Volume 17 • Issue 5 • June 2012 • £5.50
www.polotimes.co.uk
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Sultry seductress in Sardinia This photograph was taken in the week of the Costa Smeralda Audi Gold Cup in Italy in 2010, and features a model riding one of Carlos Gracida’s ponies as part of a shoot for photographer Marco Glaviano’s book published later that year. “We shot the ponies in a number of locations,” Glaviano told Polo Times. “Sardinia is magical, and it made for some stunning results.” A preview of his book – appropriately named Marco Polo – is available online, made up of a mixture of polo action photographs and some remarkably revealing shots of ponies being exercised and groomed by scantily clad models on beaches and dust plains. Cumulatively, they’re sure to set your pulses racing one way or another! w Visit www.facetofaceagency.it or contact Barbara Glaviano, the photographer’s daughter, at FacetoFace agency in Italy: phone +39 02 2940 2784 or email barbara.glaviano@facetofaceagency.com
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Diamond Jubilee special – The Queen and polo
By royal appointment With Britain and the Commonwealth gearing up this month to celebrate 60 years since Elizabeth II became Queen, in this issue we reflect on the royal family’s historic association with polo and consider just what value Her Majesty puts on the game herself
Herbert Spencer raids the polo archives
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n the “sport of kings”, horseracing, Queen Elizabeth II is England’s best-known owner and breeder of thoroughbreds. She regularly attends race meetings in which her horses are running, such as Epsom and Royal Ascot. Over the years the sovereign has also, occasionally, graced other sporting events
the British royal family’s longstanding tradition of involvement with polo, dating back to the reign of Queen Victoria in the 19th century. From the 1870s, the then Prince and Princess of Wales were watching polo matches at London’s Hurlingham Club, where the prince became its patron. Although he never played himself, he became a keen supporter of the sport, and remained so
Photograph by Tony Ramirez
Her Majesty was, in effect, a pioneer in the retraining of racehorses for polo with her presence: the World Cup and FA Cup in football, cricket’s Ashes at Lords, and tennis at Wimbledon. It is, however, “the game of kings”, polo, that has been most privileged in having Her Majesty as a patron and supporter. During the 60 years of her reign, celebrated this year as her Diamond Jubilee, and for years before she ascended the throne, the Queen has attended literally hundreds of polo events, far more than in any other sport. This is hardly surprising, considering 34
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even after he ascended the throne as King Edward VII. He attended polo matches in England and abroad, from Deauville to Delhi. Edward VII’s sons became the royal family’s first polo players. Prince Albert’s polo career was apparently shortlived, but Prince George (our Queen’s grandfather) played extensively while he was serving in the Royal Navy, in England, Malta, Jamaica and Barbados. He gave up the game when he left the navy in 1892,
but continued as an enthusiastic supporter of the sport after he became King George V. Then George V’s sons took up polo. The Prince of Wales, briefly King Edward VIII until his abdication, played in England and abroad. His younger brother, the Duke of York, played in England. The Duke of York was playing polo in the 1930s until shortly before he became King George VI after Edward’s abdication in 1936. York’s elder daughter Elizabeth was born in 1926, so, as a child, she would have been able to watch her father in action. But it Left: the Queen at Smith’s Lawn in 2007 to present The Queen’s Cup
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The Queen and polo
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The Queen, photographed during treading in at Guards in 1970, in conversation with her husband, Prince Philip (on the right of the shot), who’s engaged in umpiring duties
put stick to ball, she was certainly a faithful “polo wife”. Back in England, the princess frequently went to watch Philip in action and was often called upon to present prizes. Writing for my first polo book Chakkar in 1971, the year of his retirement as a player, Prince Philip made an amusing, oblique reference to the Queen, observing that “some lucky ones [players] manage to persuade their wives to keep, groom and train their ponies, but this ideal arrangement is understandably rare.” Whilst Her Majesty never groomed for her husband, her thoroughbred racing stables
During the 60 years of her reign, the Queen has attended hundreds of polo events, far more than in any other sport polo ground while their husbands played chukkas. There is a story, true or not, that Elizabeth and Edwina even engaged in a bit of stick-and-balling at Marsa. Regardless of whether the future queen ever www.polotimes.co.uk
