Summer 2015 by Hurlingham Polo Magazine

HURLINGHAM P OL O M AG A Z I N E

THE AMERICAN SEASON

J U N E 2 015

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CONTENTS

Ponylines The latest news from the world of polo, including the Chief Executive’s column

Team spirit Positivity and cameraderie are among the qualities fostered by the Gay Polo League, founded by Chip McKenney

CECIL DAVIS; LILA PHOTOS; PHELPS MEDIA

Analyse this How live-action data is shaping the future of the game of kings for teams, coaches and umpires alike A perfect blend The Coronation Cup has a prestigious lineage, and benefts this year from a partnership with Royal Salute, which has an equally long and distinguished history

SHOW MEDIA Editorial Managing Director Peter Howarth 1-2 Ravey Street, London EC2A 4QP + 44 (0) 20 3222 0101 info@showmedialondon.com; showmedialondon.com HURLINGHAM MEDIA Sales +44 (0) 771 483 6102 hurlingham@hpa-polo.co.uk; hurlinghampolo.com Colour reproduction Born Group; borngroup.com Printing Gemini Press; gemini-press.co.uk

A head start Being trained as a boy by an exceptional coach taught rising Thai star William Chatamra his most important lessons

An equestrian dynasty Jaime Rincón Gallardo on the history of his family’s hacienda, Ciénega de Mata, and its link with polo in Mexico

Air time The United States Polo Association is bringing polo to an ever-larger audience – and a screen near you

Riding high Sarah Eakin traces the success of the USPA from its inception in 1890

45 28

Lifestyle This season’s notables, including tequila by George Clooney, stylish Italian swimwear, Japanese-crafted specs and a beautiful vintage bicycle

Action The Florida season; IPC 20-goal season; Nations Cup; FIP World Championship; Townsend Cup; Dubai Season; Cheshire versus Hawaii; Snow Polo in Tianjin; and 12-goal at Aspen Valley, Florida

John Wash The head of IPC Palm Beach has led the club to success – and he’s not done yet

The polo playboy Remembering Laddie Sanford, as he enters the Polo Hall of Fame

HURLINGHAM MAGAZINE Publisher Roderick Vere Nicoll Executive Editor Peter Howarth Editor Arabella Dickie Editor-At-Large Alex Webbe Art Director Julia Allen Chief Copy Editor Eirwen Oxley Green Deputy Chief Copy Editor Gill Wing Copy Editors Nicky Gyopari, Katie Wyartt Contributing Writer Tanya Jackson

Cover: Alejo Taranco, photographed by Camilla Sykes

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. While every efort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, no responsibility can be accepted for any errors or omissions. All the information contained in this publication is correct at the time of going to press. The HURLINGHAM Polo Association magazine (ISSN 1750-0486) is published by Hurlingham Media. The magazine is designed and produced on behalf of Hurlingham Media by Show Media Ltd. It is published on behalf of the Hurlingham Polo Association by Hurlingham Media. The products and services advertised are not necessarily endorsed by or connected with the publisher or the Hurlingham Polo Association. The editorial opinions expressed in this publication are those of individual authors and not necessarily those of the publisher or the Hurlingham Polo Association. Hurlingham magazine welcomes feedback from readers: hurlinghammedia@hpa-polo.co.uk

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HURLINGHAM

FOREWORD RODERICK VERE NICOLL – PUBLISHER

The USPA celebrates its 125th birthday in 2015 and, in our Features section, Sarah Eakin describes its history as well as its thriving apparel business – with $100m in the bank and an operating budget of $10m, it can fund many exciting initiatives. Elsewhere, Christine Vermes reports on how it’s got the game of kings on both broadcast TV and the internet. In Action, Ben Baugh recounts how, despite being better prepared for the FIP World Championship than any other nation, the USA lost in overtime to hosts Chile. In an exciting fnal, the ffth player was undoubtedly the home crowd. In Profle, John Wash describes how the IPC has been going from strength to strength. Most clubs have one or two big games a season, but there, Sundays from January to April draw a crowd of 5,000.

On our cover, we feature the Uruguayan Alejo Taranco, MVP at the US Open – quite a feat from the lowest-handicapped professional on the feld. Keeping his cool throughout, he converted a number of goals from the penalty line. For the frst time, we cover polo in the UAE. Take a look at One to Watch – Mohammed Al Habtoor has broken the barriers between clubs and patron and now there are 10 teams of 18 goals competing during the Dubai season. On a personal note, Hurlingham magazine is marking its own celebration. The past decade has been a labour of love, and our success has been dependent on the supreme efforts of the team at Show Media and our writers and photographers, not to mention the valued support of a loyal group of advertisers. Thank you, all.

CONTRIBUTORS

Darlene Ricker is the senior writer for Phelps Media Group International in Wellington, Florida, with a primary focus on polo, and PSpolo.com. For many years, she covered the game as a sports writer for the Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe. A former stafer with the USPA, her articles appear in major national and international publications.

Camilla Sykes is a graduate of the Slade School of Fine Art, London, and also has a degree in Hispanic Studies from Bristol University. Her passion for polo photography has taken her across the world, from Sotogrande, Spain, where she now lives, to the Argentine Open at Palermo and this year’s FIP World Championship in Chile.

William Chatamra recently completed his education at Stowe, where he was head boy, and is about to embark on a law degree at the London School of Economics. He discovered his love for the game at the Thai Polo & Equestrian Club and currently plays near his home in Wiltshire. He hopes to play for Thai Polo in Berkshire in the future.

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Jaime Rincón Gallardo is currently in his second year studying business at the Universidad Anáhuac in Querétaro, Mexico, where he lives with his family. He is passionate about horses and runs a polo-pony breeding operation alongside his father and grandfather. He plays polo in Querétaro, and is rated with a 1-goal handicap.

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PONYLINES ONE TO WATCH

GONZALO ETCHEVERRY

ONE TO WATCH In 1999, Mohammed Al Habtoor received an invitation to attend a match and was seated next to Ali Albwardy, who heads the Dubai Polo Team. Albwardy convinced him to start playing and, the next day, he began to practise. Ten years later, he started the Dubai Polo Gold Cup Series – a tournament with six teams up to 12-goals. This year, the tournament has increased to 18 goals, with 10 teams taking part. Before the Gold Cup Series, United Arab Emirates’ patrons were only playing practices in their own clubs with a few horses; now, however, they have a full organisation that attracts the best players in the world. These days, the UAE is very much on the polo map, with the Gold Cup Series considered one of the most important and prestigious polo events in the region – a huge achievement in just six years. ‘We still want to increase the number of teams to 12 or 14, and 20-goals will be even better,’ says Al Habtoor. ‘We broke the barrier that existed between clubs and patrons, and now everybody plays together.’ Gonzalo Etcheverry

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PONYLINES POLO NEWS FROM ACROSS THE WORLD

CHIEF EXECUTIVE The 2015 season is now upon us, but first a quick look back at the closing stages of our off-season. At the end of March in Chile, the England team met the USA in the semi-finals of the FIP 14-goal World Championships. A well-drilled American team ran out the comfortable Brits but then, rather unexpectedly, lost in the final against the home side. Then in April, an England team of Luke and Mark Tomlinson, Max Charlton and Ollie Cudmore took on Rest of the World and Argentina in the Copa de las Naciones. There was optimism that England would retain their 2014 title, but they started badly in the final against Argentina and never really recovered. Max Charlton’s penalties were standout moments for the team. With 12 teams entered for the Cartier Queen’s Cup, it is excellent to see a team of all-English professionals sponsored by Somerton – and if they are drawn at any stage against El Remanso, there will be seven English players on the field at the same time: a rare sight in the high-goal these days. The first test match, sponsored by St Regis, was played at Cowdray Park against The Americas, led by Jaime Huidobro. The game took some time to get going, but England captain James Beim sped things up in the last chukka, leading his team to a 6–3 win. Mention of the England team raises the reluctant withdrawal of Audi from their sponsorship of the Pony Club, the England team and the Coronation Cup. It has been an excellent sponsor for 10 years, making the England team the envy of other countries. Inevitably, there has been a lot of work behind the scenes, and we are delighted we have been able to sign a three-year agreement for sponsorship of the Coronation Cup with Royal Salute, which has established itself as a great supporter of polo worldwide. There has been much discussion throughout the winter across the AAP, USPA, FIP and HPA, the result being a renewed enthusiasm to work towards one set of rules for the game, particularly within high-goal, this summer. Good progress is being made. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very good season.

{ INTERNATIONAL ALUMNI CUP The London Alumni Polo Club and Polo Valley Resorts hosted the first International Alumni Polo Cup, in Sotogrande, on the weekend of 18–19 April. Six teams from around the world flew in to compete, network and enjoy the first edition of one of the year’s biggest tournaments. The chosen teams – Cambridge, London Alumni I, London Alumni II, Netherlands, Oxford Brookes and the UK – competed for the trophy on the Río Sotogrande fields at the prestigious Santa María Polo Club. The tournament started with a round robin on the first day to allow all teams to compete against each other. After a closely fought contest, Oxford Brookes were crowned champions on the Sunday, despite a strong challenge from the UK team, led by MVP Niels van der Hoeven and sponsored by Peruvian restaurant Coya. This left the London Alumni I team and the Dutch to battle it out for the Takito Polo Mallets-sponsored third place, with London Alumni I the victors. Chris Byrne

{ INAUGURAL CHARITY POLO CUP IN VIETNAM The first Charity Polo Cup Vietnam match took place at Long Thanh Golf & Residential Estate on 20 March. It was an exciting game that saw the Royal Pahang Polo Club narrowly beat Viet Thai International Thai Polo 10–9. The guest of honour was the Queen’s eldest grandson, Peter Phillips, second left, who presented the cup to the winners. The Vietnam Airlines MVP award was won by HH Prince Amir Nasser Ibrahim, following an outstanding performance. The Mercedes-Benz BPP award, meanwhile, was given to Macano, ridden by Dato’ Mohamed Moiz, far right, and owned by Dato’ Harald Link, third from left, of Thai Polo & Equestrian Club, who generously sent a fleet of ponies over 1,000km from Pattaya to Ho Chi Minh City for the game. An impressive $189,000 was raised for the charities Stop Ivory, Save Vietnam’s Wildlife and the Business Association of Vietnam Veterans.

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PONYLINES

HOOKED ON POLO Thijs Povel founded the London Alumni Polo Club in 2012. The group brings together graduates from different UK universities, and now boasts more than 300 international members aged 23 to 33 who live and work in London. ‘I learnt a little about polo while growing up in the Netherlands, where there are plenty of flat fields and many horses. While at university, I went along to a try-out session and enjoyed it so much that I booked a three-week trip to Argentina to get a proper introduction to the game. ‘Polo has so much more to offer than any other sport: it requires horsemanship, ball control, tactics and athleticism. It has the difficulty of golf, but with a moving ball, while riding a horse – and with an opposition that will come charging down on you as quickly as possible. ‘Since setting up the London Alumni Polo Club (LAPC), there have been many memorable polo games. One that sticks in my mind was a trip to the Genghis Khan Polo and Riding Club in Mongolia last summer. Eight of us travelled to compete against the country’s 1st Cavalry unit and its national team. Playing Mongolian horses on a polo field that is surrounded by grasslands and rivers was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. ‘Polo is not just a sport for me any more – it has become a way of life. As Churchill aptly put it: ‘There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.’ Even though this is the case for most people who try the game, many friends were forced to stop playing after they graduated, due to time and monetary constraints. In order to keep these players in the sport and to bridge the gap between varsity and patron players, I set up the LAPC. We organise training sessions, tournaments and overseas trips.’ alumnipolo.co.uk

y HELVETIA POLO INTERNATIONAL During the first weekend in April, Brazil’s Helvetia Polo Country Club hosted the inaugural edition of the Helvetia Polo International. The competition welcomed 48 players, with 11 international guests visiting São Paulo from Egypt, USA, Chile, Colombia, Argentina and Italy. All teams held 6–8 goal handicaps. The primary aim of the event was to promote and strengthen the relationship between the Brazilian teams and those from other countries; with this in mind, each guest was hosted by a local player, who was responsible for making arrangements for their accommodation and horses. A total of 12 teams took part in the tournament, each playing within one of three zones. The final champions were teams Guabi (zone A), Cuatro Vientos (zone B) and Tigres (zone C). Silvio Coutinho, Helvetia Polo Country Club’s director, was delighted that the tournament had been such a huge

success and intends to make it an annual event. The club was founded in 1975 and is now the leading polo venue in São Paulo. Situated 10km from Viracopos/Campinas International Airport, it is the largest such club in Brazil, with an impressive 10 full-sizes fields and a further 25 private fields. Players from all over the country come together between April and October to play fixtures ranging from 2- to 26-goal handicaps. The club also offers polo lessons as well as other equestrian opportunities in the surrounding countryside. helvetiapolo.com.br

{ EAST COAST OPEN 2015 This year’s 20-goal East Coast Open – one of the most prestigious tournaments in the US – will be held at Greenwich Polo Club over three consecutive Sundays, starting on 23 August. ‘We expect the 2015 tournament to draw the best high-goal players from around the globe to compete for the title and have their names added to the Perry Cup,’ said Peter M Brant, founder of both the Greenwich Polo Club and the adjacent Brant Foundation Art Study Center, above, which, over the years, has displayed works from its collection by the likes of Rob Pruitt and Jeff Koons. ‘Fans will get to experience world-class polo at a beautiful venue and, for the first time ever, the tournament will be streamed live and will culminate in a nationally televised broadcast.’ The USPA will live-stream the semi-finals on ChukkerTV, and NBC Sports Network will air a 60-minute broadcast of the final on 13 September. ‘This historically rich and now nationally televised tournament is a key opportunity to bring attention to polo,’ said USPA CEO Peter Rizzo. The East Coast Open was founded in Rhode Island in 1905 and was played until World War I. It had a renaissance in 1978, when Donald Little, then president of the USPA and captain of the Myopia Polo Club, resurrected the tournament, bringing it to the Myopia Polo Club in Massachusetts, where it was played until the early 2000s. At its height, 13 teams played in the 14–20 goal tournament, and it attracted 10-goal players such as Mariano Aguerre, Mike Azzaro and Gonzalo Pieres. greenwichpoloclub.com/ECO

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BEYOND EXPECTATION Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide to open its frst ever polo resort.

