PT Jan Feb 2012 preview

Volume 17 • Issue 1 • January/February 2012 • £5.50

www.polotimes.co.uk

LOUD & PROUD La Dolfina records most convincing Argentine Open win this millennium

Plus: the evolution of snow polo, and action in the arena PT p1 cover.indd 1

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The private bank for polo

Proud sponsors of: Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup 40 Goal Challenge, Palm Beach Heritage Polo Cup, Sandhurst Cambridge University Polo EFG Bank Scandinavian Polo Open

Veytay Masters, Switzerland Desert Palm Nations Cup, Dubai Haryana Polo Club, Delhi Thai Polo Open Swiss Team, European Polo Championship 2010 Royal Salute Maharaja of Jodhpur Golden Jubilee Cup

Photo (left page top right ) by David Lominska

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Practitioners of the craft of private banking

EFG International’s global private banking network includes offices in Zurich, Geneva, London, Channel Islands, Luxembourg, Monaco, Madrid, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Taipei, Miami, Nassau, Bogotå, Montevideo and Buenos Aires. www.efginternational.com

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the

Big

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picture

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Condemned by Lucifer:

The fall of man

Scottish-born photographer Joe McInally captured this sequence of photographs at the Schwarzenbach’s Garangula property, near Canberra, in October last year. It shows Jock MacKay, riding Lucifer, falling during a 15-goal tournament, as six-goaler Juan Losada narrowly evades trampling on him.

Jock fell on the same horse at Ellerston two weeks earlier, breaking his nose. He wore a facemask at Garangula, having had his nose operated on in the week before this fall, but it broke again. However, otherwise, both he and the horse were unharmed and played the rest of the tournament.

McInally has been photographing polo since 2000, after enthusiastic feedback of his photographs at a tournament in Kooralbyn whilst on a long-weekend break in Queensland.

He won several commissions from his chance encounter, including tournaments at Ellerston (where he came across the camera-shy Kerry Packer on a number of memorable occasions), and his reputation grew.

Despite the vast distances now required to cover Australia’s many tournaments, McInally loves shooting the game, and has done so through a string of problems faced by the country in recent years: equine flu, the economic crisis and devastating flooding. He has also photographed in New Zealand and at the 2004 World Cup in France. ◗ McInally’s dream is to take high-goal pictures in Argentina and England.

Contact him via joemac@bigpond.com

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Feature

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A history of snow polo

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A history of snow polo

Feature

Despite mild winter, polo continues to get cooler With a dizzying number of snow polo events new to the international calendar in the last five or six years, including the first FIP-sanctioned Snow Polo World Cup this February, Polo Times considers the origins and evolution of this most glamorous form of the game

Georgie May in the UK, missing St Moritz

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lthough ski resorts, with guaranteed snowfall and their picturesque mountainous settings, host probably the world’s best-known winter tournaments, in recent years snow polo has also been cropping up in some more surprising locations. In this feature, I’ll run the rule over what is now being played where.

Action at the foot of the iconic Face de Bellevarde ski run in Val d’Isere, which has hosted polo since 2009

Switzerland At about the time you read this, I should probably have been weaving through the Engadine Valley in the Swiss Alps on my way to the 28th St Moritz Polo World Cup on Snow. However, as you’ll now know from the news pages, the event was cancelled for the first time in its history this year. Nevertheless, it’s this tournament which remains the benchmark in terms of snow polo – a success with players, spectators and sponsors alike for more than a quarter of a century.

St Moritz Polo Club was founded as early u as 1959 but original plans to play on the Polo Times, January/February 2012 31

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Feature

Interview – Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club vice-chairman Harvey Lee

Harvey is hungry for success in China The big-spending Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club in China hosts the inaugural FIP Snow Polo World Cup this month, but the club’s vice-chairman Harvey Lee reveals that their ambitious plans for the growth of the game in the region certainly don’t end there

John O’Sullivan reports from Tianjin

Photograph by John O’Sullivan

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he Goldin Metropolitan Polo Club in China has taken little time to make a mark on the game of polo. Officially opened just 14 months ago in November 2010, February sees the Tianjin-based club host the inaugural FIP Snow Polo World Cup, the first snow polo event ever to be fully sanctioned by the game’s worldwide governing body. This competition comes 12 months after the club, based two hours from Beijing, hosted Asia’s first ever snow polo tournament – an event which saw them pay a rumoured US$2.5m (£1.6m) to create the requisite artificial snow.

Former Goldman Sachs managing director for Asia, Harvey Lee, came on board as vicechairman shortly after that tournament. The newest member of the club’s executive board joins Goldin Group chairman Pan Sutong and Metropolitan president Rowland Wong at the helm. And, despite having no previous polo experience, he believes prosperous times lie ahead for the club.

I met him for a beer in the impressive seven-star hotel that sits alongside the polo grounds and it was difficult not to be won over by his infectious enthusiasm.

What brought you to Metropolitan, given your lack of background in the game?

Our chairman (Mr Pan Sutong) has a great vision. It is always nice to work for someone 36 Polo Times, January/February 2012

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who is serious and he is committed to making polo big in China.

He was the one who decided that polo was the sport that he would build the company around. He could have picked golf, he could have built a tennis centre – that would have been the easiest, not having to worry about growing the grass or looking after the horses.

But he picked polo and has really spent the resources on it, so it is a very exciting company to be a part of.

What have you learned so far?

Eight months ago I knew nothing about the sport, but I am fortunate that I have people like Derek Reid and John Fisher who can explain to me how the game is played.

When I was a young kid, seven or eight years old, I used to take riding lessons,

“We have a long-term vision.

There are 100 steps and we’ve only taken five or six” but Hong Kong is too small and there was no polo club. But now 40 years later I am learning again.

To be good at this job I need to bridge the gap between people who know the sport and people who do not. There is also a gap between me and those who know the sport, so I am learning to close that gap.

Tell me a bit more about the journey of the club so far?

We first made our investment in Tianjin four or five years ago and then got our design people to come and see what we could do and then we

decided that polo is what we wanted to do.

Very quickly the chairman decided polo was the best choice and then he got in the best polo people – Derek and John. Our President Rowland Wong, who has great club managing experience, then came in. So we have a very good team of people working together. The polo club opened in November 2010. Since then, every tournament that we have had has featured international players that fly in from different parts of the world to play.

The club and the grounds around continue to grow at a remarkable rate. What is your strategy for the future?

We have a long-term vision. We know that there are 100 steps that we have to take and we have only taken the first five or six. I wish I knew the magic formula, a lot of what we are doing is learning as we go along.

We are concentrating in three key areas.

The first is what I call the pure sport aspect – bringing the best international players here to show China what it is all about.

The second aspect is targeting the next generation through junior equestrian and polo programmes. A lot of our members tell us they have no interest in learning to play, but they want their kids to learn.

The third thing is the most difficult aspect and that is making the sport appeal to people who have no interest in polo, or in horses – the social aspect. u Goldin Group vice chairman Harvey Lee at the Metropolitan Polo Club ground, with the seven-star hotel in the distance

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Reports

Argentine Open 2011

The birth of an invincible force?

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Argentine Open 2011

Juan Martin Nero, Pablo MacDonough, Pelon Stirling and Adolfo Cambiaso celebrate with team sponsor Ali Albwardi

Caroline Smail

at Palermo, Buenos Aires

La Dolfina Ellerstina

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s the final bell heralded the end of the 118th Argentine Open, a feeling of anti-climax and disappointment hung over Palermo. The much-anticipated finale to the Triple Crown series (hitherto tied at 1-1) saw La Dolfina bulldoze their way to a 1610 victory, dominating the throw-ins, controlling possession and, ultimately, running away with the title comfortably.

Although the popular opinion in the build up was that La Dolfina would win, no one predicted the convincing defeat Ellerstina endured at their hands. Ellerstina were the only other side in the tournament able to u

Main photograph by Sergio Llamera

Photograph by Tony Ramirez

Our correspondent laments a scrappy and one-sided final, but wonders whether La Dolfina’s fiercely clinical new “dream team” could be the dawn of a period of dominance by the foursome

Reports

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Reports

HPA National Club Championships, RCBPC

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HPA National Club Championships, RCBPC

Reports

Patrons Simon Holley and Kevin Cheshire tasted success at the National Club Championships as Oliver Hipwood recorded a brilliant double

John O’Sullivan

reports from Berkshire

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Photographs by Gillian Hughes

o HPA

he HPA National Club Championships took place in an earlier-than-usual mid-December slot this season and turned out to be a real Christmas cracker for the 100-strong spectators who braved the wintery conditions at the Berkshire. Christmas certainly came seven days early for six-goaler Oliver Hipwood, whose arena handicap has – as expected – risen to seven as a result of his significant contribution. He won both the medium-goal and the high-goal title on a chilly day in the Home Counties and also took home a flurry of individual prizes.

