Relative value

Playing in his 30th Argentine Open – a game featuring three generations of his illustrious family – Eduardo Heguy rode into the history books, explains Darlene Ricker

He may be 49 years old, but Eduardo Heguy is not going to retire his mallet any time soon. Two months ago, he played a record-setting 30th consecutive Argentine Open – a feat never before accomplished. He comes from a line of top players with careers longer than the Trans-Siberian Highway.

‘My father is 74 and still plays,’ says Eduardo, who continues to ride daily himself. He recently vowed to ‘keep playing until I can’t get on a horse and ride’. Nonetheless, as he admits, ‘playing’s one thing and competing’s another’.

He stretches and works out more now. ‘When I was younger, I used to just play tennis, football, golf…and that was my training for polo,’ he said. ‘But now I have to go to the gym and I have a personal trainer. If you want to compete with the kids, you simply have to be on a higher level.’

However, age, he says, is just a number. ‘It’s the way you feel that matters. If you’ve been lucky not to sustain serious injuries and your genes are good, you have an advantage. If you take care of yourself, you can play until you’re over 40. And that’s all the motivation you need. I think that’s what’s going to happen with Adolfito [Cambiaso]. If you’re passionate about what you’re doing, you can keep doing it for a long, long time.’

His family polo dynasty began a century ago, when Bautista Heguy, a French-Basque immigrant, moved to Argentina and bought land 600km west of Buenos Aires. He won his first Argentine Open in 1958, playing for Coronel Suárez-Los Indios with his son Horacio Antonio, an agronomist. Soon, Horacio and his brother Alberto Pedro, a vet, dominated the Argentine Open, winning 19 and 17 times respectively. Known as the Heguy Express because of their unrelenting speed, they were heralded as the world’s best polo players. In 1966, Prince Philip quipped that he would trade the Falkland Islands to Argentina in exchange for the brothers.

Over the years, the Heguys turned polo into a profitable business, allowing their heirs to concentrate solely on enjoying the sport and honing their skills. The strategy paid off in spades. The family has produced no fewer than nine 10-goal players, with Heguys playing in the Argentine Open for the past 58 years.

Opposite Eduardo Heguy with his father, Alberto Pedro. This page, from top Horacio Heguy and his sons (from second left) Gonzalo, Horacito and Marcos, in 1984; Francisco Crotto with Gonzalo, Horacito and Eduardo, in the 1970s

Today, the family high-goal roster includes seven brothers and three cousins. Horacio’s four sons (Gonzalo, Horacito, Marcos and Bautista) won the Open six times, and Alberto Pedro’s three sons (Eduardo ‘Ruso’, Alberto ‘Pepe’ and Ignacio ‘Nachi’) won four times. They were polo prodigies. Eduardo and Pepe were already 9-goalers at the age of 19, and made 10 when they were 23.

Eventually, the sons forged their own teams, Indios Chapaleufú I and II. One year, Chapaleufú II (Pedro’s sons and another Argentine) defeated Chapaleufú I (Horacio’s sons) by one point. The 1985 Argentine Open final marked the first time three Heguys – Pedro and his sons – played together, and Horacio’s went on to win the Argentine Open. Palermo has even seen Opens with all but one player being Heguy brothers or cousins.

Last November and December, the Piereses weren’t the only all-family team in Palermo. Four Heguys – Eduardo, Pepe, Nachi and Bautista – rode onto the field together, playing for a combined Chapaleufú team. They are as close-knit as they come – they have adjoining estancias in Argentina, partitioned from their parents’ estate, and their homes in Buenos Aires are within a few kilometres of each other.

