Ponylines

James Blunt performs. Right: Sienna Miller. Below: Bianca Jagger

It was a great day – and a fi ne night. Never mind the hard-fought action on the fi eld between England and Australia, battle continued afterwards at the Cartier International as Chinawhite and the Offi cial Players Marquee Party (OPMP) went head-to-head in their respective tents. Chinawhite got off to a solid start but it was the OPMP which possibly just sneaked it – thanks largely to chart-topping James Blunt, who was persuaded to do a star turn by his old Harrow school chum Jack Kidd. This year, Kidd teamed up with party organisers Smyle and together they had promised the mother of all parties. No one was disappointed – not least when Blunt (who earlier had been presented to the Queen in the Royal Box, along with Cate Blanchett and Bianca Jagger – who must, temporarily have abandoned her anti-establishment principles) took to the stage shortly after 9pm. ‘James agreed to do a 45-minute set because we were at school together,’ said Kidd. ‘It was a hell of a coup.’ Blunt, 28, served in Kosovo as a captain in the Life Guards. He also stood sentry over the Queen Mother’s coffi n and rode as Sovereign’s Escort at Trooping the Colour. Whether or not he will ever be tempted to get back on a polo pony is unclear – but it wouldn’t do the sport’s image any harm if he did. Meanwhile, Sienna Miller used the Cartier International as a means of telling anyone who was interested that the hiatus with her fi ancé Jude Law was not the end of the world. Far from it. She was pictured kissing her ex-boyfriend Orlando Bloom and was then seen entwined with the brooding Lord of the Rings star in the Chinawhite tent. That was a bit of a coup as well. So, honours even for the two party hosts – and roll on next year.

War horses

The Hurlingham Polo Association and its member clubs, players and supporters have been raising money to help make up a £450,000 defi cit in the £1.5 million Animals in War Memorial project. The monument, dedicated to all animals killed in war and civil strife, was unveiled by the Princess Royal in London’s Park Lane last year. It was originally conceived by author Jilly Cooper and former polo player Andrew Parker-Bowles, with Princess Anne as the memorial’s patron. In the Great War alone, many hundreds of conscripted polo ponies died in battle or from starvation or disease. The HPA’s fund-raising goal is £10,000 and, when it is reached, the association’s name will be carved onto the monument. A donation form for members can be downloaded from www.hpa-polo. co.uk. Other donations can be sent to Animals in War Memorial Fund, 71 Wilton Road, London SW1V 1DE.

Anyone for golf?

A group headed by Isla Carroll patron John Goodman, owner of International Polo Club Palm Beach, has bought the nearby 36-hole Wellington Golf & Country Club, known for its beautiful lakes and canals links. ‘We’re thinking about adding golf to the attractions for our members at the polo club, Goodman said on a recent visit to London.

Out to grass

Wicklow Polo Club’s three-man arena events are well known throughout Europe and on both sides of the Atlantic, with regular participation from clubs including Newport, Rhode Island. Now owner Mickey Herbst has installed a new regulation grass ground at his club on Ireland’s east coast south of Dublin.

Polo rocks

Music and polo impresario Bryan Morrison is pulling out all the stops to make his December arena polo at Olympia the sport’s biggest-ever central London bash. ‘Our Cartier London International will feature an England v USA match at the highest level of the three-man game, equivalent to 28 goals in polo on grass,’ says Morrison. ‘There will also be a celebrity exhibition game with the likes of musicians Mike Rutherford and Kenney Jones, and Kenney’s group, The Jones Gang, will be playing. We are planning pantomime-type entertainment for the children and, for the grown-ups, a party by Chinawhite.’ Morrison hopes to fi ll the 7,000-seater main arena and attract 4,000 to the après-polo festivities. Tickets can be bought from www.polo-rocks.com. Philip unveiled

The Duke of Edinburgh showed obvious delight when the Queen unveiled a halflife-sized bronze statue of him making a nearside backhand from his once favourite pony, Portano, before 1,200 guests at a cocktail party celebrating the Golden Jubilee of Guards Polo Club. The statue, standing 10-feet tall on its plinth, is a replica of a small bronze the Queen gave him on their 25th wedding anniversary, the year after he retired from the sport. The club commissioned the statue in appreciation of the prince’s 50 years as its president.