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did provide Philip, and later Prince Charles, with polo-trained ponies. One of Charles’s favourites, bred by the Queen’s royal stud, was Happiness out of Philip’s mare Inez. The Queen was, in effect, a pioneer in the
retraining of racehorses for polo. In 1951 Princess Elizabeth visited Roehampton Polo Club and, for the first time, presented the HPA’s King’s Coronation Cup. The Coronation Cup had been inaugurated in 1911 to mark the coronation of Elizabeth’s grandfather, King George V. Until World War II, it was England’s top polo prize. Elizabeth II became Queen on the death of her father in 1952. One of her first public appearances after her coronation in June, 1953, was at polo: some 12,000 spectators were on hand at Cowdray Park Polo Club to watch her present the HPA’s Coronation Cup to the winning Argentine team. After she ascended the throne 60 years ago, the Queen continued to support polo and her consort, the Duke of Edinburgh, continued to play the game. Prince Philip became patron of the HPA and the Queen was, in all but name, patron of polo in this country. When Prince Philip and his fellow players, many of them serving or retired offices of the cavalry and Royal Navy, decided to establish u Photograph by Fred Mayer, from Herbert Spencer Media
would not be until after World War II that Elizabeth would become an enthusiastic supporter of the game. Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip in 1947. Philip was an officer in the Royal Navy and, in the early 1950s was based on the island of Malta, serving under his uncle Lord Mountbatten who was Commander-inChief of the Mediterranean Fleet. The prince and princess lived with the Mountbattens on the island and it was Lord Mountbatten who brought Philip into polo. In Malta Princess Elizabeth and Lady Mountbatten would go riding at the Marsa
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Feature
Interview – British and US Open winning patron, Lyndon Lea
Zacara’s Lyndon leads the way Having won the US Open and been named high-goal patron of the year at the Audi Polo Awards, 2011 British Open winner Lyndon Lea has become one of the most successful British high-goal patrons of recent times. He talks exclusively to Polo Times
John O’Sullivan in London
Photograph by Action Polo
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yndon Lea has hit the headlines twice in the last month. At the end of April it was for his polo, as the 43-year-old Lancashire-born patron led Zacara to his maiden US Open title in Florida. This was his second big polo success in under a year, after the onegoaler lifted the Gold Cup for the British Open at Cowdray Park last summer. A mere 10 days after his US triumph, in the first week of May, he was in the headlines again, toasting a success in one of his other great passions – business. Lion Capital, the private equity firm which he founded in 2004, sold a 60 per cent share in breakfast giants Weetabix to a Chinese firm for a cool £720m. As a jet-setting polo patron who likes to work hard and play hard, this is all in a month’s work for Lea, whose British polo HQ is based in Berkshire. Somehow, during the 10 chaotic days between these two achievements, the charming Zacara patron found the time to meet me in the luxurious offices of Lion Capital’s London HQ. With the war wounds from his latest polo triumph still evident in his walk, Lea revealed the secrets of his time-management skills, discussed the birth of his passion for polo and reflected on his new-found high-goal success. 40
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It has been a remarkable year for your team Zacara. Have your achievements sunk in yet? It never crossed my mind that I could win the British Open and the US Open in the same year. To be honest it never really crossed my mind that we would win the British Open last year and then, the way our team started, I really didn’t think it was our year to win the US Open. When I first got into polo, those were the two tournaments I really wanted to win. I never once thought or dreamt about holding the two titles simultaneously. It is a really great feeling. Tell us about how you got into polo. When did you start playing? I got into polo in about 1999 at a work related function. I was starting the US office of a European firm and we had a little retreat
“I never even dreamt of holding the US Open and British Open titles simultaneously” – Lyndon Lea organised in Palm Springs. Now, there are really only two things in Palm Springs – there is golf and there is polo. I had a group of seven guys and wanted to do a little bonding activity. Golf didn’t really work because some guys golfed and other guys didn’t. Nobody had really ever played polo before so we went down to the local club. I got on a horse for the first time and I thought it was the end of the world, but it was just addiction from the very first time.