Two days before the 2015 Argentine Open final, Eduardo drove to Pilar to coach US members of the Gay Polo League. ‘Radio Ruso’, as his friends call him, is known for ‘broadcasting’ a steady stream of directives to his students. ‘El Ruso’ (Spanish for ‘the Russian’) is a family nickname referring to his big, burly frame and the streak of reddish-blond hair he had as a youngster. En route to the field, with his 10-year-old polo-playing daughter Pampa in tow, he stopped at the Casablanca polo store in Las Cañitas and loaded up his truck with a pile of kid-sized helmets – his contribution to the children’s tournament and a mark of his commitment to helping youth polo to grow. His other daughter, Luján, aged 4, and his sons Cruz, 12, and Pedro, 6, also ride, as does his wife, Paz.

Eduardo spent the drive to Pilar talking about the past three decades, and those to come. To follow are his reflections on his family’s polo tradition, his observations on the 2015 Open and his thoughts on what the future may hold for the game of kings.

‘There are so many memories I could share with you, like the first Open I played, with my brother Pepe and my father – we lost the final by one goal. There were whole seasons when we had such fun, like when we played with Pelón Stirling in 2009: we beat Ellerstina and La Dolfina, which were both 40-goal teams, but we didn’t make it to the final at Palermo by goal difference. In 2014, we won the second tournament and went straight to the Open. It feels great to be in another Open together this time around – it’s not something you’d think would happen after such a long career.

‘It’s a privilege still being able to play in the Open and to share the field with the best players in the world. Some are half my age, some are more than 20 years younger than me. I have to work harder now to be the best I can be – it’s not easy after so many injuries. But it’s what I love, especially playing with my brothers and cousin Bautista. We expected to do a bit better this season, but just to compete is a gift. It’s really great hearing the fans shouting our names, and my family seeing us playing – all the kids were in Chapaleufú shirts, shouting, “Come on, Daddy!” That’s really special.’

‘Playing polo is not just about the matches; it’s also about breeding ponies. And now there are more breeders than ever, especially here in Argentina. The Polo Argentino stock is growing and it’s not easy, because the market is smaller. The government has begun imposing taxes on those who export horses, which is not helping the polo industry – the cost of transporting a horse to Europe or wherever is really high, so you have to add a lot of money to the price of the pony as a result. ‘I probably have 600 horses or more, but I don’t want to know how many or what it costs me to maintain them, otherwise I’d stop enjoying having such a big operation. They are like babies to me – I enjoy the whole process as they become mature. The other day, in our last game at Palermo, there were 17 of my ponies on the field. Some went with Pepe, some with Nachi and some with me – I enjoy watching them being played by someone else.

‘I like polo best when the pressure is on – I love the adrenaline before, during and after the game. That’s why I keep competing – if not, I could be playing at another, more lucrative level. Playing the Gold Cup or Cámara de Diputados – that’s the way to make money. But I prefer to play for the honour of taking part in the best tournament in the world and competing with the best teams. I’m going to keep trying to do that for as long as I can.

‘When you have four brothers who want to play together, somebody is going to have to change position because, if not, you won’t all fit on the team. We’ve always been more offensive than defensive players, but one of us has to play as no 4 and I am the one who hits the ball strongest and hardest. My cousins started playing with Bautista in no 4 position because he was the youngest, then finished with him in no 1 and Marcos in no 4. It’s the same thing that’s happening with the Piereses – this year, they tried with Facundo in the back, then Nico and, finally, Gonzalito.’

‘Polo used to be played at the clubs where the players were members; today, there are more people who make a living from polo, so there are more private grounds. When you have

This page, from above left Bautista Heguy with his cousins at Palermo, 2016; (from left) Mariano Uranga, a cousin, with Nachi, Pepe, their parents Silvia and Alberto, and Eduardo and Tomas Opposite Eduardo and his son Cruz

your own place, you can do whatever you want, whenever and with whomever you want, but we still stable our horses at Los Indios because we like to share them with others. Before, it used to be that, after a game, you’d eat and drink at the club bar or have lunch with the opposition, friends or fellow members; now, however, most times, you play and then you leave. The social life we used to have is not the same any more.