The St. Regis Dubai will be the centerpiece of this six million square feet equestrian centre in the heart of DubaiLand. A 136-room hotel, inspired by Andalusian architecture, will be surrounded by a state-of-the-art polo academy, show jumping and dressage arenas and a riding school with 500 stables. In addition there will be 162 luxury bungalows, 2 4 of which will be St. Regis branded. The St. Regis Dubai Al Habtoor Polo Resort & Club - sharing a passion for the ‘Sport of Kings’.

a legacy of luxury. now at over 30 of the world’s finest hotels & resorts. alhabtoorpoloresortandclub.com

©2010–2013 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Preferred Guest, SPG, St. Regis and their logos are the trademarks of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., or its afliates.

PONYLINES

CHUKKAS

The British Polo 10-Goal Championships will be played for the Diamond Jubilee Trophy as the morning match on International Day, Saturday 25 July, at Guards Polo Club. The aim of the tournament is to provide an opportunity for both existing and up-and-coming British players. The handicap limit for the team is 8–10 goals, with a minimum handicap of 0. All sponsored players must have a current UK passport and be a member of the HPA, and an entry fee of £5,000 will be charged. Team Patrons will be invited to the Coronation Cup Dinner at Guards on Thursday 23 July, after the semis, and will be accorded eight complimentary seats in the South Stand.

y AUDI ENDS SPONSORSHIP Following an impressive 12-year term supporting polo, Audi has made the commercial decision not to renew its sponsorship of the England polo team, the Audi International Series and The Pony Club Polo Championships. ‘We are very proud to have been a significant supporter of polo in the UK for more than a decade,’ says Jon Zammett, head of PR for Audi UK. ‘We believe Audi has made a positive impact on the development and growing success of the England squad, as well as the sport as a whole, over the years. After a very consistent period of support, which began with visiting international team sponsorships as far back as 2002, Audi of course wishes the sport – including the HPA, with whom we have greatly enjoyed working – the very best of luck.’ Audi will continue to host its Audi Polo Challenge – a series of exclusive events that have raised more than £1.7m over the years for various charities supported by the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry. John Tinsley, who has been chairman of the HPA’s International Committee throughout Audi’s involvement in polo, says: ‘Audi has had a huge impact on the sport, particularly the England squad, which has been transformed in the past 10 years and has become the envy of all other countries. Its sponsorship of the Pony Club has been crucial to the development of our young players, and the Hurlingham Polo Association would like to thank Audi for its unstinting support.’

In 1932, Michael Grace Phipps achieved a remarkable feat by winning the Intercollegiates, the US Open, the Argentine Open and the Copa de Americas, the latter two with an all-American team. He was raised to 10 goals in 1938 and, in 1994, was posthumously elected to the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame.

On 12 May, La Felisa, the home of Juan Carlos Harriott in Coronel Suárez, was destroyed by a fre. Despite the eforts of frefghters, accompanied by 18 fre engines, 50 years of polo history was consumed by fames, including 20 Argentine Open Cups. Juan Carlitos is currently living in his fat in Buenos Aires and planning to rebuild La Felisa.

In mid-May, the USPA again prevailed in its long-running trademark battle with the Ralph Lauren Corporation. The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled that the USPA cannot be held in contempt for selling sunglasses with its distinctive Double Horsemen mark around the globe. This decision reversed a fnding of contempt by a lower-court judge and is the third federal court ruling in eight months to reject Ralph Lauren’s overly aggressive litigation tactics.

Chris Hyde was raised from a 9 to a 10 in the HPA-arena handicap meeting this spring. He is the frst British player to reach 10 goals in the arena, and he and American player Tommy Biddle are the highest rated in the arena in the world. Hyde had a very good 2014/2015 season, winning the Arena Gold Cup and the annual test match against Ireland at Hickstead as the captain of the English team.

As is well recorded, the frst organised game of polo in England took place on Hounslow Heath on 28 June 1870. Then, for a few short years, the epicentre of English polo was a small ground at Lillie Bridge, near Earl’s Court. However, the Hurlingham Club was already considering expansion to incorporate polo as well as pigeon shooting. The frst match was played on 6 June 1874 and the sport was so popular that, on 1 May 1875, the Hurlingham Club Committee published the frst ofcial rules of polo.

{AL AN COREY The 3 April 2015 was a sad day for the international polo community. Alan Corey III, 73, who had been part of Aiken Polo Club for decades, was playing the first practice of the year when he collapsed after the fourth chukka, suffering a fatal heart attack. On Aiken’s board of directors for more than 15 years, Alan had contributed hugely to the

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club and was a true ambassador for the sport. He had grown up playing polo in Aiken and on Long Island and was from a distinguished polo family: his father, Alan Corey Jr, was a legendary 9-goal player who was inducted into the Museum of Polo Hall of Fame in 1992. Alan had polo in his blood, playing through his teenage years and going on to be a member of the intercollegiate team while studying at Yale. After college, he entered the fast-paced world of Wall Street, but continued to pursue the sport. Playing off a 4-goal rating, he competed in both high- and low-goal polo at clubs up and down the East Coast of the USA. He was a quick and clever player, with a sense of humour and a deep respect for the game and its traditions. Alan especially loved his horses and had a sincere regard for horsemanship and proper animal care and training. He and his wife Pat moved to Aiken full time in the 1980s. There, he became indispensible to Aiken Polo Club in his role as player and director. He will be greatly missed by Aiken and, indeed, by the entire polo world. Alan is survived by his wife, Patricia Ellis Corey, as well as his four children, two stepchildren and seven grandchildren. Pam Gleason

PONYLINES

LOVE OF MY LIFE PONY’S NAME: DOLFINA CARIDAD SEX: MARE ORIGIN: AUSTRALIA

SADDLE UP WITH... NAME: ALEJO TARANCO NATIONALITY: URUGUYAN POLO HANDICAP: 6-GOAL How did you start playing polo? I started playing when I was 11 years old. I grew up on my mother’s family farm in Uruguay and used to play at the Rio Negro Polo Club at weekends. I was introduced to polo by my grandfather, David Stirling, who supplied me with horses.

Dolfina Caridad is a beautiful 15-year-old bay mare bred by Adolfo Cambiaso and owned by Valiente. Her parents are the Australian thoroughbred Karenza, and stallion Rainbow Corner. She first played with Mariano Aguerre for La Dolfina in the Argentine Open at the age of five. Cambiaso went on to play her in the Argentine Triple Crown and she then continued her career in the UK, where she was for many years Cambiaso’s best mare, receiving BPP in the 2010 Gold Cup. Dolfina Caridad has been with Valiente in the USA for the past four years and we are very fortunate to have her in our breeding programme: her first offering, Dolfina Solidaria, has already played in the 2014 Argentine Triple Crown. In 2014, Dolfina Caridad was awarded the Best Bred Argentine Polo Pony of the season, and was later named BPP in the 2014 US Open

Final. She is an incredibly dependable mare – an all-rounder in terms of speed, turning ability and temperament. She plays at a 9 every chukka – she may not be a 10, but she’s never a 7! A horse that performs so well in every chukka is priceless. A wonderful mare, she helped Valiente in our successful run to the 2015 US Open win, where she was played by Cambiaso. Bob Jornayvaz

Who in polo do you respect most? I’m close to my cousin Pelón Stirling and have learnt a lot from him – and from Adolfo Cambiaso, the best player in the world. What are your plans for next summer? I’m playing in the Sotogrande 12-goal season in June–July, and in August in the high-goal in Dubai with Rashuri, Adolfo Cambiaso and Facha Valent.

STEFAN ALTENBURGER ; DAVID LOMINSKA; CAMILLA SYKES

What was your most memorable game? The final of the US Open in 2015, in which I was named MVP. Tell us about your season in Palm Beach. We started badly, losing early in the first two tournaments against Orchard Hill in the CV Whitney Cup and against Alegría in the Gold Cup. Cambiaso was injured at the start of the US Open, but returned to us for the quarter-finals, which helped us work better as a team. While Cambiaso was playing, I was in charge of taking the short penalties; luckily, the last one went through, though it was nail-bitingly close to the post. Is there anything else you’d like to say? Polo should be more popular, as it’s a great sport that anyone can practise at their own level. It would be great if some of the bigger tournaments had more TV coverage.

{ LAWYERS POLO CUP IN BANGKOK The Lawyers Polo Association was founded on three main pillars: polo, law and friendship. Formed in 2008, it provides a unique opportunity for international polo-playing attorneys to convene, dine, swap stories, compete and, most importantly, to bond. ‘The idea was to create a networking event for lawyers around polo. It worked out very well – so well, in fact, that today the sportive and friendship spirit around Lawyers Polo has eclipsed its original objective,’ explains Eduardo Bérèterbide, club founder and attorney at Shearman & Sterling in Paris. The club’s latest tournament took place in Bangkok from 16 to 21 March 2015. A total of six teams participated, with players flying in from all over the world. Matches took place on the topquality polo fields at VR Sports Club. In an exciting final on Saturday 21 March, King Power (led by Khun Tal Srivaddhanaprabha) won the 2015 Lawyers Polo Cup after defeating The Peninsula, 8–5. The second-place final was between Regent Law (fourth place) and Kerres Partners (third). Argentine lawyer Pablo Guiñazu, captain of The Peninsula, was awarded the MVP trophy. ‘We would like to thank our event manager, Carolina Bérèterbide, for the outstanding organisation of Lawyers Polo 2015, and our sponsors, King Power, The Peninsula Bangkok and La Martina. We also want to specially thank the Srivaddhanaprabha family, the Thailand Polo Association and Lucas Lujan for their invaluable assistance during the organisation of the tournament,’ said Bérèterbide.

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TALK

TEAM SPIRIT

A catalyst for diversity in the sport, the Gay Polo League promotes positive perceptions as well as friendship both on and of the feld, says Darlene Ricker

Everyone has such an upbeat attitude. This is the kind of polo I love to play

Tournament – a USPA-recognised competition that, in 2015, was held at the International Polo Club Palm Beach. Along with a host of other professional players from the USA and Europe, Sunny Hale played in the sixth annual tournament. She believes the GPL is an organisation whose time has come. ‘I truly believe in what Chip is promoting – fun with friends and great polo – and applaud his efforts,’ she says. ‘As a straight woman, I was really honoured to be asked to participate at this year’s event.’ Fellow professional Tiffany Busch, who also competed, notes that the event really showcased the spirit of the GPL. ‘Everyone has such an upbeat attitude,’ she says. ‘And this is the kind of polo I love to play. Everybody’s smiling and, whether you win or lose, it doesn’t matter because you’re all having such a good time.’

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In this year’s Tailgate Awards at the 6th Annual International GPL Tournament, Kevin Clark’s restaurantthemed booth won the prize for Best Cuisine

The league has made major strides since its inception seven years ago. It has four clubs in the United States – in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Florida – and a growing and diverse international base, with members drawn from as far afield as China, Argentina France, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Australia and South Africa. In addition to its own annual tournament, the GPL fields teams in open tournaments across the country and discussions are underway to bring GPL events to other regions of the world. In June, McKenney will be a speaker at the 8th annual GNetwork 360 international LGBT tourism conference in Argentina, which is co-organised by the National Institute of Tourism and the Argentina Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. His presentation will focus on the vision and future of the Gay Polo League and his plans to stage LGBT polo events around the globe. The GPL welcomes new members – for more information, visit gaypolo.com

PHELPS MEDIA GROUP

Keen to expand its reach, the polo world has been stepping up its efforts to attract players from all sectors of society. Leading the charge is Chip McKenney, founder and president of the Gay Polo League (GPL), who has a desire to share what he calls ‘a love of adventure, fun and polo’ while at the same time challenging perceptions of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community. The only LGBT polo organisation in the world, the GPL represents a cross-section of ages, abilities and riding experience. Its focus is on providing the LGBT community with the opportunity to learn and play polo, as well as promoting sportsmanship. ‘The response from our own community has been one of complete fascination, and within the broader polo world, it has been amazing,’ says McKenney. ‘We’ve had nothing but support.’ Through its enthusiasm for the sport, he says, the group fosters both positivity and cameraderie. Advocating genuinely equal rights, the GPL is open to all. ‘Our sexual orientation describes us, but it doesn’t define us,’ says McKenney. Members actively train for and compete in both GPL events and mainstream matches, with the highlight of the year being the group’s flagship event, the Annual International Gay Polo League

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TALK

ANALYSE THIS No longer the preserve of mainstream sports, video technology is giving new insights to umpires and coaches, shaping results and strategy. Charles Froggatt, founder of the International Polo Academy, explains

Technology has changed the way the world interacts with sport. Since the ‘moneyball’ strategies that famously propelled the minnow Oakland Athletics baseball team to success in the Major League in the early 2000s, everybody in sport has taken the humble statistic more seriously. The geeks in dark rooms have now been given the title ‘performance analysts,’ and their work, accessed in the form of video analysis and data, has become vital both to the success of any team serious about winning and for the bigger picture of sport. Turn on ESPN and all you see are statistics; find yourself in any professional sports changing room and you will see the play breakdown on a screen. Down the hall, referees will review their decisions on iPads, and in the press room, managers – forced to cover their mouths during the game to ward off lip readers – are thrust in front of the camera to talk to fans at home, even

though many viewers are more interested in their fantasy teams than the actual results. While no one could imagine polo reaching the lip-reading stage, it was only a matter of time before technology and the ‘game of kings’ would find each other. Although it has taken a few years for the drones, analysts and iPads to reach the matches, the results are rather exciting. Teams, coaches, umpires, players, federations and polo’s fans are beginning to see the value in the application of filming techniques and analysis. And so, it turns out, polo is not as old-school as you may think. If there was one country to be the first to fully embrace technology, the numberone candidate would be the USA – particularly in the 2015 Florida season. Take the US Open final as an example. Like most of the eight teams taking part, Bob Jornayvaz’s Valiente had two video sessions on the day before their final against Orchard Hill. Set plays and possession are the primary focus of high-goal teams in game preparation. At its most basic level, the process of creating

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ALANNAH CASTRO/PHELPS MEDIA GROUP; HORSEPLAY

Opposite, from top A typical breakdown of statistics after the frst half of the match between Orchard Hill and Alegría; analysis of play using Dartfsh Express This page The author and Cambiaso analysing Valiente set plays and opposition plays before the US Open

a strategy for keeping the ball, advancing down the field and planning a defence is now agreed upon in as little as 10 minutes. No more trawling through hours of footage – the plays are all there on a mobile video-analysis app called Dartfish Express – just one of the tools used by Dartfish’s partners, the International Polo Academy. Data tells us that Valiente defended knock-ins 20 per cent better during the final compared to their previous encounter in the group stages, and that Orchard Hill advanced significantly less. Half-time stats tell us that their throw-in strategy backfired: Orchard Hill stole 11 of the 15 throwins, 10 of which were won by Facundo Pieres and Polito Pieres: two players you would prefer not to have the ball if you were their opponents. In the second half, Valiente won nine – three more than Orchard Hill. Talisman ten-goaler Adolfo Cambiaso, also not a man you want to give anything away to, won six in the second half. His team won the half 7-4, the game and the US Open. For the first time this year, statistics will be used to shape the NBC broadcast for the US

Open. Player statistics, graphics and multiplecamera-angle footage will all be used to portray polo as a professional sport and make it more accessible for both loyal fans and new viewers. The final goal to be shown by NBC will be Cambiaso’s offside neck shot in the sixth chukka that sealed the win for Valiente. The goal was filmed by drone and blimp from above, super slowmotion cameras behind the goal and a further four cameras from different elevations. What a neck shot it was. The backswing, the contact, the follow-through… all made to look so easy. Analysis is crucial for umpires who have just a split second to make a decision. The USPA’s

Analysis is crucial for umpires who have just a split second to make a decision

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Umpire Services LLC uses video analysis to serious effect. In fact, Valiente would not have even been playing in that final had an instant replay of the drone footage not clearly illustrated that the umpire’s call of ‘turning’ was wrong and should be overruled – a fact that was confirmed in post-match analysis on the Dartfish system. Of course, new insights into the action makes it harder to romanticise about a match. Polo fans may, for example, be disappointed to see the most successful teams in the US Open 2015 were the least likely to pass the ball, averaging 40 passes per game – 10 less than the teams that failed to reach the semi-finals. No surprise three of the four semi-finalists had the highest 60-yard penalty success rate, of 65 per cent or over. Teams are increasingly interested in data, as are associations in how the players rank in different areas of the game, but it is early days. Polo is not yet at Major League baseball level, but the performance analysts will be working the night shift to help us understand it fully, as technology helps polo move into a new era.

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A PERFECT BLEND The histories of Royal Salute and the Coronation Cup run in parallel, says Victoria Elsbury-Legg If polo is the ‘game of kings’, then the recent announcement that Royal Salute will be the new sponsor of the Coronation Cup could not be a more apt pairing. The whisky was launched on 2 June 1953 to honour Queen Elizabeth II on the day of her coronation. Taking its name from the traditional 21-gun salute that marks many royal occasions, even the colours of the porcelain bottles in which the 21-year-old whisky is presented are symbolic: made from Cornish clay burnished to a ruby, emerald or sapphire finish, they represent the jewels on Her Majesty’s coronation crown. Created by master blender Charles Julian at the oldest working distillery in the Highlands, Royal Salute, like the Coronation Cup, is rich in history. Founded in 1801 in Aberdeen, Chivas Brothers, the makers of Royal Salute, was purchased by Seagram’s in 1949, with the Strathisla Distillery being acquired in 1950. The brand went on to be owned by Pernod Ricard. Royal Salute has played a hugely significant role in the international polo scene since 2007. With brand ambassadors Facundo Pieres; Torquhil Campbell, the 13th Duke of Argyll; and Malcolm Borwick on board, and tournaments

from China to Argentina, and Britain to the USA sharing their titles with the name, Royal Salute continues to expand its sponsorship of both the sport and its chosen charities, including Prince Harry’s Sentebale. Now it is the turn of the Coronation Cup to add an association with Royal Salute to its illustrious history. Started in 1911 to honour the coronation of King George V, until 1939, it was played by the winners of the London Open Tournaments. With polo in decline in post-war years, the tournament was played again in 1953 to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, then in 1971, when Michael Butler, Lord Patrick Beresford and Colonel Gerard Leigh put together a 23-goal English team (Hon. Mark Vestey, Howard and Julian Hipwood and Paul Withers) to face team USA (Ronnie Tongg, Billy Linfoot, and Chico and Joe Barry). Guards polo manager Major Ronald Ferguson then added a BPP award and incorporated a Young England vs Young America match into the day, with the HPA creating the Silver Jubilee Trophy in 1977, and from then until 1993, Prince Charles captained the English team. Sponsored by Wills (1971–1978), Cartier (1984–2011),

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Royal Salute, the luxury Scotch whisky, has been a strong supporter of polo worldwide since 2007, and now, in a new pairing with the HPA, has agreed to be the title partner for the prestigious Coronation Cup

then Audi (2012–2014), the International Day has featured teams from more than 10 nations. Perhaps the intertwining of two great British brands is best summed up by Royal Salute global brand director Vadim Grigorian: ‘As a long-standing, passionate supporter of polo, it is fitting to cement Royal Salute’s association with the most prestigious polo event in Britain – the Coronation Cup. We are deeply fascinated with polo – from its origins in noble values to the symbiosis between player and horse; it is firmly planted in tradition, yet played in the modern world. Honouring legacy is in the DNA of Royal Salute, so it is a privilege to extend our patronage to an organisation that encapsulates comparable values.’ The Royal Salute Coronation Cup 2015, England vs South America, will be held on 25 July at Windsor Great Park; royalsalute.com

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A HEAD START The encouragement and experience he gained at Thai Polo Club as a boy laid the foundations of his ongoing passion for the game, says William Chatamra

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Thanks to the passion and innovative spirit of Dato’ Harald Link and Nunthinee Tanner, Thai Polo & Equestrian Club has grown into a polo club on par with the finest in the world. It was here, at the age of 11, on the sidelines of Thai Polo vs Royal Pahang, that I was first invited to play in the junior programme. Annual family outings to the B Grimm Thai Polo Open and to the Queen’s Cup Pink Polo Open, which donates money to my parents’ breast-cancer foundation, soon became a weekly obsession. I began this adventure learning to play on wooden horses and ‘Thelwell’ cartoon-style ponies with attitude. Playing mini chukkas was always the highlight of my day; it is hard to say who had more fun, the juniors who were trying to mimic the professionals or our small furry mounts trying to impersonate bucking broncos. Our games would always precede the main chukkas and we would receive priceless coaching tips from the pros before they went on to dazzle us for the next seven and a half minutes. The plethora of international professionals visiting the club is still really inspiring and encourages us to work towards becoming better players. As we progressed and improved, we were able to play on the exceptional Argentinian horses that make up the majority of the 320 stabled at Thai Polo. It was at this point the internationally known coach Rege Ludwig arrived and took myself and many others under his coaching wing. Phrases like, ‘Toes out! Heels down!’ and ‘Out over the ball earlier!’ were soon echoing in my dreams. His form of old-school discipline, which is coupled with a very dry sense of humour, make the perfect ingredients for a great coach: Rege can perhaps be best described as John Wayne on a quad bike. A stickler for proper training, his hitting cage and rules’ clinic laid down a strong foundation for my polo that endures to this day. At 13, I left for boarding school and the Palladian architecture and Capability Brown grounds of Stowe in Buckinghamshire – a very different haven and far removed from the verdant palm-tree oasis that is Thailand. I began playing polo at Stowe and enjoyed a few games against Eton, Wellington and Harrow while training at Kirtlington Park, just a short distance from the school. Sadly, due to a leg injury, I was unable to further build on the progress I’d made at Thai Polo. Over the next five years, however, I did go on to meet other challenges, such as becoming head boy, playing first XV rugby and captaining the swimming and athletics teams. Nonetheless, I greatly missed being in the saddle. Last summer, I finally agreed to surgery, which has allowed me to play pain-free again during my gap year, and returned to Thai Polo to continue where I left off at the age of 13. It was so heart-warming to see contemporaries such as Nu Sukhampa playing off three goals at the age of 18 after five years’ training at Rege’s academy. During this last season, I have relished working with and gaining further understanding of the horses by exercising them daily at 6am, shadowing the club’s vet, working with the

William Chatamra with his coach, Rege Ludwig

I learnt to play on wooden horses and ‘Thelwell’ cartoonstyle ponies with attitude

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grooms and playing weekly club chukkas. Yet again, I have been under the tutelage of Rege. I was delighted that, after a few months, I was able to play on the Thai youth team against Pakistan – which was incredibly rewarding. I am now back for the UK season and look forward to further improving at Thai Polo in Berkshire. I will return to the club in Thailand in December, and am set to begin my university studies reading law at the London School of Economics later this year.

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AIR TIME The USPA is bringing polo to the people, with telecasts of matches, both on major television networks and through streaming video on the internet, reports Christine Vermes

As all who know and love the game appreciate, there’s no substitute for being at the polo club watching some of the world’s top players battle it out with speed and intensity on any given Sunday. However, the next best thing to being there – and, for many, their first exposure to the sport – is through the medium of video footage. And broadcasts are an important element of the United States Polo Association (USPA) strategy to increase the interest in, and the appreciation of, the sport in America. The USPA brought the game of kings back to the American airwaves in 2013 after a decades-long hiatus, with the broadcast of the edited highlights of the US Open and Westchester Cup matches on the NBC Sports Network (NBC SN). NBC SN is the 24-hour

all-sports cable network owned by NBC – one of the country’s major broadcasting networks that is well known for carrying premier equestrian events such as the Kentucky Derby. The response from USPA members, not to mention the public at large, was so resoundingly positive that the programme was carried forward into 2014, with the CV Whitney Cup, Central

In two years, the viewing audience for polo telecasts grew by more than 20 per cent

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Park Polo Challenge and World Snow Polo Championship highlights telecast on the NBC SN, and the US Open appearing on the main NBC Sports streams. Most recently, broadcasters carried a 90-minute telecast – previous coverage had been 60 minutes – of the 2015 edition of the tournament, which included the thrilling Valiente vs Orchard Hill game. As well as all the action from the match, which was led by 10-goal powerhouses Adolfo Cambiaso, Facundo Pieres and Polito Pieres, the programme also included behind-the-scenes footage, interviews and a special USPA 125th-anniversary segment on the history of polo in the United States. The NBC telecasts are produced under the supervision of the USPA, which has striven

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to present polo in a manner that delivers the unique speed and excitement of the sport while narrating match-play in a manner that suits both fans and newcomers. The sophisticated, multi-camera production set-up for polo equals and often surpasses that used for other outdoor sports such as baseball – and even incorporates the use of aerial drone technology to better cover the vastness of the polo field. The USPA’s engagement of Polo Hall of Famer and former 10-goal player Adam Snow as its colour commentator, along with its development of several video shorts that complement the on-field action, has served to provide a deeper appreciation of the game for all viewers. Over the course of this two-year period, the viewing audience for polo telecasts grew by more than 20 per cent, and achieved a level equal

to that of NBC’s regular-season National Hockey League telecasts. The USPA’s officially licensed consumer brand, US Polo Assn., has been an ongoing sponsor of the telecasts, consistent with the organisation’s mission of purposely reinvesting in the sport, and demonstrating the close connection between the sport itself and the USPA’s consumer brand. The perceived authenticity of the US Polo Assn. is a matter of paramount importance to the USPA, because the revenue generated by the sale of its consumer merchandise funds a wide range of programmes promoting polo, particularly the next generation of American players and clubs. From a marketing perspective, the telecasts provide a natural platform to promote the synergy between the sport and its United States governing body’s officially licensed brand. Polo telecasts reach a large, broad audience with the high level of competition and tradition that epitomises the spirit of the organisaton. The USPA has recently expanded its video initiative to include relationships with ChukkerTV and Horseplay.tv – two media outlets that specialise in providing video polo coverage over the internet, featuring live and on-demand coverage of a wide range of matches. Already in 2015, both partners have provided coverage of the US high-goal season in Florida, including the US Open, USPA CV Whitney Cup and Piaget USPA Gold Cup, as well as the Townsend International Challenge Cup and the USPA Intercollegiate Polo Championships. Several more tournaments are planned throughout the year, including the East Coast Open and Pacific Coast Open. Together, the USPA’s relationships with these media outlets gives it the ability to make a large number of great matches available to viewers, some live, some as edited highlights, and virtually all on demand. All events have exceptionally high production values, with the select number of events telecast on NBC being absolutely world-class. The expansion of the existing USPA remit to make matches available on television and online came about as a direct response to feedback received in a member survey, which identified increasing public awareness and made promotion of the sport a top priority. The programme’s development over the past two years has provided the USPA with a powerful new platform to engage and grow the polo community while building its brands. nbcsports.com; chukker.tv; horseplay.tv Previous page 10-goaler Adam Snow, USPA’s colour commentator, interviews Adolfo Cambiaso for NBC SN. Left ChukkerTV ofers live, on-demand internet videos

