Race Cars, Polo Ponies and Movie Stars, oh my!

After two great months in Canada my summer has sadly come to an end. Here’s a quick wrap-up of our holiday.

The month of June always kicks off the social season in London: between Wimbledon, Ascot, Henley and Cartier Polo there was barely time to touch up manicures between parties. But with the torrential rains this past June most women threw fashion to the wind, swapping stilettos for Wellies and ‘My Fair Lady’ hats for Hefty garbage bags. Thankfully, The Wetherby Hillbillies didn’t partake in all the festivities, but our summer definitely started off with a vr-vr-vroom at Goodwood, The Festival of Speed, which takes place each year at the Earl of March’s massive country estate in Sussex. Most people come to Goodwood to watch the Formula One racing, bid on vintage cars at the auction or hike up to the forest (at least two miles straight up) where the infamous rally car race is held. But not us! While our guests, Chris and Carla* from Calgary, sipped champagne in the hospitality tent and watched the Formula One cars speed around the track, I donned a nifty blue crash suit, a helmet and fire-proof boots. I was invited to race with Stig Blumquest, a legendary rally car driver and a world-record holder many times over. I had no idea how famous this guy was until hordes of his fans approached our souped-up Audi and shoved festival programs through the window for him to sign. I sat in the passenger seat and enjoyed the spectacle while flash bulbs popped around us. When we got our 3 minute warning we inched up to the starting line and revved up the engine. The race official displayed large white cards that read 30 seconds, 20, 10 and five. He counted off the final five seconds on his hands and with a swipe of a white flag we were off. The race around the muddy track through the forest was INSANE. Even though I was strapped in like an astronaut ready to shoot to the moon I still bounced around like crazy. Since it was a hot day I left the window cracked—something I wouldn’t do again. By the end of the race my face was covered in grime and I could feel grit in my teeth. At the final turn Stig took a jump. We were airborne for a few seconds, and during those very long two seconds we ended up sideways. We landed with a crush and headed straight for a dirt bank. Stig turned sharply and we recovered, but ended up on two wheels. I for sure thought that we were going to roll, but somehow he managed to bring the car back down on all fours. After we bounced around a few more times we sped to the finish line and when the black-and-white checked flag came down it was all over in less than five minutes. I later found out this was one of Stig’s slowest times. He was going easy on me….


That night, after a traffic-clogged three-hour drive back to London, we rallied and went dancing at Annabel’s. With Chris and Carla in from Calgary, we wanted to show them a good time. This husband and wife are one of the most dynamic couples I’ve ever met. He’s mad about polo, cars and sailing. In fact two of Carla’s “pre-marital requisites” were that she learned to play polo and sail around the world with him. Carla embraced polo with a vengeance. I’ve seen her play and not only does she look great on a horse, she’s fierce with a mallet. They have their own polo club at one of their ranches, where they enjoy family matches as well as competing against other clubs. When they travel for polo they bring along their 12 horses (6 for each) and a groom. And I stress about lost luggage! Before they married, Carla embarked on that decisive around-the-world sailing trip and nearly made it until they reached the northern coast of California. By this time she was frozen to the bone, so she bailed. She checked into The Fairmont on Nob Hill and sank into a hot bubble bath for the next 6 hours. Even though she fell short of circumnavigating the globe in a sail boat, she and Chris married. Chris is the type of guy who knows what he wants and when he saw gorgeous, blue-eyed-blonde Carla it was all over. Now they have two adorable children and split their time between an Architectural Digest ranch just outside Calgary, an island estate which consists of two homes (a sunset and sunrise house) on a private island off of Vancouver, and waterfront property in Sydney, Australia. As I mentioned Chris loves his cars and used to race professionally (of course). He also collects antique automobiles. When he and Carla first dated she accidentally rolled his 1928 Model A. Since this was still in the early stage of their relationship Carla told me that in his eyes she could do no wrong. Now she says that he would probably banish her to sleep in the garage, which by the way, is a 6000 square foot structure with a luxurious ‘polo viewing’ space on the second floor. Their polo pitch is adjacent to this building, which also houses the ponies. Chris’s daughters, all older than Carla, are also avid polo players. They’ve even imported a few Argentinean players to live with them. Nice…

I had the opportunity to meet one of these handsome players at the house-warming and birthday party Carla threw for Chris. Their new home is spectacular. The site offers stunning views of the foot hills and Rocky Mountains. Just like a picture, the green rolling hills morphed into the Rockies with each mountain range fading into the distance. Carla arranged for one of Chris’s high-school friends, singer/songwriter Bruce Innes to perform along with blues singer Jilla Web. These may not be household names but their performance, along with the magnificent setting, moved me to tears. I’ve been to several private concerts where corporations or wealthy individuals have paid big bucks for pop stars, and let me tell you they didn’t even come close to these guys. Bruce’s mellifluous voice warmed us like a cashmere blanket (which we desperately needed as the wind whipped across the hills) while Jilla belted out the blues over to the next mountain range. The party was catered by one of their friends who owns The River Café, one of the best restaurants in town, so the food was fantastic too. I didn’t have a chance to ride with Carla the next morning, which may have been a good thing because I’m sure she would’ve left me in the dust. Plus I was running late. Luckily Chris’s 17 year-old granddaughter sped me to the airport where I made my flight by 30 seconds.

After my whirlwind weekend, I got back to Salt Spring and crashed on the couch. I always feel guilty about channel surfing, but I was too beat to do anything else. While flipping through the various news channels I saw this luscious Latin-looking guy being interviewed on Entertainment Tonight. Glued to the TV, I listened. The anchors talked about how he was a mega star in Italy, drawing in 10 million viewers a night. The actor, speaking with an American accent, said that the nightly program he starred in raised his profile dramatically in Italy, but now he was set to come back to the states. They went on to talk about his next movie with Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz. I was now sitting upright, waiting to hear the guy’s name. He’d make the perfect Franco! Finally at the end of the interview, they said his name. I rushed to my computer and Googled him. Of course his phone number and email weren’t listed so I continued surfing the net, hoping to track down the name of his agent. No luck there either. Finally I tried Facebook, and sure enough, he was on it. I thought “what the hell” and sent him a message. Shockingly I got one back. He said that he was interested in hearing more about my book and the part of Franco. He gave me his mobile number in Italy where he was doing some renovation work on his home. I called him the next day and we talked. From all the commotion in the background I think he held his phone in one hand and a hammer in the other. He couldn’t have been nicer and told me that he had a chance to read my material and would like to take this a step further. I cautiously asked him if he’d consider doing a made-for-tv movie. I was worried that since he starred in a film with Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz he may have set his sights on the big screen and the big screen only.

“Are you kidding?” he said. “I love those movies. I was just in a Lifetime movie last night.” I breathed a sigh of relief. After we chatted for a few more minutes, he told me to call his agent in Vancouver. This man was also super nice, which I’ve come to discover is an anomaly in the movie biz. He was excited about the project and told me that he and his company have an excellent relationship with Lifetime. Send me the book, he said. After a week or so, he emailed me back saying that he agreed—his client would be perfect for the role of Franco, and The Italian Connection would make a great Lifetime movie.

So now it’s up to us to make it happen. I’ll keep you all posted and will reveal the actor’s name as soon as things firm up. But in the meantime, ladies, you need to trust me. He’s smokin’!

Hope you all had a great summer!

* names changed to protect privacy