Mark Tomlinson, 6-goal handicap, member of England team and played for Oaklands Park, which reached this year’s Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup Semi Final

Pony’s name: Veintecinco Age: 14 Sex: Mare Breed: Homebred Colour: Chestnut Height: 15HH Origin: England

We bred Veintecinco on our farm near Beaufort Polo Club in Gloucestershire. My mother [Claire Tomlinson] breeds most of our polo ponies. Veintecinco was given to me when she was 5 years old. I brought her on and played her. In fact she played her very fi rst competitive chukka with me in the fi nal of the Royal Windsor Cup held at Guards Polo Club. That was roughly eight years ago. It is still my most memorable moment with her. Whenever I play her she gives her all to the game. She has such a light mouth and responds instantly. She is fantastic to stop and turns on a sixpence. The only down side is that she could do with another gear. Her acceleration is great but she is lacking in top speed. She wins plays because of her agility. I knew she was good the fi rst time I played her; she took to it like a duck to water, such a natural talent. I usually keep Veintecinco on the sidelines during a match and get on her towards the end of a chukka and play her for the remaining couple of minutes. I may do that 3 or 4 times during a match. She has a brilliant temperament, very mellow. Nothing phases her. I would trust her with a patron or a nervous rider because she is so good natured. She is very cuddly. I can’t walk past her stable without opening the door and going in and giving her a cuddle. I have successfully bred 4 or 5 foals from her, so hopefully she and I can continue our partnership for another couple of years and when I retire her one of her offspring will be ready to take over. Antje Derks

Polo trophy and medal presented at the 1908 London Olympics, and a poster from the 1936 Berlin Olympiad when the sport was last included in the games.

Standing proudly in a glass case in the Polo Bar of the Hurlingham Club in Fulham is an impressive silver trophy that was presented to the English Roehampton team that won the event in the 1908 London Olympics. What are the chances of that trophy, or a new one, being played for when the Olympics return to the capital in 2012? Polo, part of the Olympics from 1900 to 1936, is currently on the International Olympic Committee’s list of offi cially recognised sports, but has yet to be reinstated in the games themselves, including the 2012 Olympiad. But polo’s governing bodies are hopeful that the IOC and the London organising committee might accept it as an historical and quintessentially English game that could be played on the periphery of the 28 featured sports. Ambassador Glen Holden, president of the Federation of International Polo (FIP) – which is recognised by the IOC as representing the sport worldwide – is enthusiastic. ‘As soon as I heard the news that London had won the bid to hold the 2012 Olympics,’ says Holden, ‘I e-mailed Christopher Hanbury [chairman of the Hurlingham Polo Association] urging him to serve as point man in possible discussions with the London organisers. There could be no better place to associate our sport with the games in one way or another. England is the font of modern polo from where it spread around the world and England remains one of the three greatest poloplaying countries.” Hanbury immediately appointed HPA Steward Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers to explore the best way to make approaches to the London Organising Committee. ‘It’s never too early to start,’ says Colquhoun-Denvers, ‘but we must come up with some concepts that might appeal to Lord Coe and his team and to the IOC.’ The IOC has discontinued its policy of allowing ‘exhibition games’ as an offi cial part of the Olympiad, so another formula would need to be found to showcase polo in 2012. Polo has history on its side. It was being played here 25 years before the modern Olympics came into being; it was part of the Olympics before most of the other horse sports and it is one of the fastest growing sports in the country today. The game was fi rst played in the Olympics in Paris, in 1900, then London in 1908; Ostend, Belgium, 1920; Paris, 1924; and Berlin, 1936. Recovery for the sport was slow after World War II and there were no real efforts to return it to the games until a few years ago when FIP lobbied successfully to gain recognition by the IOC. ‘We can take heart that, whilst the IOC has dropped some other sports from its “recognised” list, polo remains very much in place,’ says FIP president Holden.

