, the world’s oldest diamond company, was both the official timekeepers and sponsors of The Household Cavalry Team at the Polo for the Brave event at Coworth Park in June. Vartkess Knadjian, the company’s CEO, was on hand to present the Backes & Strauss Diamond Jubilee Cup to the victorious Wallerstein team. And Backes and Strauss used the opportunity to showcase one of their impressive limited-edition watches. The Regent Diamond Jubilee, from the Royal Collection, celebrates the Queen’s Jubilee year. Only 60 of the eye-catching timepieces have been created, which includes Her Majesty’s royal cypher on the dial and is crafted in 18-carat white gold and encrusted in Backes and Strauss’s finest diamonds. From £34,300 www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p78-79 Spend it JOS MB PJ.indd 3
Knowledge
Motor – the Jeep Wrangler
Rugged and roomy but also very cool The unique demands of the polo world mean that everyone involved – from players and patrons to officials and Pony Club mothers – expects a lot from their vehicles. Invariably if you play polo you will need a car that can easily transport your endless amount of equipment, while also negotiating the boggiest of fields and the most unforgiving of steep inclines. There is also – and for some this is the most important of all – the need to look cool.
Few cars on the market today encompass all of this quite so well as the rugged, yet stylish, Jeep Wrangler. Originally designed for the US Army back in the early 1940s, the current incarnation of the Wrangler is the tenth generation of the classic off-road vehicle. The latest edition is true to the principles of the original model, but with a more modern feel than ever before. The all-new frame brings a new slick feel to the exterior, while comfort and modern convenience – most notably a navigation system, MP3 player and smart-phone functionality, picture inset – add to the overall driving experience. The Wrangler is also safer and has better fuel efficiency than ever before. From £26,815 Polo Times, August 2012
79
20/07/2012 17:37
Sidelines
Gossip
Turning back time The Meadows family – parents Philip and Suzie and their daughters Genevieve and Saskia – appeared on BBC One this July. Pictured right, the family – who all play polo and run Cool Hooves Polo at The Berkshire – featured in Turn Back Time: The Family, aired weekly on prime-time throughout the summer. The five-part series placed three families in the same conditions their ancestors would have endured, starting in the 1920s and running through to the 1970s.
Tell us yours at gossip@polotimes.co.uk Anonymity guaranteed if you want it...
Salahi setback In the latest Tareq Salahi saga, the American two-goaler – who made the headlines in 2009 for gate-crashing a dinner at the White House – has had his $50 million lawsuit against his wife’s new boyfriend dropped. The lawsuit alleged that Journey guitarist Neal Schon had hurt Salahi financially and emotionally after Schon took up with his wife Michaele. The judge dismissed the lawsuit, suggesting it should be addressed in the divorce trial.
Photograph by Images of Polo
Aloha counselling A 58-year-old polo player in Hawaii has been forced to undergo anger management, after an assault on a 16-year-old boy during a cowboy polo match. Wesley DeCoite repeatedly struck the boy – who was not wearing a helmet – in the head and chest with a mallet in Makawao, Hawaii, in June. The victim needed stitches to his head but didn’t want DeCoite to serve time behind bars. 80 Polo Times, August 2012
PT p80-81 Gossip JOS PJ.indd 2
Face-guard patron plays guardian angel to his pro’s face Despite being the same age as Prince Charles was when he gave up playing, Hilali Noordeen, 51, who won the 8-goal Archie David on 1 July with his Sifani team (see page 50) is aiming to take his polo playing to the next level by entering the mediumgoal next season. Away from polo, he has built up an enviable reputation as one of the top orthopaedic and spinal surgeons in the country, which came in handy en route to his side’s Archie David victory at Guards when team professional Ryan Pemble, inset, suffered a nasty cut to his face after being hit by a mallet. Encouraged by Polo Times contributor Herbert Spencer, Noordeen stitched up the plucky five-goaler, allowing him to play on. As if to make a point, Noordeen is also one of the relatively few players in the UK who wears an American-style face-guard.
Rutland greeted by a Tiger Moth and the South Koreans A de Havilland Tiger Moth plane – built in 1935 and the sixth oldest in the world – paid a flying visit to Rutland Polo Club in June. The owner of the plane, farmer Stuart Beaty, flew to the club to support a visiting Irish team and the polo field was just long enough for it to land and take-off. The Tiger Moth was flown by HRH the Prince of Wales on 30 July 1979, who wrote his name “Charles” in the logbook. A South Korean television crew also visited the club this summer. The crew are filming a programme about the evolution of horses, and spoke to some of the players at the club. The documentary will be aired in South Korea next year.
A Wycombe wedding Congratulations to West Wycombe Park member Jo Lamb who recently got engaged to Zimbabwean Simon Caulder. They met at a mutual friend’s dinner party and plan to marry at home in Oxfordshire in April 2013. Just over the border and into Wiltshire, Lynt member Alastair Kidson-Trigg and his wife Astrid welcomed baby Rocco into the world on 6 July. Alastair – now a two-goaler – was playing a match at Lynt when a phone call came through to say Astrid had gone into labour and fortunately managed to get back in time for the birth. www.polotimes.co.uk
20/07/2012 17:38
Gossip
English lads get shirty Polo players Ed Hitchman, John Martin and Henry Fisher have become polo ambassadors to a new online shirt store â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Shirt Company. The owners of the company, Claire Adams and Renee Gardi, have strong links to the equestrian world and plan to have a close association with polo. Hitchman, Fisher and Martin â&#x20AC;&#x201C; who is a friend of Adams and Gardi â&#x20AC;&#x201C; became ambassadors
when the brand was introduced to the UK in April. The launch range consists of eight styles from Dutch company A Fish Named Fred, which have not been available in the UK before now. To see The Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Shirt Company collection in full, visit their website: www.themensshirtcompany.com
Princes will no longer play in Chakravarty Cup
Photograph by Gillian Hughes
Look-a-likes
It has been rumoured that Princes William and Harry have cut ties with the annual Chakravarty Cup, which they usually take part in. The organiser, Saroj Chakravarty â&#x20AC;&#x201C; who is also a patron for the Princesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Trust â&#x20AC;&#x201C; is alleged to have previously boasted about the exposure he could secure for wealthy donors who are keen to be associated with royalty. However, it is not entirely clear why the princes will not be involved in this Septemberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tournament, which is to be held at Ham Polo Club instead of its usual location at Beaufort.
Mark Hayden Kellard and Howard Webb
Sidelines
Eddieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s secure Skoda Although he had to find out the hard way, Eddie Kennedy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; former polo director at Hurtwood Park â&#x20AC;&#x201C; came to realise how great his Skoda really is last month. When he accidently left his car keys inside his car, it promptly locked itself and Eddie was forced to call in the cavalry to try and retrieve them. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Friends, passers-by, the breakdown service, the police and two armed soldiers from the Windsor Castle Guard room all came
to help try and break into my Skoda,â&#x20AC;? said Kennedy. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But many hours later we were all still scratching our heads. Even specialist glass breaking equipment and lump hammers couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t penetrate the glass â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the hammer even produced sparks when it bounced off the car! â&#x20AC;&#x153;So, to all car thieves out there â&#x20AC;&#x201C; if you are ever thinking of breaking into a Skoda, I would think again!â&#x20AC;?
