Family, Polo Remain The Focus For Wellington’s Luis Escobar Story by Julie Unger • Photos by Abner Pedraza
Longtime polo star Luis Escobar has been a Wellington resident since the 1980s, based out of his family’s Santa Clara Polo Club. Born in Costa Rica in 1971, young Luis began coming to Wellington for the winter at age 7, when Palm Beach Polo was new to the area. He sometimes rode horses in Costa Rica, but it was in Wellington when his love for riding was sparked. Before he knew it, he was riding every day. “I could not wait to go to the barn,” he recalled. “We used to get up every morning at 5 a.m. to go and ride the horses and work the horses and be with the horses.” That drive and dedication, especially as a young teen, is difficult to find. “You get that, one in a million, right there,” said Georgette, Luis’ wife. “It was pitch black,” Luis said, noting that it wasn’t the time that was important but the dedication, drive and devotion. As Luis and his family traveled back and forth between Costa Rica and Florida, his desire to play polo only increased. “For me, time was too slow before we would come back from Costa Rica to be here in the winter,” he said. “For me,
growing up, I always had in the back of my mind that I was going to move here, live here, play polo here and become a professional. There was no other option.” The road to becoming a professional polo player did not take Luis long. His first job playing polo was at age 15, playing for Peter Brant, founder of the Greenwich Polo Club. Luis played polo with the famed Hector Barrantes, and they quickly won three tournaments. “Every single game we won. We were the team to beat,” he said. “I was [then] picked up by Carlos Gracida, who altered my life.” This came at a time when Luis was deciding where to attend college. “I was accepted to Texas A&M, and I was going to go to school there because they had polo there, but [Gracida] made me an offer and said, ‘Come and play the Gold Cup.’ At that time, that was the main tournament here. It was a 26-goal tournament, and I was 2 goals at the time. I was 17 and had just finished high school.” With that offer, Luis changed his
“For me, time was too slow before we would come back from Costa Rica to be here in the winter... Growing up, I always had in the back of my mind that I was going to move here, live here, play polo here and become a professional. There was no other option.” LUIS ESCOBAR
82
january 2015 | wellington the magazine