Herbert Spencer

VIPs of the Federation of International Polo (FIP) are boarding a luxury coach in September for a sightseeing tour on their way to the federation’s 53rd Ambassadors Cup tournament at Heiligendamm on the North coast of Germany. Hans von Maltzahn, president of the German Polo Association, organised the tour to take in Berlin and Dresden where the FIP offi cials and their wives will attend the opera, and Mecklenburg, the seat of aristocrat von Maltzahn.

Down on the ranch

One of the USA’s most prominent polo families has been playing the American equivalent of England’s Country House Polo on their Wyoming ranches this summer. Occupying adjoining spreads are S.K. ‘Skey’ Johnston Jr., a past chairman of the US Polo Association; daughter Gillian, (who became the fi rst woman patron to win the US Open with her Coca Cola team in 2002) and son Skeeter, whose Skeeterville team made it to the Open fi nals this year. The family invites friends to fl y in for the weekend for matches on their polo grounds with professionals like Owen Rinehart, Miguel Novilla Astrada and Julio Arellano.

Good causes

Royal equestrian Zara Phillips joined her uncle, the Prince of Wales, and cousins, William and Harry, in playing chukkas for charity this summer. Having followed in the footsteps of her mother, the Princess Royal, as a threeday event competitor, Zara was on a team of well-known eventers fi ghting a squad of national hunt jockeys that included Zara’s former live-in boyfriend, Richard Johnson. The chukkas, before 5,000 spectators at Tidworth Polo Club, were played on both ponies and mountain bikes, in aid of the spinal injuries charity Inspire [see page 12]. At the same Hampshire event, the day of the annual ArmyNavy game, Prince Charles and Prince Harry played against an American team that included Florida club owner John Goodman and Tim Gannon, both of whom had been US Open Championship winners. During the summer, the Prince of Wales and his sons played a

S U W A TC H N A RE C What would you have done if you hadn’t become a polo player? I’d have probably been a farmer, but in my dreams I would have been a professional golfer.

Best attribute on the field? My communication as a captain and the way I distribute the ball.

Off the field? I hope I am a good father, husband and friend.

How do you relax? Golf and playing with my children.

Most admired polo player? It has to be Memo Gracida because of all the tutoring he gave me, his professionalism and the fact that he retained his 10-goal handicap for so many years.

Age: 34 Nationality: Australian Polo Handicap: 7 Desert Island film, band and book? Dumb and Dumber, AC/DC and a Playboy magazine!

Why polo? I think polo chose me. We always had horses at home. My grandfather and father were involved with polo and so were six of my dad’s nine siblings. I started playing from a young age having learnt to ride well. Eventually I became a groom and progressed to being a professional player at 21. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

How difficult was England to play against this summer? England are always tough because they are a talented bunch of guys but I think we kept it together better as a team and managed to convert our opportunities.

Best polo moment this year? There were two: winning the Royal Windsor was amazing and being handed the Coronation Cup by the Queen was unbelievable.

And the worst? When Isobel Hayden, my patron, was injured having fractured some ribs and couldn’t play. Where is your favourite polo ground and why? Ellerston Home Field in Australia. It is the best surface I have ever played on and has an amphitheatre atmosphere. It is only used for semi’s and fi nals so you know you’ve made it when you canter out there.

Any unfulfilled ambitions? To play off scratch at golf. I would also like to improve opportunities for young Australian polo players.

How can polo’s profile be raised? People think that polo is too expensive because wealthy individuals play the sport. I think we need to make people aware that you don’t have to be wealthy to play polo up to a certain level. Spectators often complain that the match “took place on the opposite side of the fi eld”. Maybe playing on a smaller fi eld would give it a more compact feel and make the sport easier to watch.

Glen Gilmore was talking to Antje Derks

The morning of this year’s Cartier International must have been a depressing sight for the organisers and sponsors. With a torrential downpour and consequent quagmire, arriving at the Cartier tent could have been like turning up at Glastonbury. But, somehow, it was like fi nding an oasis (below). Inside, as 650 guests happily quaffed champagne and tucked into a three-course lunch, there was a surprising air of calm. This tranquil atmosphere was the creation of designer Allegra Hicks (above). The talent of this 42 year old Italian mother of two caught the discerning eye of Cartier, although she says modestly: ‘Perhaps they just chose me because somebody else was unable to do it’. By pure coincidence, the choice of Allegra Hicks at such a huge polo event could not have been more appropriate. Not only does she gain inspiration for her own designs from two countries, Argentina and India, whose histories are steeped in polo, but she is also married to fellow designer Ashley, son of the innovative interior and garden designer David Hicks and grandson of the late Lord Mountbatten, one of the most avid and infl uential polo players of our time. The 12 enormous transparent silk hangings suspended from the tent ceiling were illustrated with photographic images and diagrams from An Introduction to Polo by ‘Marco’, the humorous pseudonym under which Lord Mountbatten wrote polo’s all-time best-selling book. The book, which was originally published in 1931, provided the fi rst comprehensive introduction to the game and although the rules may have changed slightly, the principles still remain. Many of Lord Mountbatten’s well known royal relations have taken up the sport due to his motivation, but his grandchildren have not been bitten by the bug, although Allegra’s daughter, Angelica, has the opportunity to play at boarding school. Allegra prefers to watch from the side-lines. When not travelling to source new products, Allegra can be found at her shop in Pont Street where she sells everything from coffee cups to kaftans. Her customers include Brook Shields, Gwyneth Paltrow, Natasha McElhone, and Emilia Fox. With plans to open a store in New York or Los Angeles in the near future, the Hicks legacy is destined to remain an international phenomenon. total of 17 charity exhibition matches that raised more than £900,000 for a variety of good causes.

Election fever

Top offi cials of polo’s governing bodies tend to be elected after a consensus has been reached in committee – but former 10-goal player Frankie Dorignac faced a three-way contest when he was chosen as president of the Argentine Polo Association. Dorignac proved to be the most experienced candidate, having served in the top post once before. Following factional disputes under the presidency of the late Gonzalo Tanoira, it appears that the new president will have less of a say in the appointment of other key association offi cials and committees in the world’s leading polo nation.

Home from home

The Hurlingham Polo Association’s headquarters is out on an Oxfordshire farm, but with so many of its volunteer offi cials busy in their London offi ces, the association has a home away from home just off Hyde Park Corner. The historic Cavalry and Guards Club at 127 Picadilly is the venue for many of the HPA’s meetings and the occasional social function. The old Cavalry Club had occupied the mansion since 1890 and when the Guards Club lost its premises in Mayfair in 1976, the two merged to form the present club, drawing its membership from serving and retired members of the armed forces and their families. The ornate club is fi lled with military paintings and silver and bronze statuettes and trophies, some evoking polo’s long connections with the Army. Paintings of offi cers’ polo ponies at the turn of the century adorn the Members Bar and the large, silver Indian Inter-Regimental Polo Cup occupies a place of honour on the fi rst fl oor landing. The start-of-season HPA Council meeting this year was held in the Balaclava Room with its big painting of ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’, and a champagne reception for council members and their wives was held in the Waterloo Room with its portrait of the Duke of Wellington. A dinner then followed, which, it is hoped, will become a new pre-season tradition.

Defying gravity

What was 1-goal player Ed Hutley doing in full polo kit on a strange looking, fourwheeled contraption coasting down the drive at Cowdray House? He was one of 27 competitors in the fund-raising Gravity Challenge staged by Lord Cowdray, President of Cowdray Park Polo Club.

WHEN RAYMOND VERE NICOLL tragically was killed in a road accident in 1975 at the age of 16, his family and friends set up a fund to help others enjoy the game of polo while studying at the University of Virginia. This fund initially provided admissions assistance to one student per year, who was academically qualifi ed, demonstrated an ability and interest in polo, and whose character and industry was particularly outstanding. As the Vere Nicoll Fund grew, the Virginia Polo Board was able to provide fi nancial assistance on a case-by-case basis to Vere Nicoll Scholars. This work continues, providing an opportunity for young people of all walks of life to experience the “Game of Kings.” For further information, please contact Virginia Polo at polo@virginia.edu or +1-434-979-0293.

