Hector Barrantes

Hector Barrantes (1939–1990) was an Argentine polo player. He was the stepfather of Sarah, Duchess of York.

Early life

He was a member of the patrician Figueroa family, and was born in 1939 in Argentina. He was the son of Martin Barrantes Figueroa y Arias and Clelia Josefina Sansoni Pais, both born in Salta, Argentina. The Figueroa family descended directly from Francisco de Toledo y Figueroa (10 July 1515 – 15 August 1582) who was an aristocrat and soldier of the Kingdom of Spain and the fifth Viceroy of Peru. Hector Barrantes enlisted in the Argentine army during the Falklands War of 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom, but did not fight.

Career

He started playing polo at the age of fifteen. In 1967, he moved to England to play polo with Samuel Vestey, 3rd Baron Vestey in Stowell Park. In 1983, he was barred from the international polo field for a year due to a bout of anger.

Later, he bred polo ponies on his 1,000-acre ranch in Guaminí, 335 miles southwest of Buenos Aires. His polo pony called Luna, which he bred on his ranch, won the Lady Townley Cup in 1989 and 1990, ridden by Gonzalo Pieres.

Personal life

His first wife died in a car crash. In 1974, he started an affair with Susan Ferguson, the mother of Sarah Ferguson, who divorced her husband Major Ronald Ferguson and left her two daughters in England. In 1975, they married in a civil ceremony in Argentina. They resided on a polo ranch in Guaminí, Argentina.

Death

He died of cancer in August 1990. He is buried in the Peace Garden cemetery in Buenos Aires.