Ponylines

An African cannot understand the Englishman’s obsession with time, arguing that there is no reason to rush to do something today that can be done tomorrow. If the sun is shining, sit under the tree and enjoy the day. Perhaps the unreliable English weather is what has created this obsession and certainly this summer has been the worst in my memory.

Amazingly, tournaments have in the main been completed without undue interruption. The new drainage at Guards has paid huge dividends for the club and Ambersham 1 at Cowdray probably saved the day for the Gold Cup. The Royal County of Berkshire suffered badly with cancelled tournaments due to waterlogged grounds and at Cirencester, whilst the new grounds beyond Peddington held up, Ivy Lodge was not helped by the rain which seemed to wait for the important games to start.

Blessed with the best weekend so far this year, the Audi International at Guards produced two great games. In the morning, the new Young England (25 and under) team gave a great display of their abilities and reminded the selectors and established England players that there are others out there snapping at their heels. The Coronation Cup was as good a game as we have seen for many years against a very talented young South Africa but in the end the experience of the England team played its part and, level at 8 all with less than a minute to go, they managed to squeeze in a goal in the last 30 seconds.

We have also assisted in putting a team together to play in Zimbabwe. Having hosted a schoolboy team last summer it is hoped that this will help to rebuild the relationship with Zimbabwe, which has somehow managed to keep their polo going in spite of the difficulties there.

It would be wrong not to mention the Olympics, and one can only be impressed by the commitment, humility and sporting approach shown by the athletes. It was wonderful to see Laura Bechtolsheimer, who followed the England team to Chile and Chester, winning her team gold and individual bronze.

^ MASHOMACK POLO CHALLENGE On 16 June, The Mashomack Polo Club in New York hosted the 15th annual Mashomack International Polo Challenge luncheon. Over 700 guests watched teams from the United States, India and Italy battle to secure the trophy. This year, MPIC had the honour of hosting His Highness The Maharaja Sawai Padmanabh Singh of Jaipur. Despite closely contested games, the winners, Team Carlyle, proved to everyone that their combination of great offence from James McBride and Bruce Colley and the indestructible defence of their back, John Klopp, was impossible to beat. During the Nespresso awards ceremony, the Best Playing Pony award was presented to Parker Thorne’s Bambina, while Catherine Malandrino presented the Mathias Guerrand-Hermès MVP Award to Shane Finemore.

^ ENGEL & VOELKERS BERLIN MAIFELD CUP On 11-12 August world-class polo found its way back to the Maifeld ground in the Olympic Park, Berlin, for the Engel & Voelkers Berlin Maifeld Cup. Under blue skies, eight international high-goal teams took the stage before more than 20,000 spectators. In the finals the defending champions Engel & Voelkers were able to recapture the title in a breathtaking game against Champagne Lanson with a final score of 8-6. Team Engel & Voelkers featured three returning players from the previous year in team captain Christopher Kirsch (4), James Miller (1), Gastón Maíquez (6), and the newest member of the team and youngest player Lukas Sdrenka (1).

In the runners-up cup, the Tom Tailor Trophy, the Samsung team emerged as the winner against the Land Rover team. The Most Valuable Player award went to Samsung’s Jo Schneider, who was one of the few players to have already played on the Maifeld in the early Nineties. Gastón Maíquez’s horse Extatica was crowned Best Playing Pony. The German high-goal Championship will return to the Maifeld in 2013.

Piaget Manufacture movement 880P Mechanical self-winding chronograph Flyback, dual time 100 meter water resistant Titanium, sapphire case-back Rubber strap

\ DESERT PALM POLO The ultra-chic property of Desert Palm in Dubai is now offering the opportunity to play polo on some of the finest pitches in the world. Players can stroll out from one of the 38 designer suites – situated metres away from the playing fields – mount a pony and be off, racing across Dubai’s beautiful landscape in a chukka. The stables facilitate 300 horses. Budding polo players are welcome, too, with polo lessons catering to all levels. On offer are activities including basic mallet and ball technique, competitive matches, countryside hacks and dressage indoors. Desert Palm is also home to polo events such as the Royal Salute UAE Nations Cup and the Cartier International Dubai Polo Challenge – so after a hard day of riding, guests can relax and observe some of the world’s top players. If not, the Lime Spa, infinity pool and award-winning restaurants will keep visitors occupied – and very satisfied. Stefan Knap

^ LIFE’S A BEACH On 11 September, a record number of around 4,000 spectators turned out on the sands of Watergate Bay in Cornwall to watch the sixth edition of Veuve Clicquot Polo on the Beach, which saw team Joules earn a hard-fought victory over reigning champions First Great Western. Five goals from England squad member Jamie Le Hardy helped his team win 9-6½, and claim the Most Valuable Player trophy presented by HSBC. Le Hardy said: ‘It was a really nice open game. We [Joules] were lucky they missed a few goals in the second chukka, and apart from that, it was pretty even.’ Before the exhibition match, spectators watched Olympic silver medallist Mary King take part in a public polo lesson before trying her hand at match play in a demonstration chukka.

