The royal sport of Polo never stops, with either one or the other world polo tournament delighting us, at any given time of the year. The Polo World Cup returns after every few years with each participating country, from different parts of the globe, fielding its best players.
But these top players in world polo never really settle and keep delivering the thrilling polo action all round the year. We bring you a list of world polo tournaments from the best polo clubs, happening throughout the year. The deeper you dwell into the sport, the more enthralling it gets.
So here are the top world polo events that you just can’t afford to miss:
CARTIER QUEEN’S CUP
Guards Polo Club
May/June 2019
This 20-22 goal polo tournament is one of the most important polo tournaments in the world. This tournament attracts the world’s best polo players. The best players come with their first-class string of ponies and it is always a delight to spectate this high goal tournament.
The tournament takes place at the Guards Polo Club – which provides fabulous clubhouse hospitality in a stunning backdrop of Windsor Great Park.
The jewel in the polo calendar, the Cartier Queen’s Cup attracts the world’s best players and encapsulates the best of the British season. This 22-goal tournament climaxes with its finals in June when the Queen presents the trophy to the winning team.
MORE INFO – GUARDS POLO CLUB
KING POWER GOLD CUP
Cowdray Park Polo Club
June/July 2018
This high goal tournament is regarded as one of the premier polo sporting events in the world. The King Power Gold Cup features high goal, high quality matches in the beautiful setting of the Cowdray park against the backdrop of the Cowdray Ruins.
With a long and illustrious history, the Cowdray Park Polo Club is known as the Home of British Polo. Set in the 16,500 acre estate of Vicount Cowdray, in West Sussex, the Cowdray Park is a thing of beauty and has hosted the game of polo for more than a century with the first competitive tournaments being recorded in 1910. Cowdray Park Polo Club was significant in the re-establishment of Polo post Second World War largely due to the efforts of the legendary name in the history of polo, John, 3rd Viscount Cowdray.
MORE INFO – COWDRAY PARK POLO CLUB
IPA NATIONAL POLO CHAMPIONSHIP
Jaipur Polo Ground
November 2018
The high goal polo tournament, with a maximum limit of 20 goals, is the most coveted polo trophy in India. The highest level of polo in Asia, it is the most important tournament in the Indian Polo calendar. Played over 6 chukkers, it usually has 3 teams with some of the best players competing to lay their hands on the esteemed title.
IPA National Polo Championship shifted from Calcutta to New Delhi in 2002, where it has been played ever since at the Jaipur Polo Ground, the renowned venue for polo in the city. Into its 118th year, with its inaugural edition in 1900 at Lucknow, the tournament is usually played in the month of November every year.
Currently team Jindal Panther are the defending champions, having won the previous two editions in 2016 and 2017.
MORE INFO – JAIPUR POLO GROUND
VEUVE CLICQUOT POLO CLASSIC
Will Rogers State Historic Park/ Liberty State Park
Dates to be announced
Champagne Veuve Clicquot was established in 1772 by Philippe Clicquot. But it was only when his daughter-in-law Barbe Nicole Ponsardin took over the company in 1805, following Clicquot’s son’s death, that it became one of the biggest champagne houses in the world.
Veuve Clicquot’s association with polo began with the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup in England, and expanded with Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic at New York City, US in 2008. The venue was shifted to the iconic Liberty State Park of Manhattan in 2012. With the stunning backdrop of the Statue of Liberty, it is one of the most awaited social events of the year, where polo and fashion enthusiasts come together to watch a thrilling polo game and celebrate the spirit of fashion.
The event spread to another US city in 2010, when the beautiful Will Rogers State Historic Park in Los Angeles hosted its first ever Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic. Angelenos and New Yorkers each year not only spectate top quality polo action while sipping the best of Veuve Clicquot, but also savour food from the best gourmet food trucks in the respective cities.
MORE INFO – VEUVE CLICQUOT POLO CLASSIC
THAI POLO OPEN
Thai Polo and Equestrian Club
Dates to be announced
The Thai Polo Open marks one the most significant events in the Asian polo calendar and is considered to be the most prestigious in South-East Asia. Usually played in the month of January every year, it features 6-8 teams of medium handicaps ranging from 12 to 14 goals.
A charity event, it includes some of the best players from major polo playing nations such as Argentina, Australia, England, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, China, and the host country Thailand. The 2018 edition was won by the team Royal Pahang, who clinched their 1st Thai Open title.
Established as Thai Polo Club in 2005, the club added equestrian facilities to its infrastructure few years later and thus the name- Thai Polo and Equestrian Club. The club’s foundation and its growth in the recent past is credited to Mr Harald Link and Mrs Nunthinee Tanner.
Link currently holds the position of President of the South-east Asian Equestrian Federation, while Nunthinee Tanner is regarded as the first female polo player in Thailand.
MORE INFO – THAI POLO OPEN
Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz
St. Moritz Polo Club
January 2019
When the town of St. Moritz, located in Switzerland, first hosted the Snow Polo World Cup in 1985 it not only became the first snow polo tournament to be ever played, but also currently stands as the only high-goal snow polo tournament in the world.
With the magnificent mountains of the Engadine as backdrop, the games are played on the frozen lake of St. Moritz. Four top-flight teams with high handicaps ranging from 15 to 22 goals compete to lay their hands on the Cartier trophy.
The St. Moritz Polo Club was established in the year 1959, and played a crucial role in reviving polo back in St. Moritz after several decades. On the occasion of the tournament’s 20th anniversary, a book called ‘20 Years Cartier Polo World Cup on Snow St. Moritz’ was published.
It was only three years ago, in 2015, that it got the new name of ‘Snow Polo World Cup St. Moritz’.
MORE INFO – SNOW POLO WORLD CUP
FRENCH TRIPLE CROWN:
1) DEAUVILLE SILVER CUP
Deauville International Polo Club
July/August 2018
The city of Deauville becomes the hub high-goal polo in the month of August every year when Deauville International Polo Club comes back with its Silver Cup and Gold Cup. The former has a history of more than 50 years, featuring 4-6 high goal teams.
The club itself has a history which dates back to 1907, when Baron Robert de Rothschild, Captain Joubert and the Duke of Guiche, future Duke of Gramont and first president of France came together to establish the iconic polo ground.
Team Cibao La Pampa are the current trophy holders, after the winning the last edition in 2017.
2) DEAUVILLE GOLD CUP
Deauville International Polo Club
July/August 2018
The highlight of the French polo season, Deauville Gold Cup, features 4-6 high goal teams with handicaps ranging from about 16-20 goals. The city Deauville due to its rich equestrian culture, attracts a large number of polo enthusiasts and some of the biggest names from world polo to participate in the tournament.
It all began in 1950 when François André, then president of the chain of Hotels and Casinos of Deauville, created the prestigious tournament 43 years after the foundation of the club.
Usually played in the month of July or August, the year 2018 will be the 68th edition of the tournament.
3) OPEN DE FRANCE
Chantilly Polo Club
September 2018
The tournament featuring 6 high goal teams marks the culmination of the medium and high goal polo season in Europe. It is played to decide the winner of the highly coveted French Triple Crown title.
Cibao La Pampa team by winning the Open de France last year, were declared the French Triple Crown winners of 2017.
Baron Robert de Rothschild organised a game of polo in 1920 on a piece of land, where Chantilly Polo Club was going to be built. It was after 75 years in 1995, when a 50-year lease from the Institute of France was obtained to create the Chantilly Polo Club.
ARGENTINE TRIPLE CROWN
1) Tortugas Open
Tortugas Country Club
September/October 2018
The tournament was first presented for play in 1907 by don Emilio de Anchorena, and is presented to the winner of the Tortugas Open Championship. It is played the first of all three prestigious tournaments comprising of the Argentine Triple Crown.
The free handicap tournament usually features 6 teams of handicaps as high as 40 goals. In 2009, it featured two 40-goal teams for the first time in history.
2) Hurlingham Open
Hurlingham Polo Club
October/November 2018
What began as the ‘Senior Championship’ in 1929, is today the second most prized tournament in Argentina- The Hurlingham Open. It is played with open handicaps and directly precedes the Argentine Open.
6-8 teams with handicaps usually ranging from 30-40 goals compete to lay their hands on the coveted trophy.
3) Argentine Open
Campo Argentino de Polo of Palermo
November 2019
Its origin is dated back to 1893 when it was known as ‘River Plate Polo Championship’, but was renamed to its present form in 1923. Into its 125th year now, it has achieved the status of the most coveted polo trophy in the world.
Amongst the crowd of 40,000 which gathers to spectate the tournament, are representatives from international polo community. Usually, six teams with 32+ handicaps compete in this jewel tournament of the world polo crown.
US TRIPLE CROWN:
1) C.V. WHITNEY CUP
International Polo Club Palm Beach
February/March 2019
The 26-goal tournament usually features 4-7 teams competing to win the first title of the United States Triple crown.
Begun in 1979 with the name of ‘US Handicap’, it was renamed in 1988 after Cornelius Vanderbilt “Sonny” Whitney, a legendary figure in US Polo and three times winner of the US Open Championship back in 1928, 1937 and 1938, and son of 10-goal Hall of Famer Harry Payne Whitney.
First of the four 26-goal tournaments played at the venue, it was shifted here in 2003 from Retama Polo Center in San Antonio, Texas. Iis followed by USPA Gold Cup, the Butler Handicap and the U.S. Open Polo Championship.
2) USPA GOLD CUP
International Polo Club Palm Beach
March 2019
The second 26-goal tournament of the high goal season in Florida, it began in in 1974 at Oak Brook Polo Club in Oak Brook, Illinois. After a series of changes in its venues over the many years, it was finally brought to the IPC Palm Beach where it has been played since 2007.
Team White Birch holds the record for most number of titles won with a tally of 12, in a span of three decades. Equalling their tally is the individual player Adolfo Cambiaso, with record 12 USPA Gold Cup titles beginning in 1991.
3) US OPEN
International Polo Club Palm Beach
April 2019
Also a 26-goal tournament and the last of all three US Triple Crown tournaments, it is the most prestigious polo trophy in the country. Held during the Florida high-goal winter polo season, it is the one stop destination for polo aficionados from all over US and other parts of the world.
The inaugural season was played in the year 1904. Over the span of next 100 years, it travelled across various clubs in the country until it was shifted to its current location in 2004. For a considerably long time it was played at Meadowbrook Polo Club, and was shifted to Oak Brook in 1954 where it remained for the next 22 years.
MORE INFO – INTERNATIONAL POLO CLUB PALM BEACH
DUBAI POLO GOLD CUP SERIES
The St. Regis Dubai
Dates to be announced
Also known as Dubai Open, it was started in 2009 by Mohammed Al Habtoor who is also a patron of the Habtoor Polo team. The tournament is the 4th largest of its kind, after Argentina, the United States and the United Kingdom. The depuy ruler of Dubai, HH Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is the patron of the tournament.
Played under the banner of Hurlingham Polo Association, the series follows its rules and provisions of its umpires.
Dubai Polo Gold Cup Series was split up into two 18-handicap competitions: the McLaren Cup and the Julius Baer Gold Cup. In the 2017 edition, there were 7 and 10 teams participating in McLaren Cup and Julius Baer respectively.
