Young polo stars make the headlines this weekend in the game of Kings
By Victoria Elsbury-Legg
Polo across England truly hit the headlines this weekend and with such an eclectic mix on offer across a variety of British pitches it was hardly surprising. Leaping out of the front pages of all the major newspapers yesterday morning was pictures of a young Prince George clearly showing all the intentions to follow in his father’s footsteps clutching tightly to a mini-mallet on the side-lines of the Gigaset Charity Day heading up by polo manger Casper West and his team at Beaufort Polo Club on Sunday, where TRH’s The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry played in a charity match on day two of the annual Gloucestershire Festival of Polo.
Another young star – this time nine year old Adolfito Cambiaso was also in action over the weekend a bit further up the M4 on Saturday on the Duke’s Ground at Guards Polo Club. In what was quite the most fun and informal polo day I have seen this season, ten goal legends of the pitch took some time out to play in the Fifth Chukker and Access Bank Charity Day to raise funds for UNICEF and projects for underprivileged children in Northern Nigeria. In the first game of the day Guards patron Damien Duncan and his Delaney polo team beat Walter Scherb’s Power Horse 4-3. Everyone’s eyes then turned to the main match, including those of two very proud parents who stood glued to every moment of the game, during which their son clearly demonstrated he most definitely had his father’s genes. Riding onto the Duke’s Ground at 4.30pm, a very confident Adolfito Cambiaso showed all the promise of a future star of the high goal as he joined patron Babangida Hassan’s Kangimi Resort team (red) to play alongside Juan Martin Nero and Guillermo Terrera, who faced Adamu Mahmoud Atta’s Fifth Chukka side (blue), whose team mates were Pablo MacDonough, Sapo Caset and Ali Saeed Albwardy.
From the very start of the five chukka match it was a somewhat smaller, yet equally distinctive Argentine flag that was very definitely flying on the head of the slight player, skilfully balanced atop a full size mount who flew from end to end quite literally in the hoof prints of his father (who a few days earlier had been playing for team Dubai in the semis of the Cartier Queen’s Cup on the very same field). Despite the soles of his boot only reaching to the base of his saddle flaps, it was a determined Adolfito Cambiaso who definitely stole the day riding elbow to elbow alongside ten goalers and rather more seasoned patrons. Playing in the opening chukkas in red for Kangimi Resort, he was then subbed by Rashid Albwardy for the final part of the game, and took up the reins for the blue team – Fifth Chukker. With the skill of a Cambiaso on their side, it was hardly surprising that team Fifth Chukker went on to win the match 7-6. The post-match presentation was quite the most charming I have ever seen with Adolfito striding confidently up to the loudest of cheers to collect the silver cup – which was almost as big as the diminutive player – for his team. Much like the many presentations his father has attended, nine year old Adolfito did not however simply collect the winning trophy, cheered on by his mother and father, he stepped forward again this time to receive the well-deserved award for Most Valuable Player.
In other weekend matches, on Saturday at the Royal County of Berkshire, once again Michael Bickford’s team La Indiana remained the undefeated champions beating the Hanbury’s El Remanso 14-13 in The Prince of Wales Trophy. Whilst at Beaufort Polo Club, England reigned supreme with both men’s and ladies teams beating Ireland and Rest of the World ladies respectively in their International games. Meanwhile it was a 7-6 win for Ricky Cooper and his Clogau Wales team at Hurtwood Park, who took to the pitch for the Rock ‘N’ Horsepower Charity event raising funds for Prostate Cancer UK.
Or course, one could not very well do a weekend polo round up without mention of the Finals of the Cartier Queen’s Cup coordinated by Polo Manger Antony Fanshawe and his team on Sunday at Guards Polo Club. Where in the presence of HRH The Queen polo truly lived up to its name of ‘the game of Kings’ with Thailand based King Power ‘doing the double’ in extra chukkas at Smith’s Lawn and winning (I am reliably informed their sixth game in a row with the same score line) both the morning subsidiary final against Nick Clarke’s Salkeld by 11 goals to 10, followed by the afternoon Final against Dubai.
Despite a strong Dubai line-up who took the game into extra time on the Queen’s Ground, in the end the power of the ten goal Pieres brothers Facundo and Gonzalito (winning the tournament together for the first time), alongside patron Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha and young England player Hugo Lewis, provided just too much for the team in green (Rashid Albwardy, Martin Valent, Alejo Ortiz de Tarenco Stirling and Pablo MacDonough, subbing for an injured Adolfo Cambiaso).
So history was written in the game of Kings at Smith’s Lawn by King Power Foxes, who not only scored the golden eleventh goal, but also lifted the Cartier Queen’s Cup for the very first time.