POLO PONY ALL AT SEA IN SPIDER RACE-OFF
IT WAS the ultimate battle of horsepower: a McLaren 570S Spider – valued at $565,000 – going head to head with a polo pony.
Raced over 150 metres in a best-of-three series, the test was one of the more unusual events at the sold out Polo by The Sea, which was attended by 2500 people at Doug Jennings Park on Saturday.
The 570S Spider boasts an impressive time of 3.2 seconds for the 0-100km/h dash, enough for racing driver James Courtney, who tamed the horse with ease.
“At first I thought the horse was going to smash me, just because the car has no acceleration on grass obviously,” he said.
“As the race continued it picked up speed quite quickly. But it’s surprising how hard the horse accelerated against the car.
“I have to say it’s the first time I’ve drag raced a horse in a McLaren, but it was a cool little stunt. It gives people another perspective and shows them just how impressive these horses are. And when there’s a heap of them on the field at the polo how crazy and aggressive they are.”
Polo rider Jordan Lamaison, from Sydney, said he felt privileged to be asked to race, despite knowing the result might not turn in his favour.
“You don’t get to race a McLaren on a horse every day so it was very exciting to do it,” he said.