Nacho Figueras / Instagram
Nacho Figueras with his wife, and one of his four children.
You may not know the name “Nacho Figueras,” but you will probably recognise his face.
The Argentinian polo player has been the official face of Ralph Lauren since 2005. His photograph has been displayed on billboards and glossy magazines across the globe. In between polo matches and photo shoots, Nacho raises money for charity with his close personal friend, Prince Harry.
Aside from playing polo and modelling for Ralph Lauren, the 39-year-old owns a breeding farm of more than 500 horses, the most valuable of which is worth $300,000 (£227,000), according to the Financial Times. Most recently, Nacho has turned his hand to fiction, releasing a ghostwritten romance trilogy, “The Polo Season,” about his beloved sport.
Nacho shares an idyllic family life with his photographer wife Delfina Balquier and their four children, moving back-and-forth from their farm in Argentina to a rented home in the Hamptons, a popular summer retreat for New York City residents. Business Insider spoke to Nacho on the phone, while he was breathless after training one day, and asked him to explain what he does on a typical day.
Most people recognise Nacho from his intense poses in magazines and on billboards, but Figueras says modelling actually takes up very little of his time.
“Modelling is runway shows and castings,” Figueras said. “I’ve been the face of Ralph Lauren for 15 years, but it doesn’t make me a model.”
During the three months he spends each summer in the Hamptons, Nacho wakes up at 8 a.m., “when the kids start running around the house.” During the school term, the family wakes up a little earlier.
For breakfast, Nacho chooses among fruit, almonds, smoked salmon, and avocado. He drinks “mate” tea — an infused caffeine drink consumed through a silver straw — first thing and then throughout the day.
When at his farm in Argentina, one of the first things Nacho does after breakfast is visit the stables. Nacho runs a horse breeding business made up of around 500 horses, who birth between 50 and 60 new babies each year.
When Nacho retires from professional polo, he plans to expand the breeding business. He described the farm as his “favourite place in the world.”
But for the moment he still focuses on his sport. “I have five or six more years of polo left,” Nacho said. “You can play until you are 45.”
After returning from the stables, Nacho spends a couple of hours catching up on emails and business matters. “I’m getting ready for the next stage of my life,” Nacho said. “I’ve been around the world and I have a lot of connections.”
Later in the morning, Nacho likes to spends time with his children, who are aged 16, 11, six, and three.
If the children are at school, he often goes to play tennis with his wife, Delfina Blaquier.
Nacho married Delfina, an Argentinian photographer, in 2004. They met at the Argentine Polo Open in 1997, where they were both spectators.
“I’ve been with her since I was 22 years old, so we’re a good team,” Nacho said. “We get along well and we have fun together.”
After tennis, Nacho returns to have lunch with his family. Nacho is gluten-free because “it makes you lighter.” He avoids foods like pizza and pasta, instead sticking to “fish and salad.”
After lunch, Nacho spends at least two hours training with his polo team.
He has played for the “Black Watch Polo Team” since 2001 and is now captain. Nacho’s biggest sporting success was reaching the final of the 2004 US Gold Cup.
Nacho’s polo career takes him all around the world. The main season is in Argentina, from September to April.
Nacho’s summer months are spent in the Hamptons, but he also finds time to play matches in the UK, Dubai, UAE, Brazil, and other parts of the US.
One of the things Nacho loves about the Hamptons is its location. “It’s two hours away from New York City, which is amazing,” Nacho said. “It has great beaches, a club for polo, and my kids have a great time here.”
After polo practice, Nacho often reads or writes. Though his trilogy of novels was ghostwritten by Jessica Whitman, Nacho says he and his wife Delfina spent a lot of time altering drafts to make sure that the novels accurately reflect the glamorous world of polo.
“We go to the beach as much as we can — every other day — for the whisper of the ocean,” Nacho said.
For dinner, Nacho likes to have BBQs. “I’m from Argentina, so I eat a lot of meat,” he said. “Now I try to eat a lot more fish, but I still eat a lot of meat.”
Delfina and Nacho often go out to restaurants for dinner, alone or with friends. However, they rarely stay out late. “My bar days are gone,” Nacho admitted.
However, he can still be persuaded to go out to fundraisers for his favourite charities. These include Prince Harry’s charity “Sentebale” and “Work to Ride,” which helps inner-city kids “stay out of trouble” through playing polo.
Nacho is close friends with Prince Harry. They play polo together and work on many of the same charitable causes.
“Prince Harry is a great guy,” Nacho said. “He’s very happy, joyful, positive, and committed to charity work. He is someone that I like to spend time with.”
“We’ve been to Lesotho together twice,” Nacho added, “to do charity work, present, visit the programmes and go to functions to raise money.”
Nacho often brings his entire family with him on his travels. “My biggest asset in my life is my family,” Nacho said. “I’m very proud of them.”
Nacho recognised that he has been “blessed” in life. However, “you have to work every day to get things done and achieve things,” he said. “You have to make things happen.”
Most evenings, Nacho stays in with his family. He and Delfina put the young children to bed by about 9:30 p.m. and then stay up until midnight watching television.
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