A sporting, rip-snorting good time is also on offer to Shanghai high society this month in the form of the 2009 Royal Salute Polo Gold Cup, dubbed ‘For Honour & Glory’ – following on from the previous two years’ events ‘The Sport of Kings and the King of Sports’ and ‘The Knights of Nobility’ (suffice to say the great unwashed aren’t exactly encouraged to get involved).

 

For those of you who haven’t seen Pretty Woman, polo is a sport in which two teams of four exceedingly posh people wielding long mallets (manau cane shaft, tipa wood head, don’t you know) mount a ‘string of ponies’ – each player has a number of horses that are switched between playing periods, known as ‘chukkas’ – and gallop around a 300-yard-long field attempting to whack a small white ball into eight-foot-wide goals. 

 

The good breeding of the humans on display is matched only by that of the horses. Imported from around the world after years of training, this year’s Royal Salute Gold Cup will see the participation of more than 80 noble steeds.

 

 Started in 2007, the Gold Cup became the first ever international standard polo tournament to be played in modern China and receives support and recognition from both the global Polo Federation and the China Sports Association. This year several Chinese players are to participate in the main competition, having now received the ratings necessary to be allowed to play at this level – their previous participation was restricted to an in-no-way-patronizing-at-all side attraction game of ‘bicycle polo.’

But let’s be honest, the polo itself is a side attraction; billed as one of the “social events of the season” it is a place for the great and the good to see and be seen, with as many fine fillies to be found frolicking in the marquees as on the field of play. And this year there will be a bar and lounge with international DJs and special performances. So pop a plum in your mouth, don your finery and head on over for a chance to rub up against the haves and the have mores. But be warned, if your double-barrelled name’s not on the door, you’re not coming in.

 

 

 

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