Hipwood was voted most valuable player in the 14-16 goal final after teaming up with patron Simon Holley and nine-goaler Chris Hyde in Altyon’s 21-17 win against Paul Knights’ Equibuild team.

This success came just hours after Hipwood helped to deny the Holley family a double success. He joined forces with Canadian patron Kevin Cheshire and irrepressible four-goaler Danny Muriel as Chemas beat Ocho Rios and their 15-year-old patron Charlie Holley – son of Simon – 18-16 in the 7-10 goal final.

Hipwood completed his impressive haul on the day by winning the best string prize, while his teammate Muriel claimed a National Club Championship winners medal for the third straight season.

The National Club Championships, traditionally played in mid-January, was brought forward to its new pre-Christmas slot for the first time this season.

The reason behind this was to lengthen the arena season and to increase interest in the early season tournaments. While there was

Chris Hyde battled through snow to help Simon Holley’s Altyon win the 16-goal title on their home turf

a drop in entries in the low-goal category (from five to two), the medium-goal and the high-goal competitions both experienced an increase in teams.

The high-goal competition, in only its second year, moved from 12-15 goals to 1416 goals to allow more higher handicapped players to take part, and the result was a doubling in the number of entries from two to four. This rise in standard was evident in the final, which was notable for several moments of truly breathtaking end-to-end action.

Equibuild – eight-goaler Jonny Good and six-goaler Tim Bown alongside patron Knights – started with a two-goal headstart over Altyon on handicap. They soon extended this lead as Good scored an early hat-trick but, as the game wore on, Chris Hyde showed just why he is the highest-handicapped British player in the arena and his 15 goals put Altyon in the driving seat in the second half of the game.

A Good penalty narrowed the gap to 18-16 with four minutes to play in the final chukka, but patron Simon Holley effectively sealed his side’s win moments later by bursting clear to score his only goal of the game before showing

As the game wore on, Chris Hyde showed just why he is the highest-handicapped British player in the arena his delight with some vigorous fist-pumping towards the grandstand. The heavens opened in the final two minutes and a mixture of sleet, snow and hail poured down on the Berkshire arena as Hyde added two late goals to give the scoreline a flattering sheen.

Commentator and seven-goal arena player Tarquin Southwell, who kept the freezing crowd entertained throughout with his incisive and accurate calling of the game, delighted in prescribing nicknames to the players. Some of these, like Chris “the Prof ” Hyde, are well known on the polo circuit, while others, like Danny “Carlos the Jackal” Muriel, were a bit u Polo Times, January/February 2012 51

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Knowledge

How to spend it

Patrons, it’s time to get on A swanky boat has, over the years, become one of the must-have items for any self respecting big-spending polo patron and at the moment V52 from Princess Yachts International is likely to be on many polo people’s shopping list for 2012.

The impressive 54ft 6in cruiser, which has a top speed of 36 knots, has just won the top prize at the prestigious IPC media “Motor Boat of the Year” awards.

The V52 has two en-suite cabins, as well as a saloon that doubles as a third bedroom, is a real jack-of-all-trades and the judges at the awards ceremony said: “The boat offers an almost implausibly well-balanced package of handling, performance, accommodation and practicality.”

For more info www.princessyachts.com From £539,500

Photograph by Princess Yachts

Boating – Princess Yachts V52

Art – Charles Rumsey polo bronzes

Fine dining – Gaucho restaurants

The New York-based Chisholm Gallery, run by polo enthusiast Jeanne Chisholm, have got their hands on a range of stunning polo bronzes, sculpted by a great American polo player of the early 20th century.

Charles Cary Rumsey (1879-1922) was a well renowned artist from Buffalo and upstate New York, best known for his equestrian art.

He was also an eight-goal polo player at the Meadow Brook Polo Club in Long Island, who represented the USA in many early internationals. “Pad”, as he was known amongst the polo fraternity, married his two great loves with a series of bronzes, which are now housed in the Chisholm Gallery.

Harrison Tweed, John R Fell and Skiddy von Stade, the subjects of the three sculptures, were all players at the Meadow Brook Club during the 1910s. Von Stade, like Rumsey, was an eight-goaler.

For more information visit www.chisholmgallery.com

Argentine steak specialists Gaucho have confirmed that they will once again be sponsoring the indoor arena international at the 02 and their restaurants continue to take the UK by storm.

The restaurant chain – which now has 14 restaurants in England – prides itself on offering an “authentic” piece of Argentina by sourcing the finest ingredients. This is shown off best by the Asado de chorizo, or sirloin steak platter, (£119 for 2kg of steak) and the Gaucho sampler, a mix of sirloin, rib-eye, fillet and rump (£89 for 1,200g).

