British Polo Day GB
Author: Jennifer Stevenson
British Polo Day Great Britain took place on Saturday 20 June 2015 at The River Field, Black Bears, Henley-on-Thames – with Royal Salute among its sponsors.
In celebration of the Dual Year of Mexico and the UK, the event marked the ties between the two countries while raising almost £150,000 for charity. VIP guests included host Urs Schwarzenbach, HH Maharaja Sawai Padmanabh, The Marquess of Blandford, Viscount Melville, The Duke of Argyll, Lady Violet and Alice Manners, Ron Wahid, Nikki Mehta, Sir Jackie Stewart and Stephanie Powers.
At the Royal Salute ‘Neolithic’ bar designed by British architect Sally Mackareth – handcrafted out of 8,000 year old petrified oak – guests were treated to an aperitif. Guests then sat down to an exclusive three-course lunch created by InterContinental London Park Lane Chef, Theo Randall.
Torquhil Campbell, The Duke of Argyll drew lunch to a close, with guests standing on their seats for a traditional Quaich experience with Royal Salute 21 Year Old whisky – a fitting way to toast the noble sport of polo and kick-off the eagerly-anticipated Live Auction.
As part of an ongoing commitment to philanthropy – which has so far raised an impressive US$1.5 million – a half hour of bidding raised over £144,000 for the Born Free Foundation, Head Injury Through Sport (HITS), the Brooke, The Eve Branson Foundation, NSPCC and – fittingly – Mexican charity Doña en Vida.
The opening game was one of Brompton Bicycle Polo, in which the InterContinental London Park Lane Rest of World team clinched a well-deserved 3–1 victory. The afternoon’s polo saw the Qatar Airways British Exiles took on the Royal Salute Commonwealth team in the opening Hackett Cronan Cup. These two very closely-matched teams – at 13 goals – battled hard. The Royal Salute Commonwealth team’s Tom Hunt and Simon Keyte left the Qatar Airways British Exiles adrift by 3-1, however a subsequent three goals resulted in a 5-5 draw.
Next the RJI Capital British Schools team took to the pitch against the Mexico Polo Team – kind hosts of British Polo Day Mexico. Undeterred by the thunderstorm overhead, the Mexico Team drew first blood with Diego Solorozano scoring a penalty from the 40 yard spot, and they remained in the lead, eventually triumphing with a 3 – 2 victory.
The official British Polo Day Great Britain Prizegiving marked the end of a great day’s polo. The crowd gathered to see Urs Schwarzenbach jointly present the Royal Salute Commonwealth and Qatar Airways British Exiles teams with the Hackett Cronan Cup. Joined by Ron Wahid, the two then presented the visiting Mexico team with the Land Rover River Field Plate. The Royal Salute ‘Most Valuable Player’ was presented to JJ de Alba.
Commenting on British Polo Day Great Britain Ed Olver, CEO of British Polo Day said: “We were delighted to return once again to Black Bears – by kind permission of the Schwarzenbach family – for the home leg of British Polo Day’s Global Series. With 2015 being the Dual Year of Mexico and the UK, it was with great pleasure that we hosted British Polo Day Mexico hosts and great friends the de Alba family – who head home across ‘the pond’ victorious in their efforts.”
