FT SPECIAL REPORT Polo

Saturday June 15 2013 www.ft.com/reports | twitter.com/ftreports

Hopes rise Inside » Facundo Pieres World’s number two player on how for return his best game is yet to come Page 3 of sun and ‘Going for the foul’ controversy Tricking opponents to gain penalties is spectators on rise, say critics Page 4

Silicon Valley California’s tech professionals discover a high- adrenaline game Improved grounds and more participants have Page 5 boosted spirits after last year’s bad weather and confusion over sponsors, writes Bob Sherwood Fair weather: England’s 2013 season kicked off in May with the Veuve Clicquot Polo on the Beach event in Newquay Getty On FT.com »

he start of this year’s English sparkle more brightly in the sunshine. 17 teams, one more than last year, al-Maktoum, is adding interest and As well as England captain Luke Packer packs up polo season has been domi- “It was a terrible summer last have entered for the prestigious investment in the English game. Tomlinson (playing for Emlor) and his nated by a particularly Brit- year,” says David Woodd, chief execu- Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup; three teams Sixteen teams will compete in the brother Mark (EFG Bank Avarali), Patron departs ish concern. It has not been tive of the Hurlingham Polo Associa- from 18-goal polo – their players’ total Cartier Queen’s Cup at Guards polo James Beim returns for a third season England after rainy the comings and goings of tion, the sport’s governing body in the handicap – have moved up to 22-goal club, in Windsor Great Park, which with Salkeld. All are seven-goalers. Ttop patrons or leading international UK. “And I hope to God this one is and a new female patron, Sheikha culminates on June 16. The Gold Cup Four-goaler Henry Fisher is back after season, but royalty players, nor the creation of new going to be better.” Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid will start on June 25 for four weeks at some years with Les Lions. Rising steps in to fill gap events or the input of sponsors that is At the end of last season, with the Cowdray Park. No fewer than seven players Ollie Cudmore, Matt Perry the prime talking point. It has been announcements that some high-profile 10-goal players, the highest ranking a and Max Routledge will be in action, the weather. patrons – not least James Packer, son player can achieve, will be in action. too. Richard Caleel After last year’s rain-deluged season of Kerry Packer, the late Australian ‘Small clubs were badly Although the homegrown player Whatever the weather, Liz Higgins – which created appalling conditions investor and polo enthusiast – would affected last year when rule – designed to bring more UK of Cowdray Park says the club Sport still strong, at times and hit the smaller clubs not be returning for the 2013 season in players into the top levels of the sport will be able to cope after a pro- hard – and a late start to the summer, England, there were some deflated they were forced to in which Argentine pros are dominant gramme of extensive investment in says president of all hopes are for better weather for a spirits in the polo world. – will not take effect in the high-goal the grounds. “We played every match international game in which the sporting prowess However, the doubters now seem cancel tournaments’ game until next year, a few more Eng- and the accompanying social scene to have been proved wrong. About lish players are in evidence this year. Continued on Page 2 governing body 2 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES SATURDAY JUNE 15 2013 Polo

Major polo fixtures 2013 Audi International Polo Series, Cartier Queen’s Cup Suffolk Test Match Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup, The Gloucestershire Festival of Polo Guards Polo Club Suffolk Show Ground, British Open England v South Africa, Beaufort Polo Club Young England v Young South America Cowdray Park Polo Club June 15 June 16 June 29 July 21

Audi International Polo Series Sotogrande Silver and Gold Cups Warwickshire Cup Deauville Gold Cup Audi International Polo Series Chester Racecourse, Sotogrande, Spain Cirencester Park Polo Club Deauville, France for the Westchester Cup England v Australasia England v USA, Guards Polo Club September 7 July 28 - August 31 August 11 July 31 - August 12 July 28

Super Nations Cup Tortugas Open Hurlingham Open Argentine Open Championship Camara de Diputados Cup Tianjin Polo Club, Tortugas Country Club, Hurlingham Polo Club, AAP, Argentina AAP, Argentina China Argentina Argentina October 1 October 13 November 3 December 7 December 8 Source: FT research FT Source: Hopes rise for sun and spectators

Continued from Page 1 from other events in last continental European coun- Polo Gold Cup series is year’s Olympic summer and tries. scheduled to be increased to some confusion over the Two other are nations, 18-goal level in 2015, up last year,” she says, “even sponsorship change had an China and Dubai, are mak- from 16 goals, with ambi- if some were in horrible effect. ing notable strides. In Octo- tions to lift it to the high- conditions”. “It was a bit messy,” ber, China’s Goldin Metro- goal level of more than 20. The club’s budget for lay- Woodd acknowledges. “We politan Polo Club in Tian- Some in the sport detect ing sand on the pitches are working jolly hard to jin, northern China, held quite an improvement in alone is £85,000, and compe- get it back up to a good the inaugural Super prospects for English polo tition grounds have been number.” Nations Cup, with high-goal below the high-goal level, stripped and relaid. “The The figures should be teams from Hong Kong, the which has taken a dent in budgets are colossal,” says considered in a wider con- US, England, Argentina and the present harsh economic Higgins. Cowdray shifted text, he insists. With events South Africa. climate. the Gold Cup semi-finals to such as Polo in the Park, In January and February, “My sense is there is defi- its club grounds last year to and the Gaucho Interna- it hosted the second fully- nitely a buzz in the air,” save the competition pitch tional played at the O2 sanctioned Snow Polo says Sebastian Dawnay, a for the final. “It was sheet- arena creating new audi- professional player and ing down in the afternoon ences, “there is a lot more coach. “People were making but not one person left.” polo going on” he says. “If plans for the summer dur- Other big clubs have you look at who is watching ‘The growth of polo ing last winter, and that’s invested in their playing polo during the year, the internationally not really been happening surfaces, including Guards numbers are going up.” in the past few years.” and the Royal County of The HPA has appointed means England He says the financial Berkshire polo club. Andrew Hine, former Eng- downturn hit hard the But such expense is not land team manager and faces competition enthusiasts of medium and an option for smaller clubs. founding partner of Polofix, as a major centre’ low-goal polo – “the bank- Woodd says those clubs, an event management, ers and the traders” – who which rely heavily on entry sponsorship and player rep- funded lower-level tourna- fees for much of their fund- resentation consultancy, to ment teams. ing, were badly affected last help generate sponsors and World Cup. China’s other “It was pretty scary the year when they were forced the commercialisation of major club, Tang, near Bei- last few years. People who to cancel tournaments. HPA assets. Woodd says the jing, has held international came for lessons fell in love The HPA itself faces prob- hiring will put the HPA’s tournaments. Together, the with the game, then wanted Mallets at the ready: the bronze-winning British polo team at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games GettyIOC Olympic Museum /Allsport lems this year. After Cartier commercial activity on a clubs have imported more to move up and play tour- switched its sponsorship, to more professional footing. than 200 top polo ponies. naments – that stopped. be replaced by Audi, from On a broader scale, the While polo appeals to “But now the lessons in the HPA’s showpiece Inter- growth of polo internation- China’s wealthy, there are the winter are unreal. Clubs national Day to the Queen’s ally means England faces few homegrown players. are fully booked, with peo- Cup, attendance was notice- growing competition as a That is increasingly chang- ple happy to pay between ably lower. major polo centre. ing in Dubai, which has £100 and £150 for an hour’s Campaigners push Where this event has While England, Argentina been playing the modern lesson. attracted crowds of well and the US are still the game for longer and where Now, I am again over 20,000, last year’s audi- most celebrated nations, local patrons and teams are seeing people come for les- ence was down to 7,000. high-goal polo is played in emerging. sons who are wanting to go Woodd says the attendance South Africa, Australia, Some forecast that Dubai on and play tournaments. was declining anyway. New Zealand, Singapore, could rival Palm Beach, the The corner has definitely for Olympic inclusion Much greater competition the Caribbean and some centre of US polo. Dubai been turned.”

