The two-day event culminated in an enthralling A grade final with Scone taking a down to the wire 5-4 victory over Goondiwindi.

Gunnedah Polo Club’s Edward Hoddle couldn’t have been more pleased with the weekend in terms of quality and the running of the carnival.

“We had a good representation of Australia’s polo talent and the committee worked so well together,” he said.

“It was a high quality day and the ground looked fantastic. It was a really wonderful community event.”

The public voted with their feet, too.

“We are so happy with it, the Gunnedah carnival attracted record crowds,” Hoddle said.

“Normally we have a good turnout for the finals but...on the first day we had well over 200 attend and then had close to 300 on the Sunday.”

There were four grades played on the weekend with Carmyle winning B grade, Downs taking out C grade and Gus Bucks securing the win in D grade.

The day wasn’t just about playing and winning, though.

With plenty of families involved in the sport – the Coultons, the Grimes’, the Doolans, the Hills, the Whites, the Haydens to name a few – the younger players had the chance to shine.

“The most exciting thing is the push to encourage more younger and local riders,” he said.

“We ran a junior polo school and we were able to hold two exhibition matches on the Saturday and Sunday.”