Polo & More, Singapore 2017 Polo & More, Singapore 2017 | Page 54

INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS
Passports and polo sticks make a stopover in Singapore.
By Charley Larcombe
Photography by Sam Churchill
B
ritish Polo Day is big on relationships.
It’s about creating partnerships with
exceptional
brands,
and
curating
friendships with the great and the good. It’s also
big on tradition. It’s that sense of old w orld pomp
and ceremony from the moment you’re picked up
in a chauffeur-driven Bentley, to being greeted
by the Harrods ‘Green Man’; from drinking
champagne on a polo Club terrace, to watching a
polo match – the oldest team sport in the world –
unfurl before your eyes.
The blueprint that has enabled this luxury
event juggernaut to notch up over 50 events
in 15 countries since its founding in 2009, has
been its perfect mix of having fun, building
friendships and shaking on a business deal – all
with an exceptional backdrop. Plus, it’s not just
action on the pitch and the social ‘conferences’
held over delicious lunches on match days – it’s
the incredible excursions and once-in-a-lifetime
moments created around it. From fashion shows
in Indian palaces, to photoshoots on the Great
Wall of China; from beach polo in Indonesia, to
gala dinners in the presence of Sheikhs.
And the guests. BPD boasts a fine guestlist.
Whether it’s swapping future tech stories with
Elon Musk at the Empire Polo Club in L.A., talking
adventures with Richard Branson in Morocco, or
sharing Royal Salute whiskey with actresses and
diplomats, you are guaranteed to meet movers
and shakers, thinkers and doers. There’s never a
dud table at a BPD event.
All of this into the melting pot with a dollop
of ye olde England charm and drawing on the
traditions of the country of residence and you’re
in store for a memorable occasion.
Which was exactly what happened when
Singapore Polo Club played host in November last
year. For the fifth time, the stop off in the Lion
City marked the start of the Asian leg of the Global
54
Series and SPC and its members threw open
their doors. Welcoming VIPs including Malcolm
Borwick, Vinod Kumar, Iqbal Jumbahoy, Keith
Bristow and Torquhil Campbell, the 13th Duke of
Argyll it was a few days of great celebration.
Things kicked off at the Hotel Vagabond in
with the international set combatting their jet
lag with sumptuous food and the cool sounds of
Adir Kaisan and the Cosmic Owls. The following
day there was a chance to pull on your whites for
a polo clinic with England professional Malcolm
Borwick – before drowning your embarrassment
at not connecting with the off side backhand
with a Royal Salute whisky tasting hosted by
the brand’s Global Relationships Director, Peter
Prentice. That evening, entrepreneur Carmen
Benitez encouraged guests to raise their glasses to
the event during his VIP dinner on Sentosa island.
And then – alongside a little rain – match
day arrived and 500 of the It group of the Little