The lines were long to get to Governors Island yesterday, but by most accounts the fourth annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic was a success for those willing to spend $85 on a bottle of Champagne. As one Polo-goer told us, "Dude, its horse hockey!"
Thousands of people descended upon the game yesterday to enjoy the weather, sip champagne, spot celebrities (Hugh Jackman, Naomi Watts, Donna Karan, Julianna Margulies, Kathy Griffin, Isla Fisher, Wyclef Jean, Marc Jacobs and more were there), and learn a little about the game of polo, which is not a game even the celebs in the crowd see being played very often. As Jackman—who hosted the event and kicked it off with a tweaked version of "Take Me Out To the Ball Game"—put it to USA Today: "I love watching [polo], I think it's one of the most exciting live sports around. But it's probably the third time in my life I've seen it."
One 28-year-old recent convert to the sport told us that "While more concessions are definitely needed—yes, there was an hour long line for the $85 champagne—this truly has the potential to be an integral NYC annual tradition. Women were dressed to the nines and picnics were enjoyed by all. And that $85 bottles of Veuve Cliquot, the only beverage available for sale, did taste better after we learned the proceeds were going to help out Haiti."
Meanwhile, if you are already planning on attending the Classic next year, try and use the ferry from Brooklyn; while there were long lines to get to the Island from Manhattan the Brooklyn ferry was reportedly "practically vacant."