32/2 )5(1&+ 23(1 *2$/6 )URP WKH VW WR WKH WK RI 6HSWHPEHU
7+( :20(1Ĺ&#x17D;6 )5(1&+ 23(1 )URP WKH WK WR WKH WK RI 6HSWHPEHU
3URJUDP )UHH *UHHQ IHH IRU 7KH :RPHQĹ&#x17D;V )UHQFK 2SHQ 6HSWHPEHU 3 0 6HPLĹšQDO )UHQFK 2SHQ WK
3 0 6HPLĹšQDO )UHQFK 2SHQ 6HSWHPEHU WK 3 0 6HPLĹšQDO 7KH :RPHQĹ&#x17D;V )UHQFK 2SHQ ',25 &83 3 0 6HPLĹšQDO 7KH :RPHQĹ&#x17D;V )UHQFK 2SHQ 52*(5 9,9,(5 &83
6HSWHPEHU WK /XQFK IURP $ 0 3 0 )LQDO 7KH ZRPHQĹ&#x17D;V )UHQFK 2SHQ &+23$5' 3 0 3UL]HJLYLQJ RI WKH 7KH ZRPHQĹ&#x17D;V )UHQFK 2SHQ &+23$5' 3 0 )LQDO )UHQFK 2SHQ 3 0 3UL]HJLYLQJ RI WKH )UHQFK 2SHQ
3ROR &OXE GH 0XUXV 6DQFWXV 3ROR &OXE GX 'RPDLQH GH &KDQWLOO\ ZZZ SRORFOXEFKDQWLOO\ FRP HYHQW#SRORFOXEFKDQWLOO\ FRP www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p80-81 Gossip JOS PJ.indd 3
Polo Times, August 2012 81
20/07/2012 17:38
Beach volley ball
Sidelines
Amika’s Richard Austin-Rees hosts a sparkling VIP party
Wales’s Ricky Cooper, Roddy Matthews and Richard Blake Thomas
Asahi Beach Polo Championships; Sandbanks, Dorset; 6-7 June 2012
Sporting delight on the Dorset sand
International model Katya Elizarova
Sandbanks, renowned for its long white beaches, hosted two days of three-a-side beach polo in a specially constructed arena for the fifth consecutive year. However, true to previous form, it was once again the après polo that provided the clearest talking points, if not the clearest memories of the weekend. The boisterous parties on each evening this year were stylishly hosted by London’s Kensingtonbased nightclub, Amika, and attended by polo players, celebrities and the Bournemouth area's local glitterati. Cue the fireworks. w Photographs by Kian Gheissari and Paul Froud w Discover how the action unfolded on pages 52-53
Catherine Schuster Bruce and Leila Zanette
Chantelle Holland, Kathryn Taylor and Kiyana Zokaie
Carly Chishall
Party revellers get into the swing of things Lyndsey Brockway and Ryan Pow
The polo theme ran throughout
Josh Lewsey challenged the Audi Polo artist Patrick Killian
Clare Goode and Olga Taylor
Winners, Ireland Roy Prisk, Jamie Morrison and Charlie Wooldrige
Live entertainment provided by Amika
Jemma Lester, Michael Sugden and Jillian Reid of The Hideaways Club
PT p82-83 Sidelines 1 JM MB PJ.indd 2
20/07/2012 16:21
Matt Ford and Jason Turner
Ilusion Fashion Show’s models
Galloping down the boards
Martin Valent
Gaucho Sunset Polo (29 June) and the Access Bank Polo Day (8 July); Ham Polo Club Ricky Cooper, Sophie Heaton-Ellis and Johnny Wheeler
Colber AdamianThomas
Major Iain Forbes-Cockell
Kaya Campbell and Gonzalo Del Rio Garcia
High-goal’s Got Talent More than 400 spectators from Access Bank and Fifth Chukker Polo Club enjoyed two exciting spectacles at Ham Polo Club earlier this season. Players in the Access Bank Day – the highest-handicap game ever played at Ham – included Adolfo Cambiaso, Adamu Atta (owner of Fifth Chukker) and Maita Mohamed Al Maktoum, who proved to be a force to be reckoned with on the field. Off the field, live music was performed by Ghana’s Got Talent star Gena West.
Thirsty spectators
wP hotographs by Hugo Davis and Mark Beaumont Damian Duncan Martin Williams and Jo Coombs Twin spectators
Santa Bukarske and Maija Jacabson
Jamie Morrison
Johnny Lynn alongside the Maharaja Sawai Padmanabh Singh of Jaipur
Roddy Matthews taking a tumble for Wales
PT p82-83 Sidelines 1 JM MB PJ.indd 3
20/07/2012 18:39
Sidelines
Two Household Cavalry soldiers in ceremonial regalia
Sophie Allsopp
Chloe and Ben Vestey
Beth Dean
Mark Francis
Berenberg International Day – Polo For the Brave Coworth Park Polo Club; 30 June 2012
Teams play for charity
Natasha Palys
Organisers revolutionised the Coworth Park marquee – a welltrodden path for the polo community this summer – with a beautiful cream interior and luxurious carpet, which was the setting for a £200-a-head VIP lunch for more than 300 spectators, who’d arrived to see an 18-goal exhibition match and a second game sponsored by Backes and Strauss. Two accompanying auctions helped raise more than £50,000 for two selected charities.
hotographs by British Polo Day wP ead more on the action on the day on page 56 wR Bobby Dundas, Steph Targett and boyfriend Dave Allen
Poppy Stevens and a friend
Oli Hipwood and Henrietta Luchterhand with the best playing pony rug
Fast open polo was the order of the day
Tom Chamberlin and Izzy Priestly
Patrick Grant and Kevin Martel
A young guest
Wallerstein, winners of the second game
Suffolk Test Match; 30 June 2012 Trinity Park Showground, Ipswich – Suffolk
Aussies test Young England Max Charlton and best playing pony Leche
Polo’s first ever Test Match in Suffolk saw Young England beat Australia in front of sold-out grandstands, gazebos and marquees. A trade village along the boards also proved very popular, and the day is being seen as a resounding success and a great achievement for the organisers. w The full Test Match report is on pages 62-63
Spectators make the most of the sunshine
w Photographs by Wendy Turner, Red Shed Photography
Ladies follow tradition and tread-in Support for Young England David Woodd
VIP hospitality lunch marquee Unorthodox polo attire... There was a jovial atmosphere amongst those on the sidelines
PT p84-85 Sidelines 2 JM PJ MB.indd 2
Annie and Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers
...and the more traditional were on display
Selina Hopkins
20/07/2012 11:14
%6
BVS 2WO[]\R 8cPWZSS @SUS\b '# =\Zg aWfbg Q`OTbSR
follow n and n
, 5P]XdY >_]PP_ 8LdQLT] 7ZYOZY >B D !35 4]` RSbOWZa ]T ]c` e]`ZReWRS `SbOWZS`a ^ZSOaS dWaWb
bbb MLNVP^LYO^_]L`^^ NZX
PT%6 '-5 3ROR7LPHV $: LQGG p84-85 Sidelines 2.indd 3
19/07/2012 15:16
Sidelines
Play underway
Marlene Tackenberg and Kristina Bach
Marc and Pia Mark
Christian Völkers and Gastgeber Ninon
Engel & Volkers charity polo weekend; 14 July 2012 Son Coll – the Private Estate of Christian Volkers, Majorca
All in white looks just right Christian Volkers, CEO and founder of Engel & Volkers AG, hosted 450 invited guests in the sunshine in Majorca, whilst most spectators in the UK were gearing up for brave unseasonable conditions at the Gold Cup final in mid-July. The event raised €11,000 for his Engel & Volkers Charity, which will support a primary school in Togo. Six teams of three players, plus 60 horses imported by ferry from Spain or Germany and three days of polo ended with Rolls Royce taking home the trophy.
