29
follow @hurlinghampolo
TA L K
Opposite
: Annabelle Gundlach
on the field at IPC during
the Joe Barry Cup Grand
Champions versus Postage
Stamp Farm.
This page
: (from
left) Bob Puetz, Duncan
Huyler and Mark Bellissimo
As the 2017 high-goal season kicked off at
the International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPC)
this January, the future of polo in Wellington
took centre-stage at a conference led by the
club’s new owner, Mark Bellissimo. The CEO
of Wellington Equestrian Partners (WEP),
who purchased the club at the close of the
2016 season, outlined his plans to grow polo
at IPC and integrate it with the other major
equestrian disciplines in Wellington.
Bellissimo’s vision includes increased
participation among players and fans,
drawing attention to the 4,500 families who
flock to Wellington each winter for equestrian
pursuits. Among them, he expects to find
new patrons to form new polo teams. ‘They
know how to ride, and once given a chance
to play the game they will find it so exciting,
they’ll be hooked,’ he surmised.
‘[These people] are committed to
Wellington, and fundamentally that is the
greatest harvest area in the world to make
transitions into the sport,’ he added. ‘The
only way this sport can transition is through
great accessibility.’ In order to accomplish
that, Bellissimo underscored the concrete
steps that must be taken:‘We need to create
an infrastructure,’ he stated.
The bulk of the effort will go into creating
an on-site polo academy next year, to help
streamline the progression from other horse
activities into polo. This will encompass
a polo arena to provide a safe, fun
environment for novice players. Bellissimo’s
plans to kick-start this venture include
W E B E L I E V E I N T H E S P O R T , A N D T H AT
T H I S F A C I L I T Y I S G O I N G T O B E T H E C E N T R E
O F T H E U N I V E R S E F O R A ME R I C A N P O L O
a gladiator-themed polo night in the
indoor arena at his company’s dressage
venue, with equestrians from the hunting/
jumping world invited in a bid to generate
some energy around the initiative. His
partnership has also purchased automated
riding simulators that recreate a horse’s
walk, trot, canter and gallop within the
different disciplines of hunting, jumping
and polo. Other plans include IPC spring
and summer camps and clinics to help
develop interest, along with seeking out
prize money and more sponsorship.
Bellissimo was flanked at the speakers’
table by a cadre of polo authorities, among
them United States Polo Association (USPA)
executives Duncan Huyler (CEO) and Bob
Puetz (executive director of services), as well
as former show-jumper and Postage Stamp
Farm patron Annabelle Gundlach, and the
Grand Champions Polo Club captain Nic
Roldan. Huyler and Puetz confirmed that the
IPC is in discussion with the USPA to extend
the contract to hold the US Open Polo
Championship at IPC beyond 2018.
Bellissimo praised patrons Marc and
Melissa Ganzi, highlighting that through
their Grand Champions Polo Club they have
offered great quality low-, medium- and
high-goal polo in the winter, spring and
autumn, for many years. He affirmed that
Grand Champions and IPC have an excellent
relationship and his ambition is for them
to work together to develop year-round
polo in Wellington:‘We are hoping we can
collaborate with the Ganzis to make this
all work. We believe in [the sport] and we
believe that this facility is going to be the
centre of the universe for American polo,’
said Bellissimo.
IPC’s 2017 season officially opened on
New Year’s Day, and Bellissimo confirmed it
was extremely successful, with attendance
figures equalling those of the previous year.
So far the signs look promising, with his
grand vision set to flourish.
