Ponylines

Michigan amateur Scott Devon, 46, is one of the most popular high goal patrons playing the winter season in Florida, and one of the most successful. His allnorth American Catamount team (American 8-goaler Nicholas Roldan and Canadians Brandon Phillips and Todd Offen) won both the 20-goal tournaments, the Joe Barry Memorial and William Ylvisaker, at International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPCPB) this year. Catamount was the only team to win two high goal tournaments at IPCPB. It was the third time Scott had won the Joe Barry. Catamount also captured the 2008 18-goal International Cup at Royal Palm Polo Sports Club in Boca Raton. Scott has also been successful in 26-goal, having won the C.V. Whitney tournament at IPCPB in 2004 and 2007. He has been one of America’s highest-handicapped amateurs, rated at 4 goals in his twenties and in 2004. He was down to 2 this year, but was raised to 3 after his Florida successes.

[news] Governors Island, Palm Beach, Auidi Awards and much more

Thanks to the weather during the off season in many parts of the country, the grass has hardly grown at all, which has not been helpful to polo grounds. Looking back over the winter, arena polo has not only enjoyed a spurt in this country but also internationally, and England teams have been invited to the USA, France, India and South Africa in the autumn.

The main topic of conversation, not just amongst the polo community but countrywide, has been the economy, and to some extent, ‘non doms’. Polo is not a sport you can get into or out of quickly, but there is no reason to suggest that polo will not feel the effects of the credit crunch in due course, especially if things get worse.

The FIP 14-Goal World Championships in Mexico have just finished and congratulations are due to Chile for a welldeserved win, and to Mexico for hosting the tournament. For England, the loss of George Meyrick and John Martin (one of the reserves) due to injuries was an inauspicious start but we nevertheless sent a strong well-prepared team. Sadly, things just did not go our way but our players gave 100 per cent and in the end our chances hinged on a few seconds of play.

Looking forward to this season, the high goal looks healthy, with about the same number of teams as in 2007. Given the availability of top players, it does seem very difficult to produce more than 20 competitive teams, and it will be interesting to see if either of the Merlos brothers get picked up now that they are no longer required by Lechuza Caracas.

We very much look forward to playing Australia for the Coronation Cup at Guards on Sunday 27 July, when it is hoped that we will avenge our defeat of 2005, and to playing New Zealand for the Williams de Broe Test Match at Beaufort on Saturday 21 June. The opposition for the Cowdray Test match at the end of August has yet to be confirmed. We are delighted, however, that St Regis Hotels have agreed to sponsor the event.

This season will see the introduction of Junior HPA polo, which is designed to offer more four-chukka polo for the young within their own age groups. Split into three sections (under 15, 18 and 21), it looks as though there will be as many of 10 teams in each section, which is very exciting but also a lot of work – plus the extra demand for grounds. It is hoped that clubs and owners of private grounds will support the venture.

There was a time when polo was played regularly on Governors Island, in the shadow of the New York skyline, and was enjoyed by many officers and cavalrymen, not least General George Patton. Today the area is shared by a number of baseball diamonds, but on Saturday 31 May, Veuve Clicquot, Asprey and Ralph Lauren hosted the return of polo after a 67-year gap, in a four-chukka exhibition match.

Black Watch polo were led into battle by Argentine 6-goaler Nacho Figueras. Meanwhile, Asprey entered the fray with 5-goaler Mauricio Devrient, the manager of the Meadowbrook Polo Club in Old Westbury – another link to polo’s fabled past in New York.

Heavy rain thinned the crowd, but a small, hearty group stayed on to cheer Black Watch to a 10-6 victory over Asprey (former sponsor of a polo team in Argentina and still putting a team on the field in England).

The Veuve Clicquot crowd, who also sponsor the British Open, had their champagne bar in top form. Other spectators chose to make their way to the invite-only VIP tent for lunch, tea and – what else? – champagne.

Leslie Koch, President of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation said: ‘The polo match is an incredible highlight to our Opening Day, and we are thrilled to be hosting this exciting event.’ ALEX WEBBE

Newcastle University student Edward Batchelor received his gold Duke of Edinburgh Award at Buckingham Palace. Edward (20) chose polo as the ‘skill’ part of the award, having developed a passion for the sport while doing his bronze award as a 14-year-old schoolboy. The other sections of his gold award were a 50-mile trek, a residential project and community service.