Astrid Prinzessin and Christian Prinz zu Stolberg
w Photographed by Tom Solo Johann Völkers and Freundin Jessica Lacobucci
Ina Schlüter, Philip Moffat and Sidonie Gräfin von Wedel
Renate Gräfin Rehbinder and Adalbert Prinz von Preußen
Alexandra Pilz, Marlene Tackenberg and Claudia Wohlfromm
Annelie Völkers and Enkel Christian Völkers (Jr)
Antonia Crespí and Konstantin Wettig
Arndt and Dr Julie Klippgen
Eva Prinzessin von Preußen and Kristina Baronin von Gumppenberg
Gastón Maíquez
Andreas Graf and Isa Gräfin von Hardenberg
Diamond Jubilee Ball Tidworth Polo Club; 30 June 2012
Peace and love for all Inga van den Broeck, John Wright, Simon Goldstin and David Wildridge Brigadier John Wright and Christiana Drews Wright
The annual Tidworth Polo Week coincided with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, paving the way for a 1960s-themed ball. A funky, glamorous party ensued – which saw HPA chairman-elect Brigadier John Wright first on the dance floor – and the festivities rocked on until the early hours, when Elvis finally left the building. w Photographs by Viv Brett
Anna Clayton-Smith, Harry Fraser and Lindsey Geekie
PT p86-87 Sidelines 3 JM MB PJ.indd 2
Shaun Bockenshaw and Alicia Wright
Rory Edmonds and Susie Richards
Jenny Etchells and Ian Clayton-Smith
Nikki Blanchard
Imi Taylor
Saskia Weijand and Richard Swift
20/07/2012 16:26
Mollie King
Marta Gaya, Natasha Zupan, James Anderson and Stephen Gambrel
Dagmar and Christian Neukom (Consul of Majorca) Yoanna Otto
Charles, George and Lila Pearson
Veuve Clicquot’s Gold Cup lunch Cowdray Park – 15 July 2012
Gold Cup glam The action on Lawns II at Cowdray Park yet again proved to be an enticing proposition for an attractive gaggle of celebrities, sponsors and polo players, who arrived to watch the big final from the comfort of the Veuve Clicquot enclosure – one of the hottest tickets of the summer. A steam-powered vintage Victorian merry-go-round looked the part near the entrance but, ultimately, the drama served up by El Remanso and Cortium on the other side of the enclosure proved the far more entertaining option.
Katherine Jenkins
Prince Albert Esiri
Tolula Adeyemi
Chris O’Dowd and Dawn Porter
wP hotographed by Clive Bennett for Veuve Clicquot Jaime Ramón Pons and Lydia Sanchez de Ramon
wT o read our full Gold Cup report, turn to pages 40-44
Nina and Andreas Stang
Jodie Kidd and Andrea Vianini
Rupert Finch and Lady Natasha Rufus Isaacs
Henry Holland
Laurence Fox, Billie Piper, Lily James and Jack Fox
Celebrating the return of polo to Westerlands Stud Westerlands Stud, Petworth; 7 July 2012
Game of kings back out West
Julian Hipwood, Roderick Vere Nicoll and Carlos Mejia
Stevie Orthwein, Ginny Orthwein and David Jamison
PT p86-87 Sidelines 3 JM MB PJ.indd 3
Polo and Westerlands Stud have been re-united for the first time since the turn of the millennium. To celebrate the return of the game at the base for the Tramontana team (five-time winners of the Gold Cup in the late 80s and early 90s), owner David Jamison and daughter Antonia threw a party in typical polo style, with an asado, washed down by Sipsmith Gin – courtesy of Mr Fairfax Hall – and energetic dancing into the night. w Photographs taken and provided by Derek Russell-Stoneham
Pamela Jamison, with Anthony and Julia Embiricos
Chris and Nicki Bethell
Luke Tomlinson
Antonia and Melanie Jamison
George Pearson, Lila Pearson and Oliver Hancock
20/07/2012 16:26
Nicola Hodges, Angela Robb, Anuschka Bahlsen, Amy Nelson, Hazel Jackson, Nina Clarkin and Sam Buckles
Hazel Jackson and Lucy Taylor
Nina Clarkin, Adolfo Cambiaso and Jodie Kidd
Ibiza Beach Polo Cup Santa Eularia, Ibiza; 22-24 June 2012
Brits in the Balearics
Victoria Devin and Mansour Abulhoul
Charlotte Sweeney, Nina Clarkin and Jodie Kidd
Adolfo Cambiaso’s La Dolfina team won the third Ibiza Beach Polo Cup for the second consecutive year. James Blunt, Jodie Kidd – playing for the Evian team – and Duchess Silvia Serra di Casano attended the four-day event, alongside a host of other polo people and celebrities. w The full Ibiza Beach Polo report is on page 54 w Photographed by Nicola Hodges
Sponsors Bentley exhibiting their cars
Winning ladies’ team, Victoria Fenestraz, Katie Jenkinson and Hazel Jackson
Macmillan Cancer Support Day Rutland Polo Club; 8 July 2012
Charity draw Cheerful umpire Nick Winterton
The Macmillan Cancer Support Charity Polo tournament was held at Rutland Polo Club on 8 July, when 200 guests enjoyed a lunch and charity auction before a 0-goal exhibition match between Macmillan and home team Rutland – sponsored by Berkeley Insurance. This game, which diplomatically ended in a 6-6 draw, replaced the weather-affected Assam and Findlay Cup tournaments, which were postponed.
