Polo Season Sizzles Right Out of the Gate

With news that Prince Harry, wife Meghan, and newly-born son, Archie, might possibly be purchasing a second home in Los Angeles, the rumor mill has been running at full throttle.

The polo-playing Duke of Sussex participates regularly with Santa Barbara Polo Club player, Nacho Figueras, the Argentinian Ralph Lauren Polo model, who competes on the fashion tycoon’s Black Watch team, and it is hoped Queen Elizabeth‘s 34-year-old grandson, should he move to the Left Coast in due course, as reported by Rupert Murdoch‘s London Sun, will become a regular on the impeccably manicured fields of the Carpinteria club.

Harry’s brother, Prince William, and wife, Kate, were guests at the equestrian paradise when the club celebrated its centenary eight years ago, an event I covered for NBC.

A friend of the Duchess of Sussex, whose mother Doria Ragland lives in the Big Orange, says: “She loves the city, the lifestyle, and the climate. Ultimately, she’s a California girl and can breathe easier there. Hollywood is in her DNA.”

The club’s 108th season kicked off last week with the 12-goal Folded Hills Pope Challenge pitting local banker Henry Walker‘s FMB Too! against Grant Palmer‘s Antelope Junior team in a closely fought game with Henry’s team defending their one goal lead until the fifth chukker when Grant, son of billionaire Geoff Palmer, one of the biggest housing developers in Los Angeles, scored a skillful field goal winning the exciting match 9-8, eventually winning the final against Justin Klentner‘s Klentner Ranch team, last year’s winner, at the weekend.

A promising start to a sizzling season…