where the Santa Maria polo club hoststhe Land Rover International Tourna-ment throughout August. It is the big-gest tournament in Europe and theevent of choice for some top patrons,including James Packer.

Some senior figures in the Englishgame acknowledge privately that thesuccess of Sotogrande has in effectkilled off higher-level English polo inAugust. However, it is not the tourna-ment that will surprise, but plans fordevelopment of the sport in Spain.

The Santa Maria club is planningexpanding its appeal as a luxury lei-sure destination, creating a complexof music venues, bars and shops

Continued on page 3

won the showcase International Daymatch for five straight years.

England, captained by Luke Tomlin-son, one of the UK’s two 7-goalers,beat the South America team in the StRegis International Cup that kickedoff the English season this year anddefeated a young Argentina side 10-9on their home ground in Palermo,Buenos Aires, in the Copa de lasNaciones in April.

The Coronation Cup will be atougher challenge, because the Eng-land side, yet unnamed, will be upagainst both Cambiaso and Pieres inthe 26-goal Argentina team.

After the English season, the poloworld moves to Sotogrande, the lux-ury residential area in Andalucia,

often within a single goal. And it willbe just as tight this year.”

Cowdray Park will host a new fix-ture in the polo calendar, albeit oneheld in an atmosphere of sadness. Thefirst match of the Gold Cup will bethe Carlos Gracida Memorial Trophy,in memory of the Mexican 10-goalerwho was a star of English polo lawnsfor decades. The 53-year-old died thisyear in Florida after he sustainedhead injuries in a polo accident.

On July 26 the England team willface Argentina in a much-anticipatedCoronation Cup on Audi InternationalDay at Guards polo club. The rise ofthe England team has been a featureof the highest level of the game inrecent seasons, with England having

English tournaments last season.Attention will move to Cowdray

Park for the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cupon July 16 to decide the British Opentitle, billed as the premier high-goalpolo tournament in the world. Zacara,featuring 10-goaler Facundo Pieres,will again be a prime contender afterbeating Dubai, the team that boastsAdolfo Cambiaso, the world numberone, in one of the most exciting finalsof recent times.

Liz Higgins, spokeswoman for Cow-dray Park, believes matches could betighter than ever. “Everyone’s ponypower is much greater these dayswhich makes it harder to predict awinner in the Gold Cup. Lots ofmatches were really close last year –

The English high-goal poloseason promises to beamong the most electric foryears. New teams, includingtwo all-British professional

sides, a new showpiece fixture and aninternational test match against themight of Argentina will be highlightsin the weeks ahead.

High-goal – polo played at the high-est level – is more competitive thanever, with the world’s top-rated 10-goal (the highest handicapped) play-ers in action. The first high-goal tour-nament, the Cartier Queen’s Cup atGuards, will culminate this weekendwith aficionados keen to see if anyteam can upset patron Lyndon Lea’sZacara team, which triumphed in top

Saturday June 14 2014

Winning side:the England poloteam playedSouth America inthe St RegisInternational Cupat Cowdray Parkin May. Thevisitors weredefeated 11.5goals to 8

Tony Ramirez

Clare Milford Haven‘Let’s set the recordstraight – polo’s tough’Opinion Page 2

Exceptional dynastyPablo Pieres on beingone of the familyHard work Page 3

Eye in the skyDrones capture theaction for televisionA wider audience Page 4

Hopes soarfor the high-goal season

Tight contests expected, writes Bob Sherwood

FT SPECIAL REPORT

FT Polo

2 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES SATURDAY JUNE 14 2014

26 July

Audi International Polo Series Coronation CupGuards polo clubEngland V Argentina

20 July

Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup finalCowdray Park polo club

21 June

Audi International Polo SeriesBeaufort polo club

5-6 September

Roodee Challenge CupChester Racecourse

15 June

Cartier Queen’s Cup finalGuards polo club

Major UK polo fixtures 2014

Benedict ManderArgentina correspondent

Andres SchipaniAndes correspondent

Shannon BondUS consumer correspondent

Bob SherwoodFreelance journalist

Feargus O’SullivanFreelance journalist

Tatjana MitevskaEditorial assistant

Helen BarrettCommissioning editor

Andy MearsPicture editor

Steven BirdDesigner

For advertising details,contact CharlotteWilliamson, +44 (0)20 78734038charlotte.williamson@ft.com,or your usual FTrepresentative.

