Ponylines

y BEACH POLO WORLD CUP Fourteen polo teams returned to Miami Beach for the ninth annual Beach Polo World Cup. The action began on 25 April with a kick-off party at The Raleigh Hotel, introducing the eight women’s teams that would do battle the following day in the Maserati South Beach Women’s Polo Cup. The Heys USA team took the top honours while the Bulgari team finished first in the lower bracket. A press party introducing the six men’s entries was held that evening. Two days of play took place in the flooded and by 11am it was decided to cancel the finals. A Monday match was arranged 11am it was decided to cancel the finals. A Monday match was arranged between Yellow Cab andault. Despite the disappointment of the finals being rained off, players and patrons alike made to return 201hen rains came. The sand arena was flooded and by 11am it was decided to cancel the finals. A Monday match was arr 160 words. Alex Webbe

y BEACH POLO WORLD CUP Fourteen polo teams returned to Miami Beach for the ninth annual Beach Polo World Cup. The action began on 25 April with a kick-off party at The Raleigh Hotel, introducing the eight women’s teams that would do battle the following day in the Maserati South Beach Women’s Polo Cup. The Heys USA team took the top honours while the Bulgari team finished first in the lower bracket. A press party introducing the six men’s entries was held that evening. Two days of play took place in the 12-goal competition. By virtue of net goals, the Maserati team were eliminated and the Yellow Cab v The Raleigh finals were set when the rains came. The sand arena was flooded and Monday match was arranged between Yellow Cab and The Raleigh, but player logistics did defen’s entries was held that arena was flooded and by 11am it was decid while the Bulgari team finished first in the ed to cancel the finals. A Monday match was arr evening. Two days of play took place 12-goal 175 words. Alex Webbe ONE TO WATCH Following Orchard Hill’s 13–12 win over Dubai to take the 2016 US Open Championship, Steve Van Andel, left, had a big smile on his face. It was the first Open win for his Orchard Hill team, who made it to the finals in 2001, 2002, 2006 and 2015, but the change over the past two years has been impressive. Following the 2014 season, Van Andel contracted both Facundo Pieres and his cousin Polito in an effort to make a serious bid for the silver in 2015, and it paid off. Combining this with several spare horses acquired for the team pros, Orchard Hill made it to the final of all three 26-goal tournaments, winning the CV Whitney Cup. Additional horses were acquired again in 2015 and the team continued to click. Orchard Hill won the CV Whitney Cup again this year, but lost in the semi-finals of the Gold Cup after Polito Pieres’ absence due to a shoulder injury. Orchard Hill reloaded with 10-goaler Juan Martín Nero, and off they went. The US Open win has been a long time coming, but with Facundo and Polito Pieres returning in 2017, Van Andel could well be on a roll. Alex Webbe

I begin this foreword on a sad note. John Wright handed over as Chairman of the HPA to Stephen Hutchinson a month early in October last year, so that he could undergo treatment to fight cancer. Sadly, he lost the battle at the beginning of May. A champion of polo, he always had the interests of the game, first and foremost, at heart. John will be hugely missed and our sympathies go out to his wife Christiane and the rest of his family.

As far as the game is concerned, there have been two big events recently: the Copa de las Naciones, played at Palermo, and the Bryan Morrison Trophy, played at AEPC Hickstead. Congratulations and thanks are due to the players, and in particular Christopher Hanbury, who agreed to field and fund his El Remanso team to represent England.

For some years, we have all been trying to produce a set of unified rules, and there has been some scepticism as to whether it would ever happen. There is much work still to be done, but the new format has been well received, as has the new ‘sin bin’ rule.

Looking forward to the English season, the high-goal looks to be reasonable in terms of numbers, with 12 teams in The Queen’s Cup, and hopefully the same or more in the Gold Cup.

On the international front, an England team will play Ireland at the Beaufort Polo Club on Saturday 18 June as part of the Gloucestershire Festival of Polo, and England Ladies will play Argentina Ladies the next day at Cirencester. For the Coronation Cup at Guards Polo Club, England will play the Commonwealth on 23 July at roughly 26 goals. Both teams have yet to be selected, but it is hoped that the Commonwealth team will be made up of players from four different continents.