As you’d expect from an Argentine restaurant there is a bumper supply of quality wines, with each restaurant stocking 150 different varieties.

For more information visit www.gauchorestaurants.co.uk

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How to spend it

board

Motor – Rolls Royce Ghost

From £165,000

This month’s watch – The Rolex Yacht-Master II

– meaning you’ll never be late for a chukka again. The impressive timepiece is made of a steel super-alloy and 18ct gold, so it looks sharp but is also extremely durable.

Finance – Maitland

Never has it been more important to invest your money wisely Amid the constant news of recession and debt the luxury market continues to grow – and there was no surer sign of this in 2011 than the success of Rolls Royce, who last year sold 3,538 cars, the most in their 107 year history. The Rolls Royce Ghost, a 6.6 litre engine luxury saloon car, was the most popular model, with a sales increase in 2011 of 31 per cent from 2010.

The three biggest markets last year were China, the US and the UK and the firm – which is based in the heart of polo country in West Sussex – is hoping to break into South America this year. So, whether you’re in Tianjin, Palm Beach, Cowdray Park or Palermo, expect to see a fair few this year.

Rolex are big sponsors of the Argentine Open each year and their ambassadors include Ellerstina 10-goaler Gonzalito Pieres, but the luxury Swiss watch makers are not only interested in polo.

Their latest offering is inspired by another high-octane, all-action sport – yachting.

The Rolex Yacht-Master II claims to have the most accurate countdown function ever

Knowledge

In constantly changing times, it is essential for families to protect their wealth and plan for the future. One award-winning company that has really made a name for itself in this field over the last quarter of a century is Maitland, who have an impressive geographic reach and offer their clients a rare multi-jurisdictional expertise.

The privately-owned, international firm was founded in Luxembourg in 1976 and now employs over 550 people in 11 offices that span the polo-playing world - from London and Geneva to the Caribbean and South Africa.

Maitland provides a wide range of wealth services to both private and institutional clients and prides itself in offering the highest levels of expertise and competence while working in a way that is uniquely personal and proactive.

Maitland acted as legal advisor to the Oppenheimer family interests in the US$5.1 billion offer of their stake in De Beers to Anglo American plc and the Government of Botswana. In 2010 the company was shortlisted as one of the world’s Top 25 Trust Companies’ by Private Client Practitioner website and was ranked as the second fastest growing hedge fund administrator in the world by both Hedgefund.net and HFM Week.

Maitland’s experts advise on international law and taxation. For globe-trotting polo players and international patrons the UK rules on residence as well as the treatment of inward investment in the UK will be of particular interest.

For more information about the company visit www.maitlandgroup.com

From £18,550 www.polotimes.co.uk

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Sidelines

Luke and Caterina photograph by Nicky Randall

‘Tis the season to get engaged The festive period proved a popular time for marriage proposals. Just before Christmas, two-goaler Sean Wilson-Smith proposed to Heloise Lorentzen in his home country, Kenya, while they were holidaying by the beach. They plan to marry sometime in the next year here in the UK. On Christmas Day, international eventer Nick Gauntlett proposed to Amanda Eaton of the HPA (pictured right, top). “He hid the ring in the bottom of my stocking and, as I woke up and had opened my stocking by 6.15am, he had to get on with it rather quickly!” Amanda told Polo Times.. “We plan to marry this November in Chipping Sodbury, where we live.”

Just after Christmas, Burningfold-based players Clare Hudson – also founder of Kit4Kings – and Ben Riordan (pictured right, middle) got engaged. The pair plan to marry later this year and are yet to decide whether they will have a summer wedding in Italy or Spain or a winter wedding in a Scottish castle.

Luke Tomlinson got down on one knee at the beginning of January and asked his girlfriend of four years, Caterina (pictured together on the right), to marry him. “We don’t have a date yet,” Luke told Polo Times. “But it will hopefully be some time this year. As Caterina is Argentine we’ll probably get married in Argentina, although we’ll have a ceremony in England too.”

Kidd and fiancée no Moore Tell us yours at gossip@polotimes.co.uk Anonymity guaranteed if you want it...

Highs and lows in Argentina

A new team has emerged for the 2012 Argentine high-goal season.

It is understood that Pablo Pieres, Ignacio “Nachi” Heguy, Rodrigo Ribeiro de Andrade and Bartolomé “Lolo” Castagnola have formed a new team – La Natividad. Read more on page 15.