Many people are working quietly to have polo accepted once again as part of the world’s greatest sporting event, writes Catherine Austen

he first modern Olympic Tomlinson thinks that the enor- equestrian medals were not Facts mous logistics and cost problems awarded to dressage riders, Hurlingham could be overcome: “Simplify it – eventers or even showjump- reduce each match to four chukkas ers. They were presented to There is no official explanation why [requiring fewer ponies] and perhaps Tpolo players, on June 2 1900, when a polo lost its place in the Olympics have regional playoffs so that only a joint British/US team took gold. after 1936, particularly as the 1948 few teams end up at the Olympics. A Those Olympic Games, in Paris, games were in London, but HPA hundred horses is still a lot but it is were the first to include horse sports, head David Woodd says: “Hurlingham doable – it would require similar and polo was part of another four [the sport’s then London base] was organisation to the World Cup.” Olympics. When the games resumed shut in the war, then the grounds The FIP World Cup has a 14-goal after the second world war in London were subject to a compulsory handicap and as many as 38 countries purchase order. It wasn’t until 1952 in 1948, polo was absent, and has been have taken part in it, which shows that polo started up again in Britain.” ever since. that, at that (medium-goal) level, the The Federation of International Olympic insistence that any partici- Polo (FIP) has been working for some pating sport is played “widely round years to persuade the International the world” is satisfied. But 14-goal Olympic Committee (IOC) to reintro- the venue in September from a short- polo is not nearly as exciting to watch duce the sport. Indeed, it was one of list of Istanbul, Tokyo and Madrid – as 22-goal – or 40-goal. the reasons FIP was set up in the none of which are in countries with a There is a view within polo that the 1980s. To have a chance of making it major polo heritage. In the 2016 games sport’s only hope of regaining its long- on to the Olympic programme, a sport in Brazil, where the sport has a strong lost Olympic slot is to come under the must be administered by an interna- tradition, rugby and golf join the ros- control of the FEI (Fédération Eques- tional federation, not just national ter but polo was not considered. tre Internationale), which governs the governing bodies. “FIP hasn’t really got its ducks in a three Olympic disciplines of show- In 1996, the IOC voted to make polo row,” says Woodd. “And it can’t agree jumping, eventing and dressage. a “recognised sport” again, which whether Olympic polo should be on The FEI’s president, HRH Princess made it eligible for inclusion. But 17 an open basis or handicap – and until Haya bint Al Hussein, is a likely years later, what chance does polo that agreement is reached, nothing future member of the IOC and per- have of gaining a slot? can happen.” suading her of the sport’s merits is “Never say never – but I think it’s This is one of the central stumbling crucial. Through FIP’s endeavours, pretty remote,” says David Woodd, blocks to Olympic polo – whether it polo is going to be an exhibition sport chief executive of the Hurlingham should it be open to the best players at the 2014 World Equestrian Games Polo Association. “My understanding from each country or whether a hand- in Deauville, France – a town with a is that the IOC is trying to reduce icap level should be set – which is the strong polo history, where matches equine involvement, not increase it.” way most polo tournaments work. will attract plenty of spectators. After the success of the riding A handicap system does not seem to Princess Haya’s interest in polo has events in last year’s games in London, fit the Olympic ideal, but Argentina, increased since Sheikha Maitha – the Olympic equestrianism looks safe for which dominates the professional side daughter of her husband, Sheikh the present. However, the charges of the sport, is the only country able Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum – against horse sports, namely that they to field a team of four 10-goal (the started playing seriously. Sheikha are elitist and expensive to stage, are maximum handicap) players. Britain Maitha’s Godolphin team is set to hardly going to be lifted in polo’s could field a 26-goal team. compete on the British high-goal case. Luke Tomlinson is the present cap- scene for the first time this summer. Aurora Eastwood, an amateur polo tain of the UK’s national side (which Polo is still a tiny sport in terms of player and pony breeder, says: “The plays as England but is in effect a participation but increasingly popular logistics in mounting teams, flying British team). He is positive about in the UK and other countries. It and stabling hundreds of horses – polo’s chances: “Polo is a truly global would benefit from the exposure the around 30 per team – would be over- sport again now, having not been for Olympics would bring. Its top players whelming.” about half a century. It is a terrific are superb athletes who could com- Although there is a national ele- spectator sport and would only mand a global audience. ment to the sport, the top players – enhance the equestrian side of the “It’s strange that polo doesn’t have who fit the Olympic ideal of “the best Olympics.” some kind of major international of the best” – are tied down to lucra- He believes that, at first, Olympic championship – it’s quite limiting,” tive contracts by patrons, who would polo would have to be subject to a says Tomlinson. not easily release them for patriotic handicapping system. “To start with The sport may taken initial steps duty, even if the players wished to be. you’d have to fix it at about 22-goal,” towards its goal but, if it wants to The next chance for Olympic inclu- he says, “which would allow about 20 reach Mount Olympus, it is going to sion is in 2020. The IOC will announce countries to take part.” have to put its running shoes on.

