NEWS

The Board of Directors of the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame have announced the 2024 inductees into the Museum’s Polo Hall of Fame: Jeffrey W. Blake, Hubert W. “Rube” Williams, Vicki Armour, Richard “Dick” Latham, A. D. “Don” Beveridge, and legendary horses Sweet Be and Royal Diamond.

Jeff Blake is a three-time U.S. Open Polo Championship winner, lifting the trophy in 1996 and 1999 with Outback and in 2008 with Crab Orchard in which he was named Most Valuable Player. He also won the 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 was known as a fearless player and 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 and drama-laced best-of-three series.

Williams, an outgoing Texan who reached 8-goals, also won the 1928 Junior Championship (now known as the Silver Cup), the 1930 Monty Waterbury and was a finalist in the 1932 U.S. Open Polo Championship.

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.

Vicki Armour 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 horsewoman 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 National Copper Cup, Heritage Cup and U.S. Open Women’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.”

Dick Latham who was synonymous with Willow Bend Polo Club in Texas, has been 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, National Inter-Circuit Championship and represented the United States in the 1976 Camacho Cup.

Latham authored numerous articles and Bluebook summaries, highlighted by the USPA “Guide for Umpires” booklet.

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 four victories in the U.S. Open Polo Championship, as well as triumphs in the National 20-Goal (now the Silver Cup), the Monty Waterbury and the Butler Handicap.

Off the field, he co-founded, along with his brother Bert Beveridge, Boca Raton Polo Club (now defunct), playing a vital 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.

Sweet Be, owned and played by Hall of Famer Charles Smith and Richard Latham, will be recognized with the Horses to Remember, post-Hartman Era award.

Sweet Be earned numerous Best Playing Pony awards, highlighted by the Hartman Award in the 1976 U.S. Open Polo Championship and Best Playing Pony of 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 Polo Championship, USPA Gold Cup, Silver Cup and Butler Handicap, among others.

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.

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, in which she had to excel both at play and in the show ring.

The resilient mare had a long and illustrious career serving as a mount for famed players like Whitney and Hitchcock and was cited in numerous publications as “one of the greatest of all polo mounts.”

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 in Lake Worth, Florida. All are invited to attend and 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: blynn@polomuseum.org for further details, information, or to make your reservations.