St Moritz 2011 in doubt News in brief
FOR THE FIRST TIME since 1985, there looks set to be no polo on the frozen alpine lake of the Swiss Engadine for the St Moritz Polo World Cup on Snow this winter. Organisers have been forced to pull the plug on the glamorous high-goal showpiece for the time being, after the new decision-making committee charged with organising the infrastructure for large- scale sporting activities on the lake failed to get the planning for the 2011 event off the ground. The fate of the St Moritz Polo World Cup on Snow in its current format is closely linked to the local authorities, the White Turf Racing Association (which hosts racing events on the lake) and the climatic conditions. To coordinate all these factors, at the start of
event was widely acknowledged at this year’s tournament as the club’s top priority, and so it seems that until this can be guaranteed their decision has been made for them.
“It’s really sad, but there appears to have been an
undercurrent of trouble” – former winner Oliver Ellis
this year a group named See-Infra was founded, comprising representatives of all the parties involved, but the collaboration apparently failed. As it stands, without reliable information from the study carried out into the strength of the ice sheet, St Moritz Polo AG (the club that organises and hosts the tournament) believes it would be “irresponsible” to hold further tournaments on the lake. Aside from the obvious safety aspect, the sustainable staging of the
St Moritz has been the benchmark for numerous snow polo events, and is still the only event that ambitiously plays the traditional four-man game on the stunning yet unpredictable surface. The 27th year of what has been steadily becoming an increasingly prominent and competitive tournament had been scheduled for 27-30 January 2011, with at least one 10-goal player expected to take part for the fourth consecutive year. “I’m going to shoot myself!” said Oliver Ellis, who won the tournament in its third year in 1987 and who has now been
umpiring at the event for nearly 10 winters. “There has been an undercurrent of trouble between the organisers of the White Turf horse racing and those behind the polo for a while, and it looks to me as though it has finally come to a head. They can’t agree on who should pay for what in terms of the underlying infrastructure that is required to operate both horse sports. It’s really sad though, as no St Moritz would be a huge loss.”
◗ THE HPA HAS set in motion an audit of its commercial role. It is being carried out by consutancy firm the Grand Plan Consultancy, which has held one workshop with stewards and committee chairmen, and another with a representative spectrum of industry insiders. The aim is to find out where the HPA might make better use of its status as the sport’s governing body. Under particular consideration is whether to launch a commercial arm, which would be charged with getting involved in the growing number of new special events, such as Polo In The Park, Beach Polo on Sandbanks and the Gaucho International (see opposite).
◗ THE SECOND TEST match of summer was due to take place at Beaufort Polo Club on 19 June, just after Polo Timeswent to press. The Americas vs England, preceded by a Young England vs England Ladies, looked set to be one to watch. England featured the usual quartet of James Beim, Mark Tomlinson, Luke Tomlinson and Malcolm Borwick, against an all South American team of Jose Donoso (Chile), Ignacio Toccalino and brothers Marcos and Lucas Di Paola (all Argentines).
◗ THE VEUVE CLICQUOT Gold Cup is underway, with 20 teams in the fray, up from 17 last year. There was a last-minute surge of entries as only 13 or 14 were expected to take part initially. The final is on 18 July at Cowdray Park. See page 86 for snaps from the Gold Cup draw, and for team listings, the schedule and results as they happen, visit the tournaments section at
www.polotimes.co.uk
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www.polotimes.co.uk July 2010 7
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