All FT Reports are available onFT.com at ft.com/reportsFollow us on Twitter at:@ftreports

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Contributors

The British polo season is in fullswing. Polo fields up and downthe country – if not waterlogged

by recent downpours – are echoingwith the thundering of hooves, aseight polo ponies, with players atop,career across the ground at high speedtrying to slot a small white ballthrough the goalposts with the swingof a bamboo stick.

Although the sport is increasing inpopularity, it remains much malignedin some quarters.

Polo is widely regarded as a sportfor the elite and the spoilt. It isportrayed in glossy magazines and byreputation (aided and abetted by Polo,Jilly Cooper’s jodhpur-ripping novel)as a sport played for show and foreffect, with the sole purpose ofallowing male players to seduce thefemale spectators after the finalchukka.

Apparently, it is played only byroyalty, dissolute aristocrats, playboysand handsome South Americans – andit is not really that difficult. Pop on apair of white jeans, hop on a horse,swing a stick and bingo! You’re a poloplayer.

Let us set the record straight.First, polo should come with a

health warning. Not because it is oneof the most dangerous sports on theplanet, with horses galloping atspeeds of up to 35mph and withplayers and horses crashing into you,“hooking” your stick – a move toprevent you from hitting the ball byblocking your swing with their stick –and doing everything they can toprevent you scoring a goal. Butbecause, on a par with the purestopium or the finest bottle of DomPérignon, polo is highly addictive.

So addictive, in fact, that manyplayers have faced financial ruin.

There is always one more pony to buy,one more team to put together, onemore trophy to win.

Polo is one of the most high octanesports available to man, and it is alsodifficult.

It is tough, it is demanding and it isphysically challenging, requiringcommitment, determination, courageand quick thinking. It is like playingchess on horseback.

There are plays and moves you

must make within a split second usinganticipation and skill as your tools.

You must have your wits about youand 100 per cent focus for at least anhour. You have to be fit and healthy.You can’t lead a playboy lifestyle. Youwon’t survive five minutes if youroll out of a nightclub at 6am ona match day.

But that is not to say thatthe sport is sober andconventional. Far from it.

Polo attracts highlyamusing and unusualcharacters from all walksof life who share a love ofhorses and competitiveteam sport.

Many team owners –known as patrons – aresuccessful, self-madebusinesspeople whorelish the adrenalin fixof a game as theperfect antidote tothe confines ofcorporate life.

It is the ultimate pro-am sport forthose happy to step outside theircomfort zone. It is also refreshinglynon-sexist, because men and womencan play together and arehandicapped equally.

Of course, you need money, becauseyou must buy and look after morethan one horse. But there are differententry levels to the sport depending onthe depth of your pockets, from lowgoal to the ultimate – ChampionsLeague-equivalent – high goal, wherea patron can play with the leadingprofessionals.

And yes, many of the pros aredashing, dynamic young men of allnationalities with film-star looks whohave the same effect on women whenthey take their sweaty shirts off as thebuff guy in the old Diet Coke adverts.But they are also sublime sportsmen.

Most have worked their way upfrom the bottom: from mucking outstables and being habitually buckedoff young horses to playing onEngland’s Elysian fields – at CowdrayPark polo club or Guards polo club in

Windsor Great Park.An avid polo player

himself, WinstonChurchill said: “A polohandicap is the bestpassport to the world”.

He was right. Polocan take you toplaces you have onlydreamt of visiting.

Clare Milford Havenis a polo player andambassador forJaeger-LeCoultre

‘Polo is tough and demanding –like playing chess on horseback’OpinionClare Milford Haven

Clare Milford Haven:setting the recordstraight

‘You won’t survive f iveminutes if you roll outof a nightclub at 6amon match day’

FT Polo

Ask any high-goal poloplayer what lies behindtheir success, and they willusually admit that thequality of their horses has

as much to do with it as their skill.But with the search for the perfect

mount becoming increasinglyadvanced, cloning is attracting grow-ing interest among breeders.