Contributors »

Jude Webber Herbert Spencer For advertising details twitter.com/ftreports Buenos Aires correspondent Freelance journalists contact: Charlotte Williamson, +44 (0)20 7873 All editorial content in this April Dembosky Helen Barrett 4038 Email: supplement is produced by Technology correspondent Commissioning editor [email protected] the FT. or your usual FT Andres Schipani Michael Crabtree representative. Our advertisers have no Andean correspondent Picture editor influence over or prior sight All FT Reports are available of the articles or online Catherine Austen, Feargus Steven Bird on FT.com at ft.com/reports material. O’Sullivan, Bob Sherwood, Designer Follow us on Twitter at FINANCIAL TIMES SATURDAY JUNE 15 2013 ★ 3 Polo

Facundo factfile

Best is yet to come Name Facundo Pieres, known within the polo world as ‘Facu’

Age Turned 27 in May for world number two Nationality Argentine Marital status Unmarried but with a girlfriend

Sporting record It might be quicker to list what he has not won: Since childhood, he has immersed competitive. Thank God, I’m also Argentine highlights include three Interview himself in the sport, following his calm,” he says. Argentine Opens, four Hurlingham Facundo Pieres father on the US and European polo When it comes to personal Opens, seven Tortugas Opens (the circuit before realising, inevitably ambitions, having a family is the Argentine, Hurlingham and Tortugas Argentine professional polo player (and despite an early passion for only one he can think of. tournaments together make up the golf) that he was destined to become “Everything else is pretty much game’s celebrated ‘triple crown’ – Jude Webber meets the a professional polo player. related to what I do.” He is so which he won with Ellerstina in 2010). “When I was 12 or 13, I realised I focused on his game, he says he Then three US Opens, the most modest player with quiet was good but I never knew how far has not yet considered what he important tournament outside confidence in his abilities I’d get,” he says. His game wobbled will do beyond that – though Argentina; one Gold Cup in the UK, at around the age of 16 or 17. “I felt he is as animated as the rest of one Queen’s Cup in the UK, and a I wasn’t playing well. I never wanted his teammates when Gold Cup in Sotogrande, Spain. espite his status as polo’s to give up, but I realised I was conversation over a simple Last year’s Argentine Open victory reigning young superstar – missing something.” lunch of grilled beef and is among the sweetest for him as the equivalent of football’s That elusive something turned out bread turns to top-of-the- he played with both his brothers Lionel Messi on horseback to be experience. His game picked range SUVs and the gizmos and they stormed to victory despite – Facundo Pieres is modest up, and by 19 he had entered the that the vehicles boast. being widely expected to lose. Dto an excruciating degree. polo 10-goal elite – the highest While he cannot “It was very special,” he says. No, he maintains, he does not even ranking possible for a polo player – imagine his home being come close to the world’s number “but I knew I had a lot to improve”. anywhere other than one polo player, his fellow Argentine Indeed, the good news for Argentina – where, Adolfo Cambiaso (though after a audiences thrilled by his victories in because of the blistering season Pieres is rated the top fixture in the world polo increasing demands of world number two). No, there is no calendar, the Argentine Open, last the international polo rivalry with his brothers and December, and the US Open in April, tour, he spends only teammates. No, despite becoming the is that he believes he is not yet at about four months a world’s youngest 10-goal handicap the top of his game. year – “everything player at the age of 19, he has never “I think polo players are at their depends, like how the felt destined for greatness. And if best in their 30s,” he says. “You’ve country is doing”. ever he feels down, why, he just got the talent and the experience. He wants to see changes remembers how lucky he is. You play with your head – you learn to make polo more It all sounds too good to be true, to lose and how to win.” accessible and entertaining yet Pieres, 27, seems genuinely Which is why, despite Pieres’ – such as allowing the kind unpretentious. He lives an underdog teams defeating those of of no-handicap-limit games international jet-setting lifestyle in a Cambiaso in both the Argentine and played in Argentina to be world of privilege but he does so the US Opens, he still does not possible elsewhere. wearing jeans and a baseball cap, consider himself in the same league. “That would make it much surrounded by his family and doing He deflects comparisons with the more watchable. Television what he loves best. same practised ease with which he would be interested. We’d also His feet appear to be firmly on the strikes a polo ball. need to change the rules, to make ground, though that ground is the “I don’t attach much importance it easier to understand … polo has a luxury headquarters of the family’s [to comparisons with Cambiaso]. He lot to do to become more Ellerstina team in General was and is so good … He did things entertaining and easier to Rodríguez, the area on the western that are hard to equal,” says Pieres. appreciate,” he says. outskirts of Buenos Aires that is the But he is still proud of his Open And the impetus should come from heart of Argentine polo country. victories. “If I want to compare Argentina, which is by far the Softly spoken, rather serious and myself with [Cambiaso] as an world’s leader in the sport. seemingly shy, Pieres is the talented individual player because of the He wants to expand polo’s social star of an outstanding polo dynasty. results of recent tournaments, that’s conscience. On his riding hat, he His father, Gonzalo, a world-class one thing. But to want to compare plugs the foundation for player and now breeder, founded myself to all his history, I couldn’t. disadvantaged children set up by Ellerstina with Kerry Packer, the My aim isn’t to surpass him or my Lionel Messi and would like to late Australian investor. His dad, but to be the best I can be.” organise an exhibition match to raise Ellerstina teammates are his older His on-pitch adrenalin and a money for it. In short, “I’ve got ‘I think polo players are at their best brother Gonzalito, also a 10-goaler; desperate desire to win, whether he nothing to complain about,” he says. in their 30s. You play with your head – his younger brother Nicolás who has is playing a top tournament or “I have to enjoy and be grateful. a nine-goal handicap; and his nine- tennis with a friend, is hard to Lots of people would like to be in you learn to lose and how to win’ goal brother-in-law Mariano Aguerre. glimpse as he talks. “I’m very my shoes.” Excitement mounts over Westchester

