Manic month at Gloucestershire hot spot Reports At home and abroad
Cirencester X
Times, there has been a busy month’s worth of competition at all levels – from clinics for the under 14s to more RAC university fixtures and a 12-goal charity game featuring Prince William. The prince was part of the winning quartet when his own Umbogo team beat a Cirencester Park side to lift the 2010 Dorchester Trophy on Sunday 6 June. The game was played in aid of two charities, Centrepoint – an organisation for helping the homeless – and Mountain Rescue,
T
he season is well and truly in full swing at Cirencester Park and, since the university games reported in the last issue of Polo
and hence the emphasis was more on open, passing polo rather than ruthlessly trying to win the match at all costs. The positive approach by all players produced a quick game, with just a handful of fouls called by the umpires throughout. As it was, Prince William’s side took the spoils, scoring the decisive goal moments before the final bell to give them victory, 4-31/2. Also in early June, Cirencester Park hosted the inaugural clinic of the Cirencester Polo Academy, sponsored by Dean Close School in Cheltenham. Places were limited to 14 youngsters, and the slots were filled early with nine to 14-year-olds, each of
whom attended on their own ponies. Jason Dixon began the course with a thorough demonstration of how to tack up a horse for polo, with parents allowed to sit in and learn something as well. The clinic moved on to discuss and demonstrate swings, tactics and rules, splitting into two groups led by Jason and Mike Hobday. Video analysis of their morning’s activities followed over a “working lunch” in the clubhouse before the children all played instructional chukkas in the afternoon under a beautiful cloudless Gloucestershire sky. They then each went home hot, but happy, and with plenty to think about thanks to a personal assessment from Jason Dixon to take with them. Further clinics are due to follow throughout the summer.
The end of May meanwhile was dominated by a massive fixture for Cirencester’s local higher education institution, the Royal Agricultural College. The university’s infamous May Ball took place on the evening of Friday 28 May, with the annual polo showdowns between hosts RAC and Exeter University during the afternoon beforehand. As in previous years and as expected, the matches – organised by captains Edward Foster and Pandora Wooldridge, both students in their second year at their respective unis – drew hundreds of spectators from both universities.
Exeter University’s Open side, winners against the RAC (l-r: Ed Gall, Leon Allen, Amelia Pemberton and Lucy Watson) are all smiles at the presentation, where Kieran Markham from OJ Polo (centre) dished out the prizes
Cheshire Polo Club
Five-goaler lady killer makes the difference to bring home the Boodles bacon
ALTHOUGH SHOWERS were forecast and the sky overcast, the weather held together and the culmination to the much-hyped Boodles Wirral Ladies’ Cup went ahead at Cheshire Polo Club on Sunday 6 June with the grounds looking in perhaps their best ever condition.
Five sides produced three days of exhilarating competition, with six-goal teams Henbury
Consolidated Property and Stobart Polo qualifying to fight it out in the final. A nip-and-tuck contest followed in the first two chukkas, with the two teams locked at 3-3 going into the second half. However, Jamie Le Hardy came to the forefront in the third chukka to build Henbury a priceless lead, one that their superior horsepower towards the end meant they were unlikely to relinquish. So it proved and, despite the best efforts of Stobart Polo’s tireless patron David Irlam, Henbury deservedly clinched the 2010 title, 6-4.
Joint patrons Simon Taylor and Sally Dawson receive the Boodles Wirral Ladies’ Cup
54 July 2010
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Henbury’s joint patrons, Sally Dawson and Simon Taylor, gratefully accepted the Boodles Wirral Ladies Cup from Ruth Riley of Boodles Manchester. The best playing pony award went to Jamie Le Hardy’s English thoroughbred, Margot. In the subsidiary final for the Jubilee Cup, two sides sponsored by Belgravia Insurance provided a very
The Boodles Wirral Ladies’ Cup; 3-6 June; Cheshire Polo Club
Finalists:
entertaining and evenly matched game, with the lower-handicapped team ultimately coming out on top, 61/2-6. The Boodles Best Dressed Lady, Kate Maidment, presented the cup to the winning (non-playing) patron, David Lever.
Henbury Consolidated Property (6): Sally Dawson -2; Simon Taylor 0; Jamie Le Hardy 5; Cristian Chaves 3
Stobart Polo (6): Andrew Irlam -2; David Irlam 0; Nico San Roman 4; Martin Fiol 4
Best playing pony: Margot, owned and played by Jamie Le Hardy
Subsidiary finalists: Belgravia Insurance 2 (4): Dominic Heywood 1; Hazel Jackson 1; Lucy Taylor 1; James Fielding 1
Belgravia Insurance 1 (6): Charlie Walton –1; Hugo Jackson 0; Jonny Coddington 3; Oliver Taylor 4
Harrow old boy Ed Gall led Exeter to a thrilling win in the Open contest, captaining his side well to clinch the tightest contest of the last few years between the sides, 4-3.
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