JORGE MAC DONOUGH
Intelligent; creative; curious; enthusiastic; passionate about horses and Polo. Meeting with Jorge was always stimulating. He conveyed vitality; enthusiasm; generosity.
He began as a racehorse vet at La Irenita, which he later turned into his place in the world. That is where he built his bloodstock and where his children became educated in the art of polo and horses, as well as in the art of living.
Fantasía was his flagship mare when he started off as a breeder; he then branched off into other bloodlines reaching a total of over 60 registered ponies in the last triple-crown Open. An unrivalled success that filled him with pride; but such humble pride as that which he felt for his sons as players.
Jorge used to say that he began to feel excited over his bloodstock the day that he realized that none of the offspring of a stallion of his was any use for polo. That is when he concluded that just as there existed a totally useless stallion, there must also exist its opposite: the perfect stallion. And this is when he started his illusion-filled quest, with an enthusiasm that was contagious to all of us who were lucky enough to know him.
He always had an innovative theory; a challenge to the intellect; waiting for whoever might come up to him for a chat. He used to say, for example, that stallions should be measured by the best horse they had produced, no matter what the average of its offspring might be, or the proportion of its failures. But it is also true that he became convinced, to the point of fanaticism, as to the use of Polo Argentino sires. They had improved his bloodstock, and that is what he put across.
At our Association, of which he was a standing and unreplaceable member of the Board of Directors, he was a brainstormer and an invaluable support, whose absence we shall only be able to fill by remembering what he was like and enthusing each other even though it may only be through remembrance of him.
Jorge died living: playing polo; mounted on his joy and his brilliance.
And thus we bid him farewell. The Board of Directors
JORGE MAC DONOUGH
We shall always remember him with admiration and respect, although his renowned positive kindness overshadows his undisputed capacity as a vet; breeder; businessman and sportsman.
We coincided on a date( 03 / 04 / 1964): I was graduating as a veterinary surgeon at the UBA( University of Buenos Aires) and Jorge was initiating his studies there; over the years we came together again, united by the same passion: horses.
He invested work, knowledge, and above all imagination, with scientific, technical, practical and sometimes quite“ flintstone” methods in reproduction; clinical practice; nutrition; training and preparation of polo ponies and of thoroughbred racehorses before that. He was one of the pioneers in embryo transplant; sexing and cloning, as well as having worked on the application of uterine antiseptics with gas tubes; lowering of vaginal vault roof; trephination of nasal sinuses with a farrier drill; limb amputation; study of fore-leg and hind-leg bandaging.
After many years of Polo, we played a match that was a sort of farewell to competitive Polo. We were over 60 in 2004, and we got together that day with Jorge, Toti Bordeu; Frankie and Gastón Dorignac; Cacho Merlos; Gonzalo Tanoira and Billy del Sel( instigator of the meeting). We played with the enthusiasm of youth, Jorge in particular, not discarding the fact that we were among friends.
As a businessman, as well as in his role as player, he was essential in the organization and development of Polo in Brunei, following in the unforgettable“ Gordo” Moore’ s footsteps, which has been so beneficial for the world as a whole and for Argentina in particular. He was an unconditional member of the AACCP Board of Directors; his cooperation being uninterrupted over the last 24 years.
The creation and signifi cance of La Irenita as a state-of-theart Genetics’ Center will cause him to live on in World Polo.
Although all of the above has made him successful, the most important thing is what he achieved in relation to his“ life’ s project”, which is to have formed a family, together with Mercedes, that not only have produced champion sons( Matías and Pablito), but which is turning into a true dynasty through his grandchildren.
Allow me to bid him farewell with an extract from an Irish Blessing, so in line with his ancestry and mainly with his temperament:“ Jorge, until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand”.
Alberto P. Heguy
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