April 2011 preview

Volume 17 Issue 3 April 2011

ÂŁ5.50

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Royal special Wills in motion: the prince and his polo PT p1 cover.indd 1

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Royal rumble This photograph captures Prince William in attack during last year’s two-day Audi Polo Challenge at Coworth Park Polo Club. Giving chase behind is brother Prince Harry, marked closely by England seven-goaler James Beim, whose patron in the 2010 high-goal (Enigma’s Jerome Wirth) wears number four on the left of the page.

Princes William and Harry formed two “Umbogo” sides to face two 15-goal teams put together by Audi on Saturday and Sunday, 8-9 May 2010. The games, watched by an invitation-only crowd of selected celebrities and members of the polo community, raised funds in aid of the Royal Marsden Hospital and Sentebale, charities hand-picked by Princes William and Harry. ◗ We celebrate the Royal Wedding this month with more photographs of the prince in action on page 86, and in a revealing article on page 28 which tells the story of how his passion for polo has developed and recently been turned almost entirely to the advantage of others

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News

from the Editor You’ll notice we’ve dedicated much of this issue to celebrating Prince William’s involvement in polo. Since the amount he plays is a largely private affair, you will rarely find us salaciously following him in the pages of Polo Times, but on the occasion of his wedding, we thought it a fitting moment to celebrate William’s love of the game and, more poignantly, the way he choses to use it as a means of raising money for charity.

His wedding this month to Catherine Middleton will be the first royal occasion broadcast in 3D and is expected to attract an even bigger international television audience than that of William’s father Prince Charles, when an estimated 750 million worldwide watched him marry Princess Diana in 1981.

News of the wedding has created a surge of popularity for the royal family and, no doubt, as he approaches 30, the public will increasingly see more and more of the prince and his new bride as his public duties as second in line to throne expand in volume.

However, at Polo Times, we are also delighted that his first few years of marriage are likely to be kept very private as he plies his trade in his day job as an RAF rescue pilot. Personally, I also hope that he won’t give up on his other great personal interest and different source of adrenalin – his polo.

Nevertheless, while the charities that benefit from his polo are no doubt extremely grateful to him, we should remember also to extend our gratitude to all the members of the polo community that make his charity appearances a reality. It is something for which we should feel rightly proud.

Less heartwarming however is our investigation, written up in our special news feature (right), which describes how England’s players in China for the International Snow Polo Challenge were faced with having to tackle the HPA over what they saw as exploitation and a lack of transparency.

We tell the full story, hearing from both parties.

The incident occurred at the formidable Metropolitan Polo Club in Tianjin, near Beijing, where the English team subsequently went on to lift Asia’s inaugural snow polo tournament (see pages 44 and 88).

Players clash with HPA over international fees James Mullan investigates

England’s victory AT the inaugural International Snow Polo Challenge at Metropolitan Polo Club in Tianjin, China this February was marred by what HPA chief executive David Woodd is describing as an “unfortunate” standoff between the association and the players over payment.

The trouble arose on the second day of the tournament when the English players, themselves only on expenses, discovered that members of the other teams were being paid good money by the organisers to take part.

Specifically, any player of four goals and above was being paid US$10,000 (approx £6,000), and those three and under were getting $6,000 (£3,600).

Teams came from Argentina, Australia, England, France, Hong Kong and New Zealand. All except the English and Australians were approached and paid directly by Metropolitan Polo Club.

Because of the HPA’s recent drive

to protect the value of international tournaments and the Chinese club’s desire to stage a plausible international event, the Chinese club, as requested, approached the HPA and invited them to form and sanction the England team.

Metropolitan Polo Club agreed to pay the HPA $37,000 (approx £22,700), in addition to covering the flights for the three players and a coach. China also paid for the players’ (Oli Hipwood, Max Routledge and Ollie Cudmore) flights to Thailand where they played for England at Harald Link’s Thai Polo & Equestrian Club, before flying on to China.

So far so good. However, on discovering the sums of money being paid to players from other countries, the English players demanded to know why they were not seeing anything and why the HPA’s own substantial financial remuneration had been kept secret from them. The players threatened to refuse to compete in their next game, suggesting that they would simply allow their opposition (New Zealand) to stick-and-ball round them, unless the HPA would explain themselves or pay up. John Tinsley, the HPA’s official representative, assured the players that the matter would be resolved and

The event, boldly devised by polo’s most ambitious new impresarios, was played on an artificially created surface using three industrial snow machines. Few things in polo these days can surprise us but, you have to wonder, whatever next...

