British Polo Day Summer Tour of The Royal House of Jodhpur
The British Polo Day Charity Cup, presented by Land Rover, will be played this year at the picturesque Black Bears’ River Ground just outside Henley-on-Thames on Saturday 29th June 2013. This is the home leg of the renowned global series The British Polo Day and the return fixture for British Polo Day India, held in Jodhpur every December.
His Highness Gaj Singh II of Marwar-Jodhpur and The Jodhpur Polo Team, as well as a host of eminent Indian attendees, will be attending this exclusive invitation only event. Guests will be chauffeur-driven in Land Rovers from the InterContinental Park Lane, the Official Hotel Partner of the British Polo Day, where they will be greeted with a Taittinger Champagne welcome reception. Lunch, authored by the legendary British chef Theo Randall, will be served to over 350 people, accompanied with wines provided by Justerini & Brooks.
Spectators will then be treated to The British Polo Day Charity Cup, a high-goal encounter between the British Exiles team sponsored by Hackett and The Commonwealth sponsored by InterContinental Park Lane. The competitive nature of this fixture will be heightened by the two team captains Aron Harilela and Max Gottschalk, good friends from Hong Kong, flying in especially to play. No doubt they will be amongst those players vying for the “Most Valuable Player” award, sponsored by One Hundred Years. This match will be followed by the Hackett Trophy, which will see Eton sponsored by GAM against Jodhpur sponsored by Land Rover. All players will receive gifts from Ettinger and Johnstons of Elgin.
One of the main objectives of the day is to raise as much as possible at the British Polo Day charity auction in aid of four chosen Charities: Head Injuries Through Sports, The Indian Head Injury Foundation, The James Wentworth-Stanley Memorial Fund and WheelPower. The auction has been generously supported with donations from the renowned equine sculptors Nic Fiddian-Green and George Bingham, the artists Jeremy Houghton and Kaye Parmenter, and equine photographer Astrid Harrison. Other star lots include a donation from 3rd Home and Abercrombie & Kent.
The British Polo Day Charity Cup committee is indebted to over 30 Great British Brands and companies that have come together to support the event, including the Grosvenor Stationary Company, Jo Loves, Charbonnel & Walker, Roxtons Field Sports and Charles Russell.
The British Polo Day Tour will continue thanks to the kind invitations from the Morrison family at The Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club, the Tomlinson family at Beaufort Polo Club and The Countess Bathurst at Cirencester Park Polo Club for His Highness and The Jodhpur Team to play follow-on matches on Wednesday 3rd, Thursday 4th and Friday 5th July.
His Highness, the Maharaja, said: “Sir Pratap Singh, younger brother of my great-great-grandfather H.H. Maharaja Jaswant Singh II traveled to London in 1897 for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, winning many matches, and the Jodhpur Team were widely regarded as the finest Indian team during those years. More than 115 years on, we are much looking forward to the full programme and being with all our friends. After my son Yuvraj Shivraj Singh’s head injury on the polo field and miraculous recovery, I am pleased that the British Polo Day team has chosen the Indian Head Injuries Foundation as one of their charitable beneficiaries to raise money to improve head injury prevention and care in India. The British Polo Day celebrates friendships, be it among old school friends or between countries. British Polo Days have an extraordinary track record of raising significant funds that mean something to the founders, their patrons and the players.”
THE BRITISH POLO DAY CHARITY CUP, PRESENTED BY LAND ROVER
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THE COMMONWEALTH |
BRITISH EXILES |
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1. Aron Harilela 1 2. Tom Hunt 5 3. Rob Archibald 6 4. Simon Keyte 6
TOTAL: 18
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1. Max Gottschalk 1 2. George Meyrick 5 3. Max Charlton 6 4. James Harper 6
TOTAL: 18
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THE HACKETT TROPHY
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ETON |
JODHPUR POLO |
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1. Tristan Phillimore 1 2. Guy Schwarzenbach 2 3. Alex de Lisle 3 4. Clifton Wrottesley 0
TOTAL: 6
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1. Vishwaraj Singh Bhati 0 2. Dhananjay Singh Rathore 1 3. Raghavraj Singh 2 4. Bhawani Singh Kalvi 3
TOTAL: 6
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