Ros Packer and daughter Gretel have actually taken the reigns of the family's Ellerston stable, leasing the polo grounds which are now half-owned by James' casino empire, Crown.

They have preserved its core breeding stock of ponies, and plan to preserve Kerry's legacy in the sport which provided the backdrop to his near-fatal heart attack during the Australian Open polo championship in 1990.

In true Kerry fashion, he scarpered from hospital not long after to watch the carnival, and, in a manner in which he has few peers, tell the enquiring media to enquire elsewhere.

The other surprise from the Packer family's polo news is that a casual player for their Ellerston stable is helping them preserve its standing on the international polo scene.

Not that fund manager David Paradice is claiming much credit.

Paradice, who has been playing with Ellerston for five years, says he is merely advising Ros.

"She's doing it to preserve Kerry's legacy," Paradise told CBD via a late call from London.

Unsurprisingly, he has some sympathy for James.

"I can understand why James didn't want to continue to do it," he said. "You never want polo taking over your life."

The grand plan includes holding Ellerston's two polo carnivals in spring and autumn.

Red eye

On Monday, the other Woolworths will be holding its shareholder meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, with its celebrity board member, Gail Kelly, expected to make the trek home and be elected to the board – if all goes to plan.

It means a long stretch of frequent flyer miles from Sydney for the former Westpac boss, but Woolies is presumably picking up the bill.

And there are other perks.

In deference to the fact that she, and fellow Aussie director Patrick Alloway are not based in South Africa, they are the only board members to be paid in Aussie dollars: $225,000 each for sitting on the board of Woolies and its local subsidiaries, David Jones and Country Road.

One of South Africa's corporate quirks means that the moolah includes "an attendance fee per meeting", which should give them every incentive to at least dial in to any future boardroom business. 

Clean slate 

It's hard to know what to say about ASX-listed law firm Slater and Gordon after its latest stock slippery dip.

Yes, it said the latest policy calamity in the UK won't affect earnings for 2016, but analysts filled in the blank space that is 2017, saying it will look horrific.

Even after recovering from its lowest ebb on Friday (the price had plunged to a low of 59.5c), the stock has still shed more than 90 per cent of its value this calendar year.

If it is any consolation to shareholders, the top four managers, who own 5.6 per cent of the law firm's stock, are most definitely sharing the pain.

Slater's chief, Andrew Grech, has watched his stake shrink in value from $49 million this year to $4.4 million as of Friday. UK and Europe boss Ken Fowlie is not far behind with his 5.1 million shares. Hayden Stephens and Cath Evans own around 4 million shares each. Collectively, their stock was worth $150 million at its peak, but is now worth more than $125 million less thanks to the various troubles that ail the firm.

It is the sort of plunge that usually puts a company in class action territory, which makes CBD wonder if fellow class action warrior Maurice Blackburn is sticking to the line it trotted out for CBD in June: "Maurice Blackburn hasn't built Australia's leading class actions practice by simply filing cases every time a share price falls," the company told CBD at the time, but added, "As with any company in this situation, we'll continue to monitor developments closely."

Got a tip? ckruger@fairfaxmedia.com.au