Edward captained the polo team at Rugby School and was awarded an HPA overseas work bursary, which he took during his gap year, working as a groom in Argentina and New Zealand. He has since set up a team at university. Edward is keen to acknowledge the part played by his school, the Duke of Edinburgh, David and Phillip Baker and the Rugby Polo Club, and hopes in turn to teach and encourage children to play polo.

Juan Jose Draghi, the well-known San Antonio de Areco silversmith, has died at the age of 64. Draghi will be remembered as a supreme craftsman who worked in the 100-year-old tradition of silver in the Rio de la Plata, but he was also a great innovator. Draghi created buckles, knives, gaucho equipment, mate drinking vessels and polo trophies to previously unseen standards, earning him recognition as a master craftsman. The beauty of his work is the superior workmanship in his unique pieces, each with its own distinct design. This exceptional quality made Jose one of the greatest Criollo artesan masters of Argentina. In December we visited his museum and workshop in San Antonio de Areco, where we found innumerable beautiful pieces crafted to the highest standard. His wife and children now continue his work, following closely the designs of the great friend who has left us. EDUARDO FAGLIANO

Palm Beach Polo and Country Club has closed, and the stands that overlooked the pristine Number 1 field have been demolished. Throughout its glamorous life it staged top-class polo and extravagant spectacles, and played host to Hollywood stars, Palm Beach socialites and British royalty. ‘There are just so memories that I can’t recall just one,’ said David Andrews, the former vice president of Wellington and the stadium’s polo announcer for 23 years. ‘What was so pleasant about polo at the old stadium was that everyone could enjoy the event. You could dress up or dress down, there was something for everyone.’

Now all that remains of the once regal stadium with its yellow and white canvassed roof is a pile of rubble and possible plans for an equestrian review stand. She was an elegant lady and takes with her many fond memories for everyone who met her. ALEX WEBBE

Raphael Alland, 14, was the winner of our competition for a pair of hand-made Lucchese polo boots worth $4,000. He entered the competition online, unbeknown to his mother Evelyn, who was surprised and delighted when she answered the phone and heard the news. ‘The moment my son Raphael saw his first polo game he was determined to become a player,’ she says. ‘An admirable accomplishment for a young boy not born into the tradition. His drive and work-rate has since enabled him to turn the impossible to the possible. He will treasure these boots and excel with them in the sport to which he is dedicated.’ Our current competition prize is a Brioni cashmere blazer. To enter, visit www.hurlinghampolo.com

Nationality United States Age 35 Handicap 8 in USA and England

How did you start out in polo? My father played amateur polo in Nicaragua and then in the Wellington, where we moved when I was seven. I started at nine, then at 14 Memo Gracida’s father-in-law George Oliver started giving me lessons. Memo gave me my start in high goal. At 16, I played my first high goal tournament - for La Diablo Blue, with Guy Willenstein, Memo, and Mike Azzaro. I was nervous but it was a lot of fun - a great team and organisation, they helped me out a lot.

What are your polo highs and lows? I’ve won three US Opens and lost three in the finals. The second victory, in 1992, was shortly after I met my wife, so that sticks in the memory as a high. I was also on the US team that won the 1989 FIP World Cup in Berlin. And last year I played my first practice game with my wife and my oldest son, which was a special moment.

The Westchester Cup was a definite low: the horses had had a long season and I hadn’t been playing high goal. If you play your best and lose, you can accept it; but it is disappointing not to perform well. Having said that, it was a great experience: the crowd was huge and the trophies were presented by the Queen – which made it even worse, of course! It would be wonderful of the Westchester were to be contested again, and I would love to take part if it happens.

What do you think of the English scene? I’m very excited to be here. It’s one of the major seasons and to have 20 teams in the 22-goal is phenomenal. The quality of horses and teams is premium. I brought 10 ponies over, all Thoroughbreds from the US. I’m very grateful to Jean-Francois Decaux and Miguel Novillo Astrada for giving me the opportunity to play in this country.