So how long was it before you decided to get back on a horse again? Well, we did that for a couple days and then I went back to the UK and, like most beginners in the UK, I found my way to Ascot Park and Peter and Victoria Grace. I bought two horses and that was the beginning of it all. When did you start playing competitively? We were playing chukkas at Ascot Park and then at some point I moved over to Guards, at the suggestion of Victoria and Peter, because my game was moving up. I entered some low-goal tournaments playing as Los Feos with Roddy Matthews, Will Hine and Victoria Grace and we had some success. Before I knew it I was entering the Royal Windsor 15-goal with Ruki Baillieu and the first year we entered, in 2004, we won it. How long was it before you played high-goal? After winning the Royal Windsor I was invited to my first high-goal practice and it reminded me of that first time I got on the horse again. The pace of the game and the anticipation of the players is just much higher. I would be heading one way and all the other players were heading the other. For me, this added to the addiction and, of course, as you gain experience you fit into that game and then, when you drop back down again, it feels like you have all the time in the world. u
Lyndon Lea nonchalantly holds the Gold Cup after guiding Zacara to their British Open win at Cowdray Park last summer
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Reports
US Open, International Polo Club Palm Beach
Zacara’s gamble pays dividends Zacara’s well-balanced team allowed Facundo Pieres (in black) to get the better of fellow Argentine 10-goaler Juan Martin Nero (in white) and his Lechuza Caracas teammates in Florida
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US Open, International Polo Club Palm Beach
Reports
Lyndon Lea added the US Open title to last summer’s British Open win after a brave mid-season player change inspired his Zacara side to victory over Lechuza Caracas Writes
John O’Sullivan
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in to the team in place of Argentine sevengoaler Joaquin Pittaluga. He joined Lea, 10-goaler Facundo Pieres and eight-goaler Christian “Magoo” Laprida in a move that the Zacara patron believes won them the US Open title. He explains: “We started off the US season
“The team wasn’t working so I brought in Mike Azzaro and that began our metamorphosis” – Zacara patron Lyndon Lea second of the three US high-goal tournaments) after Lea was unhappy with the way the team was working. Following a semi-final defeat in the CV Whitney Cup and a disappointing start to the Gold Cup, Azzaro was drafted
with a good win record, but the team wasn’t working. It was very hard to place what was wrong, but I think Facundo at his best is an attacking player and he was having to worry about the team structure too much and about what was going on at the back. Therefore he wasn’t free to go forward. “So, part-way through the Gold Cup I decided to make a change and Joaquin left the u All photographs by Manuela Davies
ngland-born patron Lyndon Lea reaped the rewards of his brave decision to re-shuffle his team midway through the American high-goal season as he guided Zacara to the US Open title at International Polo Club Palm Beach. Mike Azzaro was the star of the show as Zacara beat reigning champions Lechuza
Caracas 10-8 at the end of April to secure Lea his first US Open title. The former 10-goaler scored four goals from back to earn the MVP award. Remarkably, though, Azzaro was not even supposed to be in the Zacara line-up for the US high-goal season and was only drafted in mid-way through the Piaget Gold Cup (the
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Knowledge
Monty Roberts and polo
Photograph by Christopher Dydyck
Changing training: how polo needs to learn a new language Renowned for his empathetic interpretation of the silent language of horses, tireless trainer Monty Roberts is now using his experiences right across the equine world with many of the game’s top polo pros – including, most significantly, Adolfo Cambiaso
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Monty Roberts and polo
Alice Gipps at Royal Polehampton Lodge Stud
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“I had 72 broken bones before I was 12 years old. Each of those was from my father, not from horses” – Monty Roberts operations that are key to their success. Memo Gracida first asked for his assistance six years ago. His brother Carlos soon followed. Others have gradually shown www.polotimes.co.uk
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His theory is that, to understand horses, people need to think very simply, think like a flight animal. Their number one priority in life is to reproduce, their second is survival. Horses
Above: Monty demonstrates his “Join-Up®” methods Below: A bird’s-eye view across Flag Is Up Farms, Monty’s 200-acre International Learning Centre in California
also have conscious thought, not just instinctual thought. Horses follow a leader, looking up to the matriarch of the herd, or a person they trust and whom they want to please. Monty argues it is particularly true in polo, since the best playing ponies are those that are sensitive, and thus would never make it through brutal or violent techniques that were common in Argentina not so many years ago. Tying up, terrifying or hitting a horse until it does the right thing does not convince it you are his leader; those are the actions of a predator meaning him harm. Monty still works every day, travelling the u world to get his message across, and his Photographs from Monty and Pat Roberts’ archives
living legend, American Monty Roberts – now 77 – has become one of the world’s most famous horse trainers. He was first introduced to polo in his 20s, when 10-goaler Billy Linfoot and he became friends whilst Monty was beginning the process of working on some western horses using his effective non-violent method of starting and training them. In the intervening years, Monty became best known for the impact of his methods in the racing industry, having personally produced over 600 Group 1 winners. However, these dramatic benefits unsurprisingly didn’t go unnoticed across the equine world and Monty is now finding himself in high demand amongst the world’s top polo professionals, all of whom have breeding
interest since but, when world number one Adolfo Cambiaso asked Monty to work on his thoroughbreds two years ago, it marked a real breakthrough for the game. Cambiaso is a winner of the Argentine Open nine times, producing such champion ponies as Dolfina Cuartetera and Aiken Cura down the years. That he wants to change his traditional training methods to incorporate Monty’s less dangerous, less domineering and less confrontational approach shows how seriously polo now realises it has to take the fair treatment of its horses. “I’ll tell you why polo needs me,” says Monty. “It is because the public perception of how the average polo player treats his horses has been very bad. It may not be true in many cases but perception builds on reality.” That perception relates to the traditional breaking methods that are still currently the most commonly used in polo, in which the horse is “told” what to do, not “asked” as a willing partner.
