WELLINGTON — International Polo Club Palm Beach, one of Wellington’s most popular attractions, is the next asset that the trust-fund of imprisoned DUI killer John Goodman is getting rid of.
Three sources familiar with the inner workings of the polo industry exclusively tell Gossip Extra that the Texas-based trust fund that just sold Goodman’s golf club, The Wanderers Club, is auctioning off IPC Friday.
The sale may not include all of the 200 acres of polo fields and the stadium, which lures more than 10,000 fans on most Sundays between January 1 and April 30.
But the auction does include the takeover of the club and its members and the management of 10 polo fields, croquet and tennis courts, the spa, and five restaurant of various sizes.
We’re told the auction is being held secret and is expected to pit six bidders, including at least two owners of polo teams that perform at the club.
“The trust-fund managers aren’t even communicating with the current IPC staff about the future,” one of the sources said. “The employees are totally in the dark. But what is clear is that the trust-fund wants to keep some of polo’s 200 acres of land. It’s not really interested in the polo part of it.”
Calls for comment to the club’s public relations agency, Venue Marketing Group, are not being returned.
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While Goodman founded IPC 12 years ago so that his Isla Carroll team could play in a world-class venue, he lost control of the club in the wake of the 2010 car accident that, in time, would send him to a state prison for 16 years.
The sentence came after the 2014 verdict that Goodman was guilty of DUI manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident.
With Goodman locked up at least until 2030, his family’s trust-fund has been managing a total 250 acres of land he purchased in Wellington in the mid-2000s, and the businesses he set up.
Two weeks ago, we reported exclusively that the trust-fund unloaded Goodman’s The Wanderers Club and its 40 acres to equestrian developer Mark Bellisimo for $6 million, a fraction of what Goodman paid for it.
The sale comes at a time when IPC managed to make polo a star attraction again.
IPC has been beating attendance records routinely over the past four years. Total box office revenues have nearly doubled while IPC instituted new Wellington Sunday traditions, including the field-side Sunday brunches and society gatherings.
By Jose Lambiet, GossipExtra.com, SouthFloridaReporter.com, Feb. 11, 2016
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