ALL roads led to polo headquarters, the All Ireland Polo Club, on August 9th and 10th for the Horse Show 6 Goal August Tournament, generously sponsored by the Casey family. All eyes were on the prize of the prestigious Polo Monthly Challenge Cup, the highest-level tournament of the season.

The first day of polo saw five teams battle it out to get to the finals on Sunday. First into the fray were Rhone Hill against CBA Ventures, where Rhone Hill came out on top. Then followed an American tournament of Tyrone v Wexford v LHK Insurance, with Tyrone winning their place in the final.

Finals day shone bright on the crowd, who came to enjoy the fast-paced polo and the exquisite lunch on offer from the club’s hospitality partner, Tankardstown House. Spotted in the crowd were Wendy and Mickey Herbst of Polo Wicklow, along with their good friend Catriona Arnott; Carol Stone, Michelle Reggazoli Stone and families also cheered on their team members. TV3’s Elaine Crowley enjoyed her first visit to the All Ireland Polo Club along with Derville Meade.

First play on the field was to decide the winner of the subsidiary final, and the Wexford team consisting of Paddy Casey along with Francisco Peluffo, Luis Aguirre and the glamorous Moore sisters were the winners.

Then followed the epic final of the 6 Goal tournament, won by Eamonn Laverty and his Tyrone polo team of Emi Wagner Henin, Patricio Gaynor and George Cronin in a very closely-fought battle with Patrick Heffron’s Rhone Hill polo team, along with Stephen Power, Gonzalo Lopez Vargas and Mark Stone with a score of 3-2 on the final bell of the chukka.

The next tournament will be held this weekend for the historic Freebooters Cup. Check out social media for details or contact theallirelandpoloclub@gmail.com