The 2013 polo season gets underway in Sotogrande with the first of the spring competitions, the XXXIV José Ignacio Domecq Memorial Tournament. Starting on 23 March and culminating on the 31st, this event counts towards the World Polo Tour in the Challenge Cup category and has become a highly anticipated classic.
Having said that, it is the opening event of the new season and as such the memorial tournament is an important competition that gets things started, so don’t expect the full cut and thrust of the high season but rather a more gentle yet competitive encounter focusing on the skill and sheer enjoyment of the sport.
The Domecq Memorial Tournament is followed by the equally popular Conde de Guaqui Memorial competition, which is held between 5 and 7 April. Together they provide a running start to the spring season in an 
environment of classic sportsmanship that gradually builds in intensity as the year progresses.
For newcomers this is a wonderful introduction to polo, held in the fresh spring weather at Los Pinos, the immaculate grounds of Sotogrande’s famed Santa María Polo Club. The tournament also heralds an important moment in the local social calendar, as polo days are invariably an elegant and fun social occasion.
Picture a nice sunny day with lively, friendly crowds gathered aside the lush fields of Los Pinos. Some come to follow the action attentively while others are a little distracted by the socialising that goes on, but either way a day at the polo in Sotogrande is an experience to savour.
Teams from around Europe and different parts of the world will be competing, having brought their ponies over shortly before to be stabled and prepared for competition here during the rest of the competitive season, which runs right up the end of the summer.
At Santa María Polo Club true athleticism and skill, accompanied by the noblest of equestrian traditions, come together in a refined yet un-snobbish environment set amongst the residential areas that border Sotogrande’s Guadiaro River – the perfect spot in which to experience a new sport that confounds preconceptions.
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