A Passion for polo in the sand...


Jane Carley reports on the Polo Club Dubai and finds that creating a polo pitch in the desert is a tall order


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few minutes drive from the commercial bustle of Dubai’s city centre, with the dramatic 828m tall Burj Khalifa tower at its heart, the Polo Club Dubai offers a glimpse into a different world. Finely honed, fit equines pound emerald green turf in front of a spectacular colonial style clubhouse, surrounded by lush gardens and an upmarket riding club. Part of an exclusive new development, the polo club’s neighbours include a newly built luxury housing complex and the Arabian Ranches Golf Club. Polo competitors naturally include numerous Sheiks from the Emirates who have been gripped by the adrenaline fuelled sport, but this spring’s inaugural Threadneedle Gold Cup also attracted leading names from the top polo nations, including England and Argentina.


In contrast with polo in


Europe, the season starts on 15th of October, when the


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Gulf ’s weather cools down enough, and finishes in May. Polo matches are very much part of the lively social scene in Dubai, with the major tournaments promoted through the lifestyle magazines and featuring post match parties, banquets and discos in the club’s grounds. The Threadneedle tournament attracted much of the country’s glitterati, including members of the royal family. Creating a polo pitch in the desert is a tall order - the surface needs to be firm and level, providing safe footing for eight horses and their often blue blooded pilots, travelling at speed and turning on a sixpence. But, equally, it needs to offer sufficient ‘give’ and traction to prevent the animals from injuring their delicate limbs.


Each pitch - Dubai Polo Club has a main pitch and a practice pitch - is 300 yards long and 160 yards wide, with a 12in upright board bounding the


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