PRINCE HARRY intends to spend several months of his gap year in Argentina in an attempt to become one of the best polo players in the world.

The Prince, who has captained the England schoolboy polo team, believes that playing with the elite players in the sport is the best way to develop his already formidable skills. The Prince, who is currently working on a farm in Australia, has developed a growing passion for polo after coming to the game relatively late in his mid-teens.

According to friends, he wants to travel to Argentina at the end of next year, during the South American summer. There he would have the chance to play alongside Adolfo Cambiaso, who is widely regarded as the world's best polo player, and other leading Argentinian players.

Robert ffrench Blake, the Prince of Wales's polo manager, confirmed yesterday that Prince Harry was considering a spell in Argentina. "I am aware that visiting Argentina is an option," he said.

"Any young player who wants to improve his game can do no better than go to Argentina to improve his riding and his skills, and spend six hours a day in the saddle playing with the best players in the world. Harry's game is coming on well. He is naturally very talented, well co-ordinated and he's a natural sportsman.

"How good he becomes depends entirely on how much effort and time he gives to the game. But he has the ability to become a four or five-goal player."

Tournament polo players have a handicap from minus two goals, when they start to play, up to plus 10, a rating which only the best achieve. Prince Harry has a one-goal handicap, while Britain's best player, Henry Brett, has an eight-goal handicap. Prince Harry has been encouraged to travel to South America by some of his British polo-playing friends, who have already spent time in Argentina and Chile.

The Prince, 19, however, fears that he will develop a "playboy" reputation and intends to combine playing polo with other work, possibly on an Argentinian ranch.

The Prince intends to return to Britain from Australia before Christmas and wants to become involved in charity work or work with the underprivileged early next year. He is planning to take up to two years off before attending the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2005. Claire Tomlinson, who was Britain's best woman player in the 1990s and whose sons, Luke, 26, and Mark, 21, are leading players, said: "It would be wonderful if Harry had the opportunity to go to Argentina and play with the world's best players.

"If you want to be really good at something you go to the country where they do it best. Harry is learning fast and showing signs that he could be a very good player."

Margaret Brett, the editor of Polo Times magazine and the mother of a leading player, Henry Brett, 29, said that Prince Harry's game would undoubtedly benefit from playing in Argentina. "There, they live, breathe and sleep polo," she said. "Harry has the potential to go a long way in the game. He works very hard on the field and hits the ball well. As he gets more experienced, he will learn more about tactics. Going to Argentina would be a wonderful thing to do in his gap year. He would love it and they would love him."

Prince Harry intends to play some polo for the next two months in Australia, turning out for the Black Bears, a team owned by Urs Schwarzenbach, the billionaire Swiss financier. The Prince will spend some time on Mr Schwarzenbach's New South Wales ranch.

Before travelling to South America, Prince Harry is expected to play in his first international tournament: the 2004 World Cup in Chantilly, France. He has already been praised by some of the most respected figures in the sport.

In Argentina, polo players and administrators are looking forward to Prince Harry's visit. They are convinced that it will benefit his game enormously and that it could bring him up to professional standard.

Adolfo Cambiaso, 28, the world's leading player who has a handicap of plus 10, said: "He will be welcomed with open arms here in Argentina. It is the best place for him to improve his game because it is one of the main sports in the country and the standard is very high - the best in the world.

"There are also so many clubs in this country that he will be able to choose the best level for him to develop. But I have played with him before and he is already quite a good player."