After the game, commentator Peter West remarked: ‘I thought the match was absolutely fantastic, the teams were very attack orientated but equally their defence was marvellous as well. As far as I’m concerned it’s probably the best beach polo match I’ve had the good fortune to commentate on.’ The prize for the Best Playing Pony, presented by Terrazas de los Andes, was awarded to Aceto, an Argentine gelding ridden by James Harper and owned by Rob and Jemima Brockett of Lytchett Heath Polo Club in Dorset, who supplied the majority of the ponies for the match. Veuve Clicquot Polo on the Beach will return to Watergate Bay next year. For more information, visit watergatebay.co.uk/polo HOOKED ON POLO

Adrian Kirby is an international businessman, environmental entrepreneur and investor based in Switzerland. An avid polo player, he is also the founder of Cortium Sports, an organisation dedicated to providing global sports sponsorship opportunities for brands and businesses across the world, particularly in the polo sector. In July of this year, Kirby’s Cortium team won the Gold Cup at Cowdray in a thrilling final.

I am almost too embarrassed to say when I first started polo, but it was at Ham Polo Club in the Eighties (with the Healys) and then in Argentina with the Avendanos, before I became a Life Playing Member at Guards Polo Club and joining Cowdray. What I love about the sport is that it provides great international experiences and friendships – the polo community is unique, and I feel very fortunate to enjoy such fantastic support from the community generally and locally at Guards Polo Club and Cowdray Park.

I think that polo has evolved hugely in the last seven or eight years. Both players’ and sponsors’ expectations concerning facilities have changed quite dramatically as polo has gained traction in other parts of the world – noticeably in Asia. It now has the unique opportunity of being an international platform for sponsors. Additionally with the advent of high-speed internet and streaming, polo feels as if it is reaching a watershed at the top levels. Clubs now need to work closely with established international polo fields to enable maximum benefit for players, sponsors and spectators alike.

There is an ever increasing burden on private funding to maintain competitive teams and facilities, with the infrastructure improving and the bar being raised relentlessly year on year with the quality of the horse power, team management, preparation of players, all the while trying to accommodate value. The model needs some careful thought for the future.

CHUKKAS

The Uruguayan Polo Association has approximately 120 players. They have had a very good year on the international polo circuit. David Stirling is now 10 goals all over the world. His younger brother, Santiago (3) and cousin, Alejo Taranco (6) won the Copa de Oro in Sotogrande. Felipe Viana (3) won the 20-goal Hampton Cup and was named MVP. Other Uruguayans playing well are Juan Curbelo (6) and Matias Carrique (5). The Uruguayans will soon be in the top three in terms of fielding high handicap teams in the world. Hopefully, we will soon see them playing against England in the Audi International Series!

The British Equestrian team won five medals in the 2012 Olympics. Laura Bechtolsheimer, recently engaged to Mark Tomlinson, won a team Gold and an individual Bronze in dressage riding her 18-year-old stallion, Alf. Mark also had a successful summer; reaching the semifinals of the Queens Cup and the quarter finals of the Gold Cup. He was on the winning side of the Coronation Cup and in August won the Silver Cup in Deauville.

The inaugural Jersey Beach Polo tournament was played on 19 September in St Brelade’s Bay in front of over 2,000 spectators. 30 ponies arrived from England by ferry. As the tide went out the 100m x 50m arena was built in glorious sunshine and at 3pm the polo started, with four teams competing. Former England captain, Andrew Hine, led his Banjo team to victory over team Zolfo Cooper, captained by Tarquin Southwell.

The Hurlingham Club in Hurlingham, Argentina was founded in 1888 by leading members of the local British community. The first Argentine Polo Tournament took place at the club in 1893. During October and November 2012, the 119th Hurlingham Open will be played. From 6 to 15 November The Prince of Wales Cup, in honour of Prince Charles’ visit in 1999, will take place. The tournament is 14 goals.

Visit hurlinghampolo.com for match highlights and DVDs of 2012:

Cartier Queens Cup Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup Audi International for the Coronation Cup Nespresso Copa de Oro ^ FORTUNE HEIGHTS SUPER NATIONS CUP In September it was formally announced at a press conference in Tianjin, China, that the inaugural Fortune Heights Super Nations Cup 2012 would take place from 1 to 5 October 2012 at the Tianjin Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club, China’s most extensive polo facility. Team draws also took place at the press conference.

The Fortune Heights Super Nations Cup 2012 saw a gathering of the world’s leading polo nations in Tianjin, including four professional teams from Argentina, England, the United States and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. On the same day, an international youth exhibition tournament also took place. The 24-goal tournament was hosted by the Federation of International Polo and the Tianjin Sports Bureau. Mr Alejandro Taylor, FIP’s executive committee member and treasurer said: ‘We wanted to inspire young people in China. We believe that China has every potential to become a polo powerhouse of the future if we lay the foundations right; the foundations, we believe, are in place. We hope to come back in 10, 15 years’ time and be able to say that these were the moments that we captured the imagination of people in China and the Asian region, and challenged them to fashion their futures through the beautiful game of polo.’

