Polo at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Carl Fisher, the driving force behind the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, was a man of big ideas. Fisher first visited the barrier islands off of Florida’s east coast in 1910 and immediately had a vision of a thriving beach community. He dug in, clearing mangrove swamps and developing what became Miami Beach to appeal to wealthy Northeasterners and Midwesterners. What was there not to like? While the skies back home were gray and depressing, with snow and temperatures that could make you shiver, Miami Beach offered sunshine, clear blue water, warm temperatures and pleasant breezes.
 
For those visiting Miami Beach, Fisher added amenities including golf. In 1919, he added polo with matches during the season being played three times per week. Polo, which originated in India, had been brought to the United States from Britain in 1876. There were already thriving polo clubs throughout the United States including Pebble Beach and New York City which was building a stadium seating 75,000 for the polo matches.  
 
Fisher thought that polo would be well received in Indianapolis and there was plenty of land at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a polo club. It also had the benefit of bringing revenues into the Speedway to help defray the cost of maintenance. He proposed the idea to Jim Allison, his partner at the speedway. He believed that “everybody in town who has $50 would want to belong to the Polo Club—and have the games only for members and their friends” and projected that 1,000 people in Indianapolis would join the club. With a membership cost of $50 per year, $50,000 in revenues would flow into the Speedway’s coffers.
 
Fisher wasn’t the only one in Indianapolis who thought that polo would be well received. Robert Hassler, a mechanical engineer who invented automobile shock absorbers, had the Rolling Ridge Club north of the Indiana State Fairgrounds. 
 
Two polo fields were constructed in the infield, one for practice and the other for the matches. The fields were 900 feet by 400 feet. Fisher envisioned building barns for the polo ponies but Allison proposed that they use the garage space which would be empty after the running of the Indianapolis 500. So that the ponies would not be standing on concrete, they brought in several inches of dirt. They built a cooling shed for the ponies and provided lockers and showers for the players.
 
Fisher made a deal with George Miller, a leading polo player, to bring 15 ponies from Texas. Additionally, twenty ponies were shipped at the end of the season in Miami Beach to Indianapolis.  James Cooley, who managed the Flamingo Polo Club in Miami Beach, was hired to manage the Indianapolis facility.
 
The first polo match at the Speedway was played on June 17, 1920. In 1921, the season was in September with the final match being played on October 1. While Fisher had envisioned only club members being at the matches, in 1921, the final matches were opened to the public. The Indianapolis Polo Club won the first International Tournament held at the Speedway and took home a silver cup.
 
In September 1922, the Speedway hosted the second annual invitational fall tournament. The Rolling Ridge and Indianapolis Polo Club teams from Indianapolis participated along with two clubs from Dayton, Ohio and a team from the U.S. Army based at Columbus, Ohio. The Speedway erected bleacher seats which could accommodate several thousand spectators. Carl Fisher was the captain of the Indianapolis Polo Club while Hassler was captain of the Rolling Ridge Club. Interestingly, Hassler was also a member of the Indianapolis Polo Club along with J. C. Andrew and Robert Bullock who served as the team’s coach. Bullock was a member of an international team in 1911 in Britain. Before joining the Indianapolis Polo Club, Bullock was involved with the West Moreland Polo Club in West Moreland, Pennsylvania and the Onwentsia Club at Lake Forest, Illinois.
 
The Army team defeated the Rolling Ridge Club in the first round of the tournament, 10 to 4. In the next match, the Army team beat the Indianapolis Polo Club which was handicapped by Carl Fisher being in the East on business and Bullock had been injured during practice. The final match pitted the Miami Valley Hunt and Polo club against the Indianapolis Polo Club. The Indianapolis Polo Club’s dream of winning the match for the second year was dashed 12 to 4.  The Army team took home the silver cup trophy. The end of the season was also the end of polo matches at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,
 
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