Last Saturday, the worldwide tournament series started with the British Polo Day in Abu Dhabi in the new season. The event was held at the Ghantoot Racing & Polo Club, royal private club of His Highness Sheikh Falah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, for the fifth time. By now the glamorous event is firmly fixed and the place to be for celebrities from all over the region.
The British Polo Day Abu Dhabi was opened traditionally with the Hackett Camel Polo Cup. The two teams Cavalry and Guards showed a great performance and presented exciting polo action to the audience. In the end, team Cavalry led by 3-1. Tom Hudson, co-founder of the British Polo Day, was responsible for the last two goals.
The camel was followed by action on horseback. At the high goal match of the day the teams The British Exiles and Ghantoot Polo faced each other. The action-packed match ended with a victory for the local team Ghantoot by 8-6. His Royal Highness Sheikh Nahyan bin Shakhboot al Nahyan, also a well-known competition rider, presented the Thesiger Trophy.
This year an auction for charity occurred once again. The total sum amounted to 27,500 USD, which will benefit the organisations WAHA (Women and Health Alliance) and Help for Heroes.
On Friday 28th March, Dubai is the second station of the British Polo Day Global Series in the United Arab Emirates. The event at the Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club coincides with the start of the Dubai World Cup, the highest endowed horse race in the world. In addition to polo matches with the four teams Cambridge, Oxford, British Exiles and Habtoor Polo and the traditional camel polo, the visitors can look forward to a premiere: the first bicycle polo tournament in the Middle East.
Dominic Jermey, Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the UAE comments: “The British Polo Day series of events has grown over the years to become one of the leading polo events of today. The event is celebrated in more than ten different countries and as UK Ambassador to the UAE I am proud that the UAE is one of them and the only such country in the Middle East.”
The British Polo Day, presented by Land Rover, is a worldwide tournament series and celebrates the British lifestyle as well as the heritage and tradition of polo around the globe. In 2014 there are events in eleven countries on the tournament calendar. In addition to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the countries China, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, Thailand and the United Kingdom are counted among the locations.
