“Polo is a passport to the world”

“A polo handicap is a passport to the world” has been credited to British statesman Winston Churchill (1874-1965), a lifelong polo enthusiast, but it’s uncertain when he said it. “Polo is a passport to the whole world” was cited in print in 1983 by Rosemary Wayman, the wife of U.S. polo player Tommy Wayman. “Winston Churchill once said the finest passport a man can have is a polo handicap” was cited in 1988. “Winston Churchill’s ‘A polo handicap is your passport to the world’” was cited in 1997.
 
“Churchill once famously said, ‘A polo handicap is a passport to the world’” was cited in 2011 by The Churchill Centre.
 
   
Wikipedia: Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill KG OM CH TD DL FRS RA (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer (as Winston S. Churchill), and an artist. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature, and was the first person to be made an honorary citizen of the United States.
 
USPolo.org
“A polo handicap is a passport to the world.”
– Winston Churchill
     
Google Books
Newsweek
Volume 101
1983
Pg. 61:
Tommy Wayman’s wife, Rosemary, adds: “Polo is a passport to the whole world, but you have to keep earning it.”
 
Google Books
June 1988, Black Enterprise, “Lifestyles of the Bold and Daring” by Allyson Reid-Dove, pg. 330, col. 1:
Winston Churchill once said the finest passport a man can have is a polo handicap.
 
Google Books
Net Sports:
Your Guide to Sports Mania on the Information Highway
By Michael Wolff
New York, NY: Dell Pub.
1997
Pg. 169:
The most original bits are the witty quotes placed around the site, such as Winston Churchill’s “A polo handicap is your passport to the world.”
 
16 March 2005, Aiken (SC) Standard, “Popular polo play,” Aiken Triple Crown 2005, pg. 29, col. 2:
Sir Winston Churchill had a wonderful understanding of the game when he made the statement, “A polo handicap is a passport to the world.”
 
Google Books
1001 Best Things Ever Said About Horses
Edited by Steven Price
Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press
2006
Pg. 264:
A polo handicap is a person’s ticket to the world. —Sir Winston Churchill
 
Google Books
Polo in India
By Jaisal Singh
London: New Holland
2007
Pg. 163 photo caption:
Churchill prepares to play polo while stationed in India, c 1898.
‘A polo handicap is your passport to the world’ Sir Winston Churchill once told the Oxford University polo team. Churchill was 19 years old when he played his first chukker of polo.
 
The Churchill Centre—Chartwell Bulletin
Bulletin #36 - Jun 2011
The Winston S. Churchill International Polo Cup to be held at Conyers Farm in Greenwich, Connecticut, Sunday, July 10th
Churchill once famously said, “A polo handicap is a passport to the world.” Sir Winston, as many Churchill scholars will attest, was a championship polo player while serving in India in the late 1890’s. He continued to play the sport until he was 52 (notably, he continued to ride until age 76). To honor his love of polo and equine sports, as well as his great affection for all animals, the New York Churchillians, in conjunction with the Churchill Centre in London, developed and host the Winston S. Churchill International Polo Cup, played annually at the Greenwich Polo Club at Conyers Farm. This championship high-goal polo game is sanctioned by the United States Polo Association.
 
Twitter
Mujahid Sirika
‏@Mujahid_Hs
“Polo is a passport to the world” Winston Churchill
2:40 PM - 10 Mar 2012
 
Twitter
La Mariana Polo
‏@LaMarianaPolo
To quote Winston Churchill “A handicap in polo is a passport to the world” #TooTrue #WordsOfWisdom
6:20 PM - 4 Feb 2014
   
The Huffington Post
Fun Facts About Horse Polo
HuffPost Australia |  By Leigh Campbell
Posted: 13/11/2015 16:25 AEST
(...)
Celebrities and VIPs who play or have played polo include Will Rogers, Spencer Tracy, Clark Gable, Walt Disney, as well as the President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In fact, the latter coined the famous phrase “Polo is a passport to the world”.