‘When I started playing the Open, I had nine horses for the whole season; now, I start with 18. The way we used to play was much more open – it was all about hitting and running. We didn’t stop as much and the ref didn’t call as many fouls. Now the game is completely different – we have to stop, turn and keep control of the ball. It was probably more fun to watch before, because we really played as a team – over time, it’s become much more individual. That said, the kids these days are more talented – their skills with the ball are amazing: they can carry it in the air, whereas, in the old days, nobody used to try to even hit it in the air.

‘Even though we’ve been going through a difficult economic situation in our country, the number of players in Argentina is growing. There are more and more youngsters taking part in our sport, and more tournaments every year, especially for children.

‘I was nine years old when I played my first Los Potrillos Cup. I borrowed my aunt’s boots, my father’s helmet and mallet, and his friends’ horses. Now, in training, the kids have all the equipment and the horses just for them. In my time, there was only one youth tournament and it was played once a year; now, they have at least two or three a month. Hopefully, that means more little professionals are on the way.

Eduardo with his daughter Pampa

‘That said, to get to 10 goals is going to be just as difficult as before. More kids choosing the sport and competing at such a young age means there’s a greater chance of Argentina having a lot of good future players. But with many more people now making a living as professionals, there is greater competition. There are also not as many high-goal teams now in England and the United States as there once were, meaning it’s not as simple as it once was to compete. That’s why I tell my own kids to finish school, study something and then start their polo career. That’s the way it was when we were growing up and I think that’s what everyone should do – not only because they might have an accident, but because they might not achieve a good enough handicap to make a living only playing polo.

‘I want to convey to the next generation what I have learnt – I’m passionate about polo and horses and this way of life, and I don’t want to just keep my experience to myself. That’s why I like teaching and organising tournaments for kids. What I want to transmit is this: the way to enjoy life is by doing what you love and trying to be the best you can be.’

‘The ease the kids have coming into the sport in Argentina is an important factor in our success. Maintaining a horse here is not as expensive as it is in other countries, for a start. Then, because La Pampa is so flat, there are the millions of acres of potential polo fields. And our weather means we can play all year round, of course. Most importantly, though, it’s the tradition we’ve established here – the horses, the tournaments, the numbers who take up the sport – that makes Argentinian players the best in the world.

‘Nonetheless, our success is actually a disadvantage when we want to compete against other nations. Argentina has not been able to put its top four players on a team since 1980, when we played the America’s Cup for the last time in Texas, so that’s not much fun. We dominate the world of polo so much that, if we want to play other countries, we have to wait for them to get to the same level as us. And that’s not how it’s supposed to be. You want to see your best players representing your country, but it’s not happening and it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen for a while.

‘So far, 2015’s Argentine Open has not been the best I’ve seen. We had a difficult spring because of the rain and it was not so warm, so the fields were not in the condition they should’ve been. The referees also closed up the games – they delayed them too often, so the players couldn’t run. All that stopping affected their play: how they were keeping the position of the ball and their view of the goal.

‘The way the Open has been played over the past few years has been a bit boring because of the way the referees interpret the rules. Instead of letting the players play, they seem to be analysing too much and there have been too many good games spoiled as a result. The 2014 final was a disaster – it was one of the worst I’ve seen, because of both the way the players played and the way the refs handled the game. They shouldn’t call so many fouls. Don’t call it when somebody throws the ball under the horse’s legs, or when they stop and need to get off the horse and the player disappears, or when it’s not dangerous – let them take the ball and speed up the game!’

‘Lots has changed about how the Open has been played since the old days – from the type of grass on the fields to more individualised play, to some players riding two or three horses in one chukka instead of one for the whole chukka. But there’s one thing that’s remained the same: we don’t make money; in fact, all of us lose money getting there and taking part. But it’s about the honour and glory of taking part in the world’s best polo tournament.

‘Chapaleufú is going to keep competing. We’ll have to see what happens with all the handicaps – maybe we’ll have to go through the qualifications next year! Now we have some downtime at our farm in La Pampa to think about the future. We’re never going to be far away from polo, that’s for sure.’