Sweet Reunion

In the hands of an experienced rider, the mallet becomes an acrobat, says 15-year-old Maya Tantuwaya, who has never forgotten her first.

Lokesh-and-Maya-Tantuwaya

Around January, our growling Ford pickup crunches through the dirt road beyond field five of the San Diego Polo Club and pulls to a stop in front of our eight-horse trailer, lonely from six months’ abandonment. Dad and I forget our differences to jump out of the truck, and he fumbles with the key to the built-in tack room. I explain my hollow ambitions to keep an accurate inventory of our jungle of English saddles, intricate bridles, and the bouquet of polo mallets fanning out of a red water bucket like dry spaghetti. I make the same vow every year but never follow through. Ignoring me, Dad turns around to engage a passing horse groom in polite conversation, using his clumsy Spanish, as he reins in his cluster of six horses. He pretends to have known the groom all his life, even though I’m the one who spent an entire summer out riding with him in the mornings. Raymundo and I have become close friends, despite the language barrier.

Organizing the mix-up of mallets, my hand catches the woven cream hand loop of one of them. Up and out comes my very first mallet, separated from the tangle of chapped leather and spray bottles quarter-filled with the syrupy remains of what used to be fly spray. The threadbare rubber wrap on the grip still bears the unsavory whiff of sweaty palm, but there is bliss in curling my hand around the mallet’s end. Fencers and tennis players think of their foils and rackets as an extended arm, while the polo player’s weapon of choice harmonizes the momentum of man and horse into a scything stroke that sends the ball sailing tens of meters over the cropped-grass pitch. The wedged mallet head is clumsy, and its fine cracks and scratches are masked by duct tape, but its bruises bless it with the beauty of something from a (civilized) battle. The bony grip provides no leverage – that all comes from the player’s arm and hips in the swing. The cane itself, a 52in shaft of manau palm wood with a honeyed glint, stands dormant and straight. In the hand of an experienced horseman, it’s an acrobat – flipping to a 90-degree angle when hooked by another mallet and flicking with the fluidity of a dancer into backbends. Balanced upon the slender stalk is the mallet head – worn and covered in vein-like cracks and grass smudges. It still grasps the cane with snug stability. I covered the smooth wood with checkered tape and two skinny bands, but even the tape is frayed at the edges. The head, cigar-shaped with a diagonal wedge cut out of one end, was the pride and joy of my 11-year-old self. In stamped print, the initials MT, decorated with forest-green paint on the ends, declared my presence on the playing field. To swing it was to boast a coat of arms with the prowess of a cavalier. How I’d catapult across the fields, adrenaline clenching my stomach while I inhaled the essence of leather and dewy grass. Or at least that’s what I would fantasize.

The graceful lance is stiff with sleep, stained with memory of play some years before, when I could hardly manage to hit the uneven, plastic ball at a benign canter. Bouncing on the back of my short-legged bay, I’d shrug my heavy helmet into place, only to feel the front visor fall over my brow once more. The mallet would twirl, wild with the combination of the force of the horse and the languid noodle of my arm controlling it. Grazing the tender blades of grass or clunking my pony’s forearm with the mallet, I’d focus really hard until a solid clunk reverberated off the sweet spot, propelling the dented hunk of a ball forward. Well-balanced and dependable, the polished mallet soon became an acquaintance of mine. But the progression of time dulls all glory into a jejune bronze plaque inscribed with memory. Time to rebel against the accumulating dust and leave behind the nostalgia. Dad, meanwhile, is still stammering in Spanish, and Raymundo seems slightly amused by it. I twist the loop of the initialed mallet around my thumb and adjust my right hand. Even after years of inaction, it is usable – so long as I replace the tacky and frayed duct tape on the head.

Written by 15-year old Maya Tantuwaya and printed in Hurlingham Polo Magazine’s Winter Issue. Maya and her father, Lokesh have played at the San Diego Polo Club for many years. Photo by Siegel Thurston Photography.

More information about Hurlingham Polo Magazine, visit them online at hurlinghampolo.com

Holiday Craft Cocktails

Woodford Reserve Holiday Cocktails

Who doesn’t love a tasty beverage around the holidays? Impress your father-in-law/colleague/boss/girlfriend with a few delicious cocktails everyone will enjoy.

