Interview

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Every sport has a star who—in and out of competition—comes to embody the character and personality of the sport itself. For polo, that athlete is Nacho Figueras. He is one of the leading polo players on the field today—maybe not the single best of the moment, but he does stand as the latest incarnation of the dashing Argentine player, an archetype that has a long history in the sport. And at age 32, Figueras has quite possibly done more than any other competitor to raise awareness of the sport. Polo hasn’t had an easy time in the last few decades erasing its public image as a rich man’s game, played behind the gates of private clubs to a crowd of white-gloved socialites. It’s a misconception that Figueras has spent much of his career trying to correct.

After all, Ignacio “Nacho” Figueras grew up on a small farm outside of Buenos Aires and began playing polo at the age of nine. He honed his skills in his home country before going pro and making a name for himself in Paris. He came to the United States more than a decade ago, working up to the top circuit that tours the polo capitals like Bridgehampton, New York, and Palm Beach, Florida. His current team, Black Watch, is one of the toughest and most skillful of the pack. But the rise in polo’s popularity the last few years also coincided with the rise of Figueras as more than just a champion. He has become something of the sport’s poster boy. In 2000, Ralph Lauren (with the help of photographer Bruce Weber) tapped him to model for the company. And, just this year, they made him the face of Polo fragrances.

Obviously, Figueras filling in the outline of the man on horseback that comprises Ralph Lauren’s iconic logo was as fitting as it was a brilliant marketing strategy. But Figueras sees his modeling job as another opportunity to call attention to the sport. Ironically, the public perception of Figueras is also somewhat misleading, fed by the notion of what a polo player must be like. He’s often perceived as a playboy, saddling up on the field in the day and partying up the night. In actuality, Figueras is a much more humble and centered family man—a husband and a father of two (at press time Figueras and his wife were expecting a third child). Not that there aren’t limelight moments. Take, for example, the Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Classic, played last summer on Governors Island in New York City. In front of a crowd that included Madonna, Kate Hudson, Marc Jacobs, and Chloë Sevigny, Figueras and his Black Watch team sparred against a team led by Prince Harry. After the match, it was hard to determine if the attendees were more taken by the presence of the handsome prince or by the handsome polo player. The event benefited Sentebale, an organization that aids orphans and at-risk children in the African country of Lesotho, and it also benefited a number of guests who had never seen polo played live before—and certainly not on an island in New York Harbor. Interview’s chairman, Peter M. Brant, owner of the team White Birch and a polo player himself who has competed alongside Figueras, recently spoke with him at a café in Bridgehampton.

PETER M. BRANT: We’ve known each other for a long time, and one thing that has always impressed me about you is that even though you’ve been very successful outside of polo, doing things like modeling for Ralph Lauren, you’ve never lost your intensity for your sport. You are a polo player—and a lot of people don’t understand the level of dedication that it takes to be one, or even the game itself. So let’s start at the beginning. As a boy in Argentina, how did you wind up playing polo?

NACHO FIGUERAS: I grew up on a farm in Veinticinco de Mayo, near where Mariano [Aguerre, a fellow Argentine polo player] is from, and then I went to school in Buenos Aires until I was 12 or 13 because my parents wanted me to go to an English school. When I was 14, I decided that I really wanted to pursue polo more, so I asked my parents if it would be okay for me to go live on a farm outside the city so I could play. My mother said, “If you promise your school duties will remain normal, then I’m fine with that.” So I moved to a farm and lived with [professional polo player] Lucas Monteverde’s family. Being able to ride everyday allowed me to spend more time with the horses and to play polo more—that’s basically how this whole thing started. Then, when I was 17, I got my first opportunity to play as a pro in Paris, with Ignacio [Alvarez de Toledo] and Hélie de Pourtalès. I lived in a little apartment in the Château du Marais, and I was my own groom, so I would take care of the horses and then go play in the matches, too. It was a low-budget gig. [laughs]

BRANT: When did you start playing in the United States?

FIGUERAS: I played in Paris until ’97, when I came to play with [developer and polo patron] John Flournoy in Atlanta for a year. For me, this was interesting because it was how I started to learn about American culture. I always think of that year as a good introduction for me to America, because sometimes being in the Hamptons or New York City, you don’t really get the real extent of the American culture, but we were playing in Georgia and Tennessee . . . After doing that, I went back to Europe for two years and played in Spain. But in ’99, Nick [Manifold] and Mariano, who both were playing in Bridgehampton, called and said, “There is a place here if you would like to come and play.” So that’s how I started playing Bridgehampton polo. I played with Ashley Schiff’s team for two years, and then I started playing with you and the White Birch team, which I did for the next three.