Four Old Horsemen

International polo, the prewar sport of the breakneck rich, has nearly as many postwar problems as Lake Success. Taxes and war have all but killed the game in Britain, have certainly done it no good in the U.S. Only in Argentina, where more rated polo players (some 3,000) exist than in any other country in the world, is polo still clearly on the upgrade. For four years, Argentine polo's pride & joy has been a dashing outfit with a couple of Argentine Irishmen named Juan and Roberto Cavanagh riding at No. 1 and No. 2.

Last month, the Cavanaghs & Co. were persuaded to load themselves (and 32 crack ponies) on airplanes for the U.S. When the Argentines took the field at Los Angeles last week, against a hand-picked U.S. team, they learned that it was to be a championship match--and they let out a roar heard halfway to Buenos Aires. They had left flamboyant, red-headed Roberto, a nine-goal player,* at home. They played the match under protest.

It was like a contest between a canny, battle-weary old boxer and a wiry young puncher. The Argentines rode their ponies like gauchos at a festival, leaned spectacularly from their saddles to swipe at the ball. They led at the halfway point, 6-3.

The U.S. four, playing their positions carefully and conserving energy, were hoary holdovers from the salad days of U.S. polo. The great Tommy Hitchcock, Jr. was gone (killed in a wartime plane crash in Britain) but one of his contemporaries, 45-year-old Cecil Smith, was in there riding at No. 3. Up front, his back ramrod-stiff as always, rode the old man of the team, Eric Pedley.

At 53, Stockbroker Pedley, who lays aside his spectacles when he dons his polo togs, had long ago given up whoopdedo polo. But when things looked darkest, Pedley dribbled the ball almost beneath his pony's feet and drove it squarely between the uprights for two successive goals, to turn the tide. With less than one minute to play, the U.S. scored the clincher that beat the Argentines, 10-9. But the Argentine protest was allowed; the game didn't count.

When the Argentines rode out again this week, big Roberto Cavanagh was in the lineup. He had come running after a rush call to Buenos Aires. His seven goals helped sink the U.S. veterans, 15-10. Roberto was staying around for the remaining two matches, too.

* In polo jargon, one notch short of perfect. For handicap purposes, rated players are graded each year by the polo association of each country on the basis of all-round performance, from zero goals to ten.

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