follow @hurlinghampolo
TA L K
core identity for all our conceptual creations,
from the store concepts and products to our
marketing and communication,’ he said on
the phone later.
But then qualified himself:‘Yes, the polo
narrative is changing, and the digital speed
needed to adapt as a business is constant.
We’ve widened our scope of the “aspirational
crowd” that represents a more cosmopolitan,
traveller lifestyle and could engage in polo
in different ways than a player per se.’
Simonetti felt he learned from the initial
Business School work. ‘The Harvard study
was a real eye-opener and an exercise in
opening our ideas to be challenged and
setting new goals. It’s always great to have
such brilliant minds sharing ideas.’
One by-product has been La Martina’s
commitment to research priorities. The
enterprise has opened a small R&D lab in
the UK to study and launch new polo
products. ‘The horses and players are in
constant evolution – new breeds, clones,
B
ESPOKE
S
I LVERSMI THS
Unique Designs
Hand Crafted
Special Commissions
Replica Trophies
Silver & Bronze Models
TELEPHONE +44
1892 535109
MOBILE +44 7973 824 464
EMAIL:SANSON@BEZANTLTD.CO.UK
new rules and how the game is being
tweaked for a new spectator,’ said Simonetti.
‘These are all things we want to be on top
of.’ So what about the polo games that put
the university polo players together in the
first place?
The tournament was hosted by Harvard
at the Harvard Polo & Equestrian Center,
adjacent to the Myopia Hunt Club polo fields.
The Cup involved seven four-chukka games
in four days.
The Sunday finals on Myopia’s Gibney
Field attracted a crowd of several thousand
to watch the two undefeated teams, Oxford
and host Harvard.The visitors in blue prevailed
4-3, the seventh time Oxford has won the
Atlantic Cup. (For small recompense, a
Harvard alumni team topped the Oxford
alums 5-4 the day before.)
The 11th Atlantic Cup is scheduled in
Oxford and Cambridge in June 2019. Who
knows what the players may have to turn
their hands – or minds – to then?
Opposite:
The participating teams.
Above:
Josh Lerner
