Businessman Bobby Genovese has formed an Ocala club

Richard Anguiano Business editor | Ocala Star-Banner
Did you ever want to learn how to play polo?

Here’s your chance.

Bobby Genovese, the flamboyant international venture capitalist, recently formed BG Ocala Polo Club at his BG Polo & Equestrian resort in Marion County.

The club is geared not toward high-level players but to those in the beginner to intermediate range, according to Arden Tilghman, president of BG Capital.

“We might host a few serious events throughout the year but it would be a little more for the leisurely, hobby-type visits, lessons and games,” she said.

Marcos Bignoli is the polo director. Bignoli, 55, is from Argentina, and among the highlights of his long and distinguished career as a player is a victory in the 1998 20-Goal Canadian Open, as a teammate of Genovese.

“Anyone that wants to join our facility and learn polo can,” Bignoli, who was traveling in Nepal, wrote in an email on Thursday. “It is available to everyone. No previous experience is necessary.”

Tilghman said polo lessons start at about $125 per hour. Instruction, exhibitions and matches will generally stretch from October to March or April, the off-season in which polo players and their ponies retreat to winter quarters, she said, adding Bignoli is using BG Polo & Equestrian as his winter quarters.

“This year, we’re really just kind of stretching our legs, getting ourselves comfortable with what we can offer and seeing what kind of interest develops,” Tilghman said. “We’re hoping to have a full season scheduled for next year, beginning in October.”

BG Polo & Equestrian at 11800 S. County Road 475 has facilities for instruction and scrimmage matches, according to Tilghman. The club will use the regulation-size field at the nearby Florida Agriculture Center and Horse Park for matches and exhibitions.

“We pay a very reasonable maintenance fee on it and they’ve just been fantastic partners in helping us get this off the ground,” she said of the Horse Park.

Tilghman said polo is a passion of Genovese’s.

“It is a personal interest of Bobby’s, that he’s engaged a lot of his leisure time in for almost his whole life,” she said. “It seemed like a natural fit since we have the facilities. He’s been in partnership with Marcos for almost 20 years now. It’s a pretty easy transition to bring it here.”

The new club has generated “a great amount of interest,” Tilghman said.

Bignoli said the club’s goal is to be the top facility in Florida offering lodging and “first-class polo for the beginner to intermediate player,” while acknowledging most associate the sport with other places in the state, in particular South Florida.

“Ocala is the world horse capital,” he wrote in an email. “The climate is best, and our facility provides the best of all worlds (proximity to) attractions, such as Disney. Silver Springs. Biking, trail riding, lodging and many other things complement the polo as well. There is something for the whole family.”