Games of Grace

On 14 September 2012, during an exclusive dinner at the Polo de Paris, President Jean-Luc Chartier, who is also president of the French Polo Federation, awarded Patrick GuerrandHermès, president of honour of the International Polo Federation and founder of Chantilly Polo Club, the prestigious Trophée Paul de Ganay.

In his speech Chartier reminded the hand-picked group of friends that the trophy was created in memory of Count Paul de Ganay, who passed away in 2010. It is awarded to a member of the polo community who, like the Count himself, has demonstrated exceptional devotion to the development of polo and is an example of elegance, fair play and generosity.

Chartier took the opportunity to mention that polo is a sport that has traditionally commanded a certain ‘art de vivre’ and to regret that not all today’s great players reflect the same flattering image. The trophy seeks to recognise those who uphold the high standards previous generations found natural.

Serge de Ganay, representing the Ganay family, gave a brilliant and lively speech praising Guerrand-Hermès’ contribution to polo, to which Guerrand-Hermès replied with his customary easy charm.

In his speech, he expressed how honoured and moved he felt to be awarded the trophy – and for a number of reasons, the most important being that it was in memory of Paul de Ganay, whom he described as ‘an exceptional friend, much missed’. He added: ‘I would like to come back to Paul’s qualities of moral elegance which would have made him the best recipient of his own trophy, as I’m sure you would all agree.’

He recalled the philosophy of L’École des Rochers, mens sana in corpore sano, or a sound mind in a healthy body: ‘All my life I have loved sport, particularly equestrian sport, and in polo I found a passion. In return, polo has always been very kind to me.’ Since his first polo game, he has always been lucky. He recounted how he arrived in Fez in 1953, as part of the French light cavalry brigade, to be met by two brigadiers who promptly drove him at 100 kmph to a polo field, saying ‘Ton Pitaine has fallen, you have to replace him.’ The match restarted and in the middle of the confusion, luck showed him a ball that had stopped between the posts. He tapped it on the reverse with the round tip of his mallet, scored a goal and achieved glory.

Guerrand-Hermès had fond memories of Paul de Ganay and their shared love of the game of kings: ‘The sport of polo which requires self-control, bravery and organisational skills reunited Paul and myself to the extent that in the Fifties we became well-known – rather more for accompanying debutantes than for riding horses.’

Added Guerrand-Hermès: ‘I remember when Paul had just turned 21, during a weekend at the Contades’ property at Montgeoffroy. He was driving a magnificent Jaguar E-Type; we all begged him to let us drive this magnificent car. I heard that all his brothers who had responsibilities and children found his choice of car elegant but hardly essential – on the contrary, however, it was a very serious investment as today a Jaguar E-Type is worth millions.’

Their paths were to cross again, as Guerrand-Hermès recalled: ‘Later on, we were both in the United States at the same time. I was a trainee and was able to play polo between oil wells in Dallas, and then in San Francisco, which Paul visited and I can still hear the words of the Consul General’s wife, Baroness Ladoucette, as she addressed the table about Paul, “Good blood cannot lie”. At the time I found the sentiment a little too royalist but she was quite right, because over 80 years I have seen how the

discretion and elegance of the Ganay family have set such an example.’

Guerrand-Hermès ended by thanking Serge de Ganay for creating the trophy with his cousin Jean, saying that they were the future leaders of this great family, which had made polo famous and that this prize demonstrated, if proof were needed, their future involvement in the sport.

The Trophée Paul de Ganay was founded to inspire today’s players, of every level, to follow in the footsteps of their sporting forefathers who made polo such an elegant, glamorous and challenging sport. Patrick Guerrand-Hermès is a supreme example of such a player. Speech extracts translated by Sarah Evans