Finding a horse that combines thespeed and acceleration of a thorough-bred race horse is difficult, leadingmany to investigate whether cloningis a viable way of preserving thegenetics of the best horses into futuregenerations.

On the expanses of Argentina’s

pampas grasslands, cloning tech-niques are being developed by AdolfoCambiaso, regarded by many as theworld’s best player.

“Cloning is growing by leaps andbounds here,” says Adrian Mutto, themolecular biologist in charge of clon-ing for Mr Cambiaso’s CrestviewGenetics, one of two companies pio-neering the technique in the SouthAmerican country.

Crestview was founded in the US in2008 but relocated to Argentina aftercatching the eye of Mr Cambiaso, whois backed by investor Ernesto Gutiér-rez.

Although the first horse was clonedby Italian scientists in 2003, cloning

polo ponies has taken off onlyrecently, with Crestview havingcloned about 35 horses. Those 35 haveproduced almost 70 foals, whileanother 30 cloned foals are expectedto be born over the coming year.

The plan is for Crestview to be akind of horse factory, creating a bankof clones of some of the finest horsesin the world and then selling theirembryos. The first official auction ofthese embryos is expected this year.Last year buyers paid about $70,000for the embryo of a clone of one of MrCambiaso’s star horses.

Cloning is legal in Argentina, and atan institutional level it has gainedwidespread acceptance worldwide.Major international breeding associa-tions accept the registration of clonedhorses and clones have been permit-ted to participate in equestrian sportsin the Olympic Games since 2012.

Mr Cambiaso played polowith a clone for thefirst time last year inthe Palermo Open inBuenos Aires, polo’s

most prestigious tournament. MrMutto says this year Mr Cambiasowill play only with clones.

“No one can assure that a clonedanimal is going to be as good a playeras the original,” says Mr Mutto, whoexplains that in general players clonehorses so that they can carry onbreeding from the clones with thesame quality of genetics as their starhorses, rather than with the intentionof playing on them.

Perhaps the main barrier to cloningis the high cost, as the processrequires a complex laboratory with ateam of biologists. With much still tobe learnt, techniques remain ineffi-cient and a very low percentage ofembryos that are developed go on tobe born.

Cloning is cheaper in Argentinathan elsewhere, costing around$100,000 – 120,000 to clone a horse,

according to Mr Mutto. The averagehigh-goal polo pony costs about halfas much for a player to buy.

There is resistance to cloningamong most players and breeders.Guillermo Buchanan, who runsArgentina’s breeding association andsays he has a neutral attitude, esti-mates that of more than 600 members,no more than 30 of them may beadopting the technique.

Most prefer traditional breedingmethods, he says, questioningwhether cloning will have the revolu-tionary impact on breeding poloponies as the “embryo transfer sys-tem”, which became popular inArgentina about 15 years ago.

A mare’s pregnancy can last 11months, so the system enables thebest playing mares to yield foals viasurrogates many times, while continu-ing to be ridden in competitive play.

“Embryo transfers have been ahuge success in Argentina,” says MrBuchanan, who says that in the Pal-ermo Open, most horses used by thetop teams were born through embryotransfers. But although the techniquehas become more widespread, thenumbers of foals born has stabilisedas supply matches demand. Up to7,000 horses are born by embryo trans-fer each year.

The success of cloning in Argentina,where the breeding of polo ponies ismore advanced than elsewhere, willdetermine whether it spreads furtherafield such as to the UK.

“In many people’s minds it is play-ing with God, and just going too far,”says Nick Wood, managing director ofPoloStudbook, a directory of UK poloponies, who thinks cloning is “a fash-ion, but an expensive one”.

“People [in the UK] want to try it tosee if they really can get that double,but I think they’ll find out prettyquickly that it’s unlikely,” says MrWood, pointing out that there is moreto the quality of a horse than itsbreeding.

Players looktwice at clonesas breeders seekto recreatestar poniesBenedict Mander reports on a controversialreproduction enterprise in Argentina

Quality genes: but cloned foals are expensive

FINANCIAL TIMES SATURDAY JUNE 14 2014 ★ 3

Staring into the lushhills overlooking Cara-cas, Jorge Ruiz del Vizo

remembers what happenedfive years ago. The socialistgovernment of the late Presi-dent Hugo Chávez, scourgeof the country’s private sec-tor, took over Mr del Vizo’sestate, which had a polofield.

“The army arrived andtook over my finca [ranch],my horses,” he says. “Theynever gave an excuse for theexpropriation, let alone pay-ing a penny in compensa-tion.”

The Monte Sacro estate,located about 100m fromCaracas, once belonged toUS magnate Nelson A. Rock-efeller. But it was Mr delVizo who built one of whatwas then a handful of pri-vate polo fields. He did thisin a country that is home toa meagre 50 players, whostruggle to make headway inone of the most hostile sce-narios for the world’s mostexclusive sport.

“In the early 2000s, soonafter Chávez took office, peo-ple started to lower theirprofiles and slowly, manywealthy polo lovers movedfrom playing in the Club deCampo in Caracas to theirfincas . . . to hide away,”says Mr del Vizo, a one-goalhandicap player who headsthe recently revived Vene-zuelan polo commission.

The government’s rhetoricagainst personal wealth sawthe number of players dwin-dle at the Club de Campo,with its two fields on the out-skirts of Caracas, not farfrom a slum.

Since Mr Chávez’s death in2013, his successor, NicolásMaduro, has presided overdeteriorating economic con-ditions and violent streetprotests, which have taken afurther toll on the sport.

Some matches have beencancelled at the Club deCampo amid rising politicaltension. And costs are rising

steeply: in the mid 2000s,players say, a Venezuelanc o u l d b u y a n d s h i p a nArgentine mare for lowhandicap tournaments toCaracas for between $3,000and $6,000. Today, highershipping costs tied to Vene-zuela’s currency devalua-tions and complicated sys-tem of currency controlshave increased that price tobetween $10,000 and $12,000,forcing many local playersto breed Venezuelan ponies.

“Polo dropped in fre -quency and quality. Teamswere less willing to buyhorses and invite profes-sional players as the localcurrency lost its value,” saysCarlos Zuloaga, a veteranplayer of the Club de Campo.

In recent years, he says,polo was played for only acouple of months a year inC a r a c a s , w h i l e i t h a dstopped altogether in placessuch as Maracaibo andValencia. Some Venezuelans

with deep pockets decided toestablish their own polopremises in an enclave ofprivate ranches with polofacilities in the northerncoastal town of Tucacas, onthe Caribbean coast wherethe land is f lat and theweather unbeatable.

“The description soundslike this is the Caribbeanversion of Spain’s Soto-grande, but the truth is thatthe town looks more likesomewhere in rural Zimba-bwe,” says a businessmanand low-handicapped poloplayer who has played there.

“But inside the gates, theestates could rival PalmBeach.”

The most emblematic oft h o s e r a n c h e s i sAgualinda, the Vene-

zuelan home of the LechuzaCaracas team, owned by Víc-tor Vargas, the multimillion-aire and polo fanatic.

The team, which plays

around the world, lost 21polo ponies in the 2009 USOpen, reportedly to acciden-tal selenium poisoning.

Even if the polo scene inTucacas goes against every-thing Mr Chávez’s “Bolivar-ian Revolution” stood for,Mr Zuloaga feels “it was toohidden away for Chávez tobe bothered by it.”

In Venezuela’s remainingpolo pockets, there is a deter-mination to keep the sportalive. Last year, the Club deCampo noticed a turnround.

S o m e a t t r i b u t e d t h echange to a generationalshift. Young people who hadgrown up accustomed to MrChávez’s ideology and thefear that it inspired simplystarted to shrug off thosefears after the president’sdeath.

“In Caracas, polo wasreborn thanks to the sons orrelatives of former polo play-ers who stopped playing afew years ago,” says Mr delVizo. “These are youngsterswho do not have enoughmoney to buy their own fin-cas, but they are workingprofessionals from relativelywealthy families who canafford to get organised, chipin money to buy and keephorses, pay green fees andgrooms, and now they haveteams of between three andfour handicap goals.”