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LIFESTYLE LUXURY OFFERINGS FROM THE WORLD’S BEST BRANDS y ROAD WORTHY The allure of classic design becomes even more irresistible when combined with discreet and innovative technology. Take the new Fuoriserie bicycle from luxury-automobile manufacturers Pininfarina, for example (from £6,450). Design-wise, its sleek shape is inspired by the tailor-made cars produced by the brand in the 1930s. Brought to fruition by bespoke bicycle-makers 43 Milano, the frame is made from lightweight chromed-steel tubes and coated with highly polished walnut briar-root. The handlebars and seat are decorated with cross-woven leather, in homage to the seat backs in the 1936 Lancia Astura Bocca car. And that’s where the vintage qualities end. Innovative features such as an LED lighting system and a pedal-powered mobile-phone charger are both practical draws, but perhaps the Fuoriserie’s most considered touch is the barely noticeable mini electric engine that takes the sting out of uphill stretches – ensuring that, when the admiring heads turn, you’ll appear just as cool and well-composed as your ride. pininfarina.com

x PRINTS CHARMING A splash of scarlet among the whitewash and terracotta of the breathtaking Italian coastal town of Positano, the tasteful and sumptuously decorated Le Sirenuse hotel encapsulates the luxury Amalfi lifestyle. Its store, Emporio Sirenuse, offers a painstakingly sourced range of fashion, accessories and homeware goods, all either hand-selected or produced by its owner, Carla Paravicini Sersale. So it’s hardly surprisingly, then, that it should collaborate with an equally renowned arbiter of taste, the luxury textile and print designer once placed among the world’s top-10 best-dressed women by Vanity Fair: Allegra Hicks. Over lunch with Sersale two years ago, Hicks casually played with the Sirenuse logo and inadvertently designed two sets of beautiful patterns. Sersale fell in love and soon immortalised the prints in a limited-edition range of men’s swimming trunks, which sold out within weeks. Now a staple line, the trunks start at €98 and are available from the website – and in the Positano hotel boutique, should you need a tenuous excuse to book in. store.emporiosirenuse.com

y TREATS IN STORE La Martina recently celebrated the opening of its luscious new flagship store in London’s St James’s. The luxury equestrian shop aims to become an international destination for polo fans and players, offering clothing – team kits, formal wear and fashion lines – plus shoes and accessories. It also serves as a high-end tack shop, with a large section of sporting equipment, including saddles and polo mallets. Like all La Martina stores, customer service is key – so it ensures a team of expert sales assistants is on hand with astonishing technical prowess. The main capsule collections, plus sports- and footwear, leather goods and accessories, can all be found upstairs, while one floor down, the store is divided into two sections: a bright, sumptuous boutique area for women, with glass chandeliers and plush red leather sofas; and the technical area, with its rows of leather boots and mallets. Guards Polo Club and Maserati are well represented, sitting comfortably among the exclusive St James’s collection and a wider range of hand-picked items from La Martina’s European collections. Over-spenders beware: everything is desirable. lamartina.com

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y LATIN LESSONS With over 15 years’ gastronomic experience, Martín Milesi, founder chef of UNA – a revolutionary culinary project that brings together 12 diners around just one table – is dedicated to creating exclusive culinary events. Drawing on his experience in the kitchens of Martín Berasategui, Joan Roca and Nuno Mendes, Milesi first launched his project at London’s St Pancras Clock Tower in May 2014. A year later, the concept is flourishing. ‘Over the years, the food business has changed,’ he says. ‘Today, people are looking for more than just exceptional tastes – they’re seeking an authentic experience, combining culinary creativity with personal service.’ And that’s what UNA aims to deliver. Diners enjoy a seven-course taste journey, which is inspired by the culinary styles of Latin America. Featuring both classic and conceptual dishes, Milesi applies techniques gathered from around the world and personally hosts each event. unalondon.com

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y MI CASA ES SU CASA A dynamic new restaurant and bar is due to open in London’s exclusive Holland Park this month. Housed in a historic Victorian building with a fully restored façade, Casa Cruz will be set over three floors and have a stylish ground-floor bar (with an impressive line in tequilas), as well as a pretty terrace for drinks and dining. This is the fourth venue in the portfolio of entrepreneur, designer and polo player Juan Santa Cruz, who is responsible for creating some of Buenos Aires’ most noted restaurants and retail venues. The menu – a blend of global cuisine – reflects the places around the world he has called home, including Chile, New York, Europe and his native Argentina. The drinks list will comprise the classics with a focus on those from Latin America, as well as an extensive collection of old- and new-world wines. santacruzco.com

y SPIRIT OF SUCCESS It’s hard work being an overachiever – just ask George Clooney. Since he first appeared on TV screens in ER in 1994, the actor has excelled not only in the fields of film production and direction, but also political activism, serving as a UN Messenger of Peace. So it’s not hard to imagine him relaxing in his Mexico home at the end of a long day, sharing a bottle of tequila and trading success stories with pals like restaurant mogul Rande Gerber and Discovery Land Company CEO Michael Meldman. In fact, their mutual passion for the country’s national drink led them to create their own brand, Casamigos, or ‘house of friends’. Available at Selfridges in blanco (unaged), reposado (aged for seven months in oak barrels) and añejo (aged for 14 months) varieties, each of the x EYES RIGHT small-batch, smooth tequilas, from Archibald Optics is the latest Western brand to £62.99, is made from seven-year-old harness Japanese craftsmanship, its quest being Blue Weber agave grown in Jalisco, to bring top-quality frames to customers. Design created by master distillers and enthusiast Rohan Dhir founded the company in 2013 personally tested by the founders. with the purpose of ‘cutting out the middle man and We’re just waiting for the unstoppable sourcing the finest artisans in the world’ to make its Clooney to start breeding horses. products. Having scoured China, Germany and Italy, casamigostequila.com he eventually found himself in Fukui in Japan – a region that has been nurturing its optical skills for 150 years. After spending months immersed in the culture, he forged a relationship with a local manufacturer that was willing to let him bring its skills to a wider audience – and Archibald Optics was born. With a distinctly ‘British eccentric’ feel to the current collection – viz names such as Arthur, Clive and Edmund – each pair of glasses comes fitted with ultra-thin 1.67 high-index MR lenses, individually cut and fitted by specialist technicians in Japan. And, what’s more, they’ll be in your hands within just eight days of ordering. This handcrafted British eyewear starts at £175 per pair, including lenses. archibaldoptics.com

y IN THE DRIVING SEAT Mayfair has long had a reputation as a prime location for top-end luxury car retailers, and none more so than the JD Classics showroom, which, for more than 25 years, has enjoyed an international reputation for excellence that is unrivalled in the world of vintage cars. As well as the small number of immaculate models to be found in its Mayfair shop, the company’s workshops in Essex are home to around 100 roadworthy classics and 50 historic competition cars. However, a major part of the 9,400sq m premises is given over to its core business: restoring cars to their former glory. What began in the early 1980s as a one-man hobby for founder Derek Hood has evolved into an extensive enterprise restoring, refining and exporting classic road and racing cars worldwide, and he now employs 60 craftsmen, technicians and engineers. Synonymous with classic Jaguars for many years, the company also works on other important marques, such as Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari and Porsche. With the values of rarer models appreciating considerably, maintenance is key, and at JD Classics, your prized possession will be in the safe hands of people whose passion equals your own. jdclassics.co.uk

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JOHN WASH In just 12 years, Palm Beach’s thriving polo club has gained its place among the best facilities in the world. But, as Enid Atwater discovers, its president of operations John Wash has even bigger plans ILLUSTRATION PHIL DISLEY

Historians consider polo to be one of the world’s oldest team sports, having originated from the military training exercises of nomadic Persian warriors over 2,500 years ago. The Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame credits the British Army with introducing polo to the Western world in the 19th century, and it is now played in more than 77 countries worldwide. Polo clubs are thriving in Asia, Dubai, South America, England and throughout the United States. At the forefront of these sits the International Polo Club (IPC) Palm Beach, which has become a leading high-goal facility in the space of just 12 years, with an increasing spectator base that is threatening to burst at the seams. How do they do it? Of the few elite clubs in the world with the stature of high-goal play, others – such as La Aguada in Argentina and Genghis Khan Polo & Riding Club in Mongolia – have a strong native tradition to draw upon and often a wealth of experience that stretches back generations. One might consider this hard to compete with, but IPC sees it as a mere detail, one that certainly hasn’t affected its ambition. ‘Five years from now, IPC will be the epicentre of polo in the world, eclipsing many of the historical clubs in Europe and South America,’ proclaims John Wash, president of IPC’s Operations. ‘Our goal is to grow the

popularity of the sport along with our club. We will continue to attract the world’s best players and teams, while providing the highest standard of spectator experience offered anywhere.’ It’s quite a statement, and the club seems to be true to his intention: in just programming medium- and high-goal tournaments within its grounds, IPC is only targeting serious players. ‘We are honoured to host four 20-goal and three 26-goal tournaments over a 16-week period, from January through mid-April every year,’ says Wash. And with three of the most prestigious US contests awarded to them – the CV Whitney Cup (since 2002), the USPA Gold Cup (since 2007) and the US Open Polo Championship (since 2004) – Wash has some confidence in his claim that IPC is considered one of the best polo facilities in the world. Having spent nine years so far at the helm, Wash has learnt how to balance the demands of a growing membership (106 in the previous 36 months) with those of its expanding spectator base – which has just increased IPC’s box-office revenue by 185 per cent in just three seasons. ‘The trick is managing a private club that’s open to the public on Sundays,’ he says. Actually, there’s more to it than that. Wash has operational oversight of the club’s 200-plus acres, which includes maintaining nine perfectly

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manicured polo fields to meet the exacting standards of the USPA, team patrons and the world’s most elite players. The club has expanded greatly under his watch, with the addition of private-box seating and grandstands, a swimming pool with lavish cabañas, a fitness centre, spa, and a sports centre providing tennis and croquet. Certainly, high-goal polo demands not only a strong, competitive drive, but also a healthy cheque book. The cost of putting together a team to compete during the 16-week winter season at the IPC is rumoured to cost anywhere from $1m to $3m. Nearly every professional high-goal player in the world – with a 9- or 10-goal handicap – vies to compete for IPC’s prestigious tournament cups, and patrons must negotiate their salary, living expenses, equipment costs and ponies (including transportation, grooms, vets, trainers and barn fees). For the 2015 season, IPC was visited by four teams with 18-goals, 15 teams with 20-goals and 10 teams with 26-goals – which adds up to almost $200,000 per team in tournament fees. Certainly, the vibrant growth of spectators at IPC in the past three years is testament to the game’s growing popularity in South Florida. It’s a topic Wash enjoys talking about. ‘At the end of the 2012 season, we took a hard look at our role and the inherent responsibility

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Five years from now, IPC will be the epicentre of polo in the world

of the club to not only grow the sport, but to ignite fresh, new enthusiasm for our Sunday tournament matches,’ said Wash. ‘We set about developing a shift in our marketing that included reaching out to the community of South Florida to engage them in the excitement of the sport.’ Wash commissioned his executive team to become involved in local chambers, businesses, tourism associations, and even school coaching and mentoring programmes. He stepped up publicity efforts on TV and radio, in lifestyle magazines, trade publications, travel guides, online news sites, the society pages of daily newspapers and in equestrian media outlets. IPC reached out to high-profle community charities and hosted special events, galas and fundraisers to thank the community for its loyal support. The approach paid off, and Sunday polo started gaining cachet as the place to be in South Florida. In 2013, Sunday box-offce revenues increased 13.5 per cent from the

previous year, and the club earned more than $3.5m-worth of editorial coverage. By 2014, the club’s Sunday’s brunch and polo experience began selling out every weekend, and general-admission lawn and grandstand seats were gone long before the featured match. The IPC aligned with Florida’s powerhouse tourism agencies and ramped up the ‘game of kings’ as an affordable, entertaining way to spend a Sunday outdoors in South Florida. By the end of the 2014 polo season, box-offce numbers had spiked, with a 133 per cent increase in revenue, year-on-year, for the winter season, and the club had accumulated editorial coverage that was worth over $6.5m. At the close of the 2015 polo season, Wash is fully aware that IPC has reached its maximum occupancy capabilities for Sunday polo, with standing room only at matches. So what bold new strategies will Wash unveil to explore untapped revenue opportunities and continue

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to maintain the club’s sell-out Sundays in 2016? ‘We’ve created an incredible buzz about our facility and the excitement of the high-goal competition that is featured here,’ said Wash. ‘We’d like to expand our seating and are looking at different options. Upgrades and renovations that can enhance the spectator experience are defnitely being planned this summer and fall. As for our catering and event facilities, we will look at attracting new events to increase our off-season revenue, and to keep our staff employed all year round.’ So if you’re planning a trip to Palm Beach for the next season of high-goal, don’t let the action in Europe and Malaysia distract you from booking tickets well in advance. If the past three years are any indication, it would be wise to start making your travel plans now. The forthcoming International Polo Club’s season starts on 3 January and concludes on 17 April 2016; internationalpoloclub.com

AN EQUESTRIAN DYNASTY Polo has deep roots in Mexico, writes Jaime Rincón Gallardo, whose family – owners of Ciénega de Mata hacienda – have an illustrious history in the game

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Opposite Charro worker Manuel Medina This page Ciénega Church, by Presa de la Duquesa lake, built in the 18th century by the Rincón Gallardo family

As the 18th-century Franciscan missionary, teacher and historian Friar Juan Agustín de Morf wrote, ‘In 1774, the Rincón Gallardo family owned 400 sites of cattle. With this, you could form a small kingdom.’ A notable part of this enormous wealth included the aristocratic family’s hacienda, Ciénega de Mata, located in the important state of Jalisco in west-central Mexico. Built at the beginning of the 17th century as an agricultural ranch, it also reared mules to work on the land and to sell, and raised horses to supply the Mexican army. Over a period of 20 years, between 1610 and 1630, the Rincón Gallardos sold 41 per cent of their mules and 61 per cent of the horses they bought to Mexico City – an indication of just how important the business was during that time. Much more recently, between 1930

and 1940, Ciénega de Mata became focused on its cattle and horse farming. By the end of the 17th century, the Rincón Gallardo dynasty had become one of the most important and powerful forces during the period known as the ‘Virreinato’, when the Spanish Crown organised a set of institutions for the control of its territories in the New World; they owned land and were very important in the army and the government. In 1860, José María Rincón Gallardo, the second Marquis of Guadalupe, had 400,000 hectares of land and 13 haciendas to his name, all of which were later inherited by his 12 sons. Ciénega was the most important in this ‘small kingdom’. Later, Ciénega was to survive two of the most important events in Mexican history – the Mexican Revolution, which started in 1910 and

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continued into the 1920s, and the agrarian reform of the 1930s, when president Lázaro Cárdenas seized millions of hectares of land from wealthy families and reallocated it to the poorer working classes. Jaime Rincón Gallardo, who was my great grandfather, once said that Ciénega was the oldest hacienda in Mexico to remain in family hands since its foundation more than 400 years previously. In the frst half of the 20th century, Carlos Rincón Gallardo, the fourth Marquis of Guadalupe, Duke of Regla and the hacienda’s owner at that time, created what is now known worldwide as the art of la charrería, or the charreada, an event similar to rodeo and now considered Mexico’s national sport. Carlos became known as ‘The Father of the Charrería’ after writing El Libro del Charro Mexicano (or