Groundsman Joe North
w All photographs by Nico Morgan Guests enjoying a charity auction raising funds for Macmillan Cancer Support
Berkeley Insurance’s CEO Tim Maxted
Lawrence Wang
w The Assam Cup, which had been planned for the day, has been rescheduled for the bank holiday weekend at the end of August
Harrow School’s tour to Mongolia Genghis Khan Polo Club; 7-18 July 2012
Feeding time
Boys on tour Rather than going their separate ways at the start of the summer holidays, Harrow’s polo-playing pupils disappeared to the mountains of Mongolia. w Turn to page 71 for more photos and information Atmospheric entertainment from Harrow
w The trip was photographed by Darren Bell The prematch parade
PT p88-89 Sidelines 4 JM MB PJ.indd 2
Dusk begins as polo ends
Harrow’s “A” team
20/07/2012 16:39
Lucy Taylor and Charlotte Sweeney
Tim Brown and family
Andrea Vianini, Nic Roldan and Rodriguez Pilquet
David Woodd
The Rundle Cup, Armed Forces Polo; 14 July 2012 Tidworth Polo Club
Ponies, bikes, wheelchairs Nic Roldan with models
Cedric Schweri
Will Brasher
Henry Browne and Paul Girdham
Henry Browne
Two prestigious polo cups were played for last month, with inter-force rivalry running high amongst both players and spectators. The patriotic crowd provided an intimidating atmosphere for the visiting team from the USA, but offered great support when the Celebrity Inspire Charity teams got involved in polo, bike polo and wheelchair racing, all in the name of entertainment.
Max Lopez-Valido, Katie Price, Leandro Penna, Heather Hine and Robert Morgan
Jonathon Vickery, Kat Adams and Count Charles Coundley
wR ead what went on in our action round-up on page 58 wP hotographs by Peter Meade
MacMillanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Elizabeth Mills
Jason Dixon
In the hot seat
Brigadier John Wright and Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Levine
Creative menu
Matt Eyre-Brook with his best playing pony
All ages showed their support
Serene grounds in the mountains
Harrowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; boys soak up the polo from the sidelines Tom Ward
The Royal Navy and Army teams line up after their match The Wheelchair race begins...
Arthur Blount
PT p88-89 Sidelines 4 JM MB PJ.indd 3
Will Hinckley and Dan Graham
...and ends
Simon Ledger
20/07/2012 18:45
Polo directory
Dates for your diary
Club contacts UK and Ireland
South East AEPC, Hickstead – 01273 834315 * Ascot Park – 01276 858545 * Ash Farm – 01932 872521 * Belmont, Mill Hill – 020 7318 4490 * Blueys Polo Club – 07930 323263 Binfield Heath – 01491 411969 Barcombe – 07533 213160 Burningfold – 01483 200722 Cowdray Park – 01730 813257 Coworth Park – 01784 470009 Epsom – 07961 232106 * FHM – 07778 436468 * Fifield – 01628 620061 * Guards – 01784 434212 Ham – 020 8334 0000 Hurtwood Park – 01483 272828 Kirtlington Park – 01869 350138 Knepp Castle – 01403 741007 Lacey Green – 07956 525222 Park Lane – 07976 242877* Ranelagh Farm – 01344 885697 RMAS – 07766 924101 Royal County of Berkshire – 01344 890060 * Sussex Polo – 01342 714920 * West Wycombe – 07841 597045 * White Waltham – 07748 670587
East Apsley End – 01462 712444 * Cambridge & Newmarket – 07769 976781 (back 2013) Carlton House – 01986 892231 Frolic Farm – 01223 812922 Haggis Farm – 01223 460353 * Hertfordshire – 01707 256023 Little Bentley – 01206 250435 Luton Hoo – 07934 882713 Norfolk – 01508 480400 * Silver Leys – 07535 697854 St Albans – 07438 076644 Suffolk Polo – 07990 576974
South West Asthall Farm – 01367 860207 Beaufort – 01666 880510 Cirencester Park – 01285 653225 Druids Lodge – 01722 782597 * Edgeworth – 01285 821695 Ladyswood – 01666 840880 Longdole – 01452 864544 * Lynt – 07957 468220 * Lytchett Heath – 01202 623985 Maywood – 01962 885500 * New Forest – 02380 811818 Taunton – 01823 480460 Tidworth – 01980 846705 * Vaux Park – 07703 524613 * West Somerset – 01884 251632
Midlands Dallas Burston – 01926 812409 Offchurch Bury – 07816 830887 Leadenham – 01400 272885 Ranksboro – 01572 720046* Rugby – 01788 817724 * Rutland – 01572 724568
North Beverley – 01964 544455 * Toulston – 01422 372529 Vale of York – 07788 426968 * White Rose – 01430 875767 * Cheshire – 01270 611100 Chester Racecourse – 01244 304602
Scotland Borders Reivers – 01890 840777 Dundee & Perth – 07879 895780 Edinburgh – 0131 449 6696 * Kinross – 07831 365194 * Stewarton – 07974 706045
Ireland All Ireland – +353 (0) 1 6896732 Bunclody – +353 87 6605917 Curraghmore – +353 51 387102 Limerick – +353 (0) 87 2231690 Moyne – +353 85 1313224 Northern Ireland – 02890 727905 Wicklow – +353 (0) 404 67164 * Waterford – +353 51 595280 * denotes winter arena polo venue hTo contact the HPA, tel: 01367 242828
90 Polo Times, August 2012
PT p90-91 What's on JM PJ MB.indd 2
What’s on in August UK highlights High Goal
Cirencester Park – Warwickshire Cup (20): 24 July – 12 August Cirencester Park – Cirencester 26 goal (26): 1-12 August
Medium Goal Cowdray Park – Harrison Cup (12-15): 23 July – 4 August RCBPC – Polo Festival (-2-10): 30 July – 12 August Ham – Dubai Trophy (8-12): 31 July – 11 August Guards – Duke of Wellington Trophy (6-12): 31 July – 12 August Coworth Park – Valerie Halford Memorial Trophy (8-12): 7-27 August Cirencester Park – County Cup (Open/1215): 13-26 August Guards – Duke of Cornwall (12-16): 14-26 August RCBPC – 8-12 Goal Championship (8-12): 20-26 August RCBPC – 12-15 Goal Championship (12-15): 25 August – 2 September Cirencester Park – Cheltenham Cup (8-12): 28 August – 9 September
Low Goal Cowdray Park – Holden White Challenge Cup (4-8): 20 July – 5 August Vaux Park – August Somerset Tournament (0-4): 31 July – 5 August Guards – Town and County Championships (4-8): 31 July – 11 August Lynt – Polo Times tournament (-2-6): 4-5 August Druids Lodge – Harvest Cup (4-6): 4-12 August Kirtlington Park – Budgett Everett Trophy (2-6): 7-19 August Chester – The Rodee Challenge Cup (6-8): 10-12 August Binfield Heath – Chairman’s Cup (0-4): 11-12 August Ascot – Whaka Cup (4-6): 11-12 August Cowdray Park – West Sussex Cup (6): 13 August – 2 September Lacey Green – The Bucks Trophy Centre Cup (2-6): 15-16 August Ham – Roehampton Cup (6-8): 16-26 August Burningfold – Alfold Bowl (0-4): 16-19 August Beaufort – Wichenford Bowl (4-8): 18-27 August
Haggis Farm – Bailey’s Horse Feed Challenge (0-4): 18-19 August Cirencester Park – Kingscote Cup (2-6): 20 August – 8 September Dallas Burston – The Silchar Trophy (2-6): 25-26 August Knepp – Sotheby’s, Lycetts and Savills 6 Goal (0-6): 25-27 August Fifield – Jo Hamed Memorial Trophy (0-4): 25-27 August Rutland – The Assam Cup (2-6): 25-27 August
Youth Hurtwood Park – Jorrocks Championships (Open): 8 August Cowdray Park – Pony Club Championships (Open): 10-12 August Cowdray Park – The Colts Cup (Open): 14-16 August Kirtlington Park – Alan Budgett (England Colts vs New Zealand Colts): 18 August Ham – Stagshead Trophy/BBVA/Kingfisher Junior Colts (Open): 19 August Rutland – Whitbread Trophy (England Colts vs Scotland Colts): 22 August Cheshire – Pidgley Foundation Festival (Open): 25-26 August Cheshire – SUPA Tri Nations (Open): 25-27 August
Combined Services Hurtwood Park – Heritage Cup (0-6): 1-5 August Tidworth – Duke of York Cup (Open): 4 August Tidworth – Sassoon Cup (Open): 4 August Tidworth – AGC Cup (Open): 27 August
Special events Boxted, Essex – Charity Polo Day in aid of Spinal Research (Open): 5 August w For a full list of all the tournaments see www.polotimes.co.uk
Other dates Doncaster – Doncaster Bloodstock Sales (Flat and National Hunt, including Flat fillies and NH youngsters): 7-8 August Brightwells, Ascot – Flat and National Hunt horses in and out of training, point to pointers and untried youngstock: 28 August Doncaster – Premier Sales: 29-30 August www.polotimes.co.uk
19/07/2012 18:19
Polo directory
Dates for your diary
Main overseas tournament highlights France
Germany
Switzerland
St Tropez – Cote d’Azur Polo Cup (8-12/0-6): 1-12 August St Tropez – Polo Silver Cup (8-12/0-6): 30 August – 2 September
Berlin – German High Goal Championships (8-12): 3-12 August Gut Aspern – German Medium Goal Championships (2-6): 24 August – 2 September
Gstaad – Hublot Gold Cup (14): 16-19 August Veytay – Jaeger Le-Coultre Trophy (Open): 22 August – 2 September
China Tang, Bejing – Young Guns Tour (0-2): 21-26 August Tang, Bejing – Warrier Cup (10): 23-26 August
Spain Santa María – BMW Silver and Gold Cups (4-20): 28 July – 1 September
USA Santa Barbara – USPA Piaget Silver Cup (20): 1-12 August Santa Barbara – USPA Bombardier Pacific Coast Open (20): 15 August – 2 September
Television highlights for subscribers based in the UK this month 5 August, 10am, 1pm & 8pm: Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup – Sky Sports 4
14 August, 2pm: Argentine Open 2011 (Ellerstina vs Alegria) – Horse & Country TV
5 August, 4pm: Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup – Sky Sports 2
14 August, 3pm: Argentine Open 2011 (La Dolfina vs Pilará) – Horse & Country TV
6 August, 1.30am: Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup – Sky Sports 3
15 August, 2pm: Argentine Open 2011 (Estancia Grande vs Alegria) – Horse & Country TV
6 August, 9.55am: Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup – Sky Sports 4
15 August, 3pm: Argentine Open 2011 (Ellerstina vs Indios Chapaleufú II) – Horse & Country TV (Sky channel 280)
13 August, 2pm: Argentine Open 2011 (La Dolfina vs Chapa Uno) – Horse & Country TV (Sky channel 280) 13 August, 3pm: Argentine Open 2011 (La Aguada vs Pilará) – Horse & Country TV
15 August, 11pm: Argentine Open final 2011 (Ellerstina vs La Dolfina) – Horse & Country TV 16 August, 2pm: Argentine Open 2011 (Pilará vs Chapa Uno) – Horse & Country TV
16 August, 3pm: Argentine Open 2011 (La Dolfina vs La Aguada) – Horse & Country TV 17 August, 2pm: Argentine Open 2011 (Ellerstina vs Estancia Grande) – H&C TV 17 August, 3pm & 5pm: Argentine Open final 2011 (Ellerstina vs La Dolfina) – Horse & Country TV (Sky channel 280) 19 August, 10.30am: HPA’s International Day 2012 (England v South Africa) – Sky Sports 4 19 August, 2pm: HPA’s International Day 2012 (England v South Africa) – Sky Sports 3 20 August, 3am, 7am & 4pm: HPA’s International Day 2012 (England v South Africa) – Sky Sports 3
8 & 9 SEPTEMBER 2012
GENERAL ADMISSION £6 HOSPITALITY FROM £42 + VAT
www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p90-91 What's on JM PJ MB.indd 3
Polo Times, August 2012 91
19/07/2012 18:20
Polo directory
Advertising
Executive helicopter charter service Heli Air can make your day at a polo match an even more memorable experience. Fly by helicopter to the events of your choice, from wherever you live or are staying, on the day with speed and comfort.
Sports Pitch Experts specialising in Polo field construction, land drainage and renovation of Sports Fields and Dressage Surfaces
Heli Air Head Office • Warwick • CV35 9EU Also at: Wycombe, Silverstone, London/Denham, London/Fairoaks and Thruxton
Tel: 01256 880488 email: info@kestrelcontractors.co.uk
01789 470476 • HeliAir.com • Charter@HeliAir.com
www.kestrelcontractors.co.uk
Located in the heart of the New Zealand Polo Scene we offer Polo for beginners and experienced players alike, together with an unforgettable Kiwi holiday experience. Chukkas, matches and tournaments at the famous Waimai Club plus farm chukkas trekking and beach rides. Holidays tailored to suite your requirements.
Check us out at www.newzealandpoloholidays.co.nz or call Ken Pitts – NZ +64 7 825 4535, Matt Pitts – UK 07721919465 or Toby Pitts – UK 07514433033 email – amberwood@farmside.co.nz
Special occasion polo cards for birthdays, anniversaries, get well soon, weddings, & baby congratulations; from £2.99 plus p&p Visit www.Katesart.com or txt/tel 07887 678421 or email: enquiries@Katesart.com image copyright protected by Katesart.com 2007
92 Polo Times, August 2012
PT p92-97 Polo directory and Classified.indd 2
www.polotimes.co.uk
20/07/2012 13:13
Invites every person that would like to learn; improve their game, or just e n j o y this passionate sport i n t e n s e l y , to some unforgettable
Holidays
in
A r g e n t i n a , the C a p i t o l o f P o l o . AMENITIES ·Transfers in and out to the airport. ·Room with private bathroom and daily service. ·Daily laundry service. ·Breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. ·Open Bar. ·Wi-Fi - Internet ·Swimming pool. ·Heated spa and Jacuzzi covered. Location - Cañuelas ·Tennis court. The Estancia is only 20´ from the ·Golf driving range. airport, 45´ from BA and next doors ·Clay pigeon shooting. to Cambiaso´s Polo Club. ·Gymnasium. ·One relaxing massage. ·Riding green horses classes. ·Trail horses and trail riding whenever desired. ·Trail riding through “La Caledonia” (one of the oldest Estancias in the Country, owned by Argentine ex president Juan Manuel de Rosas). ·Hare hunting with greyhounds on horse back. ·Horse-drawn carriage rides. ·Pato exhibition (argentine national sport on horseback), plus the opportunity to try yourself. ·Transportation to watch the Argentinean Opens. ·Tickets to the Open. ·Tours of Polo equipment manufacturers (boots, helmets, mallets, tack, etc). ·Visit to gaucho rodeo show. ·Transportation to tourist attractions (some possibilities: shopping in Buenos Aires, visits to La Martina Polo Club, Adolfo Cambiaso´s Ranch, Old Estancias, shopping at typical Argentine and gaucho gift shops). ·One dinner with Tango Show at Señor Tango in Buenos Aires. ·Tango lessons at the ranch. ·Dinner in the best restaurants in Buenos Aires.