Following the Argentine Open (see pages 42-48), Jamaican Shane Chin (wearing grey number two above) 82 Polo Times, January/February 2012

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received an early Christmas present when he got to play with 10-goalers Pablo MacDonough and Mariano Aguerre in a charity match in Pilar.

Not so lucky though were Jamie Le Hardy, his girlfriend Sally Dawson and Jamie’s business partner Adalberto Barberini, who were caught up in an armed robbery while they were staying near Rodriguez in Argentina over Christmas.

Jack Kidd has split up with his fiancée Callie Moore – 14 months after their son, Jesse, was born. It is understood that the pair wanted different things. While Jack wants to continue running the Holders Estate in Barbados, Callie would prefer to be in Dorset where she is closer to her mother and can go hunting.

Meanwhile, Jack’s sister Jodie has been doing her bit for charity. Entries for the 25th Swimathon opened at the beginning of January, with Jodie swimming the first two lengths at London’s Oasis Sports Centre. The Swimathon takes place at 645 pools across the UK from 27-29 April.

Jodie has also been dipping into another new venture – Aurora Eastwood’s ATFULLCHAT website. Zero-goaler Aurora recently launched the car website, which she says is an upmarket version of PistonHeads. She set it up with former PistonHeads editor Chris Rosamond following a chance meeting between the two last summer and Jodie has been involved in reviewing cars for the website – www.atfullchat.com.

Aurora is also taking a step back from polo this year – scaling down her breeding programme and selling less horses. She won’t be seen playing polo competitively Jodie Kidd and Duncan Goodhew this summer either. www.polotimes.co.uk

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Sidelines

Celeb spotting Reality television stars were spotted watching polo in December. Made in Chelsea’s Millie Mackintosh (pictured, left, with fashion designer Clarissa Walsh) was a guest at British Polo Day India. On the same day, Perth held their edition of Paspaley Polo in the City, which attracted Australian X-Factor finalist Johnny Ruffo, who was mobbed by a number of fans while watching the polo at Langley Park. Perhaps more well-known guests-to-be were Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson and James May. The pair were due to attend but dropped out to go sightseeing instead.

At Klosters Snow Polo in Switzerland this year, Scottish singer and songwriter Annie Lennox was the guest of honour at the Sentebale charity dinner. Duran Duran performed at the Altitude Festival, which runs alongside the snow polo tournament.

New projects Plans to build two new private polo grounds in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, received some unwanted attention in January. Demonstrators assembled to protest against Rob Marsh’s plans to build two polo fields – to be used for practice matches only – at Low Grounds Farm.

Residents say that there will be increased traffic at Henley Road junction and the planned access path will become dangerous for walkers and joggers to use. A decision from Wycombe’s District Council will be made in March.

Meanwhile in Warwickshire, RLS Polo Club – which has now been renamed Dallas Burston Polo Grounds for the 2012 season – is awaiting a decision from the council about their planning application for a 140-room hotel at the club. Burston also wants to build new spectator and player facilities, a new arena and re-locate the stables. As part of the clubs rebranding, Ginger Hunt has taken over as polo manager.

Look-a-likes

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My first instinct is to ban the pros involved from playing in any HPA competitions this season.

A furious David Woodd was not amused to see an entirely unapproved “United Kingdom” team featuring two Argentines taking part in the UAE Nations Cup at Desert Palm in Dubai last month. Read the full story on page 10.

As the eagerly anticipated War Horse movie hit the screens in midJanuary, one-goaler, actor, presenter and part-time jouster Karl Ude-Martinez gave Polo Times his opinion of the film.

“On the whole, I enjoyed the film and Joey [the war horse] was definitely the star of the film. It was full of emotion, some history and there were some light-hearted bits too – all set in the glorious setting of Dartmouth and Exmoor. The stunts and horse work were done very well – it was very clever how they filmed the various war scenes showing the danger aspect and how the horses suffered during the war. I thought the film stayed close to the book it is based on – a children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo [Ude-Martinez, pictured below, wrote an article about the book for Live 24-Seven magazine, which was released in January].

“What it lacked for me was the relationship between the horse, Joey, and Albert, the young lad. They did not get it quite right – it lacked the connection and that immense bond that can be formed between horse and human. At times I felt that it was forced and Albert did not seem to show a big enough bond that the author based his original story on. Overall, however, I thought it was one of the best horse films I’ve seen.”

