Polo players and cowboys unite for weekend festivities

Rugged cowboys, fresh off the ranch, and polished polo players will join forces this weekend for three days full of fun activities known as the SMR (Schroeder-Manatee Ranch) Cup.  The SMR cup is a three-day competition with seven teams of eight players, each comprised of cowboys and polo players, all competing for the coveted Bull Trophy – and bragging rights, of course – to be awarded on Sunday Jan. 31, 2010.

Weekend events include fishing, skeet shooting, roping, cattle penning, polo, and a horse race at halftime during Sunday’s regularly scheduled polo game.

Some of the weekend events are open to the public, and most events are open to the media.  The public is invited to see the roping and penning, free of charge, from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the rodeo arena. On Sunday, the public can see the cowboys and polo players compete in a horse race during halftime of the polo match, which starts at 1 p.m. Admission is $10.

The SMR Cup started back in 1991, when Robin Uihlein, president of the Sarasota Polo Club and Roger Hill, then SMR cattle manager, decided to come up with an event to bring the worlds of ranching and polo together.

This year, one of the participants will receive the inaugural Randy Ballard Award, named for an SMR cowboy who took up polo and made himself a competitive player. Ballard died last year after a long battle with cancer.

Weekend Schedule:

Saturday January 30:

  • Fishing competition, open to media, 7:30 – 9:30 a.m.
  • Skeet shooting competition, open to media, 10 – 12 p.m.
  • Calf roping and team penning, open to the public and media, 2 – 5 p.m.

Sunday January 31:

  • Cowboy/polo player game, open to media, 9 a.m.
  • Regularly scheduled polo game, open to media & public, 1 p.m., gates open at 11:30 a.m.
  • Horse race, at halftime, around 2 p.m., open to media and public.

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