Your Club News from Home and Abroad

Beaufort Polo Club Guards Polo Club

Beaufort Polo Club are installing an arena for the winter season The Gloucestershire based Club are installing an outdoor arena by Equus Design & Build to be ready for this winter’s arena season, allowing the Club to provide polo all year round. They already have the Valentine’s Cup Ladies Victrix Ludorum Tournament scheduled for the 9 – 14 February 2021 and look forward to adding many more new tournaments to their calendar. The Club will also be hosting Practice Chukkas two to three times weekly as soon as the Arena is complete. The Club will be offering a simple Winter Membership for the 2020-21 Season for £600, which includes chukkas and a 50 percent reduction in tournament entry fees. Please note that if you have a current 2020 Outdoor HPA Membership you are entitled to equivalent Arena Membership at no extra cost. However, you still need to inform the HPA that you intend to play in the Arena and which Club you are a Member at.

Houston Polo Club

Photograph by ©www.imagesofpolo.com Mosimann’s will once again be hosting their Christmas Lunch Mosimann’s will be hosting their popular Christmas Lunch in the Clubhouse, which this year will be held on Sunday 13 December, as the Clubhouse is a designated restaurant you can book a table for up to six people. Pre-booking is essential to ensure your table to this festive feast so please RSVP to pdrevents@mosimann.com or call Izabela on 0207 838 6330.

Action from The Lewis Jewelers Classic

Houston Polo Club have had a busy few weeks, on Sunday 11 October, the crowds were treated to the Louis XII Classic Final between BTA1/Horsegate 1 and Horsegate 2/Tonkawa. The second and third chukkas were dominated by Nacho Badiola, who scored five goals for Horsegate 2/Tonkawa and with teammate Toto Collardin also scoring a goal they led 8-2 at half-time. During the second half BTA1/Horsegate 1 tried to get themselves back in the game, but the final whistle rang out to a convincing 12-7 win in favour of Horsegate 2/Tonkawa.

The Delegate’s Cup concluded on Saturday 17 October in a Final between two undefeated teams, Roxstars/Vintage Polo 1 executed their game plan by effectively marking their defenders and producing a balanced team offense to capture the trophy and the $2,500 prize money with a 6-4 victory. On Sunday 18 October, BTA 1/Tonkawa faced Horsegate 2/Kanthaka in a 10 goal match for the Lewis Jewelers

The Keleen & Carlton Beal Cup Final Most Valuable Player, Mason Wroe, on the ball

Photograph by ©Kaylee Wroe

Classic on Farish Field at the Houston Polo Club. Horsegate 2/ Kanthaka opened the scoring, but BTA 1/Tonkawa quickly replied, adding to their one goal handicap advantage. BTA 1/Tonkawa’s Krueger and Badiola seemed to find their stride as they scored five goals between themselves to push their lead up to 12 in the sixth chukka; unfortunately for Horsegate 2/Kanthaka, time ran out before they were able to chip away more at the lead, as BTA1/Tonkawa took home the win 12-10.

On Friday 23 October, BTA 1/Tonkawa faced BTA 2 in The Keleen & Carlton Beal Cup Final, it was a family filled affair, with three members of the Beal family and two married couples going head-to-head; by half-time the teams were tied, but BTA 2 managed to gain a small lead of just one goal in time for the final whistle, which secured them the title with a score of 11-10.

Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly

A healthy amount of fourteen teams were entered in this year’s French Championship tournament, which began on 26 September, six in the Paris zone and eight in the Chantilly zone, the tournament finale is usually played at Polo de Paris, which hosted polo at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. But, due to heavy rain taking its toll on the playing surface, the Semi Final and Final action was transferred to Chantilly’s eight fields. Interestingly, only two Argentinean professionals were allowed per team in this competition, resulting in there being seven Frenchmen in the final of this Championship and it was a 100% French team that won as Sainte-Mesme retained their title and after a very close match 9- 8½ against the opposition of Omédia Paris/Black Mamba. Messi, nine-year-old bay mare played by Robert Strom and bred in Argentina by Martin Garrahan was awarded the Best Playing Pony Award. After the last Final of the season, the Autumn 8 Goal which saw Tomlinson Equine take home the Humphrey Guinness Plate on Sweethills after defeating Jenkinson, the Club held their socially distanced end of season awards: Best Playing Pony: Max Hutchinson’s Tornado The Flo Trophy for the Best Long Service Pony: Nina Clarkin’s Heidi Best Turned Out String for the Season: Tommy Severn’s Millennium Umpire Award: Rupert Lewis The Smart Cup for the Most Improved Player: Alex Cooper Cotswold Polo Academy’s Most Improved Player: Raushan Singh The Club also recognised the efforts of their season intern, Ellie Dalton, and committed Social Members Claire Allen and Keith Baalam, who Best Playing Pony, Max Hutchinson’s Tornado Kings Polo Club Over 15 – 17 October, Kings Polo Club in Cairo, Egypt, hosted The Kings Masters Cup and Juniors Masters Cup. OS Team secured The Kings Masters Cup with a 4-3 win against Piramide in the Final, with Adel Abo Shady named Most Valuable Player and Pirata, played by Frankie Menendez selected as Best Playing Pony. Meanwhile, in The Junior Masters Cup, Kings Polo narrowly defeated Piramide 3-2 in the Final to take home the win.

Photograph by Justine Jacquemot

Nacho Kennedy (right) who scored all 7 goals of his team Omédia Paris/Black Mamba with French player Louis Jarrig

The French Championships Final Teams:

Sainte-Mesme (8): Robert Strom (5), Birger Strom (0), Louis Jarrige (3) & Victor Louarn (0) Omédia Paris/Black Mamba (8): Charlotte Garaud (0),

Cirencester Park Polo Club

Jérôme Hue (1), Nacho Kennedy (4) & Florent Garaud (3) stepped up as Covid Marshalls, were presented with the Michael St Aubyn Trophy for the Most Valuable Club Members. Although the 2020 season has come to an end at Cirencester Park Polo Club (CPPC), the Club is now carrying out their Autumn ground works which included scarifying before laying a sand and compost mix, over-seeding and feeding, to help ensure a great playing surface for the upcoming season. Additionally, there are plans afoot at the

Photography by www.polophoto.co.uk

Club for additional improvements for the 2021 season.

The Flo Trophy for the Best Long Service Pony, Nina Clarkin’s Heidi (pictured with Tamara Fox)

The Kings Masters Cup Final Teams:

OS Team (9): Omar El Sewedy (0), Adel Abo Shady (0), Bautista Fanelli (3) & Francisco Menéndez (6) Piramide (9): Ahmed Wahby (0), Ibrahim Awadalla (0), Fernando Miño (5) & Silvestre Fanelli (4)

The Junior Masters Cup Final Teams:

Kings Polo Team: Cruz Menéndez, Hamza El Sewedy, Vicente Pascual Menéndez & Eduardo Menéndez Piramide Team: Muhammad El Sherif, Mohamed El Mawardy, Ismail Awadalla & Silvestre Fanelli.

New Bridge Polo & Country Club

Photograph by Katie Roth Out East, winners of The Association Cup Final

Rugby Polo Club celebrated Breast Cancer Awareness Month by playing their chukkas all dressed in pink on Sunday 4 October to help raise awareness. Many players also donated to Annie Choma’s charity effort; Annie managed to get through breast cancer partly due to early detection. On Saturday 24 October, Out East and SIG reached The Association Cup Final at New Bridge Polo & Country Club (Aiken, South Carolina). Out East took the lead in the second chukka and maintained their lead to take home the 8 goal trophy with an 11-8 score. Tommy Biddle, who scored seven goals for Out East, was named Most Valuable Player and his 11-year-old mare Maleficent, was awarded Best Playing Pony honours; Biddle commented, “I bought her through Jennifer Williams and she was made by Charly Cendoya. Maleficent is an amazing mare who can fly and if my daughter Lauren [Biddle] was here she would be ecstatic. Lauren named her and loved her from the day I bought her!” This was Biddle’s second time raising the trophy, which he first won in 1987 with his father and brother.

The Association Cup Final Teams:

Out East: Hope Arellano, John Humphreys, Lucas Arellano & Tommy Biddle SIG: Deep Singh, Malia Bryan, Alan Martinez & Willie Hartnett

Grand Champions Polo Club

Photograph by Grand Champions Polo Club

Steve Lane will be the new Chief Umpire at Grand Champions The Club has announced that Steve Lane will be their new Chief Umpire for the upcoming 2021 season. In 2020, Steve began working with ChukkerTV as a field League as an instant replay official (IRO). When the COVID-19 pandemic cut the high goal season short, he partnered with Melissa Ganzi to bring her “Skills of the Game” series to life.

Rugby Polo Club

Photograph by Rugby Polo Club Rugby Polo Club members playing in pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

side commentator, and the World Polo Beaufort Polo Club On Saturday 26 September the Tomlinson family presented the Club’s former Polo Manager, Caspar West, with a painting of Caspar playing polo, painted by Joss Ridley (the Club’s Events Manager); due to Covid-19 restrictions the Club couldn’t give Caspar a full send off so the painting commemorated Caspar’s 21 year stint working at the Club.

Photograph by Beaufort Polo Club The Tomlinson family with Caspar West

Roma Polo Club

On Sunday 4 October, The Campionato Italiano di Polo Final was played at Roma Polo Club and saw VAS-Pier.Gio defeat Battistoni/Castelluccia 8-7 after four chukkas of action in the capital city. In the Subsidiary Final, Nautor’s Swan took third place following a 3-1 victory against La Vandea.

The Campionato Italiano di Polo Final Teams:

VAS/Pier.Gio (6): Giorgio Cosentino (-1), Eduardo Menendez Jr. (1), Nacho Brunetti (3) & Tomás Astellara (3) Battistoni/Castelluccia (5): Alessandro Barnaba (0), Stefano Giansanti (0), Giordano Flavio Magini (1) & Patricio Rattagan (4)

Cowdray Park Polo Club

This season’s prize winners at Cowdray Park Polo Club each individually collected their prizes from the Club’s Polo Manager, Chris Bethell. Jon Martin received The Large Cup for Pony Welfare, The Millennium Plate for Umpiring went to Henry Fisher and the Pimm’s Cup for the Most Improved Junior Player was won by Will Millard.

Photography by Cowdray Park Polo Club Jon Martin with Chris and Johanna Kleff Player Santa María Polo Club Nairobi Polo Team, winners of the XX Andalucia Championship Nairobi Polo Team, winners of the XXI Memorial Andrés Parladé Nairobi Polo Team have enjoyed a successful few weeks with two recent wins under their belts, winning the XX Andalucia Championship on Monday 12 October, followed by the XXI Memorial Andrés Parladé the following weekend – congratulations!

Los Mariachis Polo Club

Photograph by Los Mariachis Polo Club Almasanta, winners of the Final of the Spanish Low Handicap Polo Championship

Almasanta (Juan de Dios Perez Serrano, Joaquin Castelvi, Manuel Lopez and Jorge Pepa) won the Final of the Spanish Low Handicap Polo Championship at Los Mariachis Polo Club, Monte de Balisa-El

Will Millard, the Most Improved Junior Henry Fisher with Chris Bethell

Photography by Santa María Polo Club

Raso took second place with Los Mariachis in third place.

Willow Bend Polo Club

Photograph by ©Kristin Leigh Armbruster Photography Tiburon, winners of The 2020 Southwestern Circuit Intra-Circuit Cup

On Sunday 18 October, Tiburon and 2019 defending champions Lucchese battled it out at Willow Bend Polo Club in Oak Point, Texas for the 2020 Southwestern Circuit Intra-Circuit Cup. With both teams evenly matched, the scores were tied throughout the Final, but Tiburon converted a crucial penalty in the sixth chukka to secure themselves a 9-8 win and $2,500 in prize money courtesy of the COVID-19 USPA Polo Tournament Stimulus Package. Silver, a 15-year-old mare owned and played by Matt Coppola was chosen as Best Playing Pony, Coppola commented, “I bought her from Sebastian Merlos five years ago. I played her as a spare because I knew I could get on her a few different times. She’s the most agile horse I have and every time I get on her I know I can change the game by slowing it down or speeding it up if I have to. Laterally she’s incredible and has an amazing mouth, a machine!”

2020 Southwestern Circuit Intra-Circuit Cup Final Teams:

Lucchese: John Muse, Leon Schwencke, Sterling Giannico & Agustin Molinas Tiburon: Collen Clark, Alejandro Gonzalez, Matt Coppola & Rob Stenzel