neither country had made Events its team selection. “England could field a 28- The transatlantic goal or 29-goal team if we series returns to include Eduardo Novillo- Astrada, who holds a UK the UK next month passport, as we did in 2009, after 16 years, writes or John-Paul Clarkin who qualifies as a Common- Herbert Spencer wealth player,” says John Tinsley, chairman of the HPA’s International Com- One of the most anticipated mittee that selects the polo events in the UK this team. “We hope the handi- year will be a rare revival caps of the two teams will of the historic Westchester be as close as possible to Cup series between England ensure the most competi- and the US. It takes place tive match.” next month at the Hurling- The Americans, who have ham Polo Association’s flag- higher handicapped profes- Rivalry: the US has 10 trophy wins and England six Greg Ratner ship Audi International Day sionals than England, have to be held at Guards Polo left it to two-goal amateur Club in Windsor Great player Marc Ganzi, who is only sailing’s America’s After that war, England Park. financing the US team and Cup (1851) predates the lost its predominance in the The Westchester is the could play on it, to select Westchester. The interna- sport to the Americans. The sport’s oldest and most their players, subject to tional polo test series, con- US won the Westchester at famous international com- approval of the US Polo ceived by the Americans, Hurlingham in 1921 and petition. Established by the Association. This could began at Westchester Polo kept it at Meadowbrook in US in 1886, it has been con- mean that the visitors Club in Newport, Rhode 1924, 1927, 1930 and 1939, tested just 16 times, with might only manage a 27- Island. The best-of-three having also won in 1936 at venues alternating between goal handicap. match event was easily won Hurlingham. The matches England and the US. “We are sending a vet- by Great Britain who beat at Meadowbrook between The contest became Eng- eran team that has com- the US 10-4 and 14-2. the two world wars drew land versus the US in 2009, peted consistently in the US Great Britain also won in crowds exceeding 40,000. when England won in Flor- Open at the 26-goal level,” 1900 and in 1902 when the Since the second world ida. Before that, the team says Charles “Chuck” two countries met at Lon- war, the Westchester series played as Great Britain. Weaver, chairman of the don’s Hurlingham Club. has been revived only three This will be the first time USPA. “I am confident they The US team achieved times. the Westchester Cup has will represent our country their first victory at Hurl- The US won in 1992 in been contested in England well. The Westchester Cup ingham in 1909 and went on Windsor Great Park before since 1997, when Great Brit- represents what is right in to win in 1911 and 1913 at Great Britain regained the ain triumphed. Over the our sport and gives our Meadowbrook on Long trophy in England in 1997. past 127 years, the US has high-goal players a chance Island. This year’s Westchester won the trophy 10 times to represent our country on Great Britain regained match will be the main against Great Britain/Eng- the highest stage of compe- the Westchester Cup at event on the HPA’s Audi land’s six wins. tition.” Meadowbrook in the last International Day, following “Obviously England has Among sporting links encounter before the first a high-goal morning game some catching up to do,” between the UK and the US, world war in 1914. played between Young Eng- says Brig John A Wright, land and Young Common- chairman of the HPA that, wealth. as holders of the cup, has The HPA’s International issued the most recent Day is now in its 42nd year challenge to the US Polo Max Routledge and in the past has been the Association. Polo player world’s biggest one-day polo “We are doing everything event with up to 20,000 or possible to welcome the more spectators. Yanks over here this year, ‘I’m looking forward to a dry “We are hoping for a big but England is determined summer and pairing up with turnout from the American to hold on to the Westches- Miguel Novillo again. I played community in London to ter again.” with him in 2010 with Lechuza cheer on their team,” says In issuing the new chal- Caracas and we reached the Gold the HPA’s Wright. lenge for the Westchester Cup final. This year is the first “There will be the stars Cup, the HPA has specified that I will be playing all and stripes flying around that the two teams be hand- my own horses, which the Queen’s ground at icapped between 26 and 29 I either bred myself Guards and we’re even goals, making the Westch- or bought from the thinking of having a hot ester the highest rated race track – that is dog stand to make the match in the UK this year. really rewarding.’ USA supporters feel at As the FT went to press, home.” 4 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES SATURDAY JUNE 15 2013 Polo England captain Pressure to win leads sets sights on to manufactured fouls tactic of “going for the foul” of pounds to field high-goal Penalty system to get a free hit at the ball. teams that can win tro- It is not uncommon for phies, professional players The speed and flow players to “manufacture” argue that they are per- Gold Cup win of the game is being fouls by tricking opponents fectly entitled to play close into breaking the rules to to the rules. “We are under affected, writes get penalties. tremendous pressure to Herbert Spencer Three years ago, the late win,” says English profes- Hugh Dawnay, an instruc- sional player Malcolm Bor- tor and expert on the game, wick. “So trying to get a Interview Luke Tomlinson tells Helen Barrett For spectators, few things blogged scathingly on the penalty shot at goal, with in sport can compare with a website polocontacts.com an 85 per cent chance of about Argentina, ambitions and accessibility well-executed field goal in about manufactured fouls success when we do, is just polo, scored either through in the 2009 Argentine Open. part of the game.” teamwork or the brilliance All eight players in this Dawnay’s 2010 blog read: uke Tomlinson is captain of LT: They have more access to horses Double act: Luke Tomlinson . . . a lot broader than it used to be. of an individual player. encounter in Palermo, Bue- “Many will reply to [my] the England polo team and than anyone else in the world, and says his handicap depends It is something you have to work at Teamwork can put one nos Aires, between La criticisms ‘But everybody the UK’s number one player. receive advice from ex-10 goalers on his horses as well as his within the industry. player in perfect position to Dolfina and Ellerstina were does it!’ Surely in the inter- He has played in four because invariably they’ve a cousin performance Charlie Bibby hit the ball between the 10-goalers. Dawnay detailed est of safety and fairness, Argentine Opens and has or an uncle who was very good. FT: Some say the game is too posts. Even more exciting examples of those players manufacturing fouls should Lwon major UK trophies including the Most important is being able to reliant on penalties. What is your for the onlooker is a long creating fouls to get penalty be stopped by the rules of Queen’s Cup and the Gold Cup. play full-time from as soon as they view? run down the ground by a shots at goal. “Anyone who polo being clarified to pre- are old enough to want to be good. I LT: The best games are those with player, evading the defence expected model behaviour vent this unsporting, unfair Financial Times: How do you prepare started full time at 22 – very late fewer penalties. and hitting to goal from as from these heroes will be and dangerous conduct.” for the polo season in England? compared with Argentine players. far out as 80 yards. disappointed,” he lamented. “Manufacturing a foul is Luke Tomlinson: I spend the off- FT: Which players do you admire? Now compare such field unsporting, but sadly season – up until the end of April – FT: Did you always want to play LT: Facundo Pieres and Adolfo goals with goals scored unless it breaks the rules it in Argentina trying to play as high a professional polo? Cambiaso [Argentine players]. from penalty conversions. is difficult to persuade play- level of polo as possible and bringing LT: I did but I finished education and When a foul is made, spec- ‘Rules should be ers not to do so,” says on younger horses. May is about me got a degree, then decided to have a FT: You are 36, an age when tators have to wait while clarified to prevent David Woodd chief execu- getting into shape for England and go. In my family, polo was part of professional polo players are ending umpires marshal players, tive of the HPA. “You can getting the horses schooled up. everyday life and I started playing in their careers. What are your plans? the ball is teed up at the 60, this unsporting, only rely upon rules, not the polo club aged 10 or 11, but it was LT: I have not even begun to think 40 or 30-yard marker and a sportsmanship, because of FT: How does the Argentine game always two or three months a year. about it. The good thing about polo player rides up to attempt unfair and financial pressures. But any differ from the English game? as a career is that there are other the conversion. dangerous conduct’ rule that makes the game LT: In England the highest level we FT: How hard do you train? aspects to the sport – coaching, Given the speed at which more attractive to watch play is 22-goal polo, but it’s probably LT: I play matches two or three managing – as well as dropping polo is played and the com- and to play, and fairer, the equivalent of 25-goal polo. In times a week. Then we have friendly down a level and continuing to play. plexity of its rules, a certain should be supported.” Argentina the highest is 40. matches another two times a week. I number of inadvertent and Many agree with Dawnay, Graham agrees that the do lots of riding; and stick-and-balling FT: What ambitions have you got unintentional fouls result- and some believe there has tactic “is not at all sports- FT: Your handicap is higher in – the equivalent of knocking a tennis left? ing in penalty shots are been a significant increase manlike. We have to blow Argentina – why is that? ball against a wall – usually daily. LT: I would like to win the Gold Cup inevitable: this is a natural in players going for the foul the whistle on rules infrac- LT: I was an eight in Argentina and Then I do a gym workout four times again in England and to win the part of the game. However, over the past 15 years. tions, but rules cannot here in England I am still a seven, a week. Westchester again. My future even at the high-goal level, But Robert Graham, chief enforce good sportsmanship but I went down to a seven in ambition is to help people get into many matches occur in umpire of the Hurlingham in any sport. Argentina after last season. The FT: How accessible is polo? the game, to teach and to put back. which goals scored on pen- Polo Association, believes “Our professional umpires handicap depends on how you play, LT: At the height of the boom [in the alty conversions amount to the trick has been around should be savvy enough to and a lot depends on horses. Until 1990s] it was extremely accessible. It FT: Do you get recognised in the as much as a third and for a while. “I can remem- spot the most blatant of two years ago I put a lot of emphasis spread throughout England – there street? sometimes more than half ber as a beginner in polo manufactured fouls and on being well mounted in Argentina were very few clubs before that. Now LT: The odd time, yes. It is a of the goals scored. being told I had been ‘old when they do they will dou- and now I want to be better there are about 100, where you can barometer for polo and the exposure In this year’s US Open soldiered’ when I was penal- ble penalise the player cre- organised here. learn to play. But, in a recession it it gets – it is something that has Championship in Florida, 15 ised,” he says, “meaning a ating the foul and not his might not be high on people’s list of happened to me more and more over of the 29 goals scored were more experienced player innocent victim.” FT: Why is the game of a higher how to spend their money. the last three or four years. from penalty conversions. had tricked me into fouling. It seems likely that unless standard in Argentina? Facundo Pieres, the 10-goal This has always been a part players change their LT: It’s the polo capital of the world. FT: Is the polo economy showing ‘I started full time FT: What are your predictions for Argentine player, ranked of the game.” approach, the manufactured The climate is well suited and there signs of recovery? today’s match [England v South number two in the world He admits, however, that, foul will continue contribut- are a lot of horses available. Buenos LT: The fact that it is more at 22 and that Africa] at the Audi International at and named most valuable as polo has become more ing to an increasing num- Aires province is flat, so they put accessible, easier to get into and is very late Beaufort? player of the final, scored 12 high-pressured, the number ber of goals scored on pen- polo grounds everywhere. There is more welcoming helps. LT: South Africa have a lot of young goals – but only three were of goals scored on penalties alty conversions, depriving space and you play all year round. compared with talent and are a very strong side but from the field. in games in the UK has spectators of the pleasure of FT: Are preconceptions about polo I hope that we will win. The number of penalties increased. watching fast-flowing polo FT: What do Argentine players do fair and justified? Argentine players’ increases when professional With wealthy playing in which field goals are the differently? LT: Polo is very cosmopolitan and For full story: www.ft.com/reports players on teams adopt the patrons spending millions norm. FINANCIAL TIMES SATURDAY JUNE 15 2013 ★ † 5 Polo Silicon Valley Sport follows change widens the field in Colombia fortunes Despite being a nation with exten- Renaissance sive grasslands and cattle ranchers, especially close to the border with The Andean country’s clubs Venezuela, most of the population for new players are open for business, lives in the Andean region. There, three mountain ranges make it hard writes Andres Schipani to find flat land to set up a polo pitch. Nonetheless, the Bogotá polo club, the country’s oldest, recently moved to a At the height of the drug-fuelled vio- new and expansive location in a val- Modernisation Locals develop a taste for high lence that ravaged Colombia more ley on the outskirts of the capital. The than a decade ago, even the country’s club now boasts eight spotless fields adrenaline pastime, writes April Dembosky horses suffered. As drug lords sought and 650 stables – 850 during the sea- status, entering the equestrian world son – which highlights the recent by owning one of the most prized growth of the sport in Colombia. eter Milner talks about grass than lawyers and start-up founders. breeds of horse, the Paso Fino, they “During the weekends in the peak in the way a sommelier talks “It’s the CEOs and business devel- became a target for rival gangs of the season, there are horses and about wine. He has played opment jobs where you’re conquer- engaged in vendettas. Stallions were players everywhere here; this is a polo all over the world, and ing,” said Christine Vermes, the head castrated and massacres took place in feast,” says Alejandro Montaña, the is intimately familiar with of brand marketing at Intel, who took stables. However, drug kingpins knew club’s vice-president. The number of Pthe climates and soils that support up polo five years ago. to stay away from Colombia’s polo younger members has grown by about Bermuda, Fescue and Rye grasses. He Her club, the Menlo polo club, clubs and polo ponies. 