Giddy-up, Greenwich - Westfair Communications

Photos by Dan Burns — Photo by Dan Burns

News over the royal polo match in Greenwich is about to stirrup a new wave of attention on the sport and the Greenwich Polo Club is ready to saddle up.

Prince Harry, third in line to the British throne, is scheduled to play a match May 15 for a charity event at the club. And though the event is by invitation only, the club has been inundated with emails and phone calls about the event and the venue.

“We”™re getting a tremendous amount of response,” said Leighton Jordan, managing director of the Greenwich Polo Club. “It”™s been really positive.”

The club, established in 1981, is internationally recognized as one of the best places to play polo and is considered the place to play high-goal polo in the Northeast. The club was founded by Peter Brant, an avid polo player and owner of three arts and culture magazines, including Interview. Brant will play against the prince in the match and has previously played Prince Charles in Florida and England.

Since the royal cup news broke late March, the number of phone calls the club receives has increased 200 percent, Jordan said. Companies are looking to become sponsors and others are gaining interest in the club”™s own charities it partners with, including the Boys and Girls Club and The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, founded by the late actor Paul Newman. Proceeds from the royal match will go to Sentebale, co-founded by Prince Harry, which helps support children in Lesotho.

“When you have the royals play at any place, it gives it notoriety, it”™s a great honor,” said Peter Rizzo, CEO of the United States Polo Association. “The princes are good polo players. They love the game, their father loves the game. It sets a good tone for the sport.”

Rizzo previously ran the U.S. Open Polo Championship games at The Greenwich Polo Club in the ”™90s.

Some of the best games in polo are played in Greenwich, said Rizzo, who expects interest in the sport to pick up with the royal game. Polo is one of the oldest recorded sports in history and dates back as far as Alexander the Great. The first games in the U.S. were played in and around New York City in 1876 and its popularity has been increasing within the last decade, especially among high school- and college-age teams, he said.

Though the public won”™t be able to attend the royal match, Jordan said the club has open events throughout June and two matches in July and September. It costs $40 by the carload to attend.

“It”™s the best polo you”™re going to find in the country during the summer months,” Jordan said. “When you come to Greenwich Polo Club, you”™re seeing the best of the best ”” the best players, the best teams, the best animals.”