Ch 9, 60 Minutes, Black Caviar and Jasper

JJW and Bushie, over in the UK, took time out to support Liz Hayes and the Channel 9, Sixty Minutes team cover the spectacular 22nd win to the great mare, Black Caviar, at Ascot. ........all in a days play i guess.

Success never comes without Hard Work

An old friend , teacher, mentor and coach, once said that "success never comes without hard work". He went on to be a speech writer for a Prime Minister, coach of an Australian Rugby World Cup Winning Team and a successful radio broadcaster. Those levels of committment which were demanded from him have now been handed down to the next generation.

Three young men that have adopted his legacy are now tasting some success in their chosen sport; Polo. The hard yards in the arena and the miles around the stick and ball pitch at home are paying off.
William, Alec and Jasper White are now playing at competative levels in many countries including England, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia.

Diary note;  Scone Polo                        September 22 - 30
                     Ellerston Polo                   October 10 - 21.

Alec White; first Australian to win coveted Queens Cup Polo Tournament

Alec White has become the first Australian to have his name inscribed on the magnificent Queens Cup. It has been heralded as one of the toughest and most sought after trophies in the world of Polo. Playing for Dubai, along side perhaps the greatest 10 goal polo player of our time, Adolfo Cambiaso and past 10 goal Nachi Heguy, Alec toughed out a gruelling 6 chukka final right down to the wire when Cambiaso scored an open goal penalty in the dying seconds to secure the match 12-11..

The added extra honour in winning the trophy is to be presented to by the Queen. A photo and a memory that Alec will cherrish for the rest of his life.

 

 

Alec has a short break before preparing for the next Tournament; The Gold Cup. (The British Open)

For Equine Adrenalin Junkies only

Imagine this; decking yourself out in long thermals, white trousers, stock, high top riding boots, pink coat and helmet and climbing into the saddle at 7:30 am.; a quick shot of warm "stirrup cup" as a bit of "dutch courage" and off into the never never to hunt fox with 18+1/2 couple (37 lean and fit hounds).

The stillness of the morning is broken by the sound of the Master's hunting horn and the chorus of hounds giving voice to the fleeting scent of fox. Your blood warms and something within you stirrs to a hightened readiness. The horse beneath leans on the bit and you're up in the irons and over the pommel at 3/4 pace. Any obstacle in your way; a panelled fence , a wire fence, a tree plantation. a gully , a river, mobs of sheep or cattle, crops, a road, anything; is taken in your stride. The adrenalin is racing as sweat builds up under your heavy woolen jacket , your hands are freezing and your eyes watering in the frosty morning air. Tally ho.

Who measures distance; who counts the minutes on a good ride? It may be 36 - 40 km or 2 hours later that you take a check on the reins as the fox goes to ground under a concrete slab of an old dairy. The hounds mark the spot and hunger for their prey. "Venery"; the art, the sport, the lore of hunting.

Its a dying tradition kept up by perhaps only the foolish and the hardy.

The Ellerslie Camperdown Hunt has been going since 1898. The current day Huntsman and Joint Master is

Mr John Crosby Goold: