Your Club News from Home and Abroad
Club Focus
Photography by AHPRC
Al Habtoor Polo Club & Resort
AM Polo, winners of The November AHPRC League
AM Polo clinched The UAE National Day Cup by half a goal
An action-packed day saw the Final of the November AHPRC League at Al Habtoor Polo Resort & Club (AHPRC) between AM Polo and Ankora/Bangash Polo. AM Polo’s Santos Iriate opened the scoring with the first goal of the match and AM Polo continued to dominate as they maintained the lead throughout the match and they ultimately secured the win with a score of 8-6. Santos Iriate was named Most Valuable Player and Erenita Lenon, ridden by Frederico Potobsky, was chosen as the Best Playing Pony. This year’s UAE National Day Cup saw seven 8-10 goal teams competing. The qualifying matches resulted in a Subsidiary Final between Mahra Polo and Ankora, while AM Polo faced Green Gates in the Final on Friday 4 December. Ankora took an early lead and maintained their momentum throughout to take the Subsidiary Final, 8-5; in the main Final Green Gates took an early lead and although AM Polo managed to catch up, and Tommy Iriate secured a fourth
and final goal for AM Polo, stealing victory from Green Gates by just half a goal, 4½-4. Tommy Iriate was named Most Valuable Player for his title-clinching efforts, and Charm, ridden by Tuki Ruiz Guiñazú was chosen as the Best Playing Pony. November AHPRC League Final Teams: AM Polo (6): Sheika Alia Al Maktoum (0), Pearl Venot (1), Santos Iriarte (1) & Pablo Urquiza (4) Ankora/Bangash (6): Khalid Alomran (-1), Haider Bangash (0), Facundo Kelly (2) & Ricardo Garros (5) UAE National Day Cup Final Teams: Green Gates (10): Noor Abukhadra (0), Charles Cooney (2), Tuki Ruiz Guinazu (4) & Cesar Crespo (4) AM Polo (9): Sheika Alya al Maktoum (0), Santos Iriarte (1), Pablo Urquiza (4) & Tommy Iriarte (4)
Photography by GCPC
Grand Champions Polo Club
Action from The Legends of Polo Carlos Gracida Memorial
It’s been a busy month for Grand Champions Polo Club (GCPC) and on Wednesday 18 November Casablanca lifted The North American Cup after defeating Newport 14-9 in the Final, with Nic Roldan named Most Valuable Player and Tessita, played by Sugar Erskine, chosen as Best Playing Pony. On Sunday 29 November, Grand Champions met Aspen Valley in The Legends of Polo Carlos Gracida Memorial, which honours the late Carlos Gracida, www.polotimes.co.uk
Casablanca, winners of The North American Cup
who died tragically in February 2014 during a polo match at the Everglades Polo Club. Usually, the whole Gracida family attends the match, but while the pandemic has forced GCPC to close the club to spectators, Gracida’s sons, Carlitos and Nano, were still able to play in the four chukka tournament, which saw Aspen Valley take the title with a final score of 5-3; Nano Gracida was named Most Valuable Player, while Michael Bickford’s Lola was selected as Best Playing Pony.
The North American Cup Final Teams: Newport: Gene Goldstein, Sugar Erskine, Michel Dorignac & Juan Bollini Casablanca: Grant Ganzi, Henry Porter, Juancito Bollini & Nic Roldan The Legends of Polo Carlos Gracida Memorial Teams: Grand Champions: Pablo Pulido, Brandon Phillips, Carlitos Gracida & Kris Kampsen Aspen Valley: Michael Bickford, Sugar Erskine, Nano Gracida & Nick Manifold Polo Times, December 2020 / January 2021
27
