THE GAME OF
KINGS
I am so delighted that the sport is being developed into the new decade. Last year was such a huge success and a weekend to remember, I can’t wait for the 2010 tournament. At last, this incredible adrenalin fuelled game is easy to understand! Jodie Kidd
38
P
The countdown to London’s biggest summer event has begun; Claire Saunders finds out more about the launch of MINT Polo in the Park 2010, and what spectators can expect from this glamorous weekend of sport
olo, otherwise known as the ‘game of Kings’, is experiencing a revival. Last year’s inaugural event exhilarated and delighted over 25,000 fans, and this year’s launch for MINT Polo in the Park hints that this year the weekend is going to be bigger and better than ever. On 3 March, World Polo ambassador Jodie Kidd launched its flagship event, MINT Polo in the Park 2010, at the Hurlingham Club in Fulham. Accompanied by a team of world-class polo players who will be playing at the event on 4–6 June (including her professional polo player brother Jack Kidd), Jodie led a special horseback parade to the Hurlingham Park, where the event takes place. A group of local schoolchildren (chosen to take part in the ‘pilot polo schools programme’) met the team at Hurlingham. All local schoolchildren on the programme have been offered the opportunity to learn how to play polo via an introductory lesson with some of the UK’s top polo professionals.
Above: Jodie & players Opposite: Jodie & players with trophy