The Rulers and their Rules

The S’pore Polo Team has been threatened with expulsion from the SEA Games if we follow through on our request for the players to be stabled near our horses. We have been told that the Singapore National Olympic Council has indicated that they have the authority to scratch the entire Singapore polo team even at this late stage if we do not co-operate with SNOC rules.

They would rather we spend 4 hours a day in traffic than book into a closer hotel. It is of no merit to them that we are paying the hotel costs ourselves. We apparently don’t have a say in this matter.

Also our Olympic Council aren’t too keen on getting accreditation for our Malaysian staff - grooms and trainers. They haven’t signed the accreditation forms which have been with them for the last 2 months. Which means my groom Ilham may not be allowed into the playing area when the games begin. How I’m supposed to saddle up 5 horses and warm them up while I’m playing the game myself is beyond me.

In a seminar on how to handle the media we were told not to speak to the press unless we had our Team Manager or an Olympic Council official present. In other words. watch what you say. The seminar even had a whole section devoted to ‘New Media’ like this here internets.

So, how am I doing so far?

Writing the Blog-in-the-garden isn’t technically speaking to the press. Rhetorically I’m not breaking the rules. Surely.

Perhaps I’ll send this post along to the elite, uncaring powers-that-be. That should cover the Big Brother business.

Should they insist on someone present to keep an eye on me at all times, hopefully that person also knows how to tack and warm up 5 ponies for competition polo.

An Assload of Rules

The official hotel that Singapore has booked for the SEA Games Polo is the Novotel Bangna Trad, which is a delightful hotel, but not the Novotel Suvanabhumi that is nearest to VRSC where the polo is played. My response to that was to say, “Well, since I’m paying for all costs myself to compete in these SEA Games, I’ll just switch hotels to the correct one, rather than spend up to 4 hours a day in the notorious Bangkok traffic.”

Not so, said the powers-that-be, who fired off this missive:

“…does not condone team staying on their own. A reminder again, this is a major Games not your own competition. There are Games rules and regulations to follow. Just like other teams.”

It brought to mind a Cervantes’ quote from Don Quixote:
The ass will carry his load, but not a double load; ride not a free horse to death.

Famous in Malaysia

We were having ice cream at Persico in B.A. late one night when a car pulls up and they have this guy tied up in the back of it.  He’s only got a collar and cuffs on, and a thong.

A policeman shrugs at the sight.  We go over to take photos and his mates ask where we are from.  It’s the poor blokes pre-wedding night, and guess where he is going on his honeymoon - Malaysia!

I told him he’d be famous amongst Malaysians by the time he got there.  Maybe that wasn’t quite true - just famous amongst those who read this blog.

More Argy Beef

My cough takes a turn for a worse. When I start to cough I just can’t stop till I’m almost wretching. I decide to miss the game at Paco’s event though it is over a 20 goal match on the field.

I join Pepe for a drive to Open Door’s village and end up buying even more stuff at the supermarket and at a local store there. I find nice white bombachas, and a few more silver trinkets. It must be shopping day as we later go into B.A. I spend a couple of hours at the King’s Game shop talking to the owners Diego White (+7) who played at the Royal Pahang Classic with Cameron Highlands, and his brother Matias. I love their shop and their designs, which is more subtlely polo than La Martina, which is the next shop we visit. I buy nothing from La Martina.

We race back to Manzanares to play 6 chukkas with Ginnes Bargalo and Pablo Dorignac, the two pros who played with Asad this season. We sit under the power lines at Ginnes club and we can hear the buzz and crackle of thousands of volts above us. The polo is very good, and we also get to catch up with Shamshir Ali of India and two of his brothers.

