EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
ANDREY BORODIN
Park Life
On the eve of the 2021 high-goal season we catch up with Andrey Borodin, patron of the impressive Park Place team, to not only find out more about his plans for the coming season but the challenges the team faced last year
How did you first get into polo? “My wife, Tatiana, and my daughter, Varvara, had a polo lesson and after seeing how much they enjoyed themselves, I decided to give it a try. I had ridden before – I had owned a few show jumpers – but to be honest I had very little riding experience before I started to play polo.”
Your daughter also plays – do you hope to play together competitively in the future? “Potentially yes – we have played a few practices together – but we have not discussed playing anything competitive just yet. To be honest, her focus right now is show jumping and her ladies’ polo team rather than doing anything with her Dad!”
You ran two high-goal teams in 2020 which was such a great way to support UK polo. What are your thoughts on last season and how difficult was it to plan and schedule around all the covid legislation? “It was a particularly challenging year for many people and I was glad I could support British polo with a second team with two young British players (Will Harper and Zac Beim) and two players who have been with Park Place since we first started playing high-goal (Hilario Ulloa and Juan Britos). “I didn’t particularly like the rule changes which were
brought in and how they impacted the game and it wasn’t the same to play without spectators, especially not even being able to have your immediate family present at your games. I understood the rationale behind having fewer people attend games, but I didn’t agree with the limitations on the number of horses each team could play on as it didn’t appear to me to have any relevance to the Covid-19 pandemic.”
What are your polo plans for 2021 here in the UK? “My plan is to play the full 22-goal season – The Prince of Wales, The Cartier Queen’s Cup, the Gold Cup [at Cowdray]
and the new 22 goal tournament that Guards is hosting in August. My daughter Varvara will play the ladies 18- goal series too.”
Do you have any plans for playing overseas once travel restrictions are lifted? “I am currently in Florida playing with our team (Juan Britos, Hilario Ulloa, Matt Coppola) in the Gauntlet of Polo Series – the CV Whitney Cup, USPA Gold Cup and the US Open Polo Championship – which finishes on 18 April. Thankfully, we were able to compete here this year and my plan would be to return again next year for the 2022 season.”
How does the UK season compare to your experiences in the USA? “My experiences are similar. I have played slightly more in England, but I do enjoy the Florida high-goal season. It’s a competitive level with many of the world’s best players participating and it’s good to have the opportunity to play competitively outside of the English high-goal. I particularly like the way in which game filming is done in the USA with the drone and I think the concept of challenges during the games works well.” [Ed: Any team which consecutively sweeps all three tournaments in the Gauntlet series receives a $500,000 bonus.]
Do you have a polo set up in Argentina or is this something you are thinking of? “Although I don’t have a polo set up in Argentina like I do in the USA and here in the UK, I do buy some horses from there every year.”
Park Place horsepower is impressive – who advises GUARDS POLO CLUB OFFICIAL YEARBOOK 2021 29
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