the estancia El Injerto. By then he was rated at 10-goals, el primer jugador of Argentina, and much in demand. Three times he was to play for England in the Westchester Cup tournament against the USA, and indeed indifferent health in the 1920s saw him make England his principal home. The management of his Argentine estates was left in the capable hands of Tom Willans, who had married Bob Traill’s daughter, and Johnny settled down in Putney Lane, Roehampton, close to the Roehampton Polo Club. It was there, as a player and coach, that he became a
Johnny was rated at 7-goals at the time but the British sporting press declared him under-handicapped, and his rating went up to 9-goals, much to his annoyance. legend on the polo field. With his sons Jim and Jack, he formed the white-shirted Traillers squad, and the 1930s saw them capture a number of prestigious titles, including the Ranelagh and Roehampton Handicaps. The elder son, Jim, was killed at the age of twenty-one, with serving with the RAF during the second world war, and the post-war years brought disillusionment for Johnny. Although he was involved closely with Billy Walsh in establishing Ham Polo Club, the end of polo at Roehampton in 1956 caused him great sadness. He died two years later. Apart from his prime position in the annals of polo, Johnny Traill should be remembered for another reason. Among those who benefited from his riding lessons at Roehampton was Pat Smythe, who became the first lady of show jumping. Johnny lived to see her become the first woman to enter her particular discipline in the Olympic Games and the first woman medallist.
ery one, and helping to score a total of 175 goals to eleven. Later that year the Johnny and Joe went to Chile, playing in a series of internationals and scoring sixty goals to seven in only four matches. It was, however, the 1912 season that brought Johnny and Joe to prominence in England. Playing for Harold Schwind’s El Bagual – the ‘Wild Horses’ – they caused nothing short of a sensation, winning the Social Clubs Cup at Hurlingham
Johnny was to win the Open a total of eleven times, eight of them between 1904 and 1917 with the family team. as their debut and losing by only two goals to the Duke of Westminster’s Eaton team, then regarded as one of the bestmounted in England, in the Whitney Cup. Johnny was rated at 7-goals at the time, but the British sporting press declared him under-handicapped, and his rating went up to 9-goals, much to his annoyance. A cartoon appeared in Polo Monthly for September that year, depicting Johnny ‘handicapped’ with an appropriately numbered ball and chain. On 5 June 1912, Johnny and Joe were recuited to defend Ireland in the annual Patriotic Cup match against England. The game had nearly been cancelled with of wet weather and it was only when the cousins were found to be of Irish parentage that they were called in to play. As it happened, England won 10-4. The following year, Johnny married Rita Roberts from 79