Report Harcourt Developments Queen’s Cup 50 years of action
◗ 1960 – Centaurs became the first Queen’s Cup winners, fielding Jorge Marin Moreno, John Lucas (Claire Tomlinson’s brother), Guillermo Gracida (Memo and Carlos’s father) and patron Evelyn de Rothschild. In a game played over five chukkas, they thrashed Cowdray Park 8-21/2.
◗ 1963 – The tournament was raised to 22 goals.
◗ 1964 and 1966 – Prince Philip reached the final. Though he won the Gold Cup at Cowdray, he never lifted his home club’s Queen’s Cup.
◗ 1968 – Woolmers Park beat Chequers Manor 5-21/2: the lowest final score in the cup’s history.
◗ 1970s – Howard Hipwood played in five finals in the decade, winning four, with San Flamingo and Cowdray Park.
◗ 1978 – 13 teams entered: the most at the time.
◗ 1979 – Claire Tomlinson became the first woman to win the Queen’s Cup, a year after the HPA changed its rules – under pressure from Claire herself – to allow women to play high-goal.
◗ 1980 – Alfred Dunhill started its 20-year sponsorship of the tournament.
◗ 1982 to 1988 – Argentines were absent, due to the Falklands War.
◗ 1984 – Lord (Sam) Vestey lost a hasty three stone to take his brother’s place in Foxcote and win, months after Mark Vestey (Nina Clarkin’s father) suffered a fall out hunting that left him paralysed.
◗ 1986 – Prince Charles became the first royal to win with Les Diables Bleus, alongside Julian Hipwood, Robert Graham and Guy Wildenstein.
◗ 1991 – Ellerston won their first of five titles.
◗ 1998 – Adolfo Cambiaso won his first of seven Queen’s Cups: in 1998 and 1999 with Ellerston alongside Gonzalo Pieres and James Beim; in 2000 with Geebung and in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2010 with the green shirts of Dubai.
◗ 2008 – An all-time high of 22 teams entered.
Queen’s Cup, 18 May-13 June; Guards Polo Club, Surrey
Result: Dubai beat Les Lions II 12-10 Principal sponsor: Harcourt Developments Handicap level: 17-22 goal Number of team entries: 14
Chukka scores (Dubai): 1-3; 6-3; 7-6; 8-8; 11-9; 11-11; 12-11
Most valuable player: South African Chris Mackenzie
Best playing pony: Certain, 13-year-old Australian gelding played by Adolfo Cambiaso, owned by Lucas Monteverde
ROR award for best retrained racehorse: Menina, seven-year old Brazilian mare played and owned by Agustin Merlos Dubai (22): ): Rashid Albwardy 1; Francisco Vismara 2; Pablo MacDonough 9; Adolfo Cambiaso 10 Les Lions II (22): Chris Mackenzie 3; Agustin Merlos 9; Sebastian Merlos 9; Max Gottschalk 1
32 July 2010
www.polotimes.co.uk X
the lead with a 30-yard penalty conversion. Then, just at the bell, Agustin Merlos converted a 30 to end the chukka with the game tied 9-9. “All eight players are performing above their handicaps,” declared Australian player Glen Gilmore, one of the commentators. It looked that way to me too, and that included Dubai’s Rashid Albwardy, who had turned 18 just five days earlier. MacDonough and his pony went down as the sixth and final period started, but no harm was done to either. It was five minutes into the chukka before Sebastian Merlos finally broke away at midfield and raced to goal to put Les Lions II in the lead. After that, however, Cambiaso took charge – as he often does when the chips are down. In the space of only two minutes or so he scored two field goals to equalise and put Dubai ahead, then iced the cake with a 30-yard conversion in the last minute to win the game for the Albwardys.
What a match, a most worthy contest for the
Queen’s own cup in its 50th year. Her Majesty presented the silver trophy to one teenager, Rashid Albwardy, and the Most Valuable Player prize to another, Chris Mackenzie, to applause from the crowd. This year, the Queen received a present of her own: a specially commissioned, limited edition “Queen’s Cup 1960-2010” ladies’ watch by Swiss luxury watchmakers DeWitt, the new timekeepers at Guards.
Cambiaso had his record-breaking seventh win in
England’s second most prestigious tournament. “It feels great,” he said afterwards. “I must be doing something right.” Rashid Albwardy, celebrating his first win, in the footsteps of brother Tariq and father Ali, said: “At last I’m no longer the black sheep of the family.” He added that he was hoping “to win the Gold Cup and play for many years to come,” whereupon his father interjected: “What about school?” F
Clockwise from above: action on the Queen’s Ground on finals day; Adolfo Cambiaso and Ali Albwardy celebrate Dubai’s fourth win in seven years; Pablo MacDonough takes a tumble
Photographs by Andrew Tobin
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