Pete’s Blog-in-the-garden

The Rebels will reunite this weekend at the RSPC National League Tournament. The Rebels aren’t exactly the youngest bunch of guys, and the league is a very competitive one. If we are to find more life in the old dog, we will all have to play our best. so I’ve been working hard on my fitness.

I’ve hit the gym pretty hard, trying to get a strong as possible, and working on my aerobic fitness as well. I’m really happy with the progress I have made.

Getting aerobically fit is always easier if you have dropped some weight before hand. I have lost 7 kilograms this year. I did this by going on the Herbalife Shapeworks diet. In fact I lost the 5 kg in the first week of the Herbalife diet. I was, and still am, on two of their Formula 1 shakes a day instead of meals, and one normal meal a day. The weight just dropped off. I also dropped from 30% to 18% body fat. I feel fantastic on it and even played the International League on this diet. With my workout regime, I’m starting to build muscle in the right places too.  I’ve had a lort of compliements about the way I look now, but if you think I look good, you should see Natasha!  She is wearing clothes from before she had our three kids.  (If anyone wants to try the Herbalife diet, please contact Natasha at che@equestrian.com.my.)

Now that I’m leaner, hopefully the Rebels can be meaner.

Big Brown missed his monthly shot of Winstrol and his place in Triple Crown history when he ran dead last in the Belmont Stakes. It was a revelation to me that anabolic steroids like stanozolol, which is what Winstrol is, are allowed in 28 of 38 states that have horse racing in USA. Yes, folks, your horses can run on steroids there. Steroid use is banned almost anywhere else in the world but apparently not in America.

More of a revelation was that trainer Rick Dutrow refused to blame the lack of Winny for the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner’s poor performance in the Belmont. Steroid Nation disagrees. So do I. You never saw Ben Johnson (who made stanozolol famous in the Seoul Olympics in 1988) run even close to his record times when he wasn’t on some kind of juice.

Those who have used steroids on horses will know that when horses come off steroids a lot of the time they simply aren’t the same. Steroids like Winstrol improve a horse’s appetite. It also increases their red blood count, aggressiveness, and improves their recovery rate from hard work. That means you can really give them an edge with some really hard, sharp work. Coming off it, you often get the horse cycling into a lethargic period. Perhaps that is one of the explanations as to why the favorite lost. Sure, there are many others like whether Big Brown truly stayed the distance. I’m just amazed and astounded that steroids are allowed in American horse racing.

Over the last 10 days, I did the commentary for all 12 games of the Ranhill Cup polo tournament and enjoyed myself immensely. It has been some years since I called quite so many games so I had a bit of rust to work out of the system. Quite a few people expressed surprised that I am a polo commentator. I had not done much of it in Malaysia as we always used to have Bob Blake at RSPC or more recently, John Bell or Derek Mitchell at our big tournaments. And much of the time I had other things to do, like play.

I started commentating in Singapore when I was a young player. In those days, if you played in a tournament you also had to do something for the tournament - you umpired, refereed, volunteered as a goal judge, scorer or commentator. Between goal judging in the hot sun or getting the best view of the game from the commentary box, you know which one I chose.

I think I got better as I went through the tournament. You get to know the players better, how they ride and even how they play. Good polo is easier to call than bad polo. Calling the Ranhill Cup was a good one because it was 14 goals and we had some fantastic players on the field like Argentine Open winner Benjamin Araya, FIP World Cup MVP Matias Vial Peres, and 7 goaler Alejandro Novillo Astrada. They are great players to watch and it was a privilege to call their games.

Hopefully I’ll keep getting chances to commentate some of the good games.

A couple of years ago I was asked to edit an article for The Encyclopedia of Malaysia. I ended up writing the introduction for the Equine Sports section and a piece about Equestrianism in Malaysia. The Sports and Recreation volume, No 15 in the series, is being launched today at Stadium Negara by Malaysia’s King, KDYMM Sultan Mizan.

It is the third time I have been published in book form. It’s always an honour to be published in a book, especially one as prestigious as The Encyclopedia of Malaysia. If any of you have trouble finding it in the book stores please let me know. I have a few copies available for sale.

When I started polo in the seventies, the only warm-up we did was for the horses. Our warm-up was a few hits on the field just before the game started. That was it. The post-game warm down was a couple of cold ones in the bar.

How far the professional game has progressed since then. Harald Link’s Thailand Polo team brings their own physiotherapist along with them to every RMPA International League polo game. All their players stretch, with the help of their physio, both before and after the game.

Harald adopted this practice after he tore his riding muscle while playing in the Thai Open in January.  Now all his players enjoy it.  The photo shows Thailand Polo’s 6-goal pro Carlos Pando getting stretched before the game against La Sarita yesterday.  Thailand Polo won the match 5-3.

The Penang boys wiped the grins off the faces of the Selangor and Wilayah wonders. Individual gold to Syed Kamil Nafis of Penang with Xulana Cheyenne; Silver to Faten Nurain Syakira of Kedah with Jimmy Chow; 3rd to Md Zulfikar of Terengganu with Sooty. It was double gold for Nafis as he was on the Penang team that won the team showjumping the day before. He also finished 4th in the individual dressage competition with his former jumper, Astraphy.