Below A typical scene at the hacienda, depicted in a painting from 1918 by Ernesto Icaza Opposite, clockwise from top Ciénega Church; the author in 2010; the farm horses at pasture; and the hacienda

The Book of the Mexican Charro) – widely thought of as the Mexican horseman’s bible – in which he listed rules, techniques and advice for becoming a proper charro. Taking place regularly at the hacienda, many of these events were depicted in the paintings of the Mexican artist Ernesto Icaza (1886–1935), who became renowned for his depictions of life on the ranch. When he took over Ciénega, Carlos’s nephew Alfonso dedicated himself to preserving the charro tradition started by his uncle at the hacienda; he is now considered one of the most elegant and important charros in history. In addition to championing the culture of the charro, Carlos Rincón Gallardo was one of the Mexican Jockey Club’s pioneer polo players, following its foundation in 1881. My great-grandfather Jaime and his brother

Eduardo continued the tradition, becoming 5-goal players and winning one of the frst Mexican Opens ever played. In 1952, Jaime played the US Open in Beverly Hills, California, in a team that included the great 10-goal player Cecil Smith. In the 1960s, he started a horse-breeding business with a stallion named Nip Mah, an American thoroughbred, and a mare, La India, from the Duggan’s stud farm in Argentina. Jaime had an ambition to start producing his own pony line, and his sons Sebastián (my grandfather) and Pablo were able to play polo with some very good horses. In the summers of 1961, 1962 and 1963 my great-uncle Pablo was invited to play several tournaments in Spain with Pedro Domecq and brothers Chino and Pato Gracida, and in England, where he

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played against Guards, among others. Jaime bought more mares to breed at Ciénega. In 1968, during the Olympic Games in Mexico City, the visiting HRH Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh and his Windsor Park team (Lord Patrick Beresford, Paul Withers and Tyrone Waterford) played polo using horses that were lent to them by Ciénega. Ten years later, needing more ponies to play, Pablo decided he wanted to improve on the breeding programme and brought in another stallion called El Toro. The horse turned out to be an extraordinarily good choice, breeding with around 30 mares. During this period, Pablo started playing important tournaments with Ciénega horses, such as the Camacho Cup in 1974 and 1975, and alongside the Gracidas in 1976 and 1980 in San Antonio,

ERNESTO ICAZA, COURTESY OF MUSEO DEL NORESTE

The Duke of Edinburgh and his Windsor team played on horses lent to him by Ciénega

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Clockwise from top left From left, Ruben Pato Gracida, Rob Walton and Pablo Rincón Gallardo compete in a match at Palm Beach in the 1980s; the author’s great-grandfather Jaime Rincón Gallardo Sr, left, and grandfather Sebastian Rincón Gallardo, in 1990; Mexico’s winning 1981 Camacho Cup team, featuring, from left, Carlos, Ruben and Memo Gracida with Pablo Rincón Gallardo

Texas. One of his most memorable victories was at the Mexican Open in 1977, where, playing with my grandfather, they won in extra time as part of a 20-goal team, against a 26-goal team that included the 10-goal Dorignac brothers. That year, Pablo was raised to 7-goals and my grandfather to a 4-goal status. At the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, polo in Mexico was at its height, with numerous good players taking to the feld and more on their way through. Pablo continued to play around the world with horses bred at Ciénega, winning many famous tournaments. His most important victory was at the US Open in Retama in 1985 for Carter Ranch, playing with Preston Carter and Carlos and Memo Gracida. He won the Mexican Open again in consecutive years, 1985 and 1986, playing for

Cartier, in a 22-goal-level tournament with Memo Gracida, Jaime Rincón Gallardo (my father) and Jorge Mijares, and was undefeated in both years. He also played for the Mexican team in the frst FIP World Cup in 1987 in Argentina, in which they fnished as runnersup to the host nation. During most of the US Opens in which he played, Pablo used his favourite Ciénega-bred mares: La América, La Bosanova, La Mora Gitana, La Muñeca, La Cinta Negra and one particularly memorable horse, La Ambarina, which he later sold to Memo Gracida. The 10-goal player dominated many a chukka on what would turn out to be one of his best mares. One of my uncle’s favourite ponies was a grey mare called La Muñeca. One year, during the US Open in Chicago, a groom from another

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team mistakenly took her to be his boss’s horse, and brought her to a game. When my uncle’s groom found La Muñeca had disappeared, the staff were frantic and a helicopter search was launched. It was called off when it was La Muñeca was dicovered playing a game of polo. When Pablo was President of the Mexico Polo Federation, it was his ambition to bring the FIP World Cup to Mexico. After years of planning, Mexico was awarded host status, but unfortunately my great-uncle had died in May 2006, two years before the event was staged at Campo Marte in 2008. I was 12 when he died and my father inherited Ciénega, together with the pony-breeding programme. Now, my grandfather, my father and I manage the whole operation between us. It’s something that gives us enormous joy.

RIDING HIGH The once-humble USPA is now a hugely successful business with the means to take polo to new heights, says Sarah Eakin

One evening in March 1890, a dinner party took place in New York that launched the Polo Association – now known as the United States Polo Association (USPA). In attendance were several notable fgures, including HL Herbert, John Cowdin and Thomas Hitchcock. By June, seven clubs had joined the association, and its formation marked the founding of the secondoldest national governing body of sport in America, second only to the United States Tennis Association established in 1881. Today, 125 years on, the USPA is thriving. During its early lifetime it relied on dedicated individuals – mostly volunteers – to keep it going. Thanks to the advent of the US Polo Assn. brand – products offcially sanctioned by the USPA, which are licensed in more than 135 countries – the association now has an annual budget of more than $10m. Around 21 per cent of this fgure is channelled into umpiring, 14 per cent on marketing – including a frst-time deal with network television – 33 per cent on polo development and 33 per cent on services; and the sport is feeling the beneft.

XPRESSMEDIA.CL

‘We are looking to grow awareness of the sport,’ says Peter Rizzo, CEO of the organisation. ‘The USPA has weathered some big storms, but membership is at an all-time high [some 5,000 people are currently enrolled], even after surviving a depression. However, polo is diffcult to promote and it’s going to take time, repetition and more repetition.’ Rizzo came on board 12 years ago, when the USPA had a more challenging budget of around $1m, made up of membership and club fees, plus tournament and marketing revenue. ‘If we wanted to do something then, we needed to fnd the money,’ he says. ‘The switch-over began in 2004. As income grew, the USPA embarked on a strategic planning programme. We thought, “We’re going to be getting some money, so what should we do with it?”’ In 2003, the company’s then-CEO David Cummings moved over to run USPA Properties, Inc., which manages the US Polo Assn. brand.

He faced a couple of critical hurdles. ‘We were able to enter into a settlement with Polo Ralph Lauren, which was trying to stop us using the name US Polo Association because it had the word ‘polo‘ registered,’ he says. ‘We were able to carve out how we could both exist.’ A second litigious obstacle was overcome in 2005, when a jury was presented with four proposed logos of mounted horsemen and found three out of four of them different enough from Polo Ralph Lauren to be used. Cummings then brought in expertise from the American clothing industry to create the brand’s DNA, and things began to fourish. ‘With a little skill, luck and determination, we’ve been able to build quite a successful programme,’ he says. The mission of USPA Properties, Inc. is, according to Cummings, ‘to make money for the USPA, and to create a long-term source of revenue through a sports-licensing programme’.

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Charles Weaver, current chairman of the USPA, is ensuring the funds won’t be wasted. ‘We’ve established our goal of having our endowment fully funded by 2022,’ he says. ‘That will run our current programmes into perpetuity.’ Thankfully, the future success of the game is built on frm foundations. Polo was brought to America from Britain by James Gordon Bennett in 1876 – although, as Horace A Laffaye explains in his book Polo in the United States: A History, it was Hermann Oelrichs, the American agent for the North German Lloyd shipping line, who, when visiting England, brought back the right equipment with which to play the game. Initially, the sport lacked stipulations. It was the USPA – located in New York, the centre of polo at the time – that introduced rules, limited pony size to 14.1 hands and decreed the ball should be made of basswood. HL Herbert was the frst chairman and held the position for 31 years, during which time he introduced the

We have weathered some big storms, but membership is at an all-time high

Previous pages The USPA-backed USA team ride out at the FIP World Championship. Opposite, from left A USPA campaign image, featuring Herndon Radclif; the team in Chile. This page, from top A Dufers match in Newport, 1890s; the frst USPA chairman, HL Herbert

BRENDA LYNN/POLO MUSEUM HALL OF FAME; UNITED STATES POLO ASSOCIATION

handicap system, as well as a set of US rules. In the 1950s, the USPA became an offcial corporation with a mission statement. ‘The United States Polo Association was organised and exists for the purposes of promoting the game of polo,’ it read, ‘coordinating the activities of its member clubs and registered players, arranging and supervising polo tournaments, competitions and games and providing rules, handicaps and conditions for those tournaments, competitions and games, including the safety and welfare of participants and mounts.’ Rizzo is passionate about the fnal part of the statement. ‘In all that promotion and all that revenue, the most important thing is the welfare of the horses,’ he says. He cites the player-steed relationship as key in promoting polo and wants to see an increase in the number of players who own their own mounts. ‘That’s the challenge – I’ve asked the clubs to come up with ways to make that happen,’ he says. New funds have given life to programmes that aim to fulfl the opening sentiment of the original mission statement by strengthening the pool of home-grown players. Kris Bowman, who, like Rizzo, was a former USPA volunteer, played a key part in the strategic planning in anticipation of the success of USPA Properties, Inc. and the US Polo Assn. brand. ‘Coming from the days when volunteers ran the association to having the staff and the funds to enable us to achieve our goals is an enormous

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milestone,’ she says. ‘When I was chairman of the club and membership committee in 2000, we had no money to support our projects and the volunteers got together twice a year to talk about what we would “like” to do if we had the time or the money.’ One of Bowman’s leading initiatives is the Team USPA programme – something she envisioned creating as a volunteer with the Polo Training Foundation, a non-proft organisation formed to help build the sport at grass-roots level. ‘Sadly, we didn’t have the funding to get it off the ground back then,’ she says. ‘But with the support of Peter Rizzo, Tom Biddle and the USPA Board of Governors, Charles Smith [volunteer chairman of Polo Development LLC] and I were able to secure the funding to launch the project in 2010. We created this programme

in response to the need for higher-rated, young American players.’ It has made its mark. Team USPA players made up the American team at the FIP World Championship, and were well represented in 20-goal play this year, as well as appearing in the winning teams of 75 per cent of 12- and 14-goal USPA tournaments in 2014. Polo Development LLC is one of a group of LLCs formed in recent years to structure the USPA for today and the future. ‘As our programmes grew, we felt it was best to protect our assets in the form of LLCs,’ says Bowman. Consequently, each division has a small board and an executive director to focus on their speciality areas and assist in the integration of LLC budgets and the overall mission. More than 25 programmes exist, focusing on the growth and development of polo, and are broken

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People have to feel they belong to something important that they can get excited about

Opposite David Cummings, CEO of USPA Properties, Inc This page, from top US Polo Assn in Bangalore, India; polo shirts by the brand

UNITED STATES POLO ASSOCIATION

into three divisions: Club Development, Player Development and Interscholastic/Intercollegiate. These encompass club consulting, adult and junior clinics, youth tournaments, scholarship and grant programmes and a new certifed polo-instructor scheme. The Services department, which supports all other sections of the LLCs and is referred to as the ‘mother ship’, is made up of the rules, governance, handicapping, disciplinary and international tournaments committees, as well as various supporting groups. The department is led by Rizzo and executive director Bob Puetz, together with the Executive Committee – an elected volunteer-leadership group. Polo Development is the largest LLC run by Bowman and her staff. ‘We’ve made a big impact on the sport over the past fve years,’ she says. ‘We’re often referred to as “the point of the spear”. They are also a cog in the system. ‘My conversation with our marketing department,’ says Weaver, ‘is to focus on their job to drive people to our Polo Development LLC, and the Polo Development LLC’s job is to get those people on horseback.’ Charlie Muldoon is executive director of the Umpire LLC. ‘He has put the “p” in professionalism in the umpire programme,’ says Bowman. USPA’s president, Joe Meyer, has been heavily involved in the marketing programmes at the USPA and believes the deal with NBC Sports is crucial. ‘If people see it on TV, they view it as a real sport,’ he says. ‘We observed that in soccer, and in other sports, too. They’ve got to feel they belong to something important – then they can get excited about it.’ The USPA has changed dramatically over the past decade and it plans to continue to grow. ‘It’s been an incredible experience to be able to work on organisational and corporate change because of the manner in which our budget has evolved,’ says Weaver. ‘It adds complexity to our organisation, but it’s also given us greater opportunities to give back to the sport.’