Knowledge
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Sidelines
Nic Roldan
Barbara and Scott Walker
The 108th US Open Championships; 22 April 2012; IPCPB, Florida – USA Tommy Morrison and Sarah Scheffer
Palm Beach party International Polo Club Palm Beach waved goodbye to another thrilling high-goal season with a party atmosphere at the US Open final late this April. The third and final event of the US highgoal season was won by Lyndon Lea’s Zacara. There was plenty of action off the field too as spectators enjoyed field-side brunches, while the VIPs relaxed in the impressive pavilion. Players, patrons and fans rubbed shoulders with celebrities including Hollywood actor Jeffrey Donovan. The revellers also included losing finalist Guillermo “Sapo” Caset of Lechuza Caracas, who two days later was rushed to hospital in Argentina with a life-threatening virus. Thankfully he is now reported to be in a stable condition.
The historic US Open trophy
Nespresso’s colourful mascot
Kamahla and Shamir Bolivar
Juliana Marquis and Fran Farber
w Photographs by Manuela Davies w Read our full US Open report on page 46 Michelle Woods and Jeffrey Donovan
Mike Azzaro with wife Amy and son Hunter
Miss America Laura Kaeppeler with Lauren Duffy
Facundo Pieres and Gaby Urdaneta
Tomas Goti and son Santos
The Sixth Sparkasse Holstein Beach Polo Tournament; 4-6 May 2012; Timmendorfer Strand near Luebeck, Germany
Sparkasse ignites German season César Ruiz Guinazu and Thomas Selkirk Tim Ward
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English three-goaler Tim Ward, who is a member of Thomas Winter’s polo school in Hamburg, was amongst the winners last month as six teams played nine games at the Sparkasse Holstein Beach Polo Tournament. Other notable players in the event, which starts the German season, were Argentine seven-goaler Santos Anca and his five-goal compatriots, Cristobal Durrieu and César Ruiz Guinazu.
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Constanze von Bessing, Thomas Selkirk, Tim Ward and César Ruiz Guinazu
Yachts outside the polo ground
César Ruiz Guinazu
Santos Anca and Jeanette Diekmann
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Andrea Schneider and Stuart Bates of Julius Baer
The Audi Polo Awards; 16 May 2012; Coworth Park
Jackelyn Cusse, Idi Mendez, Carlos Morean, Gaby Urdaneta and Jesus Aveledo
Jesus Aveledo and Lyndon Lea
Audi UK’s Jon Zammett
Max Charlton, Louise Thomas, Jamie Morrison and Andrew Hine
Eyes on the Audi prize The great and the good of English polo gathered at Coworth Park in mid-May for the hotly anticipated annual Audi Polo Awards. More than 400 polo players, patrons, sponsors and their entourages enjoyed a night of magic, mind reading, good food and drink – most notably Pommery champagne and Royal Salute whisky – organised by former England captain Andrew Hine’s Polofix. Sebastian Merlos picked up the top prize – the best highgoal player. See also page 20.
Renata Costa
w All photos by Tony Ramirez, www.imagesofpolo.com
Juan Martin Nero with his picture by Katie Tunn
Jim Haigh with Nicholas Colquhoun-Denvers
Thai Polo’s dream team: Facundo Pieres, Agustin Merlos, John Paul Clarkin and Juan Martin Nero
Sandy Harper with David Woodd
John Walsh, Brenda and George DuPont
Andrew Swaffield
Sebastian Merlos with Sabrina Fung
Facundo Sola and Chris Adkins of Tally Ho Lucy Taylor with Jamie Richards
James Beim with Jon Zammett
Four Quarters Orange Sabine Hauptmann, Matthias Dabelstein, Martin Blome, Constanze von Bessing (with daughter Jilly) and Tim Ward Stuart Bates and Jack Richardson
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Ros Packer and Jim Gilmore
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