Polo
·6 games per week (including 4 chukkers, horses, tack and groom, played on a professional Bermuda grass field with borders). ·One 8-10 goal tournament (including trophies and post game party with food and typical argentine music). ·2 horses to stick and ball in the morning. ·Polo lessons or clinic every day. ·2 wooden horses in cages for hitting practice. ·Training programme consisting of swing and technique-theory, game theory and practice followed by polo specific fitness routine. For players: U$D 295-per day (during polo season). All included. U$D 350-per day (during semi-final and final of Palermo's Open). All included. / November 16th - December 10th For Non-Players: U$D 165-per day. All included. (Regarding discount for groups / Club managers free) Our prices include “Amenities” and “Polo”. This system is set up to guarantee our guests all the activities and meals inside and outside the Estancia in order to let our guests enjoy themselves with no worries; moreover to make them feel at ease about the money they are going to spend. “ Nov & February 10% off "
Main House
Club House
Relax
Tradition
Shooting
Lessons
Clinics
Practices
Tournaments
Prices
Estancia Don Manuel is considered to be one of the most prestigious Polo Resorts from Argentina, due to the profesionalism and respect we show to our friends, who visit us year after year, from all over the world. We have been doing this since 1998, please contact us and let us try to build the best Polo Vacation for you, your family or your club.
Ask for daily sample itinerary and dates of the 2012 Argentinean Opens.
PT p92-97 Polo directory and Classified.indd 3
Contact: Emiliano Blanco ARG+54 9 11 4998 9800
info@estanciadonmanuel.com estanciadonmanuel@gmail.com
w w w . e s t a n c i a d o n m a n u e l . c om
20/07/2012 13:13
Polo directory
Advertising
Rob Cudmore England Coach, 2 HPA Instructors
Polo Arena Construction
• 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
C O N T R A C TO R S
• • • • • • •
Manege Construction Pony Lines & Wash-Down Areas Lunge Rings & Exercise Tracks Equestrian & Stock Fencing Roads & Tracks Hard Standings & Concrete Slabs Special Projects
for more information please contact: tel: 01483 894 888 • mob: 07836 356714 • fax: 01483 892 497 email: jeremy@jcfc.co.uk web: www.jcfc.co.uk
Now that the rain has chased away the high-goal Argies
Let’s enjoy the rest of the season in the sun
ATS We’ve got everything for polo Look on our website:
www.satsfaction.com Phone us on: 01285 841 542 Fax us on: 01285 841 546 Email us on: sats@lineone.net South American Trade Services, Sandpool House, Sandpool Lane, Tarlton, Cirencester, Glos GL7 6PB
94 Polo Times, August 2012
PT p92-97 Polo directory and Classified.indd 4
www.polotimes.co.uk
20/07/2012 13:13
Advertising
Polo directory
We have a large selection of NEW & SECOND-HAND Luxury Horseboxes
New body conversions with new coach built bodies, luxury living that offers the best in appliances and workmanship.
2005 MAN TGA 18.350 9 Horse full spec. Air suspension with drawbar trailer to carry 7 horses.
2004 DAF TRUCKS FA LF55.180, 7 Horse, 8 Ponies/ Cobs, with new alloy body On Air, Sold with full test
2006 MAN 12 ton 2004 DAF TRUCKS CF75.360 Carry 8 Horses, Twin Sleeper Cab, 40ft Artic Trailer Sleeper, Air Suspension to carry 17 Horses, passed 210 Engine, With London with DEFRA, will split, well Low Emission Zone maintained.
2005 DAF TRUCKS FA LF55.220 8 Horse New Alloy Body
To view our stock visit our website www.tandsharkerhorseboxes.co.uk Email: enquires@tandsharkerhorseboxes.co.uk Tel: 01325 332 649 Mobile: 07901 857960 Fax: 01325 333554 Eddlethorpe Farm, Stockton Road, Sadberge, Darlington, Co Durham DL2 1TB ALL VEHICLES ARE PLUS VAT FINANCE AVAILABLE
www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p92-97 Polo directory and Classified.indd 5
Polo Times, August 2012 95
20/07/2012 14:31
Polo directory
Classifieds
Ponies 14 YEAR OLD GREY GELDING FOR SALE 15.3hh. Would suit make patron to pro. Slightly nervous in the stable but easy to handle to box, clip, shoe no vices. Ash Farm. £6,500. Ready to try please call 07799 812739 BLACK BEAUTY 7-year-old. Easy and versatile pretty TB mare. Played by -1 and + 1 player in arena or grass. Sweet natured and 100% sound. £5.750 ovno. Tel: 01342 714920 POWERFUL EX-HIGH GOAL POLO PONY Has played 2-22 goal polo and taken me from 1 to 2 goals. 15.3hh 15 years old. Needs confident player. Only selling as have too many home-bred coming on. Cowdray. £5,500. Contact: Rupert.Langdon@dtre.eu or 07768 736816 QUALITY SCHOOLMASTER POLO PONY Very easy. Has played 2-12 goal polo and taken me from 0 to 2 goals. Double chukkas and never been lame. 17 years old. Only selling as have too many home bred. Cowdray. £5,500. Contact: Rupert.Langdon@ dtre.eu or 07768 736816. 15.2HH MARE EXCELLENT EASY POLO PONY Very handy. Plays up to 8 goal well. Super reliable Pony Club/ low goal pony. Played all the way up to Gannon. Smooth canter, very easy hitting platform. Easy in every way to load/travel/hack/tie up. 14 years old. £4,000. Fit and ready to go. Tel: 07531 900596 STUNNING 15.2HH TB BAY GELDING Very relaxed, calm ride. Great paces. Has played low goal at Kirtlington for the last 5 years with -1 goal female patron. Beautiful light mouth and flat hitting platform. Can double chukka. Kind, genuine and reliable. Good to box,
96 Polo Times, August 2012
PT p92-97 Polo directory and Classified PJ.indd 6
show, clip etc. Fit and ready to go. 9 years old. Kirtlington. £4,250. Tel: 07720 468047 SEVEN WELL DISCIPLINED PONIES FOR SALE great ponies for sale from up and coming to proven competition ponies. 6 to 12 years old with prices from £2,500 to £10,000. Please call for more details and a trial. Berkshire. Tel: 01488 670484 or email templetonhouse@gmail.com 15.3HH GELDING – EXCELLENT IN THE RAIN AND MUD 10 year old tough gelding, fast, hard ride off, sound and clean. Loves playing in the mud and rain. For sale only as overstocked. Can be tried in arena in the rain! Oxfordshire. £6,500. Tel: 07979 494553 SELECTION OF HIGH QUALITY PONIES FOR SALE Must sell due to pregnancy! Two playing mares, 6 and 7 years old, pro or patron. Three 5 year old TB mares, 15/15.1hh, very talented and all stick and balled. Argentine gelding, lovely and easy with smooth action. No sensible offer refused but these horses are a cut above. Tel: 07970 697593 A SELECTION OF LOVELY PONIES for sale. Played up to 8-goal, very safe and sound. Two of the ponies have also hunted and jump well. Ideal for low goal polo. Cambridge. From £2,000. For details call Josh 07711 217004 POLO PONIES FOR SALE Zero goal patron giving up, Very high quality horses. Oxford. For more information please call 07920 148494 DREAM POLO PONY Sweet kind 15.1hh, 4 year old TB mare, professionally made and schooled. Fast, sensible, gentle. Fit and playing in/out with 3-goaler. Easy, no vices/injuries. Wise and able beyond years, will excel, suit good rider, competitive lady or light-med weight guy. Genuine sale. £3,750 ono. Warwickshire. Please email beuer_estates@hotmail.com or call/text 07788 136378 TWO PONIES FOR SALE 15.2hh liver chestnut gelding, 12 years old, played up to 12 goals, superb hitting platform, fast but with excellent breaks. 15.1hh bay mare, 10 years old, unbelievably responsive and quick to turn, excellent hitting platform. Both quiet and always
sound. Gloucestershire. £5,000 and £6,000. Contact: simon-tessa@hotmail.com or 07979 752324 SUPERB 10 YEAR OLD CRIOLLO – SINGLE AMATEUR OWNER Pinta, my 14.2hh Argentinian mare brought over by me five years ago, has played up to 4-goal. She has never had a day of injury or illness, and with an excellent turn of speed. Worth MUCH more, but priced to sell. Try her and you will love her talent and control. Kirtlington. £3,500. Contact: cliveking@ email.com or on 07959 195058 STRIKING 9 YEAR OLD TB MARE India is a 9 year old thoroughbred mare. Very fast and tough. Played up to 12-goal in Cowdray, has the potential to go much further. Sound and good to go. Up to date with shoes, teeth and vaccs. Does windsuck in stables. £15,000. Cowdray. Contact Nick Clague on 07867 785462 or nickclague@ hotmail.co.uk. 15.1HH – PERFECT PONY CLUB PONY Thoroughbred, played up to 6 goal with present owner. Happy to double chukka, 16 years young. Good to shoe, box and winters very well. Clean legs and plenty more to give. Location: Lynt Polo Club – £2,950. Tel: 07881 528627 SMART, EASY TB GELDING 5yrs 15.2hh bay gelding. Naturally balanced, well-schooled, smooth ride at all speeds and up to weight. Super-sweet natured and safe. Played polo and polocrosse. Fit and ready to go. Location: Ruthin, North Wales. £4,950. Tel: 07919 064901 STRIKING PAIR COLOURED POLO PONIES Rosita, 15.2hh, 8 years old. Primera, 15.2hh, 11 years old. Argentine mares. Both very easy, light mouthed responsive ponies have taken lady rider from beginner through to playing in 4 goal. Same owner for 6 years. Never injured or lame. Owner giving up. Location: Yorkshire. £11,000 for the pair. Can be split. Tel: 07531 281763 TWO BEAUTIFUL 7 YEAR OLD TB MARES FOR SALE Dark bay 15.1hh, extremely fast, played up to 8 goal but could easily go higher; Bright bay 15.3hh, lovely hitting platform, very light mouth. Suit competent player/pro. Location: Surrey. £6,000 and £3,000. Tel: 07739 404927 ENTHUSIASTIC ALL ROUNDER Juancito’s enthusiastic and willing, comfortable playing at all levels. 13 years old but you wouldn’t know it. Knows the game well. Happy to hack too. He’s playing fit, has had no injuries in the three years that I’ve owned him, will happily double chukka. Height 15.1hh. Uses 51 or 52-inch stick. Location: Ascot Park Polo Club. £2,950 including tack ono. Contact Trish 07958 633577
www.polotimes.co.uk
20/07/2012 17:29
Classifieds NINE YEAR OLD TB BAY GELDING PLAYING PONY Played up to 6 goal tournaments with 0-goaler, only lightly played, still improving. Sound and will pass any vetting. Very good looking fast pony. Owner now back to work! Location: Surrey. £2,000 ono. Tel: 07799 716967 PONY CLUB POLO PONY 14.1hh Argentinian grey mare. Safe, fast, obedient, easy in every way. Played by lady ready to move up. Double chukkas, fit, sound, 17 years young. Good home only. Location: Surrey. £1,500. Tel: 07971 036563 SUPERB POLO PONY FOR SALE 14.1hh chestnut mare, 8 years old, suit beginners/pony club/ Surtees, Loriner level. Easy to do. Good level playing platform. Played indoor and outdoor uni nationals polo and also adult chukkas. Good to hack. Sad sale of a super pony due to owner’s ill health. £3,250 ono including tack/rugs/boots/bandages. Contact: 07889 599227 (Guildford, Surrey) 15.1HH TB MARE 7-year-old dark bay thoroughbred. Fast, turns quickly, double chukkas. Currently fit and ready, playing 4 goal. Can be tried in Rutland – arena available. £4,750. Contact: 07790 020886 15.1HH TB MARE 7-year-old grey thoroughbred mare. Light mouthed, very responsive, turns beautifully and showing huge potential in her second season. Fit and ready to go. Can be seen in Rutland – arena available. £4,750. Contact: 07790 020886 TWO BAY MARES 5 year old bright bay English TB, quiet to ride, playing chukkas. Perfect in stable, pretty, fit. Ready to try has huge potential, vets well. 13 year old, dark bay, fast easy, very handy, has played zero goal to 15-goal this season, suitable for professional or patron. Bit of wear but totally sound. £2,500. Berkshire. Tel: 07802 835105 PONIES FOR SALE Due to our youngsters now fully playing we sadly need to move on some old friends. Oscar 10 years old, 15.2hh, eye-catching appaloosa plays to 12 goal, very agile, £8000.