Max Gottschalk, 35, is a founding partner and shareholder in Gottex, one of Europe’s largest fund of hedge funds. An amateur player, Max is patron of the Berkshire-based Les Lions II team playing in the Queen’s Cup and the British Open Championship this year. His father Joe leads the family’s original Les Lions squad in the same tournaments.

‘When I was 16, my parents had a house in Palm Beach and I saw my first matches at Palm Beach Polo and Country Club, then in its heyday. I fell in love with the sport, and I was given lessons by Warren Shearer, whose father ran the club.

‘I then played intercollegiate polo at University of Virginia and later, while working in New York, I played grass polo at Peter Brant’s club in Greenwich, Connecticut and at the Hamptons on Long Island. I went from minus one to three in four years. I’ve been up and down between three and two, and I am now down to one.

‘I’ve been lucky to have instruction from some of the world’s best players who’ve been with our Les Lions teams, particularly Ernesto Trotz. He’s a real master and a great teacher.

‘My father and I have been the only fatherand-son combo in English high goal. It’s a lot of fun to be able to play together and still be competitive. Over the years, we have both played on the same team, Joe’s Les Lions, and on separate teams with me taking Les Lions II as we are doing this year for the second year running.

‘Patrons are spending more money on their teams nowadays, and it’s become more competitive, more aggressive. We’ve lost much of the old camaraderie between players, from the time when there were asados and other get-togethers where all the teams gathered.’

‘Polo is my passion, but I also play squash and golf and ski, and we holiday on Mustique every year. I like listening to hip hop; it reminds me of New York, when it was all the rage.’

More than 500 polo players from around the world gathered at the annual Audi Polo Awards, the social event that kicks off the English season.

Winners of the Audi Polo Awards for 2008 included James Beim, who was recognised as the Apes Hill Most Outstanding British Professional. James was part of the Wildmoor team that won the 15 Goal Victor Ludorum Trophy, sponsored by Julius Baer (above, from left: James, Rob Archibald, Mark Booth, Ed Hitchman). The Caballus Lifetime Achievement Awards went to Julian and Howard Hipwood. This year saw the introduction of a new on-line voting system, allowing the players themselves (of which Britain has some 3,000) to register their opinions.

Another addition was the Audi Junior Bursary, to help both the England team but also young hopefuls whom the HPA believe will one day join the England squad.

Although the Argentine Open is months away, there has been a great deal of team movement and many last-minute changes. La Dolfina will return with its 40-goal roster intact in an effort to make it four in a row, while last year’s other finalist, Ellerstina, replaced Matias MacDonough with Juan Martin Nero, and will be carrying a 39-goal team handicap to the field with them. Definitely an improved team. La Aguada will return the 37-goal Novillo Astradas to the field. It’s been a few years since La Aguada took the big prize, but talent and experience as a team are important ingredients for success. Chapaleufu II picked up Juan Ignacio Merlos to play with Eduardo, Pepe and Nachi Heguy. At 37-goals they’re a bit of a wild card, but will certainly make it an interesting Open season. Augustine and Sebastian Merlos found a new home with Marcos Heguy and Santiago Chavanne. A talented 38-goal team for sure, but the chemistry on the field will have to be in synch if this yet-to-be-named team is to make it to the finals. The final ‘big six’ team is Nacho Figueras and his Black Watch team. Handicapped at a modest 34-goals, Black Watch boasts the services of Bautista Heguy, Paco de Narvaez and Matias MacDonough. All in all, it looks to be a very interesting season in Argentina this fall. ALEX WEBBE

Culu Culu, the world’s first polo lifestyle resort, is changing its name to Jumeirah Culu Culu. Jumierah is now the operator of the six-star hotel to be constructed on lake Culu Culu in Lobos, Argentina. Jumeirah is most famous for its Burj hotel in Dubai. This will be Jumierah’s first hotel in Latin America and there will also be a limited number of homes for sale on Lake Culu Culu.

Casablanca has produced the lightest-ever polo saddle, built with a carbon fibre tree. Most saddles weigh between 6.5kg and 9kg; this weighs 4kg, reducing the burden on the pony, boosting its stamina and helping achieve higher speeds for longer periods. By lowering the player’s centre of gravity it also increases manoeuvrability The saddle is available in a wide range of leathers and colour combinations and comes in two sizes: 18 inches and 19 inches.

