LAKE WORTH, FL (October 12, 2023) – The Board of Directors of the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame has announced the 2024 inductees into the Museum’s Polo Hall of Fame:
Jeff Blake, Rube Williams, Vicki Armour, Dick Latham, Don Beveridge, and legendary horses Sweet Be, and Royal Diamond.
The 35th Annual Hall of Fame Awards Dinner and Induction Ceremony is one of the premier events of the high-goal polo season in Florida and is scheduled for Friday, February 16, 2024, at the Museum of Polo.
Jeff Blake is a three-time U.S. Open champion, lifting the trophy in 1996 and 1999 with Outback and in 2008 with Crab Orchard in which he was named MVP. He also won USPA Gold Cup three times (1998, 1999 and 2003) and multiple other high-goal tournaments, including the 2006 Joe Barry Memorial Cup, again being selected as the MVP.
As a consummate professional, Blake, who reached 7 goals, was highly sought after, and added the Pacific Coast Open, Silver Cup, National Twenty Goal, Butler Handicap, Challenge Cup and Sterling Cup trophies to his sparkling resume.
He also represented the United States in the 2009 Westchester Cup and the 1998 14-goal World Championship. Blake was selected Young Player of the Year in 1998 and the Polo Magazine Excellence Awards for Young Player.
Posthumous Hall of Fame honoree Hubert Winfield “Rube” Williams, who was known as a fearless player, was an integral member on the winning West team in the famous 1933 East-West series. He suffered a broken leg in the second game of the rough best-of-three.
Williams, an outgoing Texan who reached 8 goals, also won the 1928 Junior Championship (now known as the Silver Cup), the 1930 Monty Waterbury Cup and was a finalist in the 1932 U.S. Open.
A talented horseman, he and good friend Cecil Smith were well-known for purchasing prospective polo ponies and turning them into top prospects. After retiring from polo, Williams became a well-known horse trainer on the East Coast.
The posthumous Iglehart honor is awarded to Don Beveridge, whose outstanding playing career, coupled with his vision, helped reinvigorate the sport throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
On the field, Beveridge helped organize and played on some of the most dynamic teams of that era, leading his famed Triple C team to victories in the U.S. Open (1954, 1955, 1957, 1960) as well as triumphs in the National 20-Goal (now the Silver Cup), in 1954 and 1955, the Monty Waterbury in 1951 and 1954, and the Butler Handicap in 1954 and 1956.
Off the field, he co-founded, along with his brother Bert Beveridge, Boca Raton Polo Club, playing an integral part of helping to bring and promote high-goal polo in South Florida. To further help publicize and energize the sport, he started Polo Unlimited Magazine.
His multi-faceted talents as an exceptional amateur player and as an astute organizer and developer made him an invaluable contributor to the resurgence of polo in America, starting it on a journey the sport continues to enjoy today.
Iglehart Award winner Vicki Armour (pictured below) is recognized as one of the best female polo players of the 80s and 90s. She was a profound influence for women in the sport, breaking ground by playing in the 22-goal when it was fairly unheard of for women to be competing at that level. A fierce competitor on the field, Vicki easily held her own with the top players in the sport and became a favorite subject for the press who extensively covered her remarkable feats.
In addition to Armour’s playing abilities, she was also globally recognized as a skilled horseman and uniquely gifted trainer of polo ponies. She had an undeniable talent for picking great horses to make into some of the best polo ponies in the sport, and has selected, trained, and sold horses to the best competitors in polo.
Vicki reached a 2-goal handicap and won the Copper and Heritage Cups and the Women’s U.S. Handicap. Selected by a committee of her peers from candidates from all over the United States, she was awarded the Polo Magazine “Woman Polo Player of the Centennial Era”.
Iglehart Award winner Dick Latham, who was synonymous with Willow Bend Polo Club, was heavily involved in many aspects of serving the USPA, whether as a Delegate (1966-74), on the Board of Governors (1972-79) or as USPA Secretary (1973-75). He was also a member of the Handicap, Tournament, Umpire and Trophy committees throughout his many years of service.
Latham played polo at the University of Virginia and was a 3-goaler who won the USPA Gold Cup in 1975 and 1977 as well as the Silver Cup, and 12-Goal Inter-Circuit and represented the United States in the 1976 Camacho Cup.
Latham authored numerous articles and Blue Book summaries, highlighted by the USPA “Guide for Umpires” booklet.
The Horses to Remember honoree of the early pre-Hartman era is Royal Diamond, the bay mare that was a “treasured” pony of Hall of Famer Harry Payne Whitney. Whitney, who reportedly purchased Royal Diamond from the Duke of Westminster in 1916.
Royal Diamond was the first winner of the Best Polo Pony in Show Champion Cup at the debut of the National Polo Pony Society Show in 1919. (Criteria: Must excel at both play and as an example of worthy to improve the breed)
Royal Diamond competed in the 1921 International Games, played by Tommy Hitchcock, Jr. Several years later Polo magazine referred to her as “one of the greatest of all polo mounts.”
The phenomenal chestnut thoroughbred gelding Flash, whose actual name was Rockey Kid, will be recognized as “Horses to Remember, post-Hartman Award Era.”
Sweet Be, owned and played by Hall of Famer Charles Smith and Richard Latham, will be recognized as “Horses to Remember, post-Hartman Award Era.”
Sweet Be (gray horse pictured above) earned numerous Best Playing Awards, highlighted by the Hartman Award in the 1976 U.S. Open. Another highlight is winning the Best Playing Award in the 1976 Camacho Cup.
Sweet Be was a mainstay for Smith in the 1970s as he played her in all the major tournaments, including the U.S. Open, USPA Gold Cup, Silver Cup, and Butler Handicap, among others.
The Awards Gala and Induction Ceremony will take place at the Museum of Polo on Friday, February 16, 2024. The public is invited to attend. Ticket information will be announced soon.
The Hall of Fame Awards Dinner is the most important annual fundraising event for the Museum, a private, independently run 501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization. Contact Brenda Lynn at the Museum of Polo, (561) 969-3210 or (561) 969-7015, e-mail: [email protected] for further details, information, or to make your reservations.