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Middle man: HPA steward John Tinsley mediated the discussions in China on behalf of David Woodd

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Special investigation

News Photographs by James Mullan

England’s team, winners at the International Snow Polo Challenge in Tianjin, China (l-r: Ollie Cudmore, Max Routledge and captain Oli Hipwood), who were engaged in a stand off against the HPA after discovering their opposition were all being paid good money to take part in the tournament while they were to receive only expenses

their game went ahead. As our report on page 44 explains, the team then put together an unbeaten run of results in their subsequent matches and won the tournament in dramatic style. But the damage had already been done.

Metropolitan Polo Club’s officials were furious at what they considered an insult from the English in threatening to boycott the tournament. The players, meanwhile, were furious at being made to look foolish and at being put into a very awkward situation by their own association.

On their return to the UK, Oli Hipwood met with the HPA, who tabled an offer that he was happy to accept on behalf of his team. In the end, they and team coach Howard Hipwood each received close to the full amount, minus a few expenses such as excess baggage for sticks.

“The HPA usually covers excess baggage expenses, as well as £20 per player per day for all overseas England trips, but our policy is not to pay players for internationals” explained David Woodd. “We usually pay for their flights with the help of a discount through our sponsorship deal with The Mileage Company, but the key is we are keen to ensure that the players are not out of pocket. www.polotimes.co.uk

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“This trip was more complicated however, and the first of its kind that I have had to deal with. I have to concede I made mistakes. I take responsibility for that.

“Our biggest crime was a lack of communication. At no point did we intend to

after the side. Satnam Dhillon and his side, who had played in India, received only expenses for their trip, so it might seem unfair that another similarly selected side should receive such good money, especially when they weren’t risking their own horses. In my view, when you

“The HPA’s policy is not to pay players for internationals. In my view, when you start to go down the financial route, you quickly discover it is a slippery slope” – HPA chief exec David Woodd hoodwink the players. Where the HPA’s money comes from and goes to is entirely transparent.

The mistake we made was failing to explain the nature of the deal with Metropolitan Polo Club before the players left, when we also should have paid them $500 upfront for their expenses. That was an oversight.”

Claiming transparency in one breath, whilst simultaneously describing oversights in another, might sound like the actions of a moat-owning Tory politician. So I ask Woodd to tell Polo Times everything.

“Before they left, the players had agreed to play in Thailand and China unpaid, though Oli Hipwood was to receive $5,000 for looking

start to go down the financial route, you quickly discover it is a slippery slope.”

Few would reject the idea that the HPA should be allowed to make money from international games, especially if they raise the sponsorship for the England teams themselves, but it appears to be the sheer amount of money in this case that created the problem. The money thrown at the tournament was good enough to persuade Tim Bown, one of the UK’s top arena players (and an England international himself – see page 36) to forego taking part in the Arena Gold Cup in favour of umpiring in China. Thus, rather like Cartier Day, when the players discover just what an earner their u Polo Times, April 2011

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Feature

Interview – Nacho Figueras

Beauty

and the beast

Nacho Figueras says he’s not just a pretty face, revealing a wild hunger and determination to expand polo’s profile the world over, but also concedes that his choices in recent years have probably been to the detriment of his own polo

James Mullan in Central London

H

aving run a feature on Nacho Gonzalez last month, interviewing another player with the same “given” name for this issue might look like poor planning on my part. Fair cop. However, having met Nacho Figueras at Palermo a few years ago, it’s taken until now finally to arrange an on-the-record meeting with him. So I wasn’t going to turn it down.

Hence, armed with a dictaphone, a tub of hair wax and some probing questions, I took on the odious task of travelling to meet with the man Vanity Fair readers voted the “second most handsome” on the planet. My girlfriends were furious.

Sure enough, arriving in a beautifully cut Ralph Lauren shirt, jacket and jeans, and exposing enough chest hair to make Austin Powers blush, Figueras instantly oozes a suave and swarthy sex appeal that is unmistakably South American. Thus, having read how last month’s very English Nacho complained that his name was misleading, then the clear differences in this issue’s subject should

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reassure readers that they can expect a rather different sort of interview.

Indeed, though rather lazily referred to as “the David Beckham of polo” by schmoozy PR bods and the tabloids, Nacho Figueras is also not your typical sportsman. As we settled down with coffees at the Gaucho Restaurant in London Bridge, overlooking the Thames, the genuinely charming and surprisingly engaging 34-year-old told me what really drives him and how his large-scale plans for pushing polo to the masses continue to snowball: on beaches, on snow, in remote uncharted locations for new audiences and, most recently, in the O2 Arena in London.

First of all, how did you come to be involved in the event at the O2?

Organiser Mark Cann has been a friend for a very long time and he called me in December 2009 to tell me that they had plans for an event here. I was obviously very excited, as I have become involved in a lot of innovative new events, but what was particularly exciting about this was that the plans were not only to bring polo to a new and very special venue, but to do so playing genuinely competitive credible international arena Test Matches.

Is arena polo a form of the game you have played regularly before?

I have played in arenas before, in Virginia in

the US, but it’s true that I don’t have a lot of experience. However, I’ve played snow polo in Aspen and beach polo in Miami, both of which have a number of clear similarities with arena polo in terms of the style of play and the flow of the games.

“I never call myself a model. I’m a polo player” And do you enjoy playing polo in the UK? Yes, I played with George Milford Haven’s Broncos in the medium-goal in 2008 and I still have a few horses in England actually.

José Donoso is married to my wife’s sister and he has been coming to play here for many years. He loves it and has strong links with the players, patrons, sponsors and supporters. The last time I was here for competitive polo was summer 2009, when I played in the inaugural Polo in the Park tournament in Fulham.

Yes, you seem to have taken a break from conventional polo teams and tournaments to concentrate on new projects. Was that a conscious choice?

I began doing some modelling for Ralph Lauren in 2000 and eventually became the

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Right: Nacho poses for press shots with the Churchill Cup in front of London’s O2 Arena at the official launch of the inaugural Gaucho International last June

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Reports

Gaucho International: England vs Argentina, Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s O2 Arena

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Gaucho International, London’s O2 Arena

Reports

Better out than in?

This question, normally reserved for those debating the most suitable location for boyhood burps, impressed itself firmly on polo organisers this February, thanks to the largely positive reception of spectators at the inaugural Gaucho International

James Mullan at London’s O2

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imon Cowell would have been proud.

Rarely has his showbiz model been so successfully replicated in a sporting environment – and, while the lights, cameras and intentionally pulsating action undoubtedly won’t have been to everyone’s taste, polo’s newest recruits to the spectacle of the arena game appeared to return home from 2011’s Gaucho International happy.

And why not? Presumably delighted at having witnessed England’s success over old foes Argentina, they were also apparently satisfied at the entertainment value of the whole event. Buoyed by the superb viewing experience, in which even the cheapest seats enjoyed an elevated perspective on the action, and by the excitable commentary of onegoal player Karl Ude-Martinez, the formula x x

Left: England and Argentina line up for the anthems, performed by young British singer Cecelia de Lisle

undoubtedly maintained the interest of the vast majority. Swathes of titillated first-timers, in particular, resolutely expressed their own enjoyment throughout with Mexican waves, whoops of support for their favourite country and highly vocal appreciation of the most exciting passing plays and goals.

Polo regulars, predictably, were more sceptical, though even a few of the most illustrious amongst them were forced to concede that it “was a bit of good fun”.

The hosts triumphed 17-16 in the muchhyped Churchill Cup evening encounter, though all three members of England’s HPAselected side were guilty of errors that ought Most valuable player

Adolfo Casabal to have been better punished by their South American opposition.

Scotland convincingly beat South Africa in the evening’s earlier international, with the ever-dependable Jamie Le Hardy the outstanding performer of what was probably the event’s most entertaining match.

Together, the games attracted what is believed to be the biggest ever recorded crowd for a recognised arena international, u Polo Times, April 2011

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Tell us yours at gossip@polotimes.co.uk

Wedding fever has very much been in the air in the polo world during the start of 2011, with several familiar faces tying the knot in the first three months of the year.

England number one James Beim was the first to walk down the aisle on Saturday 22 January with his new wife Lauren, who hails from Australia. They were married in a beautiful outdoor wedding at the picturesque Sylvan Glen guesthouse and golf resort in Bowral, New South Wales, 150km south of Sydney.