This year 44 players facedeach other in more than 100matches from January toApril, and the club managedto bring in Argentine refe-rees, trainers, and profes-sional players. Some saythat the game now evenattracts some rookies fromthe bolibourgeoisie – a termcoined to describe a breed ofbusiness magnates thatthrived under Mr Chávez.

“Polo took off in such away that I feel it is unstoppa-ble now. We are not going tohave enough fields to playnext year,” says Mr del Vizo.

For Alex Ardila, a 30-year-old and part of the new gen-eration of Venezuelan poloplayers, one “has to keep thelowest profile possible”because of political polarisa-tion, violence and lack ofsecurity.

For him, the issue is sim-ple: polo helps players “dis-connect” from Venezuela’s“grim reality” and its prob-lems. “It is like oxygen.”

Sport regroups after decadeof decline under ChávezVenezuela

Clubs enjoy revivalas new generationresolves to keep thegame alive, writesAndres Schipani

On FT.com

SponsorshipBrands eye upemerging­marketpolo. Plus, inpictures: 30years of Cartierand poloft.com/reports

Víctor Vargas: part of Venezuela’s polo­playing elite

My father [Paul Pieres]first put me on ahorse when I wasthree or four yearsold. He played polo in

many different countries, and wealways went with him. I’ve beenplaying since I was really young . . . ifyou don’t do that it’s impossible toreach this level.

I’ve been playing professionallysince I was 18. I’m 27 now and havebeen playing in the Argentine Openfor the past three years . . . the besttournament in the world.

The money I earn I spend onhorses. More than 60 per cent [ofsuccess] is about what kind of horseyou have. Last year we did well inthe Argentine Open and I played anice tournament, mostly becausethey were the best horses I’ve had.

How much of your time is devotedto polo?It takes up a lot of time, so I try tohave fun and relax because it’s ahard sport. I have three grooms whohave come with me from Argentina[for the English season]. They workthe horses every morning at 5.30amand in the afternoons at 4pm.

I try to be in the barn with themall day drinking mate [a LatinAmerican tea] and watching thehorses. But it’s important to play[other sports such as] golf or tennis.If I don’t have injuries I try to dothat, unless my body is telling me totake a break.

This year from January to April Iwas in Palm Beach, then I spent amonth in Argentina. I’m in Englandnow for the Queen’s Cup and theBritish Open, and will go to France.Then in September, back toArgentina for the Triple Crown. Imay get 15 days off all year, but I’mliving a dream.

Why are Argentines so good at polo?

Mostly it’s the horses. It takes sixyears before polo ponies are ready toplay. In Argentina you haveeverything in place – the farms, thepeople, everything you need to raisepolo ponies. It’s a big advantage overthe guys in England or the US.

Does Argentina dominate the sport?It would be nice if . . . the sport were[more balanced] like football or golf.But it’s hard . . . because it’s sodifficult to keep horses. It would be

amazing if it were like footballwhere you just need a pair of shoesand a ball. That’s the frustratingthing about polo.

There are 14 Pieres registered withhandicaps by the Argentine poloassociation. Is there muchcompetition within the family?Yes. My cousins Facundo andGonzalo have [the highest] handicapof 10, while Nicolás and I are on 9.They are all amazing people – of

course you want to be a 10 and to bethe best, but when I play againstthem it’s a good kind of competition.I want to play against them and win,but I play with them too.

Last year I played against all threebrothers on the same team[Ellerstina] in the semi-finals of theArgentine Open, and we [Alegría]beat them. For many years it wasalways the same final – Ellerstina VLa Dolfina – but last year wechanged that, and made history.

Is polo exclusive?I don’t think so. It’s complicated toget the horses, and not everyone hasa farm, so that obviously makes itdifficult to play. But it’s not an elitesport, it’s not just the sport of kings.We want polo to be more popularand we are not putting up barriers.

How can polo become mainstream?Nacho Figueras is doing a great jobin New York at making polo morepopular and showing people they canstart playing and take lessons. He’sfamous over there now, and we canall help and start doing what Nachois doing. Although he was very luckyto be a Ralph Lauren model.