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thai polo & equestr i a n club pat taya – t h a i l a n d

• pa d d o c k s & s ta b l e s f o r 2 0 0 h o r s e s • i n t e r nat iona l c ro s s c ou n t ry c ou r s e • r ege lu dw ig i n t e r nat iona l polo sc hool • t o u r n a m e n t s u p t o 14 g oa l s

( n ov e m be r - a pr i l)

• t h a i s pa & s a lt wat e r p o o l

www.thai-polo-club.com

ACTION THE LATEST POLO DATE ACTION LOCATION FROM TIME AROUND ETC. THE WORLD Bob Jornayvaz, centre, blocking Polito Pieres for Adolfo Cambiaso in the fnal of the US Open

DAVID LOMINSKA

THE ACTION 46

Florida Season The Sunshine State hosted a clash of the Titans as Cambiaso’s Valiente and Pieres’s Orchard Hill dominated the US Open and CV Whitney Cup

IPC 20-Goal Season All the highs and lows from this year’s four 20-goal tournaments at the International Polo Club Palm Beach

Nations Cup Excellent co-ordination by Argentina gave England and Rest of the World a run for their money in the host team’s ffth triumph in this annual tournament

FIP World Championship A close-fought battle between Chile and the United States saw the host nation steal this year’s tournament in Santiago

Townsend Cup The USPA’s Christine Chartier Vermes reports on an exhilarating arena polo tournament that saw an American team regain the historic trophy

Dubai Season Thrilling matches took place under the desert sun in Dubai and Abu Dhabi as teams competed for fve prestigious cups and £260,000-worth of prize money

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Hawaii Polo Club Barbecues, surf, vintage sports cars and a spirited pet pig are just some of the attractions in tropical Oahu. And then there’s the polo, in which neither side took any prisoners

Snow Polo World Cup A sparkling Brazilian team wiped the foor with the competition in Tianjin’s Snow Polo World Cup in February

National 12-Goal Tournament Aspen Valley took on Newport to claim both the trophy and the $50,000 prize, in this single-elimination Florida event

ACTION CV WHITNEY CUP, PALM BEACH, FLORIDA, USA, FEBRUARY – MARCH 2015

CV WHITNEY CUP

After a series of thrilling matches, the frst tournament of the American Triple Crown culminated in a historic, high-scoring fnal, writes Alex Webbe The CV Whitney Cup, the first 26-goal of the season, is a difficult tournament for most teams. Although some of the players had competed in the earlier 20-goal tournaments, the prospect of organising horses and newly arrived players to compete at speed in the single-elimination Whitney Cup can be difficult at best. Returning to defend their 2014 title was a reorganised Valiente team that would take to the field under the leadership of the game’s top-ranked player, Adolfo Cambiaso. The 2015 team, however, would be without Sapo Caset, who had been restored to his 10-goal handicap, and Santi Torres, who also had his handicap increased (from 6 to 7) following the 2014 success of the Valiente team. Orchard Hill rode into the tournament with the number-two-ranked player, Facundo Pieres, while Lechuza Caracas came under the

leadership of 10-goaler Juan Martin Nero, and Coca-Cola had Pelon Stirling, the fourth 10-goal player in the tournament. Alegría scored the first win of the 26-goal season by knocking out Coca-Cola 13–9 in a Friday-morning match. Coca-Cola were coming off the back of a win in the 20-goal Ylvisaker Cup final and had the added firepower of Pelon Stirling to boot. The match was the first of the season for the Alegría line-up, none of whom had played in any of the earlier 20-goal tournaments. Audi/Millarville were unimpressive in their midday 10–9 win over Lechuza Caracas. Rodrigo Andrade, in his first game of the season, admitted that his horses were a little heavy, and the team play between Juan Martin Nero and Nico Pieres wasn’t as polished as it should have been. In the third match of the day, excited polo fans got their first look at the combination of Facundo

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Pieres and his cousin Polito Pieres. A great deal of anticipation preceded this game because both players are capable of scoring a high number of goals. Would the players complement one another on the field, or would they each be fighting for possession of the ball? The duo didn’t disappoint, combining for 14 goals and a 16–11 win over Las Monjitas. Facundo took control of the ball for much of the game, scoring 10 goals, while teammate Polito, who scored four times, seemed comfortable to let his cousin shine. In the final first-round match of the day, Valiente scored a 9–7 win over FlexJet after taking a commanding early lead and then holding on for the win. In the first semi-final, Alegría galloped past Audi, 15–11. Orchard Hill controlled their semi-final game from the start, and the play between the Pieres duo continued to improve.

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Brilliant teamwork between Polito and Facundo was the theme for most of the match

Opposite Julian Mannix (left) on the boards followed by teammate Hilario Ulloa Below Orchard Hill lift the winning trophy at Palm Beach International Polo Club

complementing the stick-work of Facundo. By the end of the first half, it was Orchard Hill who were on top, 10–6, with Alegría struggling to get back into the game. Orchard Hill maintained a three-goal lead at the end of both the fourth (12–9) and the fifth (14–11) – with Alegría getting no closer than two goals on a couple of occasions – and Orchard Hill continued to control the game for a 16–13 final score. In the highest-scoring CV Whitney Cup final in history, Facundo scored nine goals for the win (three on penalty conversions) and was named MVP, while his mare, Patagonia, was named Best Playing Pony. Orchard Hill dominated the game and moved into the favourite spot going into the Gold Cup.

LILA PHOTOS

Polito appeared to be comfortable playing second fiddle to Facundo as Orchard Hill earned a final berth at the expense of Valiente, 11–8. Facundo scored nine of Orchard Hill’s 11 goals, and Valiente didn’t show the punch they had displayed in previous years. In a final that was expected to be a Facundo/ Polito Pieres show, Julian Mannix took centre stage at the beginning. Playing every bit of his 4-goal handicap, Mannix scored five goals in the opening chukka, putting Alegría on top, 5–4, but that would be the last time they would end a chukka in the lead. Brilliant teamwork between Polito and Facundo was the theme for the balance of the match, with the defensive work of Polito

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ACTION USPA PIAGET GOLD CUP, PALM PEACH, FLORIDA, USA, MARCH 2015

PIAGET GOLD CUP

Audi patron Marc Ganzi sufered a shoulder separation in the semi-fnal. Here, he tells us how he managed to be game-ready for the fnal four days later

‘I was sitting in the hospital after the semi-finals with my wife, Melissa, and when the doctors told me I had a second-degree shoulder separation and torn AC joint, I was pretty sure my season was over. I came home from the hospital that evening and my trainer, Daniel Martínez, said: ‘We need to get to work.’ Needless to say, I was very surprised at his reaction, but he told me not to lose hope and said that, earlier in the season, he’d treated US 7-goal player Jeff Hall with the same injury – and Jeff was ready to play four days later. Jeff didn’t miss a game for Enigma with his shoulder separation, so I figured

there was an outside chance I would be able to play the final after just four days’ rehab. ‘We proceeded to work that same evening for three hours, then, for the next four days, for six hours a day – three hours in the morning, three hours in the evening – right up to the final. We used five different rehab techniques: electro stimulation, cryotherapy, laser and high-powered magnetic therapy, and multiple ice-compression sessions on the Game Ready machine. It was a very rigorous therapy schedule. ‘Sunday morning came and I felt good. I felt that maybe 60 per cent of my strength had been

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restored, so I went to stick and ball at my barn, with Rodrigo [Andrade] and Gonzalito [Pieres] watching. Much to my surprise, I could hit the ball on the offside with decent control, but I was very weak on the nearside and had limited power on the backhanders. However, the session left me feeling good about my prospects of playing in the US Open the following week. ‘Later that morning, I was sitting in the barn with my teammates and it was fairly quiet, when finally Rodrigo looked at me and said, sternly: ‘Marc, you play today.’ Those that know Rodrigo will be aware that he doesn’t speak in English

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Opposite The score was neck and neck all the way in the closely fought fnal. Below Marc Ganzi, left, is eyed by Facundo Pieres. Bottom Pieres on the ball

very often, and that this wasn’t a question – it was a demand. So I went straight back to the gym for another three-hour rehab session before the 3pm final, to see if I could get better and play. My trainer taped up my shoulder to limit my range of mobility and keep the shoulder in place. I went to the field 40 minutes before the game and stick and balled one more time. After a good session with the mallet I made the decision, just before the start of the match, that I would play, but I really wasn’t sure how long I’d last. ‘The previous evening, we’d decided that our game plan was to remain unchanged, whether I was playing or my son Grant was on the field in my place. Ours had been a very open form of polo all season and we weren’t going to change that plan for the final. Grant was ready and waiting in the wings; he had subbed for me masterfully when I was injured in the semi-finals and I knew he was ready because he had attended every team meeting all season and was awesome in the team practices. ‘During the final, my focus was more on marking and execution of our knock-ins and defence, and less about getting the ball. This

During the fnal, my focus was on marking and execution of our knock-ins and defence

LILA PHOTOS

turned out to be a good plan, as our knock-ins were very effective that day and we did a great job in disrupting Facundo and Polito [Pieres] from running their two-man-train play, which had been unstoppable all tournament. ‘In retrospect, I was glad I played the final because we won our second Piaget Gold Cup, beating Ochard Hill 16–15 in overtime. I’d worked really hard off-season, training to get ready for the 26-goal season, and it was all that hard work off the field in November and December that allowed me to recover quickly from my injury and to be an effective team player.’

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ACTION US OPEN POLO CHAMPIONSHIP, PALM BEACH, FLORIDA, USA, MARCH – APRIL 2015

US OPEN

Following a closely matched tournament, Valiente came out on top to win their frst title in the third leg of the American Triple, says Alex Webbe

Just one year ago, Valiente were the dominant team in 26-goal play in the United States. They won both the CV Whitney Cup and the USPA Piaget Gold Cup, and looked to be heading for a sweep of America’s Triple Crown of Polo when Alegría stepped in front of them. This year, Orchard Hill showed early promise, winning seven straight games and winning the CV Whitney Cup before losing to Audi in the final of the Gold Cup in overtime – but this year’s US Open was different. Never before in the history of the US Open Polo Championship has there been such parity among the teams. Of the 16 games played by the eight teams entered in this year’s Open, seven of them were decided in overtime, and 12 by just one goal.

Defending champions Alegría lost their first two games, eliminating them from title consideration. Las Monjitas finished preliminary play with a 1–2 record and found themselves out as well. Valiente muddled their way along, sneaking into the quarter-finals where they would face Lechuza Caracas, while Coca-Cola continued to show improvement and also earned themselves a quarter-final berth against FlexJet. Audi, along with Orchard Hill, had already qualified for the semi-finals by winning their respective brackets. Valiente managed to hold off a surging Lechuza Caracas team for a 13–12 win, but didn’t look like world-beaters while doing so. Coca-Cola, on the other hand, had no trouble overcoming FlexJet in a 15–10 romp. Coca-Cola went on to play Orchard Hill in

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one semi-final game, while Valiente faced Audi, in their first meeting of the season. Orchard Hill unleashed the dogs on Coca-Cola in the first semi-final. Facundo Pieres and Polito Pieres were at their best, putting pressure on defence and opening it up on offence. Orchard Hill built on a 5–4 half-time lead, riding on to score an impressive 12–8, returning Orchard Hill to the US Open final for the first time since 2006. Valiente had struggled with both their new line-up and injuries, losing the services of both Adolfo Cambiaso and team captain Bob Jornayvaz earlier in the season. A disappointing appearance in the CV Whitney Cup and a lacklustre showing in the Piaget Gold Cup weren’t promising signs, but with the original

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Opposite A jubilant Valiente after Alejo Taranco is named MVP. This page, from top Cambiaso celebrates the win in front of his wife, Maria; Guillermo Terrera, left, hooks Polito Pieres

LILA PHOTOS; PHELPS MEDIA

team back together for the first time in weeks, Valiente made a go of it in the semi-final. Audi, however, were no pushover, having recently won the USPA Gold Cup and notched two wins in preliminary Open play. But flashes of the old Cambiaso could be seen as the game progressed, and Valiente started to look like contenders again. The two teams were tied, 6–6, at half-time and 7–7 after the fourth. A Cambiaso-led fifth-chukka rally put Valiente in front, 9–8. The two teams traded goals in the sixth chukka, which ended with Valiente in the lead, 10–9. With time running out, Gonzalo Pieres scored the final goal of the chukka to make it 10–10, forcing sudden-death overtime. With both teams struggling for control of the ball in the overtime period it was Alejo Taranco who broke free and raced 150 yards down the field to score the winning goal, returning Valiente to the Open final to face Orchard Hill. In the final, Orchard Hill took the early 3–2 lead, and held on for a 5–4 lead at the end of the first half. Three consecutive Cambiaso goals were accompanied by a strong defence in the fourth chukka, and Valiente took the lead, 7–5. Orchard Hill bounced back to score three unanswered goals in the fifth. Going into the final chukka, Orchard Hill were guarding an 8–7 edge over Valiente. After three scoreless minutes in the sixth chukka, Facundo Pieres drove the ball through the Valiente goalposts from more than 130 yards out to give Orchard Hill a two-goal lead, 9–7. With two minutes on the clock, Orchard Hill gave up a goal on a Penalty 1, making the score 9–8. Valiente took control of the ensuing throw-in and Guillermo Terrera scored with 2:02 on the clock. Another Orchard Hill foul resulted in a 30-yard penalty shot that Alejo Taranco converted to put Valiente in front, 10–9. Just before the clock ran out, Cambiaso scored the final goal of the game for the 11–9 win. After facing agonising defeats in the finals of the previous two years, Valiente had finally won the US Open, as a stunned Orchard Hill team looked on. Taranco was named MVP, but Cambiaso, in this his seventh US Open title, was the man responsible for Valiente’s success. Cambiaso’s seven-year-old mare Romana was named Best Playing Pony.

