While a record crowd watched the Guineas race around Caulfield and more than 7000 flutes of French Champagne were quaffed by race-goers at Royal Randwick, the scene wasn't so jovial for Australia's polo community after James Packer cancelled his annual tournament at the weekend.
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The eight-day Ellerston Polo Club tournament was set to take place on the Packer family property near Scone however, the annual spring event which has hosted polo clubs from around Australia for more than 20 years was cancelled at the last minute.
Sources from the polo fraternity said the casino magnate wanted privacy to "entertain his girlfriend", model and entrepreneur Miranda Kerr.
"Unfortunately these tournaments have been cancelled for this year," a post on the NSW Polo Association's website said of the event which was due to wrap up on the Hunter Valley property on Sunday.
Calls to Ellerston were unanswered and NSW Polo Association president Joe Curran said he did not know why the tournament was cancelled but speculated drought may have been a factor.
Management of the station, which also runs about 11,000 head of cattle, 6000 sheep and has an 18-hole golf course designed by Greg Norman, stopped watering the polo pitches earlier this year when the Hunter River and Pages Creek stopped flowing.
The tournament, one of the biggest on the spring polo calendar, usually boasts two trophy events and provides accommodation for participants who travel from around the country. Nomination fees for the Ellerston Spring Trophy 16 Goal tournament were increased this year to $7500 per four-person team.
Earlier this year, another Ellerston polo event was moved to Sydney due to water shortages.
Packer, an avid polo enthusiast who plays off a handicap of two, reportedly told his two teams – made up of some of Australia's best professional players – Ellerston White and Ellerston Black, that he would be needing the large estate for private use shortly before the event was set to start on October 4.
However if the billionaire and the (other) girl from Gunnedah were enjoying some down time in the country, they would have been joined by Sydney's next generation of old-moneyed socialites who also descended on the property.
Packer's niece, 19-year-old Francesca Packer-Barham, along with Bridget and Charlotte Holmes a Court and their brother Tim, were spotted getting some fresh country air and disturbing it with a spot of clay target shooting on Sunday.
