The Polo Report
By Steve Crowder
Of course the only World Champs are the San Francisco Giants and they deserved it as they just kept on coming pitch after pitch. I wish I could remember what baseball players up-to-bat did before they had Velcro to undo and tighten gloves every pitch. The Rangers might have used theirs to throw at the ball and it would have saved time.
I saw the film Secretariat tonight and it is a very good film even though no porn or murders were in it. The story is good and the races, even though you know what is going to happen, are still exciting. I think the 1973 Belmont is the best race I ever saw and it was a wipeout, but when horse people see it and know the conditions and the setup it is unreal how this horse did it. As they say “Big Red” was not whipped, spurred or even threatened and still set a record untouched to this day, 39 years later. He had never broke early or been near lead at 1/2 the race, yet that day with nobody ever guessing he broke like a quarter horse and just demolished the others 4 by 31 lengths from his his closest opponent and 65 lengths from the others. I remember that race and where I was. I was in Greybull, WY at a bar on the way to a rodeo. It is similar to when the US Hockey Team beat Russia. I was at the Royal Palm Polo Club in Boca Raton , FL. Go see this film. I think it is worth the money and if you are not old enough to have seen the real races it it is probably better.
In Polo the West Coast is doing well. Down South Alegria and Mr. Mannix won a game in the Hurlingham Open beating Chapo on Sunday. They came back on Monday and young Julian took a win for their first game in the Ellerstina Gold Cup as well as Big Ben and his Mansour squad. Just to add a name, ERG did so as well. They are usually in Santa Barbara and also played at Eldorado last winter. Another Santa Barbara regular, Marc Ganzi, also is playing for James Packer in some games with Ellerstina. Guess what? AC as in Adolfo Cambiaso is in another finals! This time of year there is lots of action around the southern hemisphere. It is the Spring Season in Argentina, so if want to go and play let us know. We can connect you to a very good time.
I was in Indio over the weekend and it is turning green there as the polo fields are being primed for the season. It seems we may have a decent team number if they show up. El Dorado claims to have 8 teams or maybe 10 teams @ 8 goals. The fields look much better this year, but the place is still a bit rough. Especially if you drive in from Monroe St. entrance. It is a bit like driving off the freeway to a deserted road into south Texas, but George says it is in the plans ASAP. It better be because the Lions next door are roaring and it looks like Palm Beach on their side of the fence. Out south and east a little farther is Rancho Polo which has grass and Twin Palms Polo Club and Mr. Rambo have been working and it looks great. So if calculations by Polo Managers are correct could have between 16 and 20, 8- to 10- goal teams in Jan. which would be great as that would mean 128 goals on the field and if 20 teams come in …well even better. So we will need a few Pros. So March maybe a hell of a month with 14-goal Polo back in town. Florida is claiming around 10 to 14, 20-goal teams and as many as 12 teams for the 26-goal so maybe we are turning the corner.
See ya.