An England arena polo team will play the USA in a revival of the 85-year-old John R Townsend International Challenge this September at Great Meadow Polo Club, The Plains, Virginia. The transatlantic series was only played once, in 1923, when the USA won. The revival, taking place during the meeting of the US Polo Association Board of Governors, is being organised by Great Meadows president Phill Karber, chairman of the USPA marketing and arena committees.

The Johnston family of Chattanooga, Tennessee, were honoured for their many contributions to American polo during a gala at International Polo Club Palm Beach. Skey Johnston, former USPA chairman, was there with his English-born wife Jill to receive the plaudits.

The late Emir of Katsina, traditional ruler of Nigeria’s Moslem north, will be honoured with a 16-goal UNICEF charity tournament at Kaduna’s Fifth Chukker Resort in August. The emir, a 5-goal polo player in his heyday and Life President of the Nigerian Polo Association, died in March, aged 80.

Congratulations are due to two HPA staffers who gave birth less than a month apart this spring. Sophie McPherson’s Hector Peter was born on 14 March, and Milly Hodges’ Charles Arthur William on 2 April.

Texas billionaire Sir Allen Stanford, whose Stanford Financial Group is a major polo sponsor in the United States [see Spring issue], is continuing his multi-million dollar drive to raise the international profile of cricket. Recent headlining-making proposals include a groundbreaking $20-million winnertakes-all Twenty20 match between England and a West Indies all-star side, and an English version of the Indian Premier League. Shades of Australia’s late Kerry Packer, whose bold innovations changed the face of cricket back in the 1970s, before he began investing millions in polo…

Iranian-born American Tony Yahyai is staging an arena polo exhibition on the beach at the famous luxury resort town of Cabo San Lucas in Mexico’s Baja California on the 15th-16th November. The event is expected to host teams from North American and Europe, and will promote Tony’s new polo development, Club Polo Los Cabos, just inland from the Pacific resort.

Richard Britten-Long has been elected the new chairman of Cirencester Park Polo Club - England’s oldest - in Gloucestershire. He also becomes a Steward of the HPA and a member of the association’s ruling council.

Pony’s name Raptor Age 13 Sex Mare Colour Bay Height 15.3h Origin New Zealand

In 1997 I bought, unseen, a three-yearold thoroughbred filly from an old friend in the Waikato. I paid NZ $100 for her. At the time I thought it was rather expensive because she nearly caused a serious rift between me and my 13-year-old daughter, Camilla. I picked the filly up on one of my regular trips collecting Camilla from boarding school. For Camilla, the primary point of the journey was getting her goldfish home safely; for me, the horse. We had to detour, and ran out of gas. It was raining and miserable and father-daughter relations were put under considerable strain.

We finally got the filly (and the goldfish) safely home. She had a long convex spine and tall shoulder – I call it roach-back – and looked a bit like a giraffe. We called her Harriet after Jean Paul Herriott, and discovered that she bucked. I knew that any horse who could buck like that was pretty athletic and thought she might be special. Over the next few years she proved it. I brought her along quietly – playing her in three or four New Zealand Opens and other senior tournaments, but not pushing her.

By the time I took her to Santa Barbara in 2001, I knew she had the potential to reach the top. She was still learning the game, but had a great spin, and the beginnings of a spectacular stop. She disgraced herself soon after arrival by bucking off my new wife, Josephine (TWICE!) so she got worked pretty hard for a few weeks after that. I then offered her to Owen Rinehart. I knew she would suit Owen’s game, and I knew that with Owen she had a good chance of reaching her full potential. I know he looks after his horses, and was happy for her to go to him. Rumour from the Santa Barbara grooms was that she bucked Owen off, soon after he bought her . When I questioned him on this matter he denied it and said he had just ‘slid off the back’!

Owen renamed her Raptor. She steadily rose through his string, and has since played high goal on both coasts of the US for the last five years. In 2007, International Polo Club and the American Polo Horse Association honoured Owen with Best String of the 2007 US Open. Raptor was also named Best Playing Pony at the Florida 20-26 goal Cartier Gold Cup, and one of her embryos recently sold for a record $30,000. With Owen, Harriet/Raptor has proved herself every bit the superstar I hoped she

could be. NICK JONES