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ACTION INTERNATIONAL POLO CLUB PALM BEACH 20-GOAL SEASON, FLORIDA, USA, JANUARY TO MARCH 2015

IPC 20-GOAL SEASON The 20-goal series drew in both new teams and big names, resulting in some exciting matches, reports Darlene Ricker

The 20-goal season at the International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPC) earlier this year provided a sneak peek into the 26-goal Triple Crown tournaments that followed. Four 10-goalers (Adolfo Cambiaso, Facundo Pieres, Sapo Caset and Juan Martin Nero) competed in both series, and half of the dozen 20-goal teams – Audi, Coca-Cola, Flexjet, Lechuza Caracas, Orchard Hill and Valiente – stayed on to compete in the 26-goal matches. Curiosity swirled around Enigma – a strong British team new to the US. Patron Jerome Wirth, Matias MacDonough, Jeff Hall and Carlucho Arellano pulled off a string of wins, including several during tense periods of extra time against powerhouse teams such as Coca-Cola and Valiente. Enigma made it to the quarter-finals of the Ylvisaker and the

semi-finals of the Joe Barry (losing the latter 11–10 to Villa del Lago). Wirth said he thought the IPC was a magnificent venue, and vowed Enigma would return in 2016. As is often the case, some teams were driven by one or two megastars, while others, such as Enigma (two 7-goalers, a 5-goaler and a 1-goaler), were more evenly matched. Similarly, Palm Beach Illustrated made their mark with player handicaps of 3-goal, 5-goal and two 6-goals. Their smooth and consistent play almost took them to the Ylvisaker final; instead, they won the subsidiary final’s George Haas Cup. Unsurprisingly, the Pieres name dominated the entire season. Facundo (10), Polito (10), Gonzalito (9) and Nicolas (8) kept things moving and, as always, interesting. Polito played for Villa del Lago in the 20-goal series, later joining

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cousin Facundo on Orchard Hill’s team for the 26. The two faced off on opposing teams in the Joe Barry Final, where Facundo propelled Orchard Hill to a win. The various Pieres configurations served as early preparation for the 2015 Argentine Triple Crown, in which all four will play for Ellerstina. The Triple Crown will also feature an all-Heguy team: Chapaleufú. The biggest buzz at IPC was caused by Valiente, who kept everyone guessing as to when Adolfo Cambiaso would join the line-up. He had been slated to play in the opening game of the Ylvisaker but, because of prior physical issues, postponed his appearance until the quarterfinals. Despite this, Cambiaso remained heavily involved with the team. When not playing, he was either fieldside or in the team tent, calling powwows during half-time. Cambiaso’s hand was

ACTION

LIZ LAMONT IMAGES/PHELPS MEDIA GROUP; ALEX PACHECO

Opposite The Ylvisaker Cup fnal: Julio Arellano, left, stretches to hook Sapo Caset This page, from top Facundo Obregon, left, and Inaki Laprida cross mallets in the Iglehart Cup fnal; Facundo Pieres on the ball in the Joe Barry fnal

particularly evident in the Ylvisaker opener, when some watertight team-play saw Valiente beat FlexJet 9–7. It was an astounding win, given that three Valiente players were subbed in at the 11th hour. The day before, Sapo Caset had replaced Cambiaso, and it was confirmed only on the morning of the game that young Peke Gonzalez and Tommy Beresford would replace the injured Bob and Robert Jornayvaz. Cambiaso made his long-awaited season debut in the quarter-finals of the Ylvisaker, leading Valiente to a 13–7 win over Casablanca. It was his first game since winning the Argentine Open two months earlier. Cambiaso said he asked Caset to let him step in so he could ‘get the rhythm’ before the 26-goal season began two weeks later, and it was no surprise he was the highest scorer for the team on his first

The Pieres name dominated the entire season and kept things interesting

appearance, slamming in five goals and assisting Santi Torres with four more. The pair controlled the field, executing a series of calculated, chess-like moves that kept their opponents guessing from one play to the next. Just a single point kept Valiente from taking the Ylvisaker Cup, but the team went on to win the IPC season-ender, the 111th US Open, on 19 April. The winning teams across the four

20-goal tournaments were: Casablanca (Herbie Pennell Cup); Orchard Hill (Joe Barry Cup); Coca-Cola (Ylvisaker Cup) and Tonkawa (Iglehart Cup). A strong Villa del Lago team advanced to two of the finals, coming close to winning but being edged out both times by two points (13–11 in the Herbie Pennell Cup and 15–13 in the Joe Barry Cup). ‘At the beginning of the season, we predicted that this would be our finest season ever,’ said John Wash, president of club operations at IPC. ‘We hosted new teams, enjoyed recordbreaking spectator numbers and received wide and exciting coverage from the media. It has been really incredible. We would like to thank all of the sponsors, patrons, teams and members for what has been perhaps the best season ever of polo for us.’

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ACTION NATIONS CUP, PALERMO, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA, APRIL 2015

NATIONS CUP A strong host team employed top teamwork and held their ground against England to lift the trophy for the ffth time, reports Héctor Martelli

managed to score several goals, which almost sent the match into extra time. The two unbeaten foursomes, Argentina and England, competed in the championship game. Argentina produced very good team play to dominate the match from the first chukka. A lethal attack, spearheaded by Alejandro Muzzio and Felipe Martínez Ferrario, helped Argentina gain a quick advantage on the scoreboard, while England somehow couldn’t retain the ball, and seemed to lack their usual player co-ordination. Consequently, their attack was based on individual performances – mostly the goals by Max Charlton, who scored eight (seven on penalty conversions). Despite their valiant efforts to tie the contest, every attempt by the English boys to score was quickly blocked by the very solid Argentinian defenders Francisco De Narváez Jr and Matias Benoit. By the end of the fourth chukka, when Argentina was leading 10–5, play slowed down due to increasing numbers of fouls, and the score

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Felipe Martínez Ferrario, followed by Mark Tomlinson and Francisco De Narváez Jr

depended on penalty conversions. Fortunately, by the end of the match, both teams got their flow back and displayed fast and open polo, as England battled to close the gap in the last minutes. However, Argentina managed to hold them back, and took a well-deserved 13–10 win. The international series also featured a junior competition for children up to 15 years old, which comprised the same teams: Argentina, England (made up of Charlie Townsend, Luke Wiles, Marcus Cork and Milly Hine) and Rest of the World. Argentina remained undefeated and captured the tournament. This was an excellent opportunity to watch some very good polo played by these young polo stars of the future.

PABLO RAMIREZ

On 25 April, the sixth edition of the Nations Cup, the international series hosted by the Argentine Polo Association, was held in front of a big crowd on an unusually warm autumn day in Palermo, Buenos Aires. The action took place on Ground No 1 and featured three teams, each with up to 26 goals: Argentina, England and Rest of the World. The opening game went to Argentina, who took a narrow 10–9 victory over Rest of the World. The local team had a commanding 7–3 advantage by half time. Rest of the World made a comeback in the second half, led by Nicolas Pieres, who scored all their goals, but his efforts didn’t pay off for the visitors. In the second match, Max Charlton and Mark Tomlinson were the leading men in England’s 9–8 win over Rest of the World. Despite England displaying their best team play, the same thing happened as in the first match: England took a wide advantage by the end of the third chukka, while Rest of the World made some position changes and took off in the second half. They

W I T H T H A N K S TO T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L P O L O C L U B A N D E N T I R E VA L I E N T E O R G A N I Z AT I O N ! W E L L I N G TO N , F L O R I DA , U S A , A P R I L 2 0 1 5

C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S O N T H E 1 1 1 TH U . S . O P E N C H A M P I O N S H I P

ACTION FIP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, SAN CRISTÓBAL POLO CLUB, SANTIAGO, CHILE, MARCH – APRIL 2015

FIP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

A capacity crowd of more than 13,000 packed the San Cristóbal Polo Club in Santiago, Chile, on 1 April, to experience a final that is sure to have left an indelible impression. Chile came from behind to defeat USA in extra time, after tying the game with two seconds remaining in regulation, to win the FIP World Championship 12–11. Teams from the host nation, Argentina, Brazil, Pakistan, the UK and the US took part after winning zone qualifiers. The tournament featured a number of close games, decided by one goal, with many of the contests being decided in extra time. The club itself is located in the centre of the city. It is steeped in a rich history that spans nearly 80 years, and, as global sporting venues go, the backdrop of the Andes Mountains is hard to beat, adding to its impressive reputation and beauty. ‘San Cristóbal is one of the most picturesque clubs I have been to,’ said Fergus Gould, an umpire from Australia, who officiated in the FIP World

Championship and had also served in an officials’ capacity at the FIP zone qualifier in the Dominican Republic. ‘The Chilean people were so friendly and accommodating. They went out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed.’ The organisers of the tournament embraced the logistical challenges of putting the event together, said professional polo player Martin Zegers, who himself represents Chile on the world stage. ‘The club was well prepared for the tournament. The organisation was amazing and the teams seemed to be happy with the horses and the facilities.’ Zegers added: ‘The sport of polo received a great deal of attention from the mainstream media, especially during the tournament’s semi-finals and final. Chile’s final goal in extra time, with two seconds remaining in the chukka, was the most breathtaking moment I have experienced in polo.’ However, there was no denying that Chile did enjoy a home-field advantage throughout the

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tournament, primarily because of the support and encouragement from a loyal fan base. And at no time was that more apparent than during the final. The enthusiastic and knowledgeable Chilean crowd played a significant role, acting as a fifth man on the field, encouraging its team to strive for victory. ‘When we scored, you could hear the crickets,’ said Felipe Viana, who captained the USA team, a roster composed of players from the Team USPA programme. ‘But when Chile scored, the whole place would roar. The place was packed. The horses were freaking out because of all the flags, noises and trumpets. It was insane. Chile had an outstanding team and playing in the tournament was an amazing experience.’ Backed by the USPA, the USA team began preparing for the tournament at Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington, Florida, last November, under the watchful eye of their coach, Joel Baker. ‘I think the way the Americans approached the

ELZABETH HEDLEY, CAMILLA SYKES

At the perfect end of what was by all accounts an incredible tournament, the home team emerged as the victors, reports Ben Baugh

ACTION

Opposite Chilean Ignacio ‘Nato’ Vial defended by USA’s Patrick Uretz. This page The winning Chile team with Lionel Sofa, president of the Chilean Polo Federation

tournament was above that of any other team,’ said Peter Webb, who played for the UK. ‘They had the organisation, a good young squad, and they put a lot into it. They were unlucky not to win it, I thought.’ The San Cristóbal Polo Club drew high praise from the players for its overall maintenance and for adding to their overall experience. ‘It was amazing,’ said Webb. ‘The two fields at San Cristóbal were some of the best I’ve ever played on. The horses were fantastic and much better than I thought we were going to get. The crowd was very vocal and knowledgeable about the game and came in great numbers to watch the Chileans play.’ The magnitude and prestige of the event generated an exceptional amount of exposure. ‘The World Championship was pretty big,’ said Gould. ‘There was a lot of advertising and media coverage throughout the tournament. When you went into shopping malls and restaurants, people knew the tournament was going on.’

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ACTION TOWNSEND INTERNATIONAL CHALLENGE CUP, EMPIRE POLO CLUB, CALIFORNIA, USA, MARCH 2015

TOWNSEND CUP

High-goal arena polo returned to the California desert on 14 March, when the 22-goal USPA Townsend International Challenge Cup was played at the Empire Polo Club. England were this year’s defending champions, having beaten the United States in 2013 at the same venue. In this year’s match, the US team prevailed 17–12. The two nations first met on the pitch to battle it out for the Townsend Cup in 1923 in New York City – the birthplace of American polo some 33 years prior. After a long hiatus, the transatlantic competition resumed in 2004 and is now a regularly scheduled event among these polo-playing nations’ top arena players. Matches were also held in 2008, 2011 and 2013 prior to this year, and the US now holds a 5–1 edge. The defending champions’ side consisted of Oscar Mancini (6), Jonny Good (8) and Andrew Blake Thomas (5). Blake Thomas was a last-minute replacement for Chris Hyde (then 9), who was unable to make the trip. The US team was captained by Tommy Biddle (10), at that point the world’s

highest-rated arena player (Hyde’s handicap was raised to 10 in arena polo on 1 May). Biddle had also captained the American side in both its 2011 Townsend Cup victory and 2013 loss. The mounted skills of Kris Kampsen (7) and Jared Sheldon (5) completed this (and last) year’s victorious team. As a result of the replacement of Hyde for Blake Thomas, England were awarded two handicap goals at the start of the match – a lead they built on to end the first chukka up 6–5. The US team rebounded in the second to take the lead 10–7 at the half. The sides traded goals in the second half, with the US holding on to their lead to reclaim the cup.

This historic challenge cup between two great rivals couldn’t have been any better

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Tommy Biddle led all scorers with eight goals and was named Most Valuable Player. ‘Both teams represented their countries well. This historic challenge cup between two great rivals couldn’t have been any better,’ says George Dill, chairman of the USPA’s international committee and supplier of Zambezi, the 13-year-old mare proclaimed Best Playing Pony. As one of the premier events of the USPA’s 125th-anniversary year, the match was captured on video by Chukker TV for polo fans worldwide. It remains available for on-demand viewing at chukker.tv/townsend. Immediately prior to the USPA Townsend Cup match, some of the most talented young arena players from America and England competed for the USPA International Intercollegiate Challenge Cup, in which England asserted its first-ever victory, 16–13. The Schools & Universities Polo Association (SUPA) British team of Harold Hodges, Charlie Scott, Adam Dove and Lucy Bowman trailed 9–6 at the half, but then surged ahead in

JIM BREMNER

In an exciting match showcasing top international arena-polo players, the USA regained the historic trophy, says USPA chief marketing ofcer Christine Chartier Vermes

ACTION

Opposite Jonny Good (in white) and Kris Kampsen (in blue) out front. Below Teams competing in the International Intercollegiate Challenge Cup

the third chukka 12–10. The USPA team, selected from among the top players in its Intercollegiate/ Interscholastic programme, consisted of Drew Gale, Hunter Jelsch, Kareem Rosser and Carina Deck. They tied the score in the fourth chukka, but were unable to overtake their opponents. Harold Hodges of SUPA led all scorers with eight goals and was named MVP. Kareem Rosser led the US with seven goals. At the end of the match, the Americans retained an advantage of 2–1 in International Intercollegiate Challenge Cup play. Interest in arena polo has been flourishing in recent years, due in no small part to the rapid expansion of sports programmes at schools and universities throughout the USA and England, as well as in many other polo-playing countries. Accordingly, this evening in the Californian desert was a showcase not only for today’s leading arena polo professionals, but for those who are defining the future of the sport, too.

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ACTION DUBAI AND ABU DHABI, JANUARY TO APRIL 2015

DUBAI SEASON

Thrilling tournaments featuring world-class players took place in the Middle East earlier this year, reports Victoria Elsbury-Legg

The Middle East has witnessed much exciting polo action in recent months, taking place on the pitches of the Desert Palm Retreat and Polo Club, the Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club and the Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club, Abu Dhabi. Opening play was the 15th edition of the 18-goal HH President of UAE Cup, held at Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club from 4 to 16 January. Ten teams took part: Mahra, Habtoor, Abu Dhabi, UAE Polo, Desert Palm 1 (2014 winners), Desert Palm 2, Edrees, Zedan, Bin Drai and Ghantoot. Following some great polo in the opening matches, it was Desert Palm 1 who played Zedan in the final. Despite strong play from the latter, Desert Palm 1 were able to retain their previous year’s title, winning 10–9. Matches then moved to Dubai for its national Polo Gold Cup Series 2015 (aka the Dubai Open).

