Windsor Charity Polo Cup
Windsor, Vero Beach, Florida
Last week, William took time out from sales visits in the USA to drop by the Windsor Polo Club in Vero Beach, Florida, where a fantastic charity match was taking place and where the members of the winning team were each set to win one of our lovely Weekender bags in Aztec Crazyhorse (apt, huh?).
The rest of us, left at home on rainy old Middle England (which is not at its finest in mid February), have pored over the photographs he took and dreamt of the glamour, food, and even just the sunshine since he got back, so we thought we’d share some of the gloss with you, our lovely customers.
It’s a charity event, organised by a group of tireless angels whose committee was this year headed up by The Hon Hilary Weston and Salvatore Ferragamo. Now, this should give you a clue as to the glamour level – Hilary is essentially retail royalty and Salvatore is the grandson of his namesake, the revered Italian footwear designer, and CEO of the Il Borro Relais & Chateaux, Winery and Estate. The beneficiaries of the event were two charities, the Rett Syndrome Research Trust and the Indian River County School’s ‘Summer Literacy on the Lagoon’ programme. In addition the the figureheads and their army of volunteers, there were two teams of players made up from some of the foremost players in the world and who gathered in Windsor to lend their hands (and sticks and teams of ponies) to the cause.
The day began with a concour d’elegance of gorgeous cars displayed by the Porche Club of America, followed by a demonstration from Special Equestrians (similar to our Para Riders) and then onto a champagne reception and gorgeous lunch before play began in the afternoon. There were six fast chukkas played of high-intensity polo and a little obligatory audience participation in the treading-in ceremony (well they needed to work off the lunch surely?).
Seniority won the day and the winning team of Polo legends, brothers Memo and Carlos Gracida, Mike Azzaro and team captain John Walsh, collectively “Los Caballeros de Ruby” triumphed over the young guns (Lius Escobar, Malcolm Borwick and Pablo Dorignac who were led by Salvatore Ferragamo as the “Balios”). From our point of view, the best bit was the obvious and genuine delight of the winning players when they were presented with their bags. Indeed, the losing team were somewhat jealous and even made a bid to swiftly rehome the bags!
All in all, a good bit of serious fun in aid of great causes, which we were delighted to be associated with – please see links at the bottom of the page.
Enjoy the photos:
Bottom: Memo Gracida and his Mike Azarro are happy to pose with their new Weekenders
Check out the Windsor Polo Store for more items; proceeds from sales contribute to the charities and you can read more about the day on the Windsor Polo newspage.
Footnote:
It is with great sadness that we have to update this post with the dreadful news of the untimely death of one of the winning team – Carlos Gracida. Carlos was killed in a freak acccident whilst playing his beloved polo just a week or so after this game took place. We are so shocked by this awful news and send our deepest sympathies to his family and friends.
