Francesca Packer’s controversial fiancé makes polo appearance

But he really caught attention earlier this year when it was alleged investors – who’d tipped upwards of $15 million into his various wellness ventures – were left without shares, with fake contracts, and reams of angry customers demanding refunds.

Bates has denied any wrongdoing and is currently battling breach of contract and misleading and deceptive conduct lawsuit in the NSW Supreme Court.

All that must have seemed far from Bates’ mind as he saddled up for the Ellerston Pink team, with a starting handicap of -1. While we’re told that isn’t exactly earth-shattering, fortunately, his teammate Matt Grimes played for Australia and was carrying a comfortable handicap of 4.

But as the sun beat down on the polo fields, the question on everyone’s lips was: Is this guy still dating Francesca Packer? And does he know his way around a polo pony? Confusingly, the answer seems to be yes on both counts.

Bates and Francesca (or “Chessie”) enjoyed a long European summer, cruising around the Mediterranean and popping in and out of her Mayfair pad in London.

They arrived back in Sydney in August and have been spotted dining in Palm Beach and Double Bay. Bates, who can’t secure a lease in Sydney because he let his previous rentals lapse, is still shacked up in Packer’s Horizon Tower apartment in Potts Point.

The good-life was interrupted briefly when he was served his lawsuit at a gym in Bondi Junction in August. His legal woes don’t seem to have dampened Packer’s enthusiasm for their courtship.

There are rumours of marriage. But there’s the uncomfortable revelation that Packer was forced to fork out $100,000 to cover a botched engagement ring purchase by Bates. It seems to have put any impending nuptials on ice.

It’s not known if Packer was watching Bates’ polo performance on Saturday. But there was a ripple of excitement when Bates came off in the third quarter – or chukka. His horse was seen cantering off in one direction while Bates was left dazed on the grass.

As Winston Churchill once quipped: a polo handicap is a person’s ticket to the world. Despite some heavy knocks, Bates seems determined to ride his way into the world of riches.