THE Bledisloe Warwickshire Cup, one of the oldest and most prestigious tournaments on the polo calendar, was won by the Barbados-based team Apes Hill on Sunday, writes Callum Chaplin.

They lifted the trophy at Cirencester Park Polo Club after beating H B Polo 8-6 in the tightly-contested final, making it their second major success in England since winning the Queen’s Cup in 2009.

The semifinals took place on Thursday, June 18, with Apes Hill seeing off Thai Polo in a convincing 10-5 win.

Apes Hill took an early lead going 3-0 up in the first chukka with Oaksey player Mark Tomlinson’s faultless penalty record contributing to the majority of goals in the first stages of the game.

The polo opened up later on in the game and saw a more even second half with some impressive field goals, but Apes Hill remained in front throughout.

The second semifinal was tightly contested by H B Polo and La Indiana, who featured both James Beim and New Zealand’s highest rated player, John Paul Clarkin.

H B Polo dominated much of the scoreboard throughout the six chukkas of play.

By the start of the sixth chukka, they were leading 8-4, but La Indiana made an impressive comeback.

They scored three consecutive field goals to cut the margin to one goal, but H B Polo replied quickly with a goal by Magoo Laprida, which seemed to seal the result with three minutes left in regulation time.

However, La Indiana battled back, scoring twice to tie at 9-9, sending the match into an extra chukka.

That was when Magoo ran to the goalposts to earn H B the second ticket to the final.

Apes Hill's victory over their French rivals was made even more impressive by the fact that the team had not been formed for long.

Sir Charles Williams, the Apes Hill team sponsor said he was delighted with the success. “I am over the moon,” he said.

“This team was only put together a few weeks ago and it was a late entry.

“We gave up a two-goal handicap, as we started the game with a 22-goal handicap while they were at 20, but we were still able to beat them.

The members of the winning Apes Hill team were Oaksey-based Mark Tomlinson, a six-goal handicap player, and Ralf Richardson, a one-goal handicap, and Argentines Fernandez Llorente (6) and Eduardo Astrada, who plays off a nine-goal handicap.