What is the role of corporatesponsorship?Lots of brands are trying to get intopolo, but it would be a great help ifmore famous brands sponsoredplayers. In the Argentine Open somecar brands sponsor teams, watchestoo. That’s going well but it needs toimprove.

What is the future of polo?I think it can grow. I would like tosee the Argentine Open playedelsewhere, like Hong Kong, China,Germany and New York. Instead ofhaving one open, we could have fouror five, with one in each country.

Which players do you most admire?Facundo Pieres is my number one,and he is now the best in the world.Then Juan Martín Nero – he’s one ofthe toughest guys around, but he’sclean and fair.

How do you see your careerdeveloping from here?I’m still quite young for polo. I trynot to think too much about that.My head is always focused on theArgentine Open, which I hope toplay in again this year with Alegría.

It’s hard work, but living a dream

Pablo Pieres may be one of thebest players in Argentina but heis not the best in his family,writes Benedict Mander.He has a handicap of nine –

and so do 12 other Argentineplayers, one of whom is hiscousin, Nicolás Pieres. Nicolás’sbrothers, Gonzalo and Facundo,have reached the highesthandicap of 10 – a distinctionclaimed by only five other activeplayers in Argentina.

Many consider 28-year-oldFacundo to be the world’s bestplayer, a position monopolisedfor years by Adolfo Cambiaso,who is approaching the end ofhis professional career.The exceptional achievements

of the Pieres family are largelythanks to the efforts of GonzaloPieres – father of Gonzalo Jnr,Facundo and Nicolás.Gonzalo Snr, who had a 10-

goal handicap, is credited with

professionalising the game andhelping raise its profile globally.He was also a successful polopony breeder.With the help of Kerry Packer,

the late Australian patron – whoonce ranked as one of the 100richest people in the world –Gonzalo Snr founded Ellerstina,the team that has become afixture in the final of the PalermoOpen in Argentina, polo’s mostprestigious tournament.

Top handicap dynasty continues to rule

Rising star: Pablo Pieres plays with Alegría at the Argentine Open in Buenos Aires Getty

designed to appeal to consumers notnecessarily interested in polo.

“In the past, we have only openedthe fields when polo was beingplayed,” says Luis Estrada, chairman.“This year we are going to open everyday for 35 days. People will comeregardless of the polo.”

But the club plans to go furtherwith a second phase of development,to turn this corner of Andalucia intothe equestrian capital of Europe. Itwill invest €1.5bn in hotels, villas,shopping malls and equestrian sportsvenues and is in negotiations withluxury resort developers from theGulf, China and the US.

Mr Estrada expects approval for thefirst phase after the summer and fore-casts that work will begin in 2016:“Our vision, adding showjumping anddressage, is to turn the Santa Mariasite from one of the world’s most sig-nificant polo clubs into the equestriancapital of Europe.”

The plan is an example of how polois growing as a lifestyle attraction forwealthy people globally. Clubs areexpanding in China and Dubai, coun-tries with aspirations to raise thelevel of polo in their tournaments.

David Woodd, chief executive of theHurlingham Polo Association, thesport’s governing body in the UK, isaware of the threat. “Emerging coun-tries will try to attract the best profes-sional [players and patrons],” he says.“[Emerging tournaments] are notthere to play 10-goal for the next 30years. And even if they think theyare, the pros will advise them other-wise. The pros drive the developmentof polo. They are trying to grow themarket for their product.”

But the English season is rooted inthe high-goal circuit and there are notmany countries where conditions areright for polo in June and July. MrWoodd adds that things are lookingup in English polo.

He points to three new teams andnew patrons, including the KingPower team of Aiyawatt “Top” Srivad-dhanaprabha. And both the Queen’sCup and the Gold Cup unusually fea-ture all-pro British teams in Fox &Hounds and Halcyon Gallery, whichadd a different dimension to thematches and prove popular with spec-tators. There will be plenty for thecrowds to cheer this season.

