This weekend marked the end of the Polo season at Polo Escape. Good news for those of you who are sick of photos of horses, bad news for me as I will miss the photography, the people, and the insanely great hospitality; which was much in evidence on Saturday evening with a lavish seafood and everything else buffet washed down by unlimited champagne and wine.
The weekend was marred in the final few minutes of the game on Sunday, when Paul Cheung fell off his horse. This would not have been too bad had the horse not then fallen on Paul, the result being a dislocate shoulder, broken ribs, and a broken collarbone that required emergency surgery last night.
Paul is the CEO of a diamond trading company in Hong Kong. Although clearly not short of cash, he is down to earth, a source of endless amusing stories and fine company. He is currently fighting a campaign with the management of Thai Airlines to get them to improve the quality of the post-meal toothpicks in Business Class. Beats combating global warming. Get well soon Paul.
The light was not as good as usual, but I managed a few reasonable shots, including this sequence of the Von Potobsky brothers fighting over the ball. Barging your horse into an opponent is an acceptable tactic in Polo. It’s especially satisfying if the other horse is being ridden by your brother.
The next shot is the one I would choose to print; such is the advantage of being able to take multiple shots per second, at least one of them usually turns out OK:
