ABOVE: Mohammed Al Habtoor receives the Al Habtoor Challenge Trophy from HM The Queen and Mr Khalf Al Habtoor.
Sehr Ahmad received the prestigious Al Habtoor Royal Windsor Cup from HM The Queen after the Hotel La Tour team defeated Guy Schwarzenbach’s Black Bears (rec 0.5 goals on handicap) 9-8.5 in an exciting final. Joining Her Majesty at the presentation table on The Queen’s Ground at Guards Polo Club was Mr Khalaf Al Habtoor, the Chairman of the Al Habtoor Group, sponsor of this premier 15-goal tournament.
Hotel La Tour led after the first chukka, 2-0.5, but then trailed their rivals until the final chukka. However they produced a consistent performance throughout the game and it was this consistency that reaped them the rewards of victory. Team captain, Jean Paul Clarkin was named Pommery/The Polo Magazine Most Valuable Player of the match after scoring seven of his team’s nine goals. David Allen took the credit for the other two.
Even though the Black Bears dominated much of the game, their scoring was erratic and they failed to score in three of the five chukkas. This left them unable to capitalise on their advantage and pull clear to win the game. However the Bears did not go home empty handed as team-member John Martin received the Best Playing Pony for Scarlet.
Eighteen teams of the highest calibre had taken part in this competition over the past three weeks, with teams qualifying from both Guards and Cowdray Park Polo Clubs. Interestingly, all four finalists in action today qualified from Guards Polo Club.
The subsidiary final, for the Mountbatten Trophy, which was played on The Duke’s Ground concurrently with the final, saw an equally close game. Chris Mathias’s Clarita defeated Momin Sheikh’s BHC Polo 10-9. Clarita was leading 9-6 at the end of the fourth and although BHC Polo came back into the game in the final chukka it was too late to change the result.
These were not the only two games at Guards Polo Club on this prestigious day. The Habtoor family themselves began the action in the morning, with a match for the Al Habtoor Polo Challenge, featuring Mohammed, Rashid, Tariq and Habtoor Al Habtoor. The fathers teamed up with their professionals – Piki Alberdi and Justo Del Carril – to take on their sons and two further professionals. Appropriately for Fathers’ Day, it was the fathers that won, with Alshindagha defeating Habtoor Polo 5-3.
This premier equestrian day ended with a parade of elegant carriages and coaches, which then lined up on the Club’s main polo ground to receive rosettes from HM The Queen. Earlier in the day they had been taking part in a British Driving Society Show on a neighbouring part of Windsor Great Park.
Alshindagha: Mohammed Al Habtoor; Rashid Al Habtoor, Piki Alberdi, Justo Del Carril. Habtoor Polo: Tariq Al Habtoor, Habtoor Al Habtoor, Alejandro Muzzio, Rodolfo Ducos.
Hotel La Tour: Sehr Ahmad (0); Nick Pepper (3); David Allen (4); John Paul Clarkin (8). Black Bears: Guy Schwarzenbach (1); John Martin (2); Ed Hitchman (4); Simon Keyte (7).
Clarita: Chris Mathias (1); German Llorens (3); Adrian Wade (5); Tommy Wilson (6). BHC Polo: Momin Sheikh (0); Roddy Williams (5); Chris Hyde (6); Juracy Santos (4).