Woodford Reserve Holiday Cocktails-the-Chukker

The Chukker

2 oz – Woodford Reserve
.5 oz – Sherry
.5 oz – Vermouth
2 dash – Miracle Mile Chocolate Chili Bitters

Build: In a mixing glass add all / add ice / stir 40 revolutions / strain
Glass: Coup
Garnish: Cherry

Woodford Reserve Holiday Cocktails-Elijah

The Elijah

2 oz – Woodford Reserve
.75 oz – Fresh Lemon Juice
.75 oz – Ginger Syrup
2 each – Thyme

Build: In cheater tin add all / add ice / shake/ fine strain over ice
Garnish: Thyme Sprig
Glass: Double Old-Fashioned

Woodford Reserve Holiday Cocktails-Champage-Spritzer

Champagne Spritzer

.5 oz – Honey Syrup
.5 oz – Lemon
Korbel California Champagne

Add Honey and lemon juice to glass. Fill with Korbel California Champagne.
Garnish: Fresh Raspberries
Glass: Flute or Coup

Woodford Reserve Holiday Cocktails-Sport-of-Kings

The Sport of Kings

2 oz  – Woodford Reserve Rye
.75 oz – Fresh Lemon Juice
.75 oz – Honey Syrup
3 – Strawberries
4 – Sage Leaves

Build: In a cheater tin add strawberries and 3 sage leaves and muddle / add all / add ice / hard shake / fine strain over fresh ice
Glass: Double Old-Fashioned
Garnish: Sage Leaf

Please enjoy responsibly.

Photos by: Arielle Vey

San Diego Polo Club Wins Match in Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships

On Saturday, October 24th, nearly 12,500 spectators attended the Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships: Horses & Horsepower, taking in all of the sights and sounds of the “world’s most interesting polo event.” This year’s attendance set a new one-day record. Celebrating its fifth anniversary, the event featured some of the world’s best polo players. Six competitive polo teams traveled to compete in three highly-contested matches, including the San Diego Polo Club. Some of the players included top American player Nic Roldan of the Aspen Valley Polo Club, top ranked player Andres Camacho of the Arizona Polo Club, collegiate player of the year Kareem Rosser, and Wales’ top rated player Pete Webb.

The day’s festivities included more than just polo. Fans also took advantage of The Canine Couture dog fashion show, the Larsen Art Gallery LIVE Art Auction, the World’s “Longest” Catwalk Fashion Show, and a preview of the world famous Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Auction. It also featured ballroom dancing field side for the first time ever, as well as a Phoenix Symphony quartet performance along with play, and a High Tea Tent by The Phoenician. This year also saw the debut of the Triyar Ivy League Lounge, packed throughout the entire day with over 1,000 people dancing and drinking in a nightclub like atmosphere.

The first match on Saturday began at 11:00 AM with Barrett-Jackson Automobile Auction Company Chairman and CEO Craig Jackson making the first drop in the match between Polo Azteca and Club Polo Cabo, presented by One & Only Palmilla of Los Cabos, Mexico. In that match, Club Polo Cabo beat Polo Azteca, 9-8, and was led by the play of team founder and San Diego Polo Club member, Tony Yahyai.

In the match that followed, local favorite Arizona Polo Club took on rival San Diego Polo Club. Six-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Amy Van Dyken made the first drop to get the exciting match started. Despite the tremendous play of Andres Camacho in the match’s second half, San Diego Polo Club beat Arizona Polo Club by a score of 9-3. San Diego Polo Club’s first half lead proved too much for Arizona Polo Club to overcome. Alvaro Tadeo led San Diego as he executed both offensively and defensively.

The Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships’ Featured Match presented fans an opportunity to witness two of the world’s best polo teams face off against one another. Defending champion Clogau Wales Polo Team, featuring players Ricky Cooper, Pete Webb, and Roddy Matthews, faced Aspen Valley Club, led by Nic Roldan, Melissa Ganzi, and Juan Bollini. The Phoenix Suns’ Tyson Chandler, an NBA Champion and Olympic gold medalist, provided the first drop for the day’s most thrilling match. From the start, Aspen Valley dominated their counterparts and won 9-5 to be crowned the new champions of the Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships. Roldan scored six of Aspen Valley’s nine goals.

In one of the most unique elements of the day, the Phoenix Symphony provided the musical backdrop to one of the featured match’s chukkers. Fans were regaled with classical music all while witnessing the two teams take on one another.

“Even though we weren’t able to defend our title, the Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships have become one of my favorite polo events to compete in,” said Clogau Wales Polo Team captain Ricky Cooper. “It was a great crowd and we enjoyed ourselves fully.”