Marshalling his troops - Pitchcare

A Passion for
polo in the sand...
116
Jane Carley reports on the Polo Club
Dubai and finds that creating a polo pitch
in the desert is a tall order
Afew minutes drive from
the commercial bustle of
Dubai’s city centre, with
the dramatic 828m tall Burj
Khalifa tower at its heart, the
Polo Club Dubai offers a
glimpse into a different world.
Finely honed, fit equines
pound emerald green turf in
front of a spectacular colonial
style clubhouse, surrounded by
lush gardens and an upmarket
riding club. Part of an exclusive
new development, the polo
club’s neighbours include a
newly built luxury housing
complex and the Arabian
Ranches Golf Club.
Polo competitors naturally
include numerous Sheiks from
the Emirates who have been
gripped by the adrenaline
fuelled sport, but this spring’s
inaugural Threadneedle Gold
Cup also attracted leading
names from the top polo
nations, including England and
Argentina.
In contrast with polo in
Europe, the season starts on
15th of October, when the
Gulf ’s weather cools down
enough, and finishes in May.
Polo matches are very much
part of the lively social scene in
Dubai, with the major
tournaments promoted through
the lifestyle magazines and
featuring post match parties,
banquets and discos in the
club’s grounds. The
Threadneedle tournament
attracted much of the country’s
glitterati, including members of
the royal family.
Creating a polo pitch in the
desert is a tall order - the
surface needs to be firm and
level, providing safe footing for
eight horses and their often
blue blooded pilots, travelling
at speed and turning on a
sixpence. But, equally, it needs
to offer sufficient ‘give’ and
traction to prevent the animals
from injuring their delicate
limbs.
Each pitch - Dubai Polo Club
has a main pitch and a practice
pitch - is 300 yards long and
160 yards wide, with a 12in
upright board bounding the