Continued from page 1

Hopes soarfor the high-goal season

InterviewPablo PieresTeam: Alegría

The Argentine player tellsBenedict Mander about hisfamily, his ambitions andwhy his countrymen are sosuccessful on the pitch

FT Polo | News

‘If youdon’t startyoung, it’simpossibleto reachthis level’

4 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES SATURDAY JUNE 14 2014

There is much more to British PoloDay than meets the eye. Photosof some of the 36 events hosted by

this five-year-old start-up give animpression of summery ease. Womenwith sharp cheekbones pose withchampagne flutes. Important-lookingmen rub shoulders with royals. Thereare grand houses, chandeliers – and theoccasional discreet brand placement inthe background.

It might not look like a British brandempire in the making but that is whatBritish Polo Day aspires to be, and it isexpanding fast.

Founded by Edward Olver, a formerHousehold Cavalry officer and Deut-sche Bank trader, the company’sevents have been staged in 16 coun-tries. Its first US event took place inLos Angeles this month and more areplanned in Australia, South Africa,Brazil and South Korea.

Events are by invitation only withbetween 100 and 5,000 guests attending.They feature compet i t ive polo ,lunches, receptions and charity fund-raising. But their primary purpose is tolink the horse-loving internationalelite with the British luxury brandsthat sponsor the events – albeit in asociable environment. What looks likea jolly day out is a networking event.

Mr Olver’s ambitions go beyond this.He envisions British Polo Day events,and the networks they forge, as a plat-form through which British companiesbuild close relations with prime mov-ers in emerging markets.

As well as promoting aninternationally marketa-ble image of Britishnessbased on the traditions ofthe aristocratic past, theevents help Britonsimprove their inter-national sensitivi-ties. As Mr Olverputs it: “I’m notr u n n i n g p o l oevents, I’m build-ing a platform fore l i t e e n g a g e -ment in emerg-i n g m a r k e t s .Many western-ers fail at thisbecause they

are preachy, arrogant and not tolerantor understanding of the challenges thatexist in a diverse world.”

The company’s business model restson sponsorship revenue from brandsincluding Land Rover, Justerini &Brooks, the wine merchants, and Hack-ett, the apparel company.

While British Polo Day expects turn-over of £2m this year, its ambitionsdepend on building trust and rangerather than revenue. “We’re not reallyin the mood for transacting,” Mr Olversays. “We’ll probably make a £6,000profit this year. It’s the platform we areaiming to build. There is no rush.”

British Polo Day’s belief in the statusof British brands among global elitesmay seem optimistic but its attitude issupported by data.

In 2013, 28 per cent of Rolls-Roycesales were in China, while Burberryreported sales there jumped 20 per centduring 2012-13 from the previous finan-cial year. Jaguar Land Rover’s worldsales increased by almost a fifth in2013, with Chinese sales rising byalmost a third.

Keith Pogson, Asia Pacific financialservices leader at accountants Ernst &Young, says British luxury can playwell in China. “The appeal is based onthe concepts of heritage, ancestry andhistory. The big challenge is the auster-ity drive but in the mainland, Britishcars are still seen as very prestigious.”

Britain’s share of the luxury sector inemerging markets is held back by lackof connections and understanding oflocal business culture. A survey lastyear from Ledbury Research forecastsales for British luxury brands of

£12.2bn in 2017 from£6.6bn in 2012. It notedthat only 23 per cent ofthese brands had apresence in India and

only 13 per cent inBrazil.

In this light, Brit-i s h P o l o D a y ’ semphasis on rela-t ionships makessense.

A jolly good networkingevent – by invitation only

British Polo Day promotes UK brands to theglobal super-rich. By Feargus O’Sullivan

On a recent Saturday inNew Jersey, spectatorsringed an expanse of hoof-torn turf, sipping cham-pagne and taking in views

of the Manhattan skyline at the VeuveClicquot Polo Classic.

The elaborate hats and bottles of bub-bly lived up to polo’s image: a sport forthe well-heeled and well-connectedelite. “When you poll the average per-son, it’s [about] royalty, and it’s cloth-ing and lifestyle,” says Jim Rossi, chiefmarketing officer of the US Polo Asso-ciation (USPA), the governing body forUS polo.

