The first Dream Team of polo was organized in preparation of the British coming to America in 1939 to compete against the United States for the prestigious international Westchester Cup. The lineup of four 10-goal players (Michael Phipps, Cecil Smith, Tommy Hitchcock, Jr., and Stewart Iglehart) was daunting to say the least, but owing to an accident suffered by Cecil Smith midway through preparations for the cup, it wasn’t going to happen.

Playing with 9-goaler Winston Guest, the United States went on to defeat the British in consecutive matches, 11-7 and 9-4. The effort secured the Westchester Cup, but the Dream Team never got to take the field in International Cup play.

With the series over and Smith recovered, however, it was proposed that a third match be played by handicap, with Great Britain facing the highest rated team America could field.

For its part, Great Britain replaced Aiden Roark with John Lakin, and carried a 30-goal team handicap to the field.

The game started with the British receiving ten goals by handicap, but a 3-0 first chukker for the Americans took a nice bite out of the lead in the eight-chukker contest. The 40-goal team of the Americans continued to pile it on, cutting the seemingly insurmountable lead to 13-10 after the first four chukkers. Three more goals from the US players had them within a goal after the fifth chukker, 14-13.

“They decided that they didn’t need to double up on their top horses,” polo veteran George Oliver recalled. “They loaded them up and started them back to the barn.” and as the horses were being sent back to the barns, they mounted up for the sixth chukker. The resolve of the British strengthened, however, and after swapping goals with the American 10-goalers, they continued to hold on to a one-goal lead, and had the Americans sending back to the barns to return the horses.

A scoreless seventh chukker had brought them no closer as the rock-solid British defense kept the 40-goal team scoreless in the final two chukkers of play. A final goal from the British gave them the 16-14 win.

The British might have lost the Westchester Cup, but they scored a moral victory by beating America’s best (granted, played on handicap) in the only appearance of a 40-goal American team in history.

(Photo Courtesy of the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame)