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C A R T I E R Q U E E N ’ S C U P , G U A R D S P O L O C L U B , U K , J U N E 2 0 1 9
A C T I O N
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he stepped forward to receive the coveted
cup fromHM the Queen and Laurent Feniou,
managing director of Cartier UK.
Scone Polo’s opponents in this final,
Andrey Borodin’s Park Place, were runners-up
for the second successive year and, on paper,
were favourites to lift the cup. So few were
surprised when the game started in Park
Place’s favour – they were 2-0 up after the
first chukka and although Scone Polo got
themselves on even terms in the second (3-3),
Park Place were in the driving seat.
Scone Polo’s story in this year’s Queen’s
Cup competition has been impressive though
and this final was no exception. Many people
had written them off after they had lost their
C A R T I E R Q U E E N ’ S C U P
Diana Butler reports on how Scone Polo won Cartier glory on debut
Scone Polo made an impressive debut in the
UK’s high-goal tournaments this season,
reaching both the final of the Cartier Queen’s
Cup and the semi-finals of the Gold Cup for
the British Open Championship. Not a bad
start for David Paradice, Nico Pieres,
James Beim and James Harper.
David Paradice’s team first showed
their mettle in the Cartier Queen’s Cup at
Guards Polo Club.They delivered a strong
performance to win in front of a packed
crowd, playing their spectator-pleasing,
four-man polo to win the match 9-5. After
such a game, it was not surprising that
Australian Paradice received a huge cheer
from an appreciative audience when
first two league games.Things changed in
their third match of the tournament – Scone
Polo suddenly found a winning way of playing.
Some great teamwork had put this team in
the final and it won them the Cup too. Park
Place struggled to counteract Scone Polo’s
increasing confidence in the second half –
failing to score at all in the fifth – and all of
a sudden, with just seven minutes left to play,
this was Scone Polo’s game.
English international James Harper, who
had a brilliant game at back for Scone Polo,
was named the Cartier Most Valuable Player.
He also received the Cartier Best Playing Pony
Rug for Twitter – a Jim Gilmore-owned,
seven-year-old chestnut mare. He went