Designed by www.nickiaverilldesign.co.uk Printed by The Manson Group Contact details Holbrook Farm, East End, North Leigh, Oxfordshire OX29 6PX Tel: 01993 886 885 Fax: 01993 882 660 email: admin@polotimes.co.uk
Poppy 21 years old, 15.1hh, rides and feels 8 years old, never sick or sorry, played Loriner to 15 goal. Windsucks, £1500. Piggy 17 years old, 15.1hh very talented, pony club to 15 goal, also brilliant in arena £1500. Bear 8 years old 15.2hh very easy, lots of potential, £8000. Contact: Mark Baldwin 07917 632030 or Peter 07785 583076 HIGH QUALITY PONIES FOR SALE Player emigrating to sunnier climate! New homes needed for string, including 15 years old Kiwi Thoroughbred, clean legs, suit young pro. Seven years old, easy, still plenty of potential, also three others. From £3,000. Reading, Berkshire. Tel: 07887 504718 PLAYING STRING OF THREE FOR SALE Professional string for sale, ranging from medium to low goal junior HPA, easy and reliable horses for all, and one fantastic youngster. All tack/yard/ horse items also for sale. Midhurst/Warwickshire. £4,000 to £8,000. Tel: 07590 215805 or 07831 131313 UNCOMPLICATED LOW GOAL/ PONY CLUB PONY 14.2hh grey Argentine gelding, 13 years old, superb confirmation, soft mouth, speed and brakes, easy fun little pocket rocket. £3,995. Essex. Call 07933 783578
Transport DAF HORSEBOX FOR 9 POLO PONIES HGV G reg 1900 Turbo 13.8 ton. Six partitions. Ample space for tack above day cabin. MOT 7/2013. Good condition. Move abroad forces sale. Cheshire. £3,500 ono. For more info contact Serena 07949 658993 REALISTICALLY PRICED FOR QUICK SALE G Reg Leyland Roadrunner aluminium 7.5 ton truck. Takes 3-4 ponies herringbone. Good reliable, well maintained lorry with service history for last nine years. MOT til June 2013. Clean tidy cab and large luton. Reading. £4,500 ono. Call STOODS at Horsebox Mobile Repair Services on 07957 886681
Contributors – August 2012 Adam Caller, Arthur Douglas-Nugent, Caroline Smail, Clare Milford Haven, D’Artagnan Giercke, Herbert Spencer, Horace Laffaye, James de Mountfort, Jamie Peel, Kian Gheissari, Lorna Edgar, Luigi Ferrarese, Luke Tomlinson, Mark Emerson, Nicola Hodges, Rege Ludwig, Theresa Hodges, Tony Emerson
www.polotimes.co.uk © Polo Times Limited 2012 and Database Right 2012 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 mark of Polo Times Limited. ISSN 1461-4685
www.polotimes.co.uk
PT p92-97 Polo directory and Classified PJ.indd 7
Intern Georgie Haycraft
Polo directory
7.5T LEYLAND ROADRUNNER D Reg, taxed and tested to March ‘13. Tilt cab, alloy floor, 4/5 polo ponies, spacious, economical, used 2/3 times per week, service history, excellent box for those on a budget! Lincolnshire. £2,950. Tel: 07739 569491
Livery WINTER GRASS KEEP WITH QUALITY HAYLAGE 200 ACRES near Cirencester, rural safe area, natural shelter, 2011 quality haylage. £25 per week inclusive. Tel: 07835 965972; 01666 510841; or 07704 272613
Equipment POLO SADDLES, STICKS, TACK ETC FOR SALE/WANTED Polo saddles for sale from £50 to £300, sticks from £35, also tack, bridles, boots and accessories available. Used polo equipment also bought for cash. Please visit www.poloexchange.co.uk or email contact@ poloexchange.co.uk or Tel 07909 965940 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
Situations WANTED ONE – THREE GOAL PLAYER for a playing/ grooming position in Australia, two hours West of Melbourne, for October 2012 March 2013. Heavy rigid truck license essential. Accommodation provided. Strong rider, capable of playing green horses, willing to play in 2 - 4 goal polo and groom for 0 goal patron required. Position suit working couple - 12 horses in total. Contact Stephen Mitchell +61 409 589 144 or mawallok@gmail.com
Subscriptions UK: £65 for one year – £115 for two years (a saving of £15) Europe: £80 for one year – £140 for two years (a saving of £20) Rest of the World: £90 for one year – £160 for two years (a saving of £20)
Call Sarah Foster on +44 (0)1993 886885 Subscribe online: www.polotimes.co.uk Polo Times, August 2012 97
20/07/2012 17:29
Final bell
In association with Aprés Polo
Two-goal Pony Clubber Freddie Dear’s...
Photograph by Tony Ramirez
Passions
The Gloucestershire-based 18-year-old, who is playing for Beaufort in the Gannon section of the Audi Pony Club Polo Championships this month, speaks to Georgie May about his ambitions in the game and his surprising love for science What is your favourite polo memory? Winning the Archie David with my mum’s team, Apache, last summer. Winning the 8-goal Victor Ludorum at the end of the season was also an added bonus. Who is your best teammate? Max Hutchinson. We’ve played Pony Club polo together since we were 13-year-olds. We’re playing on the same Beaufort team in Gannon this year and we’re also playing the 8-goal together this season, representing Hurlingham. Hardest opponent? Anyone who is playing above their handicap – the younger players in particular. Which is your favourite polo venue and why? Ground number one at Fosse Tillery Farm in Gloucestershire – our home! We hold extremely competitive family chukkas. I took up polo first and then my mum and dad decided to give it a go, followed by my brother, Max, and sister Bella. However, my dad doesn’t play anymore, not since he suffered a serious back injury in 2009. If you could change one thing about polo, what would it be? To make it more accessible to the public, in
order for it to become more commercialised. If the rules were changed to make the game easier to watch and televise, spectators could get behind their favourite team and support them. It’s much more fun to watch a sport
Excitingly, I bought my first dog in mid-July, a new lurcher puppy called Tatty that you can understand and follow. I am also behind the new Polo Premier League – I think it’s a great addition to the game and I’d love to play in it. Where did you first learn to play? Caspar West and Claire Tomlinson first taught me when I was 10 years old in the indoor arena at Beaufort Polo Club. I then began playing with the Pony Club when I was 11 years old. What is your biggest ambition in polo? To become as good as I possibly can – I have my eye on becoming a six or seven-goaler. What will you do if you don’t make playing polo your future? Be a scientist. I start studying BioChemistry at Edinburgh University this year so I’ll go into the biotech industry if I don’t pursue a career in polo. What are you favourite pastimes outside polo? Hunting with the Duke of Beaufort. My family and I play a lot of garden games too. I also play tennis and swim.
98 Polo Times, August 2012
PT p98-99 Passions JM PJ MB.indd 2
New shoes or new boots? Definitely new shoes – new boots take too long to wear in! Person you would most like to meet? Charles Darwin. I think he’d be very interesting company. First album you ever bought? Maroon 5’s Songs about Jane. Who was your biggest crush growing up? I’m still growing up so it keeps changing! My first was Megan Fox in Transformers and my latest is model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. What is your favourite film? The General (1926), with Buster Keaton. Although it’s a silent film, it still has me in stitches. What is your guilty pleasure? Hungover cinema trips with my good friends Persephone Rose and Sasha Seymour-Williams. Who was your hero growing up? Leonardo da Vinci What was the last thing you bought? A new lurcher puppy called Tatty. She is my first dog so I was very excited when she arrived in mid-July. What is your most surprising feature? That I am a bit of a science geek! Describe yourself in three words. Enthusiastic, proactive and determined. www.polotimes.co.uk
19/07/2012 16:42
PT p98-99 Passions JM.indd 3
20/06/2012 11:36
B [ PP B*HWB&ORVHUB3RORB7LPHV LQGG PT OB cover.indd 1
19/07/2012 13:23