Let us hope for a good summer weather-wise, and that not too many players end up in the sin bin. { THE HARRIMAN CUP AWARD During the finals of the US Open in April, Yale and University of Virginia alumni gathered to present the Harriman Cup Award to Neil Hirsch (centre left, with Steve Orthwein, Liz Brayboy and Joe Meyer). The award honours individuals who embody the leadership, public service and staunch support for equestrian sports that were characteristics of Averell Harriman, a Yale graduate and polo player who was Governor of New York, US Ambassador to Great Britain and the Soviet Union, and US Secretary of Commerce under President Truman.

Loanet founder Hirsch owns the Black Watch polo team and has been a committed supporter of Yale Polo and the Boys & Girls Club of America.

The Harriman Cup, currently in its 32nd year, takes place at Bethpage State Park on Long Island. The charity day, which will be held on 17 September, benefits both Yale and UVA. Tickets are available via harrimancup.org. Liz Brayboy

{ POLO CLUB SAINT-TROPEZ Under the leadership of its new owner, Mr Alshair Fiyaz, the Polo Club SaintTropez is set to become a benchmark on the international circuit and earn its place among the top five polo clubs in the world.

Set in more than 245 acres, surrounded by forests and the harbour and beaches of Saint-Tropez, the club offers four polo fields in top-quality Tifton turf, a stick-and-ball field, a 1,180ft training course, a new indoor arena and more than 350 environmentally friendly ‘eco’ stalls for horses. Accommodation comprises nine luxury villas for players and their families, and 19 apartments equipped for the stable staff. The new restaurant, Polo 1999, offers Argentine and Peruvian cuisine prepared by top chefs, from Tuesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner.

In 2016, 13 tournaments will take place at the Polo Club Saint-Tropez, including two high-goal tournaments in August. Sareena Gujadhur

{ ARTE CAREYES Mercedes-Benz, Aeromexico, GNP and Makken were the title sponsors of the 2016 Arte Careyes tournament. In the finals, the GNP team was favoured over Makken’s, as they had won the previous day, but, with just seconds left, a couple of costly fouls by GNP and an end-to-end goal by Raul Ramirez tied the score 7–7. Moments before the final bell sounded, Ramirez scored again, leading Makken to victory, 8–7.

The Careyes Club is considered the leading polo club in Mexico for the quality of its tournaments. It offers two irrigated fields, barns for more than 250 horses and riding trails to the jungle and nearby Teopa beach.

Concluding the club’s 2015–16 polo season in style was the 5th annual Arte Careyes film festival. Films from Spain, Bosnia, Argentina, Colombia, the USA and Mexico were shown daily in the Plaza de los Caballeros del Sol. Guests included John Cooper, chair of the Sundance Film Festival, and actor Diego Luna. careyes.com

{ GULFSTREAM POLO CLUB CLOSES On 3 May, Atlantic Western Realty Corporation announced the sale of Gulfstream Polo Club and several surrounding privately owned horse farms. The club was known for its friendly, low-key atmosphere. ‘This is truly a club for members who join for fun’, said club president Randy Aversano, in an interview with the Palm Beach Post in 2013.

Atlantic Western’s Jay Romfh, whose father was one of the founders of Gulfstream Polo, said: ‘Unfortunately the sale, while successful, also represents the closure of one of the most important polo clubs in the US. Offering competitive polo from 16-goal to low-goal, including the hysterical Alligator Open, Gulfstream was a one-of-a-kind club.’

Brad Scherer, president of Atlantic Western, is of the opinion that ‘the club did more for polo and polo players of all levels in its lifetime than probably any club in US history’. At approximately US$49m, the transaction marks one of the largest land deals this year in Palm Beach County.

Peter Brant, founder of Greenwich Polo Club, is a prominent businessman, collector and advocate of the arts. He is an avid player and patron.

Tommy Glynn introduced me to indoor polo. He went on to manage Greenwich Polo Club into his nineties. Gonzalo Pieres passed on a wealth of knowledge. Other mentors include Benny Gutierrez, who captained White Birch, and Hector Barrantes, its manager in the early days.

My favourite part of any polo match is the last half of the sixth chukka, when everything is on the line. My adrenaline kicks into overdrive and gives me the strength to play my heart out.

My most memorable game was when we lost the US Open Final to the Gracida brothers, playing for Aspen, in 1994. We’d just taken the lead, with 40 seconds left, when the official blew the whistle for a delay of game call. Bautista Heguy, playing for White Birch, had run so fast through the goal his horse couldn’t stop and its front legs went over a hedge. The umpire threw the ball in and Carlos Gracida tied the game. We lost in overtime.

This year, I was excited to return to the International Polo Club for 20- and 26-goal tournaments. Though I enjoy playing in Florida, I’m eager to return to Greenwich, where I’ll be playing with White Birch.

We’re going into our 35th season here and are partnering again with the USPA to host the East Coast Open. The matches will be live-streamed and the finals broadcast on NBCSN. This type of exposure is great because it really gets new fans interested.

Last summer, the King Power Foxes team – backed by Leicester City FC owners – won both the Queen’s Cup and the Gold Cup in England. In May, Leicester City won the prestigious Premier League in English football. The bookies had given them 5000–1 odds to win. The Leicester City Foxes had a low budget of £57 million, versus the average £290 million for the past five previous title-winning sides. They won not with a collection of superstars, but with real team effort, restoring a sense of idealism, optimism and romance to the game. We could use a bit of this in polo.

Yale Polo Club announced that Team USPA member Branden Van Loon had joined their programme as head coach/manager. An alumni of Cornell University, Van Loon played intercollegiate/interscholastic polo extensively before he joined Team USPA. He will run the business (managing revenues and expenses), teach and coach, manage the care and maintenance of the horses and participate in fundraising. In 2014, Yale Polo Club bought a new facility with donations from alumni and friends and a loan from the USPA. This is a new model and could be applied to other intercollegiate programmes, which are a good way to introduce players to the game. See our feature on Princeton, p44

The Coupe du Domaine de Chantilly celebrated the club’s 20th anniversary in May. There were 12 teams of amateurs, and the format was games of two chukkas on the first day, followed by four-chukka games on Saturday. Sadly, the finals were cancelled due to rain. The hospitality included dinner, a banquet and lunches. A great formula that should be emulated more often!

The 11th Federation of International Polo (FIP) World Polo Championship will take place from 17 to 30 October 2017 in Sydney, Australia. FIP has teamed up with organiser and host venue Sydney Polo Club and its strategic partner, the New South Wales government’s tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW. The world-class tournament will commence on 21 October, with the final scheduled to take place on 29 October. Eight international teams will compete in Sydney for the World Champion title, including a team from host nation Australia, and the current world champions, Chile. x BOOK LAUNCH:

Polo Life delves into the world of high-goal polo through the lenses of former 10-goaler Adam Snow and his wife, veterinarian Shelley Onderdonk. Less polo manual than humaninterest story, the chapters cover a range of topics: there is a horse so good she probably single-handedly challenged Adam’s career, and a farm named after the city where the couple met. The book is filled with humour, humility and insight. Adam recounts his childhood obsession with balls; Shelley, hers with horses. Adam tells how a chance meeting with a mental coach helped turn his career around; Shelley explains how her intuition and acupuncture translated into longevity and awards for many of these equestrian athletes. Theirs is a story of how a partnership centred on horses actually worked. pololife.co

y JUNIOR NACIONES Following Northwood’s win of the Hipwood section of the Junior HPA last August, this year’s Junior England team qualified to play in the Copa de las Naciones at Palermo in April. The winning Northwood team consisted of Will Harper, Luke Wiles and Ned and Milly Hine, but the line-up had suffered a blow only weeks before leaving, when Milly Hine received the news she was unable to play due to a stress fracture in her back. The remaining players were therefore very grateful to Jimbo Fewster, who joined them at short notice.