Cirencester five-goaler David Allen and James’s brother Tom, who now plays off three, were the joint best men at a gathering full of polo people. Ben, Chloe and Tamara Vestey were all in attendance along with Nina and John Paul Clarkin.

Australian polo was well represented with Jim, Ali, Stewart and June Gilmore and Jeff and Mandy Fisher from Ellerston. Aussie pro Rob Archibald and his parents Sally and James and Aussie patron Mike King and his wife Kelly were also in attendance. James and Shannon Harper, Ben and Rachel Turner, Tom and Jana Morley and Rob and Sue Cudmore completed the polo crowd.

Look-a-likes

Right: James Beim tied the knot with Lauren Carter in Australia Inset: Seb Dawnay and his new wife Louisa (née Crofton)

Also taking their vows recently were Ash Farm pro Seb Dawnay and RCBPC polo manager Louisa Crofton. The pair were engaged on New Year’s Eve and were registered as married in an intimate ceremony at Maidenhead Town Hall on Saturday 12 March. They plan a larger wedding at Seb’s home in Waterford, Ireland later in November.

Elsewhere, the new Mrs Dawnay was made polo manager of the Winkfield-based RCBPC for the winter season. And it has been confirmed that she will continue in that role this summer.

There will be an Aussie flavour to the 2011 summer season at Lynt Polo Club after the Wiltshire-based club confirmed that former Cirencester and Edgeworth member and Australia-based three-goaler Corin Gibbs will be joining them.

Having spent the winter in the southern hemisphere, he is expected in England shortly with his wife Amber and his young baby, who is due this month.

One of Corin’s former clubs, Edgeworth, is also set to unveil a new face. Polo Times understands that Sarah Ingham will join JP Smail et al at the Gloucester-based club as polo manager.

Quote of the month “I have to concede I made mistakes. I take responsibility for that.”

Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Brett 82

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HPA chief exec David Woodd’s reaction to the England players’ pay storm in China (see page 6).

Another Kidd on the way The polo-mad Kidd clan are set for another new arrival after model-turned-actress-turnedpolo spokesperson Jodie Kidd announced that she is expecting her first child with Argentine six-goaler Andrea Vianini.

The 32-year-old former Vogue cover girl has been dating Vianini since last May. And they are expecting their little bundle of joy in August.

The new arrival will join the fast-growing Kidd contingent out in Barbados. Her polo-playing brother Jack has five children, while sister Jemma has twins.

Photograph courtesy of Polo in the Park

Photograph by Gillian Hughes

Wedding bells are ringing throughout the polo world

Andrea Vianini and Jodie Kidd at Polo in the Park 2010

Facebook status update of the month “Shame the papa is a PUTO.” Jack Kidd’s tongue-in-cheek reaction to his sister’s news www.polotimes.co.uk

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Sidelines

nes

Paul Semple and Emily Johnson of Offchurch Bury Polo Club

Bristol University’s novices, doing what they do best

SUPA National University Arena Polo Championships – 19 February 2011 The Hand Equestrian Centre, Bristol Tiger twins terrorise the teenage teams Abi Watts and Jenny Doherty from Rugby with friend Jayna

Rugby Polo Club’s Phil Baker (middle) takes a night off

Students produce a three-ring circus The “Clevedon Carnival” produced a few weary faces on finals day at the SUPA National University Arena Polo Championships. The party, held on the Saturday night during the championships and organised by Bristol University’s Lucy Keen, attracted students from universities across the country, including the brave Warwick University team who had a game at 8am on Sunday morning.

The arena was overtaken by inflatable’s which were scattered with students dressed as anything from clowns to tigers. Warwick University chose sailors and, although not quite on theme, the outfits were outrageous and fun.

The bar offered all types of concoctions including champagne for those who wanted to splash out, and the student bar meant it was heaving all night with more than 400 revellers. There was plenty of dancing and partying which carried on back at Warrens Holiday Village, where most students were staying for the four days. w Photographs by Ed Phillips Images, words

by Rebecca Walters w See what happened in the polo on page 64

Despite freezing conditions in the arena, players strip down for Gladitorial combat

Students embraced the “Clevedon Carnival” theme for the party with aplomb

Royal Vet College veterans, Dave Blakey and Will McFadzean with friends

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