Comment Interview
Carlos Gracida Cowdray Park’s favourite player
The Mexican maestro and king of Cowdray’s Gold Cup – back in UK high-goal in his 50th- birthday year – reveals to Yolanda Carslaw his favourite team-mates and horses, his plans for the future and what it was like spending 15 years on 10 goals
Where do you spend your year? I'm in England from May to August, then from September to November I'm in Mexico, where I'm involved in a polo and real estate development 15 minutes from Mexico City. The club, Ameyalco, is for polo, general equestrian and show jumping. Polo people aren't that wealthy in Mexico but the show jumpers are, and a lot want to try polo. The season is from October to May and there are 100 players and rising. I grew up 45 minutes from Mexico City, but traffic means it now takes two hours. I have plenty of relatives there: both my parents came from large families.
From December to April I'm in Florida, where I have 30 horses on a rented farm in Wellington. I have a 10-acre place there, which I bought very cheaply 20 years ago, but I rent it to show jumpers as it's too small for polo. I live at a house within Palm Beach Polo and Country Club, which I've had for five years: it's a couple of miles from International Polo Club Palm Beach. From time to time I go to Argentina, where I have a breeding partnership with
14 July 2010
www.polotimes.co.uk
Adolfo Cambiaso, something that interests me very much and has become a good business.
Which is your favourite club in the world? Cowdray. Some of my best memories are the years with Tramontana: the hours riding in the rain, the concentration, playing alongside Roberto [Gonzales, Carlos's first cousin]. It was such a pleasure to put effort into the team with the Gold Cup to aim for. One of my best moments was when I first won the Gold Cup: you don't realise how difficult it is until you do it – and it never crossed my mind I'd win it so many times. Luck and timing are part of it but I had great horses, I was at my peak and I was getting better and better organised. Part of my success in England was down to the fact that I only had eight horses: in Florida I had 40 to 50, which is a distraction. I feel comfortable and happy in England; the US is so much more commercial. If I had to change something I would have had a farm in Argentina instead of in Palm Beach:
my two sons Carlos (19) and Mariano (17) have grown up in the US, but it's the worst place to bring on young players as it's expensive and some of the rules, such as substitution, limit opportunities.
Who have been your best team-mates? I've played with many great players – not least Adolfo Cambiaso, who went from seven to 10 when we played together – but one of my best times was with Roberto in Tramontana. As cousins we got the best out of each other. He was two years younger; I was the captain and I let him go out once a week! My brother, Memo, was a major factor and probably my biggest influence. He's a defensive player and I'm offensive, so we did well together, winning the Gold Cup with Falcons and then with Labegorce, as well as seven US Opens. In the US Memo
Photograph by Tom Reynolds
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