One week after the start of the British Polo Day Global Series 2014 in Abu Dhabi (POLO+10 reported), again thousands of spectators and 450 invited VIP guests joined the event, presented by Land Rover in the renowned Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club.
Over a quintessentially British lunch and traditional afternoon-tea, visitors and top celebrities of the UAE enjoyed a thrilling day with polo at its best.
The day started traditionally with the Hackett Camel Polo Cup. Following their triumph at last week’s British Polo Day Abu Dhabi, Captain Kit Philp once again led the InterContinental London Park Lane Cavalry team and defeated the Gaucho Guards by a 5-1 victory. In the Prince’s Cup, the Harrow team could not score and was defeated by the Eton team, end result 3-0.
Following lunch, next to mount were the horses. The team Jaeger-LeCoultre Cambridge won the Gaucho Cup, defeating team Oxford Group Holdings by 7-1. Highlight of the day was the match of the Land Rover Thesiger Trophy between team British Exiles and team Habtoor Polo. It was the sixth time that Habtoor Polo, which have keenly put the UAE on the global polo map, battled it out for the prestigious prize and once again the local team celebrated its triumph with an 8-5 victory.
After exciting polo matches, designer Zaeem Jamal featured a spectacular open air fashion show, followed by the VIP after party in Dubai’s famous XL Beach Club.
Several celebrities joined the spectacular event in Dubai, British Ambassador Dominic Jermey, British HM Consul General Edward Hobart, The Right Honorable Nicholas Soames MP, Sir Maurice and Lady Audrey Flanagan, Jeremy Hackett, fashion designer Zaeem Jamal, celebrity entrepreneur Hugo Taylor, art dealer Frederik Ferrier, and Dubai TV personality Uma Ghosh.
Dominic Jermey, Her Majesty’s Ambassador to the UAE said “The British Polo Day series of events have grown over the years to become one of the leading polo events of today. The event is celebrated in more than 10 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.
