The Polo Report
By Steve Crowder
The East Coast Open is done today on 9-13-15. It may be a start to the future of polo. It’s possible that the man who changed polo, Peter Brant, is the one who made it happen. When I say “changed” polo, it is really Peter who made it a different sport good or bad. It is the birth of this polo. Back around 1980, give or take a couple years, Peter got into the sport. Peter is not the kind of person who joins a group. He “makes” the group and he did it with polo so fast and NOBODY could keep up for a decade. Peter was the man who brought today’s world of polo here in the USA. He also influence polo around the world.
For years there were great men who made polo around the planet happen, but this was a brand new world. For my first decade or so in polo it was the Oxley’s, Orthweins, Uihliens, Busch, Ylvisacker, Farish, Johnston, Gose, Kent, Butler, Brinker and many others. They had good teams, some great horses and were the top of the heap. Then along comes Peter and he did not just want to be there, he wanted to be the best. The world of polo changed when Peter entered into the sport. He hired people who knew polo. Ben Gutierrez, Hector Barrentes and never looked back. Peter brought in the best horses he could find and the best player Gonzalo Pieres. He built the best barn, installed the best fields and along the way became the best amateur on the planet for a decade or or two reaching 7 goals. Peter did this while still working at a real job. He bought the best of everything and he built a winning machine that still goes on. I would guess he was the reason for Ellerston, Black Bears, Audi all the big teams that are now everywhere in the world. Maybe it would have happened anyway, but I have no doubt he made it happen at that time. To me he is the MAN who made it happen.
Today was another perfect example of his style. The whole show was class and style. Yes, he lost, but he won that was very good for polo. If they add the drone, maybe this will become a TV sport. The man behind the team who won today may just be the one to follow Peter … Audi’s Marc Ganzi. He has this same determination and some ideas to carry the torch for the next 20 years. What will he change? I have no idea, but it is in his mind.
I would say Peter made polo a pro sport, he made polo fields a turf to fly on and he made us realize that without a horse, you are just a boy in a jersey. Many have become bigger like Coke, Ellerston, Audi, La Dolfina , but none have his record yet.
Hats off to Adam Snow as color commentary on the show and the people behind the cameras and the set up.
thanks
see ya