Rating: a strong 3 out of 5

Gordon Watson on top Charlie Gordon Watson, the patron of Felix Polo Team and a bloodstock agent, was the top purchaser at Tattersalls’ December Mare Sale. He bought the two top-priced lots during the sale – Testosterone (above) for 1,200,000 guineas and Jaqueline’s Quest, who is the daughter of Rock of Gibraltar for 600,000 guineas. Overall, he bought 10 lots for various clients totalling 3,650,000 guineas.

Photograph by Walt Disney Pictures

James Wayland and Michael McIntyre

Quote of the month

A polo player’s take on Spielberg’s latest blockbuster

Polo Times, January/February 2012 83

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Chas Taylor and Linda Yeoman

Claire Donnelly and Will Blake-Thomas

UberPolo Ladies’ Arena and Battle of the Sexes, AEPC Hickstead – 26-27 November

A band welcomes arriving guests Lady Natasha Rufus Isaacs

Men-slaughter Winners: KHHP’s Charlie Howell, Saskia Meadows and Rosie Ross

Hazel Smith, Ashley Payne, UberPolo’s Mansoor Quadri, Karene Hughes and Dan Dommett

Team Hickstead Men ran out victorious in a 12-7 victory against the Eastwood Stud Ladies in the final of the 4-6 goal Battle of the Sexes Challenge. In the 0-3 goal Ladies’ Arena Tournament, KHHP were crowned the queens of the arena in an intensely fought final against Hawksfield. w Photographs by Tony Ramirez

The line-up before the start of the game

British Polo Day in India, 10-11 December 2011 – Jodhpur Daniela Iglund and Fernando Michell

Felipe Iturrate and Tomás Palacios

Copa Longines, 30 November Santiago, Chile

Longines White beat Longines Blue 7-5, with five-goaler Juan Sanchez – star of Chile’s 2011 World Cup team – crowned MVP.

The polo and fashion worlds are often closely related and this link was perfectly evident at the British Polo Day, held at a private polo ground in Jodhpur last December.

The final day featured a fashion show by Beulah, which was fitting in more ways than one. Beulah is an ethical British fashion label firmly integrated in the principals of Indian craftsmanship and design.

w Photos

by Antonia Anastassiou

w Discover what else has happened in India on page 62

White’s alright Tono Iturrate and Amalia Barros

Esnesto Mosso and Juan Sanchez

Maharajas, mahouts and models make perfect day

Ellenborough Park Hotel tournament, 12-13 November 2011, Longdole

Katie Hallam

Ellenborough Park’s Colin Emson with two of the teams

Anything but prosaic Magical Mosaic were the victors, beating a fellow Longdole side comfortably, as guests in the warmth of the clubhouse enjoyed a champagne reception with canapés.

Tim Tucker

Winning patron Tim Dare inspects the cup with sponsor Colin Emson

by Zahra Hanbury w Photographs Jake Lomberg-Williams, with Fifi and Gay Watson

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Zahra Hanbury and Sue Cudmore

Rob Cudmore

Yve Kane

Fifi Watson

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Inder Jit Singh

The Army Team’s Rupert Lewis, with Alex de Lisle

Ben and Chloe Vestey

An aerial view of Jodhpur by night

General Guthrie and the Maharaja of Jodhpur

Traditional Indian musical entertainment

Jessica Hudson and Lavinia Brennon

An elephant and mahout

Guy Schwarzenbach and Tom Hudson

Hughie Stanley

Millie Mackintosh and Clarissa Walsh

Colourful transportation

Beulah model Charlotte Cowen

Smita Rao

Sixth La Aguada Selection Horse Sale, 21 November 2011 Tatterstall – Buenos Aires, Argentina

Top ponies draw a notable crowd

Adolfo Cambiaso, David Nalbandian, Pablo MacDonough, Pelon Stirling and Martín Valent kneeling

A beautifully turnedout mare forms one of the many lots

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Adolfo Cambiaso, Facundo Pieres, George Rawlings and the Heguys were among the guests at the pony sale hosted by La Aguada late in November. The lots featured many ponies bred by the Novillo Astrada family directly, including offspring from the family’s top mares, all of which played in the Triple Crown. As ever in Argentina, little was released about the prices paid, though the 30 lots are believed to have varied from US$20,000 to $145,000 and raised more than $1m in total. w Photographs

by Damian and Matias Roth

Gonzalo and Facundo Pieres

Camilo Bautista, Eduardo Novillo Astrada and Astrid Muñoz

Interested parties inspect the fineprint

Marcos Heguy helps advise the auctioneer

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