CHUKKAS AND CHAMPAGNE
EVENTS
Smith's Lawn drew its crowd early, glasses of champagne in hand before the first bell, the White Track's red rail marking the boundary between spectators and sport. House of Woulfe returned to Guards Polo Club for its annual Cup, gathering prime and super prime London around a pitch that has hosted royal matches for the better part of a century..
From left to right: Tallulah Charalambous, Grant Pierrus, Pandora Lewis, Brian Woulfe, Alex Dauley, Adam Tucker, Dr Sultan Hussein
The polo itself carried the afternoon's energy. Riders in House of Woulfe green and white crossed the Queen's Ground at a gallop, mallets raised, horses bandaged in matching white to the fetlock. Between chukkas, guests drifted along the picket fence in linen and floral prints, sun hats doing most of the work against the July heat.
The design community was spoilt rotten throughout, guests even given a proper lesson in how to swing a mallet correctly rather than left to guess. Our founder Annie had a wonderful afternoon among it all, mallet in hand and thoroughly won over.
Lunch turned to asado once prize giving wrapped, grilled peppers, charred artichoke and skewered meats laid out across long trestle tables, the smoke drifting back toward the pitch.
Sponsors including Forta Productions, Element7, Lalique and Poliform lent their support to a day built as much for connection as for sport, industry names trading introductions between chukkas rather than business cards.
By carriages at half past five, the grass had gone gold with late light, and nobody seemed particularly in a hurry to leave.