20 per cent in recent years. stoops down and runs his hand over a which celebrates its 90th anniversary “For whatever reason, narcos never The season runs during two dry patch of short Bermuda grass at the this year, is undergoing a transforma- even dared to ask to be members of a periods – from January until March polo field in Atherton, California, nes- tion similar to other clubs in the US. polo club, and nobody was keen on and July to September. During the tled in Silicon Valley. The sport is trying to modernise, selling them horses,” explains Felipe season, the club hosts the country’s “The root structure is wide so it shifting away from wealthy patrons Uribe, a two-goal (low handicapped) two most important tournaments – doesn’t slip,” he says. “In England, who sponsor people to play with player who used to administer polo the 18-goal handicap Uribe Cup and they have Fescue grass, but we them, to a structure that allows the for Club Campestre of Cali – a city 20-goal handicap Strong Cup. couldn’t grow that here because it’s curious to explore the sport without that was controlled by a powerful In an attempt to professionalise the too sensitive.” committing immediately to the high drug cartel. “They knew this was no sport, both are based on the patron Grass is just one of the unique costs of maintaining horses or high place for them, that they were never model, in which individuals fund a aspects of playing polo in California, membership fees. Even at amateur going to be welcomed, so they simply squad of players and ponies in return according to Liverpool-born Milner, level, polo in Silicon Valley costs stayed away,” he says. for a place in the team. who has played in countries all over about $5,000 a month, Milner said. In the early to mid-1990s, polo was “Even if security is much better the world. He is chief executive of West Coast clubs are experimenting relatively successful in Colombia, so some people are still hesitant to be Heart Metabolics, a biotech company with funding models. The Santa Bar- much so that clubs would attract star identified as polo patrons. It is under- that makes a drug for cardiac condi- bara club has revenue streams from Argentine players of the time, such as standable, because they could be tar- tions, and the fourth company he has tennis and weddings, and the Empire the Heguy brothers. But by the late geted as the richest among the rich,” founded after a career as a cardiolo- and Eldorado clubs near Palm Springs Star attraction: Prince William playing at the Santa Barbara club Reuters 1990s, an escalation of violence and an says Felipe Márquez, a seven-goal gist. On a recent Sunday, he sat in get their main income from the economic crisis crippled the sport’s player and the country’s number one. white trousers and red shirt, strap- Coachella music festival, which uses development beyond the main clubs “Overall, there is still a reluctance ping on knee pads and zipping up his the fields in April. was closed to them until 1973, when employee health and retirement bene- near the biggest cities of Bogotá, the to professionalise the sport here, it is boots, before hitting the field. The US Polo Association, a national they were officially permitted to join fit programmes to businesses, spon- capital, and Medellín and Cali. still seen as something very familiar, “I always wanted to do polo, but non-profit organisation, is helping to men on the field. Before then, women sored the event to entertain clients. “Over 10 years ago, people that had so it is quite amateur,” adds Márquez. couldn’t afford it,” he said. attract more people to the sport. It used to sneak into games, registering In an area where hang gliding and horses on their ranches decided to “But I am working on breaking that Now that he can, he joins other pro- generated a surplus of funds in recent to play with their first initial and last flying lessons are popular, a polo stop breeding because it was too dan- traditional scheme.” fessionals from high tech, finance and years from discount polo clothing that name, binding their breasts and don- match is unique and exotic enough to gerous to be out in the countryside on He helped set the new trend of pro- property who come out to the Menlo it sold through retailers such as Sears ning fake moustaches. appeal to Valley experience junkies. their own,” says Uribe. fessionalism and horse breeding. Now, polo club to practice. Property profes- and Target. It has been using that “A horse is a great equaliser,” says “To feel the thundering of the horses But with sustained economic teams are bringing in Argentine play- sionals are well represented, as the money to train coaches, build clubs one woman at the Atherton field, – it’s an experience they haven’t had growth, leftwing guerrilla groups in ers and stallions. Because of the lack technology industry has supported and issue grants to regional clubs so icing her mallet arm after a chukka (a before,” says Raj Singh, chief opera- decline and drug gangs no longer a of good Colombian trainers and high home prices in the region despite they can purchase horses for lessons period of play). “It’s one sport where tions officer at ExpertQuote. security threat, there has been a turn- grooms, players such as Márquez take the economic downturn, and because or to lease to beginners. women can compete with men on the This year the event featured a cav- round in Colombia’s quality of life – charge. Today, a Colombian pony they can organise their work in the “The USPA is really trying to get same level.” iar and vodka tasting, including “lux- and polo has followed. “Polo in Cali costs between $4,000 and $25,000. “The slow winter months to enable them to away from the image that polo is just Women suited up alongside men at ury ice”, designed to complement pre- and Medellín and Bogotá is growing level of horses here has grown a lot in travel to the desert polo fields in for the wealthy,” says Francesca the Silicon Valley Polo Classic this mium liquor, and made from water again,” says Carlos Alberto Gómez, the past 10 years, same with the play- southern California – the “mecca” of Finato, manager of the South Bay week. The third annual tournament purified of anything that might cloud one of the very few veterinaries for ers,” Márquez says as he trains a polo on the West Coast. Polo club in Gilroy, and a recipient of featured a mix of professional and the taste. There was a contest for the sport horses in Colombia, who works young sorrel mare he bred, whip in Silicon Valley tech types have also a national grant. “I’ve had nurses amateur players, and a rowdy crowd best hat and the craziest trousers, for at the Cali club. “Those people that hand. “I think little by little, we are been gravitating to the sport, given come in for lessons, marketing people of spectators culled from local sports which the victors enjoyed prizes simi- were scared have come back, their heading in the right direction.” their predilection for adrenalin and – even a firefighter.” franchises and tech companies, lar to the polo players. sons are playing and breeding now risk taking, although there are fewer The fastest-growing demographic in dressed in extravagant hats and trou- “More than anything, it’s about the with the best blood imported from For more on Colombia, visit geeky engineers who saddle up US polo today is women. The sport sers. ExpertQuote, which provides pride of winning,” Singh says. Argentina,” says Gómez. www.ft.com/new­colombia ‘A club requires passion – simply spending money is not enough’