Where were the Selangor and Wilayah crowd with their expensively wonderful warmbloods? From my vantage point as the course designer, it looked like while they had some fantastic horses there, they simply forgot to ride. Some had crest releases that were nowhere near the crest. One had crest releases with her hands nearer her own neck than her horse’s, right down to the buckle over each fence. Yes, it gets a bit hard to steer with no reins and no legs. There was one gorgeous warmblood that jumped higher and higher with each pull he got. He had the class at his mercy before he sought his own mercy. Maybe it was nerves, but these were supposed to be amongst the more experienced of the kids at SUKMA.

The SUKMA Games highlighted to me that there is a wealth of talent in Malaysia. There are those who can afford it and try to move up the ranks by buying themselves better horses. There are those who can’t or won’t afford to do it that way. They concentrate on being the best riders they can be. SUKMA proved that even at 1.00 m, it is about how well you ride, not how much you spent.

Premier Pitch stumbled over the last fence and staggered over the finishing line. Having beaten La Sarita on Tuesday, we were in 5th place and might sub-consciously been hoping the tournament might end there. La Sarita got their revenge in the round robin, and were were beaten by pre-tournament favourites BRDB as well. We fought all the way to the finish, but in 14 goal, you need 14 goal horses. This is what we were lacking most of all.

The next day I drove up to Kuala Terengganu as I am course designing the SUKMA XII Games. It is a nice break from polo as I re-enter the showjumping and equestrian world. It is Malaysia’s under-23 state games. It is a breath of fresh air to see all these youngsters with their untamed enthusiasm. If they are the future of Malaysian equestrian sport, and I am happy to report the future is safe.

Yesterday we had the friendlies - dressage and showjumping. There were plenty of young kids on what we shall call “experienced” horses: just what you need if the kid is inexperienced. It’s the inexperienced kids on inexperienced horses that I worry about.

I’m meeting lots of old friends here. My show jumping contemporaries are now trainers, team managers, officials, stewards and judges. Chris Ladbrook claims he has never stressed so much before one of his riders rode a Preliminary Test. James Ravindra is in fighting form in more ways than one.

Today someone let the air out of all the tires of the EAM float and locked the Wilayah grooms in the endurance stables. It’s all fun and games in Kuala Terengganu.

Playing the 14 goal International League is a huge ask in terms of horses and organisation, not to mention playing skill and team-work. We had someone pull out of the team, leaving us 10 horses short. That is half the number of horses we had. Each team is allowed 20 ponies to be registered for the tournament. All other teams have filled their quota. We kept on going to try not to mess up the tournament. We beg, stole and borrowed and have about 16 playing ponies now, including an RSPC school pony called Nellie.

There were other issues: team name change to Premier Pitch, jerseys (we used Hookahs jerseys), fitness of ponies, playing style and teamwork, gelling as a team, losing to Thailand Polo in our first match, losing more horse to lameness and injury…

My partner in the Premier Pitch polo team likens it to riding the Grand National: 30 huge fences. Despite the huge hurdles, we have kept kicking and kept going. Yesterday, in beating La Sarita 8 1/2 - 8, we felt like we had got past the Canal Turn. Our progress in the tournament will be determined today by the outcome of the BRDB vs Ranhill Polo match. If either team gets a result, they should go through to the semi-finals. We are hoping they draw, in case Premier Pitch would get a spot in the last four.

We are still six fences from home, but we are still kicking and hanging on, hoping to get to the finish line.

This morning I am playing with Dato’ Brian Miller in his Premier Pitch polo team in the Royal Selangor International League Tournament. This weekend’s matches have been shifted from Royal Selangor to Putrajaya because of a rain-soaked ground in Ampang. (For more information on this please hit http://www.rspc.org.my/news/news_body.php?id=95.)

I played in the 12 to 14 goal tournaments last season, but it is actually the first time I am playing an RMPA International League match. The RMPA Polo Leagues were started in 2005 and I played in the National League (4 to 6 goals) in 2005 and 2006. (I am playing there again this year with the Rebels team.) While I played in the 12 to 14 goal series last year, there was actually no league.

Brian and I will have +7 Juan Agustin Garcia Grossi and +4 Andres James as our professionals. Agustin played for El Paraiso in the Argentine Open last year, so he is considered one of Argentina’s rising stars.

Our team is rather makeshift on horses though. New teams are always short on horsepower. You don’t really know which ones are really up to 14 goals till you try to take them a step up. We are playing for fun, and to learn how to get better as a team. Isn’t that what it is all about?

The target has been met. RM100,000 has been raised for RDA Malaysia by the Hookahs Polo Tournament 2008. We were going to come up just short at RM97,500 but when one auction buyer heard this, he very generously topped up the balance to make it an even RM100K. Pretty magnificent.

Everyone who has been involved in the tournament deserves congratulations, from the polo players who accepted the entry fee and conditions, the RDA Ladies, Club Staff, the Tournament Organising Committee, all donors, purchasers of lucky dip, raffle tickets and auction items, and even those who just attended the event. Everyone contributed to making this a special event.

The Hookahs Polo Tournament merited a 5 minute mention on NTV7’s Breakfast Show on Tuesday morning. I was interviewed as a organiser, and some of the players. I’ll try to get the DVD and make it available on Equestrian.Com.My.