National Bank of Dubai’s Private Office takes the honours in the Cartier International Dubai Polo Challenge 2007

HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, wife of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, presented the Cartier International Dubai Polo Challenge Trophy to the National Bank of Dubai Private Office team, following their 6-5 victory over the Qatar Airways squad on Friday 30 March. Both teams were joined in the presentation photographs with their sponsors – Faranak Foroughi, head of The National Bank of Dubai’s Private Office and Mr Ali Al Rais, General Manager Commercial Operations of Qatar Airways.
This prestigious polo event was being held for the second successive year at Ali Albwardy’s Desert Palm Polo Club in Dubai in front of an audience of invited guests. Among those seated in the elegant grandstand was Monica Bellucci, the Italian filmstar who shot to international stardom in the Matrix films and who has just launched the Monica Bellucci Cartier Collection. She was joined by Bernard Fornas, President of Cartier, who later presented HRH Princess Haya, who is President of the Federation Equestre Internationale, with a memento of the day.
Polo supporters included Urs Schwarzenbach, winner of this event in 2006 and patron of the renowned Black Bears Polo Team. He had flown in to Dubai to support his son Guy who was playing for the Qatar team. Fellow polo patron, Vichai Rakriaksorn, who too was supporting his son Tot in the Qatar team, joined him in the grandstand. Another polo aficionado was Patrick Hermes, President of the Federation of International Polo (FIP). He acted as third man in both games – making the final umpiring decisions if the two mounted umpires – Robert Thame and Oliver Ellis – could not agree on a decision.
After the main presentation, Nico Petracci’s star pony received the Gibson Guitar Best Playing Pony Rug from HRH Princess Haya and Patrick Normand, managing director of Cartier Middle East. Ali Albwardy then presented a cheque for 100,000 dirams to the Princess on behalf of UNICEF, her chosen charity at this year’s event.
The day started with an under 21s game for the Desert Palm Trophy. The youngsters produced a thrilling performance and attracted plenty of vocal support from the spectators. After a close battle, in which the teams almost seemed to take turns to score, the Guards team came out on top, defeating Desert Palm 5-4. Desert Palm’s owner and patron of the high-goal Dubai polo team, Ali Albwardy looked on proudly as his son Rashid received the Desert Palm Trophy from HRH Princess Haya.
With the leading British polo club – Guards Polo Club – at the forefront in organising this event, there was a typically British feel to the day. After the matches, players and spectators mingled in the relaxed sofa area and were served traditional afternoon tea. Visitors to Desert Palm on this great day of polo, which is traditionally held on the eve of the Dubai World Cup, could also visit the Dubai International Flower Festival 2007 - Floral Fiesta - Ihtefaal Bil Azhaar which was organised by the Floral Art Group – Dubai. The stunning floral exhibits included a 24ft floral display dedicated to HRH Princess Haya.
Teams for the Cartier International Dubai Polo Challenge Trophy :
National Bank of Dubai The Private Office :
Rashid Al Habtoor (1)
Nico Petracci (4)
Pippi Bordieu (6)
Tariq Albwardy (1)
Qatar Airways :
Guy Schwarzenbach (1)
Gabriel Inglesias (4)
Roddy Williams (6)
Tot Rakriaksorn (1)
Teams for the Desert Palm Trophy (under 21s) :
Guards :
Rashid Albwardy
Andreas Papoyans
Geronimo Del Carril
Matias Inglesias
Desert Palm :
Khalid Bin Drai
Tariq Al Habtoor
Mohammed Bin Drai
Rashid Bin Drai

“Only in Dubai……”

Just when we thought we had seen it all, Dubai once again pulled something ritzy and glitzy out of the desert. This year’s highly celebrated Horsepower Challenge was in aid of the Dubai Autism Centre - proudly sponsored by Le Meridien Mina Seyahi.
In stark contrast to the lives of the children throughout the UAE who suffer with the autism condition, a monster fundraising event was put together and designed to highlight the undisputed lifestyle and privileges that the majority of UAE ex-pats enjoy.
The concept of the Horsepower Challenge revolved around four polo teams made up of first season beginners from the Dubai Polo Academy. Having secured four corporate sponsors – TNT, Penfolds, Aigner & Audi Middle East, each team battled it out throughout the day beginning with a polo match in the early hours of the morning, followed by a race around Dubai in the latest Audi TT’s. The sophisticated Sateltite navigation system guided all of the vehicles to the Dubai Marina where they set sail on a luxury super yacht courtesy of Blue Water Charters, around the exclusive Palm Island. Once at their destination all teams had to negotiate a slalom course on a jet ski with their two other team members in tow on an inflatable hotdog!
During the mid day heat, all competitors where treated to a sumptuous lunch courtesy of the title sponsors Le Meridien Mina Seyahi Hotel on a traditional Dhow moored in the center of their exclusive beach resort. As the afternoon became cooler it was a dash back in the Audis’ to the Dubai Polo & Equestrian Club to the thousands of waiting supporters and spectators to continue the Challenge.
Two more chukkas of polo led nicely into the first ever camel polo in the UAE. With neither steering nor brakes each team brought tears of laughter to the watching crowd as the camels either bolted off or lay down mid chukka. The day’s events concluded with a fantastic display of skill from the players in the finale Le Meridian Mina Seyahi Polo Cup between Citi and Dubai Luxury Homes. In true polo style, the after party hosted by Deep Nights from Trilogy rocked Dubai to its very core. The event masterminded by Steve Thompson and Adriana de Koeyer from the Dubai Polo Academy had succeeded in creating mass brand awareness of the Autism campaign and the event raised just under 200,000AED for the cause. For further details on how to make donations to the Dubai Autism Center- please visit www.dubaiautismcenter.com
Le Meridien Mina Seyahi Horsepower Challenge winners were TNT with Audi only points behind and closely followed by Penfolds and Aigner.
TNT Team :
1. Francessca Harris
2. Colin Webb
3. Mike Burbidge
4. James Drinkwater
Audi Team :
1. Ellen Meng
2. Arnie Breuer
3. Tibout Laveniere
4. James Fagan
Penfolds Team :
1. Emma Westmacott
2. Catherine Carter
3. Steve Westmacott
4. Elizabeth Clarence
Aigner Team :
1. Fiona Shepherd
2. Michaela Gradinger
3. Garry Shepherd
4. Annemieke Goos
In the final chukka of Le Meridien Mina Seyahi Cup, Dubai Luxury Homes was narrowly beaten by Citi who managed to squeeze in a couple of goals in the dying seconds of the match.
Citi Team :
1. Ragnar Meitern
2. Alice Harvey
3. Mohammed Al Habtoor
4. Rashid Al Habtoor
Dubai Luxury Homes Team:
1. Helen Tatham
2. Raja Abuljebain
3. Rodger Kay
4. Sheik Khalid

