Urban Polo was founded in 2017 by Sam Hopkinson and Simon Wilson. Branded as F3 Polo across the Tasman, it now holds the key grounds and title of Australia’s premier urban polo event.
Urban Polo was founded in 2017 by Sam Hopkinson and Simon Wilson. Branded as F3 Polo across the Tasman, it now holds the key grounds and title of Australia’s premier urban polo event.
The long-running rivalry between Lexus Urban Polo and Sydney-based events promoter Janek Gazecki has reached boiling point, with Gazecki abruptly cancelling all of his Australian polo events after losing access to key venues.
Founded in New Zealand and now operating across Australia and Singapore, Lexus Urban Polo’s expansion hasbeen a rare homegrown success story. Its Australian arm, F3 Polo, has taken the crown as the country’s premier urban polo event.
Gazecki cancelled his Polo in the City series - scheduled in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth from November onwards - earlier this month, just weeks before the first event was due to begin.
His venue application for Christison Park in Sydney’s eastern suburbs was lodged in mid-September and rejected by Woollahra Council the following week. The council attempted to halt ticket sales while the application was being considered.
It rejected Gazecki’s application on the grounds the event would have adverse effects on the clifftop park, its facilities and the surrounding community, the Australian Financial Review reported.
With Centennial Parklands awarding a five-year term contract to F3 Polo and no alternative sites available, Gazecki was effectively locked out of the city’s key grounds.
A conceptual image of F3 Polo's upcoming event in Sydney's Centennial Park.
F3 Polo’s Sydney and Melbourne events remain scheduled as planned.
Polo in the City said on Facebook that the decision to cancel its 2025 season was “devastating”.
“The cause is the unexpected loss of our flagship event venue in Sydney, which had a negative cashflow effect on the remainder of the series, augmented by the costs of our legal action in the Federal Court.
“As per our standard policy, all tickets have been refunded. More information will be provided in due course.”
Urban Events Ltd founder and managing director Simon Wilson told the Herald the collapse of Gazecki’s operations across the ditch is the result of “healthy competition” and the strength of F3 Polo’s professional standards and international ties.
He dismissed any concerns around Gazecki’s ongoing federal lawsuit against F3 Polo, alleging “misleading conduct” and “trademark infringement”.
“Good luck. We’re a competitor ... This is just healthy competition.”
Urban Events managing director Simon Wilson with Karen Walker at the Lexus Urban Polo in Auckland in 2022.
Gazecki, whose previous push to turn a portion of Bondi Beach into a private day club drew backlash from across Sydney, told the Australian Financial Review that F3 Polo “came in and took the event off us”.
“We still don’t know how they did it because no one does these events better than us, if you don’t mind me saying.”
The resulting collapse has effectively left F3 Polo as the dominant player in Australia’s urban polo industry.
“We’ve got access to players and ponies he could never hope for,” Wilson said.
“The top players in the world are coming to our event, and we’ve got the Ashes of Polo - England playing Australia on November 8 at Centennial Park for the first time ever in the city.”
Urban Polo has built its success on partnerships with key organisations. The company’s brands are affiliated with the New Zealand Polo Association, the Singapore Polo Club, and both the New South Wales and Victorian Polo Associations.
Lexus Urban Polo began in Auckland in 2017 and has rapidly expanded since.
Unlike traditional club polo played on full-sized rectangular fields, Urban Polo runs a compact city format. The festival-style event has become a permanent fixture in New Zealand and Australian social calendars over the last decade.
Its format allows a high-speed version of the game , with a hexagonal field and high-walled boards that bring audiences as close as possible.
“We have what I call an arena on grass,” Wilson said.
“Most arena polo is played on sand. And that’s not that glamorous and not that fast.”
Urban Polo’s story began at Auckland’s Shore Road Reserve in 2017. It expanded south to Christchurch’s Hagley Park the following year, while securing Auckland Domain as a venue from 2020 onwards.
Previous iterations have also been held in Wellington, Hamilton and Tauranga.
A Singapore version has been staged at a prime Marina Bay site since 2019, and a New York City debut is planned for next year, helping turn Urban Polo into a worldwide brand.
“The next steps after we conquer a few global cities is the F3 Polo world cup,” Wilson said.
“We need 12 consecutive fixtures to make it a truly global entertainment product.”
Here at home, Lexus Urban Polo next takes place in Christchurch on February 21, 2026, with the Auckland event following on March 7.
Tom Rose is an Auckland-based journalist who covers breaking news, specialising in lifestyle, entertainment and travel. He joined the Herald in 2023.
