In Ponylines, you can read about rising star, Pablo Pieres, who replaced an injured Bautista Heguy at the end of the seventh chukka. Chapa I were down by three goals against 40-goal La Dolfina, but 7-goaler Pablo ignited the team and forced extra time. Jorge Andrades writes about the Triple Crown in Action. Ellerstina looked unbeatable in the first two tournaments until they faced 34-goal Chapa II, who were leading 7-0 during the second chukka and finally won 14-13. In the final, Mariano Aguerre scored the winning goal in overtime and shortly thereafter retired from the mighty La Dolfina. In Profile, Alex Webbe finds out why Mariano left and what has been the secret to his eminent polo career.
In the last issue, you read about Javier Tanoira’s ideas for putting speed back into the game. Thankfully, the Argentine Polo Association implemented some of his suggestions. In Talk, Agustin Merlos gives his personal opinion of the changes.
Another prominent topic in this issue is the ponies. Sandy Harper gives us his humble view as to why most players in the Open struggle to be well mounted past the fourth chukka. Read Miles Lewis’s report on Crestview Genetics, and you will see what Alan Meeker is doing to solve the problem. My favourite feature of the issue has nothing to do with horses – it is about bike polo. Arabella Dickie discovers this almost forgotten style of polo that has been revived on the concrete playgrounds of London. As you can see from our cover, Prince Philip has taken a spin and even the Queen has presented the prizes in an earlier era of the sport.
If you like to travel and are interested in playing polo in different parts of the world, have a look at the articles in the Action section. They cover the Ambassadors Cup in Tuscany, the Thai Open and the Maharaja of Jodhpur Cup. The polo is competitive, international and played on good grounds in exceptional settings.
Once again, I would like to thank all the people who bring Hurlingham to life. See you at La Victoria!
Roderick Vere Nicoll Publisher