Interview Appreciating the thrills local people who simply invaded by Mongolia, a and skills of the sport and love polo,” says Lee. “For country considered by Joo Bae ‘JB’ Lee having millions to spare is example, I built a some to have been the Korea Polo Country not all there is to it. “It’s 45-metre by 90-metre cradle of polo, has “good Club owner easy to be a patron, but covered polo arena for [polo] genes from the it’s not easy to establish normal polo players. The Mongolian blood”. The game has found a polo club,” says Lee. cost of playing in the Though at first he “Spending money isn’t arena is much cheaper intended only to build polo a pioneering patron, enough. You need a than the polo field.” facilities, his club, designed passion.” Lee says he now has 31 by the late Korean- says Jude Webber A slowdown in South members – only one of Japanese architect Itami Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest whom already knew how Jun, is a full polo resort. Joo Bae Lee laughs a lot. economy, is not the biggest It boasts 36 sleekly modern He is particularly tickled problem. “The basic bungalows, a clubhouse at being polo’s pioneer in challenge of polo in Korea with private wine cellars, his native South Korea, is not the economic issue,” ‘I need to spend a five-star condominium, and a trailblazer for the says Lee. five years more a soccer pitch, and a sport in Asia. “To the new polo swimming pool and gym. “I don’t know whether country, the most to establish a The club has views both Korea needs polo, but I important thing is that I of the sea and of Mount needed to enjoy the rest show them what polo and proper history Halla, a dormant of my life,” chuckles the polo life are.” and atmosphere volcano that is South retired oil trader, That has meant Korea’s highest peak. describing why he has cultivating the sport’s of a polo club’ David Ko, a KPCC poured some $20m into prestigious image and member and player on the building the Korea Polo lining up a stable of budding South Korean Country Club, when a sponsors – he now has six, to ride. They include 20 national polo team, says it decade ago he could not including Royal Salute players, and he hopes to is “exciting and rewarding” ride a horse. whisky, the automaker boost membership to 100 to be involved in the new Polo was an accidental BMW and the Japanese by the end of next year. sport in South Korea, for discovery for Lee: he had sports drink Pocari Sweat. He has a stable of 38 which club members pay a been working in Singapore He has also sought horses, mostly from deposit in the region of and decided that horse to spread the polo Argentina and Australia, $130,000 (refundable if a riding would be an gospel beyond rich golf plus two Filipino member leaves), plus an “interesting” hobby, so he enthusiasts with time on instructors and one annual fee of about $1,500. signed up for dressage their hands. Argentine polo “pro”. Ko, who works in private classes. “I am trying hard to He thinks Korea, which, equity, travelled to Buenos From time to time, he open my club to many in the 13th century, was Aires last year with Lee caught a polo game and for the Argentine Open, was captivated by not only to watch the “the beauty of the horses world’s undisputed best at running and the the highlight of the world excitement of hitting a polo calendar, but also to polo ball”. buy horses. From then on, he was He praised “JB” – as Lee hooked. “It was a bit is known – for doing an crazy . . . After three “excellent job of taking months of horse riding, I care of the logistics”. challenged myself to start That includes organising polo,” he said. That was in games to raise the sport’s 2004. Six months later, in profile in South Korea, June 2005, he bought land such as the club’s second on Jeju island, the volcanic international polo match outcrop off the southern from May 24 to 25, and the tip of the Korean Pocari Sweat Cup from peninsula, which he had June 8 to 9. admired on his Lee insists the time and honeymoon. Five years cost is worth it. “It’s very later the club opened its expensive, but I’m happy,” doors. he says. “I am not a tycoon “But I need to spend five promoting polo in Korea, years more to establish a but I am ready to bear proper history and my role as the sport’s atmosphere of a polo club.” pioneer,” he says. He hopes by then also to “So far, Korea is the have broken even. newest country in Asia, As for the longer-term I believe. I have a future? Lee believes polo Japanese member who is in South Korea to stay. plays hard in Korea. He “Many of my members can become another are helping me. Somebody pioneer in Japan, which will follow me later when I does not have a polo club.” Family passion: Y Rock Lee, Euni Shin, JB Lee, K Rock Lee am old,” he says. 6 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES SATURDAY JUNE 15 2013 Polo Learner makes quick strides Demand stays high for crafted Argentine wares For the beginner proper care. “We don’t want La Fusta, a family-run sad- Feargus O’Sullivan gets on Sports kit to be rich. We want to pro- dlery, which has been cater- his hobby horse and achieves duce quality that lasts. We ing to polo and other eques- Jude Webber finds want people not to look at trian sports for four genera- unity between stick and ball ateliers broadly the price but to like it and tions, says it has seen a buy it because of the ratio drop in sales of about 30 per optimistic in spite of quality to price,” he says. cent since the start of this id even Prince Charles start of economic woes Argentina’s foreign year. his polo career jumping exchange policy is squeez- Tacos Top, which has around on an overgrown ing the ateliers. Many been making polo mallets child’s toy? A pair of handcrafted polo industries – such as tanner- for three decades, is doing I have just begun my first boots, made by Argentina’s ies – price wares in dollars. well, with demand strong Dlesson at the Guards Polo Academy’s most prestigious family- More than 18 months of from the US, Europe and polo clinic, and I am slightly discon- owned artisanal atelier, is increasing foreign exchange Middle East, though China certed to find myself straddling a not just a stylish piece of restrictions have made it has yet to take off. wooden horse, swinging a cross sporting kit, it is also a nearly impossible to buy Argentina’s default on between a croquet mallet and a smart investment. dollars legally in Argentina. debts of nearly $100bn and snooker cue. The Fagliano family, A gap has opened devaluation in 2001-02 was Run by former professional polo bootmakers to players, between the overvalued offi- “the first time in many players Andrew Hine (once a national patrons and princes for 121 cial Argentine peso rate years we got our orders up coach) and Guy Verdon, the clinic years believe in keeping that producers export at – to date” notes Eduardo offers one-on-one training at the Cow- Woodwork: Feargus level costs around £15,000 a year, as In retrospect, the wooden horse prices stable – no mean feat now about 5.3 pesos per dol- Fagliano’s brother, Héctor. orth Park Hotel near Ascot, in whose O’Sullivan attacks the the toll the game takes on ponies makes perfect sense. I have never given Argentina is in the lar – and the black market Now, Casa Fagliano is grounds I find myself mounted. It all basics Charlie Bibby (they never play more than one ridden a horse before – I do not fully grip of inflation and has rate on which the price for doing well in spite of the sounded quite dashing in the prelimi- chukka without a break) means you trust animals whose feelings are not tough currency controls. their raw materials is downturn in developed nary email, but taking a few prepara- need a bare minimum of two ponies if immediately readable in an arched “We try to maintain the based. That rate went past countries. This is in part tory swings with my polo stick before you plan to do more than dribble a back or wagging tail. If I had started price come what may,” says 10 pesos in early May, thanks to publicity from a I get on a real animal, I feel less like ball around a paddock. practising my stick swings on a real, Eduardo Fagliano, great- though it has since eased to deal with Jaeger-LeCoultre, the hero of a Jilly Cooper novel than a You can trim costs by joining one of living mount, I would have lamed grandson of the Italian who about 8.6 pesos. the watchmaker, to produce modern version of Don Quixote. the cheaper, non-competing clubs, enough of them within an hour to fill founded the atelier in 1892 “We’re losing competi- watchstraps. It seems that I am not alone in reshoeing your ponies slightly less a whole supermarket chiller cabinet. just a stone’s throw from tiveness . . . we can’t trans- Adolfo Cambiaso, world learning the rudiments of polo while often or stabling them over winter in Guy and Charlotte cheer me on the Hurlingham ground fer all of these prices to our number one, has been a cli- already well into adulthood. British your own home (preferably not in the gamely, but I find it difficult to stop near Buenos Aires, where products,” says Adrián ent since the age of 16, polo has been growing steadily for spare room) but the game has no real the ball careering off at an angle. polo was first played in Simonetti, head of saddlery when his father bought him years. Today, the UK has three times budget options. Taken against these Finally comes the real horse, an 18- Argentina. “If you come La Martina, a leading sup- some boots and said “he’s more registered players than it did in costs, the £160 per hour the polo clinic year-old professional polo retiree here in 10 years, maybe plier to polo professionals going to be a star”, recalls 1990, the number now hovers around charges for lessons (including horse called Streak. I have been assured they’ll be the same price.” and one of the best-known Héctor Fagliano. the 3,000 mark. While the gentry and and kit) seems relatively modest. that Streak is a placid creature, That is good news for kit brands. US and European patrons army are still well-represented, Brit- The lessons certainly prove to be an though her muzzle is so covered with polo enthusiasts. Casa He has, however, seen are the biggest clients. ain’s new elite of bankers and hedge approachable way into the sport. reins and bits that she still looks like Fagliano has enough orders demand bounce back from “They give boots to their fund managers are swelling the polo- When I arrive for my allotted two Hannibal Lecter with hooves. to keep the antique, black lows following the financial professional players,” says playing ranks. hours at Coworth Park, I am greeted Once I am in the saddle, she turns sewing machines whirring crisis of 2008-09, after which E d u a r d o Polo’s centre of gravity is also shift- by Verdon and his wife Charlotte, the out to be a dream, instantly respon- until February 2014. polo patrons – who can eas- Fagliano. “And ing, with Russia and China starting to clinic’s administrator, and both are sive to the subtlest twitch of the reins. Large overhead lights are ily spend between €2m the cheapest rival Britain and Argentina as hubs unfailingly friendly and helpful . I feel a wave of gratitude to this beau- a modern touch in a and €3m a year on profes- thing polo has for the sport. New contenders such as If they are shocked by the fact that I tiful, calm creature for letting me sit cramped workshop that has sional riders and horses – is boots.” the Goldin Metropolitan club in Tian- have never ridden before, they on her, and in awe of the excellent changed little over the preferred to adopt a lower jin are muscling their way in, thanks certainly do not show it. We start the training she must have received, years and where the smell profile because of the cli- in part to their wild spending – the session by looking at polo’s rules, which manages the impressive feat of of boot polish perfumes the mate of economic austerity. club recently spent $2m on carpeting which seem simple enough. Two making a novice like me look good. air. The traditional tech- Now, Mr Simonetti says the their field with snow for a winter teams of four riders have to hit a ball Swinging the stick low, I even man- niques Mr Fagliano learnt company is experiencing tournament. The difficulty for this between two posts during one of five age to hit the ball through the goal, from his grandparents are strong demand, especially new elite is that its members were seven-minute long games or “chuk- though admittedly I have no gauntlet the reason why polo’s elite in Asia. often too busy earning money (or too kas”, blocking each other with the of other players to run. professionals and illustrious But for smaller produc- poor) to learn polo in their youth. occasional stick swipe or rump nudge Inwardly thanking Streak, it occurs amateurs, including the ers it can be more hit- The polo clinic, one of many polo-re- from their ponies. to me that polo’s popularity among UK’s Prince Harry, travel to a n d - m i s s . lated activities supported by Jaeger- The real difficulty is not in master- the aristocracy may just be because it Hurlingham, an hour out- LeCoultre, the watchmaker, is an ‘There’s a knack ing the rules, it seems, but acquiring involves being cheered and praised side Buenos Aires. attempt at solving this difficulty. Its to leaning over the the necessary level of horsemanship. while riding on the efforts of others A pair of boots takes pupils are usually either members of As I later find out on the wooden more talented, in this case a horse. I some 45 hours to craft and Fagliano: polo-playing families who have been ball boldly enough hobby horse, there is a knack to lean- understand their enthusiasm – polo stitch and the atelier turns brand has left behind or older novices looking ing over the ball boldly enough to hit may be expensive, but judging by my out about 70 pairs a year. existed for for a hobby. to hit it straight’ it straight, without toppling off your first lesson alone, it may also be about They can cost up to $2,400, 121 years Playing on anything like a serious saddle or bashing your pony. the most fun you can have on six legs. but they last for years with Eyevine