Madrid and Kentucky: HPRC's 2026 tour in pictures

Madrid: the Friendship Cup and the Clubs Cup

The Friendship Cup on Saturday 26 September was played in mixed teams, with two HPRC players and two Madrid members on each side. White (MGV, Ivan Davila, Chaitania Kumar and Arsalan Khan) beat Blue (Akash Reddy, Saif Attari, Mateo and Nacho) 4–3.

Sunday's Clubs Cup pitted Spain against India: Akash Reddy, Arsalan Khan, Saif Attari and Chaitania Kumar. Kumar opened the scoring and Khan added two. At 3–3 India held the home side until Madrid converted the winner in the closing minutes of the final chukker, and took the Cup 4–3.

Madrid, on and off the field

Madrid Polo Club lent twelve horses, three to each visiting player. There was a teams dinner, an evening of flamenco at the Teatro on Calle del Pez with both clubs and their families, and a party after the Cup. Our thanks to Ivan, Mario and Lorenzo, and an invitation to Madrid Polo Club to come and play in Hyderabad. The Clubs Cup was in the Indian press within a day.

The Royal Collections and Las Ventas

Between matches, Madrid itself. The Galería de las Colecciones Reales beside the Royal Palace holds royal carriages, armour, tapestries and, for an equestrian club, the horse armour and jousting saddles of the Spanish court. An afternoon at Las Ventas, the great bullring, showed the other side of Spain's long relationship with the horse and the bull.

Kentucky: the final, USA v India

The final at Commonwealth Polo Club in Paris, Kentucky, on Saturday 3 October was arena polo under lights: three a side, four chukkers and overtime, and neck and neck to the last bell. USA 10, India 10. Chaitania Kumar scored four, Arsalan Khan four and Saif Attari two, and the match was never more than a goal apart. It was India's first polo match in the United States since the club's San Diego tour.

The week also took in practice chukkers on Commonwealth's horses, the Kentucky Horse Park, and a barbecue at the club after the final, where commemorative shirts were exchanged with Jorge Vasquez and his members.

Horse country: Gainesway and Darley

Two mornings among the stallions. At Gainesway Farm on the Paris Pike we met Tapit, the grey who sired a generation, and toured the farm's renowned stallion barns. At Darley's Jonabell Farm we met Cody's Wish and heard how he got his name: Cody Dorman, a young fan, met him as a foal and followed him to two Breeders' Cup wins. In Darley's trophy room we saw the Kentucky Derby trophy, and in the stallion cemetery the grave of Equipoise, the great chestnut of 1928.

Keeneland: the winner's circle

The highlight of the tour. On Friday 2 October, opening day of the Fall Meet, the party dressed up for the races with Jorge Vasquez. The day after our tour of Gainesway Farm, Gainesway's own Emphatic won the main race of the day, the Grade 1 Darley Alcibiades, by a couple of lengths, and the HPRC party was invited into the winner's circle for the trophy presentation.

Friends, the Horse Park and a birthday

Imran Hakeem flew in from Florida, Prem and Priyanka came from New Jersey (Prem celebrated his birthday with us on 4 October) and Veerendra drove down from Columbus, Ohio, to spend a day at the Kentucky Horse Park.

The commemorative shirts

Each match came with its own shirt: one for the Madrid players after the Clubs Cup, one for Commonwealth after the final.