Polo, a thrilling equestrian sport which had been the preserve of society’s monied grandees and the bastion of the elites like actor Tommy Lee Jones, actress Jane Seymour...the list is almost endless, is now becoming more accessible resulting in its growing popularity. To most people, polo isn’t a sport, it’s an image!
It will be very difficult to precisely specify when, where and how polo, actually put its virgin feet on the grounds of Arabia. It, however, captured the eyes of the masses in about 1600 B.C. in north Persia after which there was no looking back. How the thrilling game gradually got a mass appeal, is yet to be answered.
As cricket, in India, is a matter of pride accompanied by prejudice, such is the case with the Arabian world, in particular Saudi Arabia, where soccer has always been in the hearts and the minds of the people. And in such a competitive atmosphere, how polo has managed to spread its wings is a wonder in itself. Captivating, heart-stopping, thrilling, enthralling, the list of superlatives used to describe the game is almost endless. And yet there is nothing that captures the essence of it, the fascination that begins the moment you first glimpse the vast, imposing green of the prime polo field, and that builds as eight riders thunder in your direction, hooves drumming on the turf. Your connection is immediate, almost primal; the experience unforgettable!
You don’t have to play to love the game. If you admire excellence, if the pursuit of excellence gives you a special tinge, polo is right up your alley. You’ll be a perfect and devoted fan. To see the game for what it is: a feat for the senses, a glimpse into an endeavor that honors the disappearing virtues of daring, risk, danger, and action. It’s polo, the ultimate sport! Such is the excitement experienced of such a demanding sport and what better chance to get a feel of this fast paced action than the GCC Polo Cup event, a celebrity magnet involving the most prominent and high-ranking dignitaries of the Middle East and the United Kingdom. BMG Foundation, the social responsibility arm of BMG Financial Advisors, is a non-profit organization that hosts charitable events with a core objective to donate net proceeds to well-known Charity Associations of the GCC States and the United Kingdom.
In addition to its noble cause, this equestrian event seeks to cement and enhance cultural, business and sporting links between the GCC States and the United Kingdom. Initiated by Basil M. Al Ghalayini, chairman of BMG Foundation and CEO of BMG Financial Advisors, along with Salahuddin Masood and Charles Stisted and supported by Sheikh Muhammad Al-Hamrani, since its inception by playing in the GCC team and as a sponsor the event, the event has been taking place for the past eight years traditionally at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park, England. This year the event scheduled on Saturday, June 25, has been dedicated to the late Prime Minister Rafiq Al Hariri in memory of his legacy and noble work.