All eyes were on who would lift the trophies and share the £260,000-worth of prize money

Now in its sixth year, it is held under the patronage of HH Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, deputy ruler of Dubai. Played as two tournaments, it features the McLaren Silver Cup (23 January to 6 February) and the Julius Baer Gold Cup (23 February to 13 March). Included in the team lists for the 18-goal (five-chukka) tournament were Pablo MacDonough, playing for

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the first time in Dubai; Joaquin Pittaluga; Diego Cavanagh; and the young Brit Tom Brodie. More great polo continued under the Dubai sun, with defending champions Ghantoot ADCB facing Desert Palm 2 in the final of the McLaren Silver Cup. Desert Palm 2 had a good start, but Ghantoot ADCB won the match 7–5. The Hildon Cup was swept up by Habtoor, who beat Abu Dhabi 9–7. On 30 January, the Royal Salute UAE Nations Cup 2015 was held at Ali Albwardy’s Desert Palm Polo Club. Four worldwide teams competed in the tournament, which, in its inaugural year in 2009, featured Adolfo Cambiaso. This was followed by the 10th Cartier International Dubai Polo Challenge, with teams from Guards Polo Club, UAE, Abu Dhabi and Cartier taking part. Despite play being disrupted by sandstorms, home side

ACTION

Desert Palm were triumphant in the final match on 21 February against UAE, 10–4. In the Julius Baer Gold Cup, Zedan and Bin Drai made it through to the final on 13 March. In what proved to be a highly competitive match, it seemed that the magic stick-work of two-times Argentine Triple Crown winner Pablo MacDonough was the deciding element in a match that Zedan dominated throughout, and afterwards lifting the Julius Baer Gold Cup for the first time. In the Bentley Cup, Abu Dhabi beat Mahra 7–5. The action then returned to the Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club for the 14th Emirates Open. Eight teams entered the tournament: Ghantoot Al Basti, Habtoor, UAE, Abu Dhabi, Bin Drai, Edrees, Desert Palm and Zedan. Starting on 20 March, all eyes were on who would be not only lifting the

trophies, but sharing the formidable 1.5m AED (around £260,000) prize money. In the end it was the home side, Ghantoot Al Basti, who managed to hold off strong competition from Zedan in the final, winning 15–9 and receiving the trophy as well as 880,000 AED (around £158,000) prize money. Runners-up Zedan were presented with a very respectable 200,000 AED (around £36,000), and, in third place, Bin Drai (having beaten Desert Palm 8–5 in the subsidiary final) received 120,000 AED (around £22,000). BPP went to Acioaso ridden by Ghantoot’s Alejandro Muzzio, who was also awarded 100,000 AED (around £18,000) as winner of MVP. A Lexus car from sponsors Al-Futtaim Group and 150,000 AED (around £27,000) was presented to Best Local Player Yousef bin Dasmal of Ghantoot.

ROYAL SALUTE

Opposite The fnalists of the 14th Emirates Open. Below Malcolm Borwick on perfect form during the Royal Salute UAE Nations Cup

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ACTION HAWAII POLO CLUB TOURNAMENT, WAIKIKI, HAWAII, USA, APRIL 2015

HAWAII POLO CLUB

Howard Taylor, president of Cheshire Polo Club, describes his recent trip to tropical Oahu for what turned out to be a fast-paced, hard-won game

In April this year, my son Oliver Taylor, son-in-law Jonny Coddington and I were proud to accept an invitation from Mike Dailey, captain of the Hawaii Polo Club team, to take part as Team Cheshire in a game hosted by the club. Founded in 1963, it’s situated on Oahu’s scenic North Shore – a unique location that attracts polo fans from all over the world. On arrival in Waikiki, we settled into Dailey’s Equus Hotel, which serves as the headquarters and offices for the club, hosting a variety of visiting teams and players throughout the year. At the famous Outrigger Club the following morning, we were given our itinerary for the coming week. A practice match that afternoon to familiarise ourselves with the ponies had been arranged and we were introduced to the fourth member of our team – local 1-goal player Mark Becker. Becker is a highly competent horseman and polo player who runs the Happy Trails Hawaii horse ranch along with his wife, Tammy. Our opposition was set to be formidable, the Hawaii team consisting of Mike Dailey, a former 5-goal player and, at 61 years of age, still holder of a 2-goal handicap; Mike’s son Devon (3-goal); resident Argentine professional Julian Alvarez (3); and local entrepreneur Raymond Noh (2).

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ACTION

When you visit another country to play a sport you love, it’s the people who make it

Taylor, despite been strongly ridden off by Devon Dailey. Just before the bell, Coddington, who was doing a fine job preventing the ball shooting out over the back line, managed to cut a neck shot almost 60 yards through the posts. At two goals up going into the second chukka, we were fairly pleased with our score, but – alas – a penalty awarded to Hawaii was successfully converted by Devon Dailey and soon reduced our lead to 2–1. A fast, hard-fought chukka unfolded, with good play from both teams. The third chukka opened with a 60-yard penalty awarded to Cheshire, which Coddington converted with an unstoppable shot, hard and high. Taylor scored his second of the day and all was looking favourable for Cheshire at 4–1 in the lead. Not to be upstaged, the Hawaii team players really upped their game when the fourth chukka started. Aggressive and confident play resulted in a clever under-the-belly shot from Alvarez and two 30-yard penalties being awarded to Hawaii. Dailey made no mistakes in converting both, and at 4–4 with just two minutes on the clock, it was too close for comfort. Taylor, who was determined not to lose this match, carried the ball from the halfway line to complete his hat-trick and give the Cheshire team a narrow 5–4 victory. Whenever you visit another country to play the sport you love, it’s the people you meet who make the difference. Hawaii is no exception – our hosts really could not have been more welcoming and hospitable. We very much look forward to returning the favour in Cheshire. hawaii-polo.org

CECIL DAVIS

Opposite, from top Argentine Julian Alvarez playing for the Hawaii team; three outriders leading out the teams This page, from top Mike Dailey, left, and local club player Raymond Noh have a consolation drink from the winners’ cup; Jonny Coddington, left, takes a near side back hand chased by Julian Alvarez

On Thursday evening, the club were kind enough to host a cocktail party in our honour at the Waikiki Yacht Club. We were almost overwhelmed by their hospitality and, with so many members and supporters attending, it was a terrific evening that resulted in many new friendships being formed. Hawaii is the most beautiful collection of islands, and there is such a diversity of attractions. As polo enthusiasts, we enjoyed the practices at the grounds, which were generally followed by a barbecue, beers and polo talk around the burning embers of the open fire. Meanwhile, Oliver and Jonny were in seventh heaven enjoying the fabulous surf to be found along the stunning beaches of Oahu. On Sunday, the day of the match, we drove the 20-mile scenic route along the coastal road from Waikiki to the polo grounds, which are nestled between Mokuleia Beach and the breathtaking backdrop of the Waianae mountain range. A large crowd, set up with tailgate picnics, had amassed on the beach side of the ground. Near the clubhouse, aside from a splendid marquee, was a fabulous collection of some 20 or more classic British open-top sports cars. A jazz band set the soundtrack to the event. The three teams were led in by three outriders carrying the Union Jack, the Stars and Stripes and the flag of Hawaii. To our amazement, the Daileys’ pet pig Wilma cantered behind the horses, completing a full lap of the grounds to cheers and whistles from the crowd, then obediently stood for the singing of the national anthems. When the action started, Cheshire went off to a good first chukka, with an opening field goal from

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ACTION SNOW POLO WORLD CUP, TIANJIN METROPOLITAN CLUB, TIANJIN, CHINA, FEBRUARY 2015

SNOW POLO WORLD CUP

Brazil triumphed in the fourth edition of the Fortune Heights FIP Snow Polo World Cup at the Tianjin Metropolitan Polo Club in February this year, defeating USA in the final. And with the Brazilians being the only unbeaten side through the tournament, it was a well deserved win. In qualifying play, Brazil demolished Canada 9–1, edged New Zealand 5–3 and beat the defending champions England 5–4. The loss put the UK team (Matt Perry, Max Routledge and Jack Richardson) out of the tournament with a record of only one win on penalties and two losses in the qualifying matches. The quarter-finals were tense on both days of play, but for different reasons. The first two matches took place on a near-perfect pitch – closely fought, dramatic matches that both finished 6–6 and had to be decided by penalty shoot-outs. Hong Kong vs Brazil, meanwhile, was a humdinger. Hong Kong led 0–2 in the first chukka, but the second belonged to Brazil, who scored three times. Hong Kong came back to lead 5–4 at the end of the third chukka and stretched it to a two-goal lead immediately on restart. But the Brazilians were not yet done, and came back

From top The winning Brazilian team; Mike Azzaro, left, and Most Valuable Player Gustavo Garcia

with two of their own in the final chukka, taking the match into penalties. Hong Kong’s John Fisher then missed two, which cost them the game, and they went down 3–2 to Brazil. Argentina (Juan Cruz Gregouli, Juan Martin Echeverz and Hector Crotto), similarly, beat Chile 3–2 in their shoot-out. Neither deserved to lose, having played excellent polo at a tremendous pace, but it was Argentina that went through to set up a dream semi-final against arch-rivals Brazil. The temperature rose to 7°C for the second day of the quarter-final. It caused the field to melt rapidly, making for a poor playing surface. France handled it better than Canada, winning 8–6. The much-vaunted American side of former 10-goaler Mike Azzaro, arena 10-goaler Tommy Biddle Jr and Del Walton had scraped into the quarter-finals with a one-win and two-loss record, losing to Chile and France, and eliminating Spain only by the who-beat-who rule. They faced a New Zealand side that had played some of the best polo of the tournament. The Kiwis did not have a field that would have suited their fast, open game. With Mike Azzaro showing why he was 10-goals for umpteen years, USA had their measure 9 goals to 6. Brazil were put to the test by Argentina in the semi-final, and again the trio of Gustavo Garcia, Guilherme Lins and Aluisio Vilela Rosa proved themselves worthy, cleaning up by 11–9. France fought bravely and almost forced a sudden-death chukka, but their goal was just after the bell, and they went down 7–6 to the USA. The final was like a samba celebration. The Brazilians led from the start, stunning the USA with three goals in the opening chukka. The score was 5–2 at half-time, and the damage was done in the third chukka as they blasted six goals past the Americans. At 11–2 up, going into the last chukka, I said to Luis Roberto Ribeiro, reserve player and team manager of Brazil, ‘Six minutes more – just six minutes!’ They didn’t muck it up, protecting their lead to win 11–5. Gustavo Garcia was deservedly named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. In the post-final press conference, Luis Lalor, general manager of polo at the Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club, revealed his plans to have 16 teams at next year’s Snow Polo World Cup. I hope I’m there to see it happen.

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TIANJIN METROPOLITAN POLO CLUB

There may not have been a white-out in Rio for 30 years, but Brazil proved themselves more than capable of playing a near-perfect game in sub-zero temperatures, says tournament director Peter Abisheganaden

ACTION NATIONAL 12-GOAL TOURNAMENT, GRAND CHAMPIONS POLO CLUB, FLORIDA, USA, MARCH 2015

NATIONAL 12-GOAL TOURNAMENT With $50,000 prize money at stake, the tournament attracted ferce competition, but it was a well-deserved victory for Aspen Valley Polo Club, says Sharon Robb

ROB BOWMAN

Gene Goldstein, far left, and Grant Ganzi in the fnal

Now in its second year, the single-elimination $50,000 National 12-Goal Tournament features some of polo’s top players, including several up-and-coming young athletes. On 9 April, in front of a packed crowd and ChukkerTV cameras, Aspen Valley Polo Club (Grant Ganzi, Juancito Bollini, Mark Tomlinson and Wes Finlayson) took on Newport (Gene Goldstein, Joaquin Panelo, Michel Dorignac and Agustin Arellano) in an emotionally charged final. Aspen Valley took control early, jumping to a 4–0 lead in the first chukka and catching Newport off-guard. They kept their lead at 5–3 throughout the second, retaining a one-goal advantage (5–4) at the half and after the fourth chukka (6–5). The team rekindled their momentum during the fifth chukka – one of the plays of the game was Bollini taking out two defenders to clear the path for Tomlinson, forcing Newport into a right-of-way

penalty. Tomlinson then converted the 40-yard goal for an 8–5 lead at the end of the chukka. Aspen Valley’s swarming defence remained relentless to the last – and they clung on to an 8–6 lead until the final 46 seconds, when Dorignac scored on a neck shot, which drew Newport up to a more respectable loss of 8–7. Throughout the match, Aspen Valley never lost its composure, turning in one of its best games of the season, and Tomlinson, 32, was the most dominant player on the field. With his wife, Olympic dressage champion Laura Bechtolsheimer, proudly watching from the sidelines, Tomlinson led his team with four goals – including three on penalty shots – and played well defensively. He was named MVP and his 12-year-old Chestnut mare, Chaja, was named BPP. ‘It’s the end of the season here for me,’ said Tomlinson, ‘and it’s a really good way to finish. I’ve

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never played in a money tournament like this. It’s a great concept and hopefully they can carry it on, make it bigger and get more support.’ The victory was even more sweet for Ganzi and Bollini, who were members of the Casablanca team that lost last year’s inaugural tournament to Palm Beach Equine, 11–9, after giving up three unanswered goals in the final four minutes of the game. ‘Last year was a heartbreaker and this year is a triumph,’ said Ganzi. ‘This was the last 12-goal we still had to win.’ To make it to the final, Newport beat 5 Star Builders (Nico Escobar, Pedro Falabella, Tommy Biddle and Cody Offen) 11–9, and Aspen Valley had held on for a thrilling 14–13 victory over Pony Express (Bob Daniels, Justin Daniels, Tomas Goti, Julian de Lusarreta) in the semi-finals. This important prizewinning tournament was also live-streamed at chukkertv.com.

Summer 2015

Articles inside

Riding high

The polo playboy

An equestrian dynasty

Analyse this

Ponylines

A perfect blend

A head start

Lifestyle

John Wash

Team spirit

Air time