The action at Greenwich Polo Club is always taut and thrilling. Here Work to Ride and Cavalleria Toscana vie for the Monty Waterbury Cup, with Work to Ride coming from behind for the win. Photographs by Robin Costello.
With the mission of “The Games Men Play” blog broadening in recent months to include one of the ultimate games men play, politics, it’s easy to get wrapped up in bad news at home and abroad – the fight over health care and what that may mean for millions of people, Russkiegate, terrorism and fire in London, the continuing crisis in Syria – while losing sight of the actual games.
Two of the best Sunday afternoons I’ve spent recently found me taking a break from blogging and novel-writing to relish show jumping at Old Salem Farm in North Salem, N.Y. and polo at Connecticut’s Greenwich Polo Club. Both sports figure in the third planned novel in my series “The Games Men Play,” a tale of blood and bloodlines about rival horse families told in part from the viewpoint of a racehorse trying to become the first since Whirlaway to win the Triple Crown and the Travers at Saratoga.
More about show jumping – the yin to polo’s yang – in a future post. But for now my mind drifts back to a perfect late spring day at Greenwich Polo – sun-dappled and breeze-buffeting – in which nature, art and sport intersected with eating, shopping, renewing old acquaintances and making new ones.
My friend Robin and I began at The Brant Foundation Art Study Center (TBFASC), whose “Animal Farm” exhibit is a cheeky (in every sense of the word) contemporary take on the themes of eroticism, animals, the political animal and animation in a renovated fruit barn that is just an exceptional space. Peter Brant founded both the Greenwich Polo Club and The Brant Foundation Art Study Center, the center being located at edge of the polo field. Every polo Sunday, TBFASC holds an open house from 1-3 p.m. that is open to polo fans and the surrounding community.
Then sport lived up to art. The Cavalleria Toscana team (Mike Davis, Toro Ruiz, Matias Magrini, Lucas Diaz Alberdi) took an early lead with some particularly aggressive play in a battle for the USPA Monty Waterbury Cup. For a while, it looked like Work to Ride (Joseph Manheim, Nick Manifold, Mariano Aguerre and Mariano Gonzalez) would have its work cut out for it. But the mark of a great team or individual player is the calm of the cobra waiting to pounce. Work to Ride began chipping away, anchored by Aguerre, recently inducted into the Museum of Polo’s Hall of Fame, and Manifold, who delivered some stunning backhand shots. The action was so intense that at one point it came close to the boards on the sidelines, which is why you’re reminded to stay behind the white lines.
Of course, not all the action in polo is on the field, which encompasses nine gridirons. There is the promenade of fans – women in lace dresses, picture hats and espadrilles and men channeling their inner Gatsby, accessorized by toddlers and dogs. And there are the vendors. We savored lobster rolls and New England clam chowder from Boothbay Lobster and sundaes and strawberry ice cream from Longford’s Ice Cream before I took myself off to The Luxury Marketing Council of Connecticut-Hudson Valley’s tent. There I couldn’t resist a pair of gold-sequined espadrilles from Montepicaza, the new Greenwich sportswear store, which had a booth there along with several other retailers.
It was just as enjoyable to meet Aguerre face-to-face after the match, in which Work to Ride came from behind to take the Monty Waterbury Cup, the third oldest official United States Polo Association trophy. (It’s named for James “Monty” Waterbury – a 10-goaler, the highest rank in polo, and a member of the legendary Wanderers, who took the first U.S. Polo Championship in 1904.)
Bracing me with his strong hands, Aguerre – who is as humble as he is great – thanked me heartily for the coverage I’ve given him in WAG magazine, the luxury lifestyle publication I edit. “You made me look good,” he said, laughing.
It was the cherry on my Sunday.
The quest for the USPA Silver Cup continues July 9 and and concludes July 16. Then it’s the prestigious USPA East Coast Open Aug. 27-Sept. 10. For tickets and more, visit greenwichpoloclub.com.