But polo is changing. Enthusiasmamong women and the newly wealthyin emerging markets such as China,India and eastern Europe is drivinggrowth. The New Jersey event, featur-ing star Argentine player NachoFigueras, was part of a mission byorganisers to increase polo’s visibilityand broaden its appeal in parts of theworld where entrepreneurs and celebri-ties are funding teams, from SiliconValley in the US to Dubai.

One approach to raising polo’s profileis to make matches available on televi-sion and online. In Argentina, wherepolo enjoys the largest mainstreamaudience, events are regularly broad-cast on television. ESPN, the cablesports network, airs polo on its Span-ish-language channels in Latin Amer-ica, including live broadcasts of theArgentine Triple Crown.

But elsewhere it can be difficult towatch top-level matches. Sky Sports inthe UK airs some competitions inagreement with the Hurlingham Polo

Association, which governs the sportin the UK, Ireland and other countries,but it does not have a regular slot.

Efforts to show polo in the US werepiecemeal until last year, when theUSPA, which has about 5,000 members,created a professional marketing wingwith a $2m budget.

Following broadcasts of 2013’s USOpen and Westchester Cup and the2014 CV Whitney Cup on NBC’s sportschannel, the 2014 US Open final will airon NBC’s main network on June 21 –the first major network broadcast of apolo match in more than a decade.

“We thought it was important tohave some regularity to it,” says MrRossi. “Television does make the sportappear more mainstream. There’s a lotto like about it: equestrian interest,extreme sport interest, an exciting plat-form for engagement with sponsors.”

Mr Rossi estimates that the com-bined viewership from broadcast andstreaming video of USPA events in 2013was about 300,000 – “probably largerthan the live audience for all the eventscombined”. Richard Caleel, presidentof the Federation of International Polo,which represents the polo associationsof more than 80 countries, estimatesthere are about 25,000 registered play-ers worldwide.

Polo has been boosted by the popular-ity of other equestrian sports, includ-ing the US Triple Crown of horserac-ing. “Polo is growing in popularityacross the US and fits in with NBC’sexisting sports line-up of premierequestrian events,” said Gary Quinn ofNBC Sports when the USPA deal wasannounced. “We see a strong opportu-

nity to bring new fans to polo andexpand viewership of a highly desira-ble audience to the NBC networks.”

Televising polo is challenging: cam-eras must follow eight riders gallopingin pursuit of a small ball across a fieldmeasuring 274m by 146m – the size ofthree football pitches. Camerasmounted on flying drones capture theaction, speed and strategy of the game.

“What television has done is help tobring the action, the thrill of the gameto an audience that has possibly neverseen it before,” says Mr Rossi. “Ourgoal is to make it a more regular part ofthe TV schedule.”

However, not everyone is convincedthat television is the best tool to reacha broader audience.

“Broadcasting is only worthwhile inArgentina,” says Roderick Vere Nicoll,publisher of the UK’s HurlinghamMedia. “The Argentines are very welleducated about polo. It’s the only placein the world where somebody will payfor rights for games.” The USPA wouldnot comment on the terms of its broad-casting rights contract with NBC.

Mr Vere Nicoll also notes that whilegames in Argentina are aired live andreplayed at night and the next day, thematches shown in the US are delayed.This year’s US Open final took place inApril but is being broadcast twomonths later.

He sees the internet as a better outletand has devoted resources to makingmatches available to stream and replayon his website and a YouTube channel,The Polo Club.

“The great thing about the internet isthat you can watch it live, but theimportant thing is to have it on replayso that if it’s not convenient to watch itat 3pm British time, you can watch it atnight,” he says.

Mr Vere Nicoll, himself a polo player,acknowledges the sport “has a bad rap”that will be difficult to change – butthis does not reflect the reality oftoday’s game, he says.

“The majority [of polo players] areentrepreneurs. It’s all new money andmostly business people. They love theaggression and the teamwork . . . itdoes have an allure and an attraction.”

Broadcastingwidens optionsfor greateraudience appealTelevised matches attract interest but internetmay be a better outlet, writes Shannon Bond

The Polo Classic in New Jersey aimed to increase the game’s visibility AP

A couple enjoythe fun at BritishPolo Day

FT Polo | Marketing and Sponsorship