150 years ago, Don David Shennan wonderfully personified the fervent and tireless animator, the man who achieves everything because he puts heart and enthusiasm into it, the fighter who convinces and drags friends in the pursuit of an ideal. For these reasons and those that we will discuss in the following paragraphs, he is described as a pioneer of polo in Argentina.
It was at the Negrette ranch, which Shennan owned in Ranchos (now General Paz) in the province of Buenos Aires, where the first polo matches recorded by the newspaper chronicles were held; that is, the first matches that due to their importance or transcendence deserved to be commented on by the press, since it is believed that for some time “polo” had been played in Buenos Aires, on a land located in Caballito, adjacent to the current Ferro Carril Oeste club.
Negrette’s matches are the starting point of the history of Argentine polo: such externalization took place in a series of matches, the first of which was played on August 30, 1875 in that beautiful estancia, following an invitation made to a small nucleus of “players” from the Federal Capital.
This sporting event was starred by two teams called Ciudad and Campo, where the polo players of the latter scored three goals in a short period of time. Some of the men in Ciudad did not know the game, which implies the inequality of the match. Shennan and his compatriot R. King played brilliantly, well supported by their teammates. As the implementation of handicaps had not yet been taken into account, the City team, due to their less knowledge, played with an extra man.
In this way, we can certify that on Saturday, August 30, 2025, it will be 150 years since the birth of the Best Polo in the World…