The Pro Am City Polo Championship shows off top city players

Ascot Park Polo Club issued a challenge to the City to use their brawn as well as their brains and to ride head-to-head for the title of the Pro-Am City Polo Champion 2006 on September 9th.
On the day 19 City teams came together to battle it out for title of City Champion 2006. Companies who sponsored their executives and put a team forward included JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Norton Rose, Citigroup, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS, Accenture, Fox-Davies CAPITAL, Alternative Networks, Hedge Fund Polo, Morse and Peter Schoenfeld Asset Management.
In the ‘Battle of The Titans’ the 12 goal match was won by Natwest against Citigroup with only minutes left on the clock Natwest won with 8 goals to 6.
In the 4 goal finals a close game saw Fox Davies Capital sneak out the winners with 5 goals against AOL’s 4. The sub-finals of the 4 goal so an equally nail biting scenario with Norton Rose losing with only ½ a goal against Citigroup ending on 7 ½ to 8. In the tertiary finals of the 4 goal Research Vision lost out by 2 ½ goals with UBS coming home the winner with 4 ½ goals.
The -2 to 0 goal teams played a hard a fast match against each other with Royal Bank of Scotland stealing the show coming home winners with 6 goals to Microsoft’s 1 goal. In the -4 to -2 goal level Peter Schoenfeld Asset Management put up a great fight against Deutsche Bank winning with 9 goals to Deutsche Bank’s 8. The round robin in the -6 to -4 goal saw Citigroup take first place, Goldman Sachs second with Hedge Fund Polo coming in at third place.
The -8 to -7 goal saw two well know teams – JP Morgan and UBS take to the field with up and coming players playing alongside more established players in their company. A close game showing the strength of both teams left UBS the winner with just half a goal with the final score reading 4 ½ goals to UBS.
In the arena Morse and Accenture came together to play in their first ever tournament – some of whom had only recently started playing polo. A great match was had with some very promising players showing off their newly found skills. Accenture eventually came out the winner with 5 goals to 4.
The Pro-Am City Polo Championships is about celebrating the rise in City based polo players and the 9th September proved to illustrate this point. Ascot Park is delighted to see so many new teams enter the tournament this year and witness more established polo players support the up and coming players in their companies.
The aim of the Pro-Am City Polo Championships is to encourage new talent into the world of polo, and offers the opportunity for newcomers to the sport based in the City to be able to play alongside professionals and share the same passion for the game – something which is unique to the sport of polo.
At the forefront of City Polo Ascot Park continues to introduce new companies and individual to the sport, be it through participation, sponsorship or corporate entertainment. Ascot Park would like to thank the following companies for their kind support of the tournament – BSG Team Ventures; Hampton’s International, Knight Frank and La Golondrina Polo Estancia.
Congratulations to the following players for receiving Most Valuable Player at their level sponsored by La Golondrina Polo Estancia – awarding each player with three days training in Argentina:
Daniel Fox Davies (2 to 4 goal)
Raphael Singh (2 to 4 goal)
Kwan Lo (-2 to 0 goal)
Karl Devine (-6 to -4 goal)
Special recognition also went to the following players on behalf of Ascot Park Polo Club for their impact on the development of City Polo.
Colin Church (Citigroup), Matthew Singleton (Citigroup), Camilla Gignoux (Goldman Sachs), Mike Thornton (F&C Investments), James-Scott Wong (UBS).
About Ascot Park Polo Club
Established in 1976 Ascot Park Polo Club is now the world’s largest polo training centre in the world catering for all levels and abilities. Part of the aim of the club is to dispel the myths associated with polo and make the sport accessible to all through the Discover Polo experience and the Corporate Learn to Play Polo Experience.
Ascot Park is a full playing members club in addition to providing a Training Centre for newcomers to the sport. It is the founder of and home to the International Women’s Polo Association affiliated with 33 countries around the globe. In addition to this Ascot Park established the first ever Women’s World Championships, the Corporate Learn to Play Experience and was host to the first City Championships established in 2004.