FOR many years the sport of polo has been associated with members of the Royal Family and the rich and famous, but it turns out it is a very important part of our country’s sporting history.
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Tarlo man Wal Ashton has a proud family association with the sport, with his father James and his three brothers Phil, Geoff and Bob taking on the English, Americans and Indians in a tournament in 1930 with horses selected from the finest Australian breeders.
Mr Ashton is currently a member of the Tarlo Hill Equestrian Club (THEC).
A documentary, entitled ‘The Goulburn Polo Team 1920-1930’ has steadily been put together by family friend Pete Davies along with the assistance of the Ashton family, mainly descendants of the four brothers.
The finished product will be screened by THEC at the Muddy Flats Polo Club in the Far Western Sydney suburb of Richmond on Saturday, October 17 from 4pm-8pm.
Mr Ashton’s father and the three brothers took their 25 ponies and embarked on a 48 day sea voyage of more than 21,000 kilometres to the Hurlingham Polo Association in England in January 1930 to represent Goulburn, with the blessing of the Australian Polo Association (APA).
The Ashton’s property, ‘Markdale’ at Binda, approximately 30 kms north of the Southern Tablelands town of Crookwell, was in the same area as a property owned by a Colonel McCartney, who was a retired army officer from World War One who had formed the Goulburn Artillery Club to attract volunteer army reservists, with the idea that each player should bring a pony or two on Saturday afternoons with the promise of a game or two of polo.
Markdale was the perfect location for such an endeavour, as it had a polo field and a hitting pit, and as well as this, the four boys would often go on frequent trips riding and driving their horses on the 80 km trip to Goulburn, where they would compete in weekend matches which would help hone their skills.
From this modest start, the four brothers became the Goulburn team by 1926, and three years later in 1929 became finalists, although being beaten by a team from Harden in the Australasian Gold Cup.
A partial copy of the then unfinished documentary was shown at Mr Ashton’s pre-election party in March of this year and attracted the interest of the district’s polo notables, including owner of the homestead Springfield, (near Goulburn), Jim Maple-Brown.
Mr Maple-Brown had played against Mr Ashton on several occasions, and also hosted many polo tournaments on the grounds of ‘Springfield.’
For more information or to RSVP, contact Mr Ashton’s daughter Sophie on 0439 623 268 or email her at soph.ashton@gmail.com.