Then it is back to B.A. for dinner with a classmate of Asad’s from when he studied at Occidental College in L.A. Malcolm Roberts and his wife are charming people. They us to a small French restaurant six blocks from their house. There are less than a dozen tables and only one waiter, yet L’Atelier is rated one of B.A.’s best restaurants. The food, when it arrives, convinces us. I have cheese to start (!), and buck the B.A. beef with a red snapper done to perfection. Malcolm chooses a wonderful young Malbec 2006 by Ricardo Santos. It is a wonderfully different dinner than what we have been used to in Argentina. I am happy to find that B.A. has more to it than beefs the eye.

A typical Argy lunch is a tidy 500 gm Porterhouse. Dinner is often a lomo (tenderloin). Their lomos are often not big enough so they tie a couple of lomo together with string so that can get up to the requisite half kilo of red meat that is the staple of just about every meal.

I play at Las Betulas, a very nice and friendly club. B.B. (pronounced Bebe) Quesada is my host at the club and I play 6 of the 8 club chukkas. As always in Argentina it is a good standard, around 16 goals. I score the final goal that breaks the deadlock and my team wins. They have built themselves a small wooden clubhouse and we retire there to celebrate with Quilmes. It’s a lovely club, full of polo camaraderie, much like RSPC.

Asad plays in the FIP 25^th Anniversary Ambassador’s Tournament. It is played at the Agentine Polo Association’s fields – they have eight beautiful fields – and at Carlos Pando’s place.

Carlos has a wonderful house, with four adjacent fields. Makes you wonder if he is a patron or a pro! His stable block is newly built, completed in September. It is an airy Spanish style brick, with a viewing room and deck on the upper level. I am introduced to his brother Francisco (only 4 goals), and have a nice time catching up with Julian Sagarna who was been working for Thailand Polo since 2004. (Photo right shows Carlos Pando, Kristie Hanbury, Asad Jumabhoy and Justo Amuchastegui)

Loads if people I know are in this tournament, including of course FIP President Patrick Guerrand-Hermes, who I had the pleasure of chauffeuring around KL earlier this year when he came to visit RMPA President Tengku Mahkota Pahang. I am introduced to Steve Wyatt and his wife Rachel, formerly of Singapore and now of Nine Dragon Hills Polo Club in Shanghai. It’s nice also to catch up with Greg and Janice Keyte, and John-Paul Clarkin.  I also meet Joe & Susan Meyer who visited Kuala Lumpur last year, and I meet Ricardo Mihanovich, whose name is used in the pony I am playing in the SEA Games – Mia’s full name is Mijanovic, named after Ricardo, from whom she was bought. He is delighted to know I have one of his ponies.

On the last Saturday we are off to Palermo to watch La Dolfina play El Paraiso. Paco de Navaez has an excellent game at No 4 for El Paraiso. He really is one of the best players in the world, and in my estimation the best back at the moment. He is +9, but compared to Lolo Castagnola, the La Dolfina back, Paco is much more assured and has a much better game. There is no doubt that Adolfo Cambiaso is the best player in the world. He flits in and out of the game, doing just enough to ensure that La Dolfina wins 15-14. One gets the feeling that the result was never in doubt, just the scoreline.

That evening I have one of the nicest surpises as I am reunited with one of my housemates from my Canadian university days. I run into Evan White Jr, that I shared a house with in London, Ontario while we were both going to University of Western Ontario. In those days he was an eventer, while I was an all-rounder. Since then he has taken up polo and plays off 3 goals. He was at the open with his father Evan Sr and his son Evan double Jr. It’s wonderful meeting Evan again.

That night German brings his wife Barbara and daughter Bianca over to Pepe’s and we have a final asado. German proves he can actually the play that has been taking up boot space all week. Coco does another wonderful asado. It’s a pretty darn good evening.

Sunday Asad has a great game and his Singhapour team wins their division quite easily. Manuel Acuna’s son-in-law Nestor comes over to Pepe’s with the equipment we ordered and I repack everything I can into the huge mallet bag he has for me. Finally it is farewell as German takes me to the airport while Pepe and Asad race into Palermo for a final match.

It’s been quite a trip. I’m not looking forward to 30 hours of flight, but I do miss my wife and kids and I’m going to enjoy seeing them all again. And a few non-steak days.

Pete in the Promised Land

Argentina is surely polo’s promised land. I am at Pepe Moscoso’s place in Open Door, just behind Pilar, about an hour outside of Buenos Aires. We are surrounded by about 80 polo fields. Since we arrived we have been playing 14 to 18 goal polo at the Urranga’s Puerta Vierta ranch. The polo is incredible and some of Pepe’s ponies are outstanding. Asad is playing well, and we are trying to rekindle the polo partnership that we used to have on the field as teenagers. It is not so easy when Asad plays No 4 and I play No 3 in 18 goal company!

The Argentinian people are lovely. The food is good - so far I have had beef every night. Pepe’s mother is a fantastic cook and she does every meal at home for us. The only exceptions were when we ate in B.A. after watching matches at the Argentine Open. On Saturday 17th November I watched Chapa Uno beat El Paraiso 21-14, with 5 goals in the last chukka. The next day we were hosted by Pablo Dorignac in a VIP enclosure to watch Indios Chapaleufu II beat La Aguada 15-14 with a golden goal in overtime. They play 8 chukkas in the Open, so it was in the 9th chukka that it was decided by the sudden death goal.

Today we will watch the Gold Cup at Ellerstina. Tomorrow we play with Paco de Navaez, a 9-goaler, and then we hope to play also with Ginnes Bargalo and Carlos Pando before the week is out. I’ll also be meeting Diego White of King’s Game soon.

I have met so many friends here from all over the world - George Dill, a USPA circuit governor who I played with in NZ in 2004, Kristie Hanbury formerly of Singapore, Inigo Zobel and his showjumping daughter Paola, Tengku Iman with Castor Ocampo, Marcelo Caset, Hernan Tasso, Carlos Pando and Justo Amuchastegui, Pablo Dorignac and Ginnes Bargalo. Of course we also ran into the Malaysians that are still here: Saladin Mazlan, Huzaini Yunos and Yudie Fazly.

My horses have arrived safely in Thailand for the SEA Games and other than a problem with the delivery of the feed there, everything else seems to be under control, thanks to Karen and the crew. Because of them I can be in Argentina to train for the SEA Games.

Polo in Argentina is turning out to be everything it was cracked up to be, and more. I’m having a ball. Wish you all were here.

A Long and Winding Road

The horses are stuck at the border to Thailand. Four floats left in a convoy yesterday morning. They spent the night at stables in Jithra, near the Thai border. They were supposed to cross the border this morning, when the paperwork was approved. The Malaysian side was no problem. However some of the Malaysian floats paperwork was not in order and they could not satisfy the Thai road transport authority. So the horses are still in their stables in Jithra, and will cross the border tomorrow afternoon at around 4:00 pm. They’ll be driving though the night as it is cooler.

I leave for Argentina tonight. It takes about 30 hours to get to Buenos Aires. Still, I should be in BA before the horses reach Pattaya.

Opportunity Knocks

Going to the SEA Games Polo is turning out to be a costly affair. With no financial support from our Olympic Council or Singapore team, Asad and I have to bear all costs of floating, customs agents and customs fees, stabling and accommodation for the staff for the duration we are required to be in Thailand.

The Thai polo organisers originally said they were happy just to get polo back into the SEA Games and to encourage more polo participation amongst South East Asian countries. Their charge of Thai Baht 20,000 per horse per month for stabling ay VRSC (or TBht15,000 if you stable at Siam Polo Park 3 hours away by float in Pattaya), however, says something completely different. Polo teams are bringing 24 horses each to the SEA Games, and because of quarantine requirements are obliged to stay 60 days. Each team faces a potential bill of Thai Baht 960,000 just for stabling at the games. There are four visiting teams for the games (I doubt the Thais are going to charge themselves), giving them an income of TBht 3.84 million in stabling charges.

Worked back in Ringgit, that is approximately RM96,000 per team or RM4,000 per horse, just for a stable, bedding, water and power. By comparison, RSPC charges just RM145 per month to stable owners for stabling (with fan). The amount the Thais are charging for 2 months of stabling at the SEA Games would cover almost 28 months of stabling if I left my horses at home at RSPC instead of going to the games.

That’s hardly encouraging participation.

Preparing for the Road Trip

We had a good meeting in Bangkok last week. All the countries involved attended other than the Philippines. The meeting was chaired by James Ashton, who is an Aussie with a huge polo reputation. He is the SEA Games Polo Tournament Director. It’s good to have him helping to solve the many problems and issues that come up in running a tournament of this importance.

We found out that Tim Keyte and Paul Hunt will umpires all the games. Tim is a professional umpire who lives in UK and Australia. He is well known to us as he has conducted umpiring clinics in Malaysia in 2005 and 2006 and umpired the Malaysian Open in 2007. We were delighted to have such good umpires for the SEA Games.

It was resolved that the Singapore and Malaysia would stable at Garden City Polo Club when the tournament is run, rather than at Siam Polo Park. We went to see the stables there that afternoon and it was nice to catch up with Piti Limcharoen (Num) again. Num runs GCP for his father, Khun Wanchart Limcharoen. The last time I rode at GCP was as a showjumper in a CSI show in 1996. Good memories, so it is nice to be going back there.

All the Malaysian-based horses will leave the Royal Selangor Polo Club on Monday 12th November in a convoy. A total of 32 horses will be traveling in four floats. They will overnight at stable in Jithra on Monday, cross the border first thing Tuesday morning at run all the way to Hua Hin where they will overnight in stables there. The last leg to Pattaya will be completed on Wednesday 14th November.

It’s quite a haul. During the trip there will be breaks for watering the horses, who will have a water bucket and a haynet available at all times. Nevertheless it is still going to take its toll on the horses, so I have been preparing the horses with a few supplements. I’ve tried to build up their resistance by giving them an iron supplement called Hemabuild. I’m also trying to give their immune system a bit of a boost with something called Bio-Racing. This is in addition to the other supplements I normally give them like Jointese, Growin Plus Biotin or Bio-Bloom.

I have made a honey mix with electrolytes, Neighlox and Vitamin E that my groom can shoot into their mouths with an oral doser. They’ll also get a Recuperate paste each day. Djakarta will get a paste called Aminospeed. They will also travel with Oxigard and PD Mixture (Post Dehydration). The horses will also be on high doses on Vitamin E throughout the tour. As you can tell, nutrition is a top priority. This is so that I can get top performance from the horses.

We have had five days of polo so I was able to give the horses a real test to see how they are really doing on the Cool Performer feed. I’ve got to give it a big thumbs up. Nata has not always finished up his morning feed, but is looking a picture and is playing well. Mia and Brook’s coats have darked and blossomed and they are coming to full fitness now. Trinity had a few finicky days of not liking the taste, but since she has realised she is not getting anything else, she eats up. She has calmed down considerably in the short time we have had her on Cool Performer. Dr Joe McDermott gave old Brook an intra-articular injection but that was more maintenance work than because it was a particular problem. All in all I am really happy with the horses.

Now it’s a race against time to get all our saddlery sorted before the trip - what to take and what to leave behind. We are packing spare tack for most things because things break in polo quite often. I’m also packing Coflex and Elastoplast, Decron Wound Packs, clay poultices, and all manner of lotions and potions. I’ve got to find and buy everything I need and we’ll pack everything on Sunday morning. Then I kiss the horses good bye on Monday and I won’t see them till I get back from Argentina and head to Bangkok on 1st December for the games.

Until then they’ll be in the care of my groom Ilham, trainer Shariffie Hamdi, Asad’s polo manager Karen Gan, and the Singapore crew which includes my old friend and groom Ashari (Ipee), team coach Philip Elliot and team vet Dr Roshni Selvam.

We could never do it without this support team. Polo is a real team game on and off the field.