Following numerous postponements in the lead-up to the Copa de las Naciones, the junior tournament was eventually played as a round robin on 23 April. Junior England had a great day, but narrowly lost against the Rest of the World and then Argentina.

Both opposition teams had older players, and the Argentine team were the 2015 Podrillos winners, so all credit to the English boys for getting so close. Robyn Hine

y RETIREMENT FOR WEMBLEY The legendary Wembley (Catisfield Kid x Darkie) was honoured in a ceremonial retirement bowl-in at the 2016 US Open final, after which he took his final lap around the field under Alejo Taranco, who rode him in the US 20-goal season.

The 23-year-old gelding competed in numerous US Opens and was named Horse of the Year in 2004. He was named BPP in the 2016 Ylvisaker Cup semi-final and was the first recipient of the Wembley Award, which was established by the IPC in 2013 to honour horses displaying exceptional ability and longevity in high-goal polo.

Owned by Valiente, the black thoroughbred has been ridden by many high-goal players. Memo Gracida, who played him for several years, said, ‘I knew he was special after the first 50 yards I rode him.’ Wembley has two clones, one of them born the day Valiente won the 2015 US Open. Darlene Ricker

NAME: JESSE BRAY CITIZENSHIP: AMERICAN POLO HANDICAP: 4-GOAL

I’ve been playing for as long as I can remember. My Dad is a professional, and I’ve really enjoyed following in his footsteps. I was born in New Zealand but spent most of my childhood in California. I played at the Eldorado Polo Club and in San Diego. I started professionally aged 16, and went full-time after finishing high school. I’m now playing in Santa Barbara and Wellington. In the past year I’ve played pro polo, 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20-goal.

I love being involved with horses – the feeling of buying them, making them your own and fitting them to your style of play. Being well-mounted is very important to me, so I try to improve my string every season. Polo is also a great family sport – everyone gets involved.

My Dad. He works harder than anyone I’ve ever known. He got to a 7-goal handicap, so my goal is to get to eight!

I won the Joe Barry Memorial 20-goal tournament, made it to the semi-finals of the Ylvisaker 20-goal tournament and won the 12-goal US$50,000 tournament at Grand Champions, where I was awarded MVP. Winning that tournament was a huge accomplishment. Being able to participate in all three tournaments with other young players made for a memorable season.

PONY’S NAME: NARVAJA SEX: MARE ORIGIN: FLORIDA

Narvaja was a homebred that Roberto Narvaja of Wellington, Florida, bred and trained. She was out of a Wesley Pitcock mare called 80 and by a good stallion owned by Julie Shirley at Gulfstream Polo Club. She was played by Peter Brant and by various White Birch Farm team players through the years.

White Birch Farm donated her to the Yale Polo operation in 2015, where she added arena play to her skill set. She won the Best Playing Pony awards in three preliminary tournaments at the new Yale Polo facility, as well as in the National Intercollegiate men’s tournament in April, where the best US intercollegiate teams come to compete. With her amazingly quick turns, and the heart that she puts into each chukka, Narvaja is a star partner to have on the polo field. Leighton Jordan and Liz Brayboy

{ CHANTILLY, FRANCE V ARGENTINA Confirmed on the morning, but cancelled just before noon due to rain, the eagerly anticipated encounter on 22 May between France and Argentina at Chantilly finally played, thanks to the players’ tenacity. After a discussion between the two team captains, France’s Brieuc Rigaux commented: ‘The crowd has come just for this game. We agree with the Argentines that we have to try to play four or five chukkas.’

Kick-off for the ‘improvised’ game was finally given just after 3pm, despite the pouring rain. In far from ideal conditions, it was the French team that, in the end, admitted defeat. Rigaux summed up the game: ‘We held strong at the beginning, but then we gave the Argentines too many moments to take the advantage. Our plan of defence, especially on Pancho Bensadon, didn’t hold – too often, he was isolated, so he could organise his game as he pleased. Argentina has more players used to top-level play than us, but today, it’s clear that the difference in the quality of our horses really had an impact, too.’