[ MICHAEL BUTLER

As a grandson, son and brother of polo players, and former governor of the USPA, American producer Michael Butler has long been fixated by the sport. And during his career as a producer, he has often turned to polo friends for financial support. One of his first projects, the rock musical Hair, was financed mostly by polo players. And they did very well out of it. Hair opened on Broadway in 1968 and was a huge success, running for 1,750 performances. This year marks the beginning of Butler’s latest endeavour, Michael Butler Entertainment Group. The idea is to take new works and develop them in small theatre environments, using the latest technology. His first project, Pope Joan, is a musical of passion, piety and power which opens in theatres next year. A future potential project is Texas Cup – based on a true event in 1922 when a rag-tag team of cowboys challenged a team of elite polo players. Set within a love story, we see the classic tale of the underdogs overcoming cultural and economic challenges in the world of polo. Butler says: ‘With new filming technologies this film could be breathtaking and beautiful.’

SADDLE UP WITH...

Jaime Huidobro was born in Santiago de Chile but now divides most of his time between Argentina and Europe. A regular member of the El Remanso team he has also played at the highest level in the Argentine Open with Chapa Uno, San Jose and Trenque Lauquen. Huidobro holds handicaps of 8-goals (Argentina) and 7-goals (UK).

When and how did you start to play polo? I started playing in Santiago, in Chile. My father played so I had all the facilities, but I didn’t much like it at the beginning. I started playing with more focus at 17, and now it’s my life and my hobby, and I’m very happy I can do what I love most as my job. Polo is my way of life.

Who do you respect most in polo? There are some great people around, but my top are Gonzalo Pieres and Milo Fernández Araujo. Pieres because he made big changes to professional players, horses and fields, and Araujo is someone who reached 10-goals without the support of a family.

What are your plans for next summer? I’m starting in September with the Jockey Club Open in Argentina, and I’m staying in Argentina to play until December. After that I’ll play the Chilean Open, and I hope I can go to Palm Beach following that.

What is your most memorable polo game? I should say the final last year, but I have a few others – in particular El Remanso in 2010, when Pelon fell and stopped playing but we still beat Loro Piana with 21 goals. I would love to thank all the people who made it possible for us to win the Gold Cup: the grooms, my manager, Mark Zawadski, my trainer, Martin Glue, my vet Shein, George Milford Haven for the great facilities on his farm, John Horswell, and finally Gonzalo Pieres who lent Polito a few horses for the semis and the final. LOVE OF MY LIFE...

PONY’S NAME: ELEANORA SEX: MARE ORIGIN: ARGENTINA

I am married to Clarita and I have three daughters – thus calling a mare the ‘love of my life’ is likely to be a very dumb thing to do! However, Eleanora is close. She is small, extremely powerful, fast and aggressive. What more could one want in a polo pony? Oh, and did I mention she possesses the most extraordinary sense of balance and timing? She can turn on a sixpence, at any speed. The unwary rider will soon make contact with the ground, as I have done more than once when she read the game and reacted faster than I did.

Eleanora came from Pepe Santamarina in Argentina. I visited him and he provided me with a mount for a few chukkas at the Hurlingham Club. I came off and in the bar afterwards I told him that I had to have the horse I had played third – Eleanora! She plays full on, exactly the same every time and I always play her in the first chukka as I do not have the stamina to play her later on! There is a pleasing symmetry to this: I see that Dickie Santamarina won the Royal Windsor in 1959 and I wonder if he was playing one of Eleanora’s forbears...? Chris Mathias

\ INTERNATIONAL POLO FIELDS SURVIVE HURRICANE ISAAC In late-August, Hurricane Isaac’s path was far west of Wellington, Florida, but the amount of rain that it deposited on the community’s many polo fields left many gasping for air. Not so at the International Polo Club, according to the club’s agronomist, Ray Mooney. ‘I think we got about 20 inches of rain,’ said Mooney, ‘and we came out fine.’ For years the club has claimed to have the best fields in the world, but few could have foreseen the amount of rain that Hurricane Isaac’s outer bands would deposit on the land. ‘This is the 100-year flood that you hear about,’ said Mooney, ‘you can’t ever properly prepare for something like this.’ With the apron of the fields still wet, the fields are in tournament condition, and the International Polo Club is still ready to play while neighbouring fields remain water-logged. ‘I’m thrilled with the way the drainage systems worked,’ explained Mooney. ‘We’ve been upgrading them over the course of the last five years, and installed a new system when we resurfaced a couple of the fields last year’. John Wash, president of club operations added, ‘The tournament season kicks off on 6 January 2013, and we’re comfortable that the club’s reputation will be upheld by our championship fields.’ Alex Webbe