‘Ed was one of several polo players amongst us,’ said Lord Cowdray. ‘He had one of the weirdest machines as well as the most distinctive racing costume.’ The event, like the Soap Box Derby in America, was for hand-built vehicles powered by gravity alone, with the winner determined by which coasted the greatest distance down a slope. ‘We allowed each competitor a maximum of £250 to build his or her machine,’ said Lord Cowdray. ‘The winner was Ralph Hubbard who is a veteran of another gravity event, the Cresta Run at St Moritz.’ Among those attending the charity event were the Earl and Countess of March, over from Goodwood; jazz pianist and TV host Jools Holland, and PR guru Lord Bell. ‘It was a fun event,’ said Lord Cowdray. “And it raised money for the White Lotus School in Ladhak in Northwest India. Tibetan Buddhists are taught their own language and culture at the school, in an area where Indian state schools have a Hindu curriculum.’

Place your bets

Punters at Beaufort Polo Club during its Country Fair were able to bet on the outcome of the all-pro Argentine Club Cup match between England and an Australian team. The bookmakers Cantor Spreadfair, one of the event’s sponsors, offered fi xed odds on England, 5-6, and Australia, even, and spread betting on goals scored. More than 100 wagers were placed, at a maximum of £30, at the Cantor booth. ‘We took a few more bets on England than Australia (the winners) and we broke even on the day,’ said Chris Shillington of Cantor, an organisation more accustomed to taking bigger money in football, racing, rugby and cricket.

Ten-goal legends

Memo Gracida and Gonzalo Pieres, former 10 goalers, have teamed up to run the Herradura Classic at the latter’s Ellerstina polo centre outside Buenos Aires from October 10-30. This will be the 15th polo training and coaching event run by Mexican-American Gracida and previously held in Florida, France and Mexico. ‘This is the fi rst time the Herradura Classic has gone to Argentina,’ said Memo. ‘We take players of any ability, train them and put them into practise games, from 16 to 30-goal level.’ Pieres has also asked Gracida to serve as coach for the Ellerstina team playing in Argentina’s high-goal season, including the Argentine Open. The 35-goal squad will include Pieres’ brothers Gonzolito and Fecundo and Pablo and Matias MacDonough.

TOM AIKENS, Michelin-star chef, runs his own restaurant in Chelsea.

‘I really get a great kick out of playing polo. It takes me away from my normal duties behind the kitchen stove. It’s not just a mental game but I have to use a great deal of physical energy as well – it’s one of the reasons I go to the gym three or four times a week. I’m becoming quite obsessive about the sport. I am a bit of a speed freak and the adrenalin really kicks in as soon I get on the polo fi eld. I would love to own my own pony. Thanks to the encouragement I have had from Peter Grace at Ascot Park Club, who taught me, I am now trying to put together a side, but sadly none of those I have approached to sponsor me has been interested. Perhaps that’s something for the future.’ Carolina dreamin’

Russ McCall, owner of New Bridge Polo Club in Aiken, South Carolina, is happy. Not only has he secured the 2005 USPA Gold Cup for his club, but he’s also signed up the world’s best player for his own New Bridge team for the 26-goal tournament in September/October. Things looked grim in July when Argentine 10-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso broke his wrist during the British Open. ‘But Adolfo says he will be back in condition by the time our tournament starts,’ said a delighted McCall. He has also signed Cambiaso for the big winter season in Florida next year. Co-host for the USPA Gold Cup is Aiken’s Langdon Road Polo Club, run by 10-goaler Adam Snow and former 10-goaler Owen Rinehart. Tournament director is Jimmy Newman, polo manager at International Polo Club Palm Beach and Santa Barbara, who has run some 15 US Opens. We are expecting six and maybe eight teams for the fi rst Gold Cup at Aiken,’ says McCall. ‘We’re leaving entries open as long as possible to give everyone a chance.’ Teams include his own; Fred Mannix’s Millarville from Canada; Skeeter Johnston’s Skeeterville, fi nalists in the 2005 Open; Gillian Johnston’s Bendabout; and, it is hoped, Peter Brant’s White Birch, current Open champions.