Organised by Guards Polo Club the Coronation Cup is a horse race held in Great Britain, open to horses aged four years or older, running at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 6 yards. Established in 1902 to commemorate the coronation of the new British monarch, King Edward VII, the event is held each year in the end of June or beginning of July.
The Coronation Cup was first played in 1911 to honour the coronation of King George V, grandfather to the current Queen. Since then from 1939, it has been traditionally played by the winners of the London Open Tournaments – Hurlingham, Ranelagh, Roehampton and the Inter-Regimental.
Polo has been struggling as an aftermath of the Second World War and matches have became a bit more sporadic since then. The game has been played in bits and pieces over the years, although a tournament is played to mark the Coronation of HM The Queen in 1953, the tradition was again broken for the next 18 years by not playing.
But with time the Guards Polo Club realised better means of using the sponsorship – the tobacco firm Wills sponsored the International Day from 1971-1978, employing a larger staff to cope with the organisation, the Club’s Polo Manager, Major Ronald Ferguson, introduced the Best Playing Pony Award and second game, which saw the Young England team playing against the Young American squad.
Finally the craze for the coronation cup 2017 is round the corner with just 4 weeks to go until The Royal Salute Coronation Cup
And the Hurlingham Polo Association has finally called out the names of the 25-goal team who will be representing England – sponsored by Flannels – in their annual International match for the Royal Salute Coronation Cup at Guards Polo Club on Saturday 29 July. England’s opponents will have an almost unchanged, 26-goal, GT Bank-sponsored Commonwealth team, winners of this prestigious trophy in 2016. In that memorable match, the Commonwealth team beat the home side 12-11 in a fast-paced and thrilling game.
James Beim, who is currently having a superb high-goal season with El Remanso, will captain England for the third time and his tenth as a member of the England team on this day. Max Charlton, the UK’s highest handicapped player, currently rated at seven goals, retains his England shirt along with James Harper, who made his debut in this event last year and has been impressing everyone in the high-goal, playing alongside James Beim in the El Remanso team. The fourth member of the England squad for the Royal Salute Coronation Cup match sees the return of the former England captain Luke Tomlinson, currently playing at back with La Indiana, the Queen’s Cup finalists. Tomlinson’s experience of the big occasion – he is the most successful England polo captain ever – will be an added advantage to the home side.
