Your Club News from Home and Abroad

Ayala Polo Club

Photography by Minuto Siete Polo Facilities

Rhone Hill, winners of The Copa Bienvenida Rhone Hill, winners of The San Enrique de Guadiaro Cup

The Copa Bienvenida took place over 12 – 15 May, kicking off the 2022 season in Ayala, Sotogande, with Rhone Hill securing a 9-5 win against East Polo in the Final. Polilla was chosen as the Best Playing Pony, Sina Albrecht received the Fair Play Award and Patricio Neves was the Most Valuable Player.

On Sunday 22 May, Rhone Hill secured The San Enrique de Guadiaro Cup at the Los Pinos venue. Four teams between 6-8 goals competed in the tournament with Rhone Hill defeating Korea Polo Team, 9-7 in the Final. Rock & Roll, played by Miguel Ángel Díazand owned by Diogo Gallego was the Best Playing Pony, YoungBin Kim received the Fair Play Award and Segundo Fernández Llorente was the Most Valuable Player.

The Copa Bienvenida Final Teams:

East Polo (7): Sina Albrecht (-1), Andreas Keinberger (-1), Juan Pedro Girou (3) & Patricio Neves (5) Rhone Hill (7): Jemima Heffron (-1), Patrick Heffron (0), Segundo Fernandez Llorente (4) & Gonzalo Lopez Vargas (4)

Longdole Polo Club

Photograph by Longdole Polo Club

The Bluestone 6 Goal match teams

A beautiful sunny morning for the Club’s first sponsored match of the season, The Bluestone 6 Goal match on Saturday 14 May. Lawn Raiders started strong with a lead of 3 goals in the first chukka. Stuart Lodge’s penalty goal was the beginning of Longdole’s fight to take back control of the game but unfortunately Lawn Raiders had other ideas and eventually won the match 6-3.

The Bluestone 6 Goal Teams:

Longdole: William Lucas, David Blakey, Stuart Lodge & Lorna Broughton Lawn Raiders: Jack Aldridge, Matt Simpson, Ben stokes & Zac Beim

Rutland Polo Club

Holmefield, winners of The Spring Cup The Club’s opening tournament was The Spring Cup, which saw three teams compete with Holmefield taking home the trophy after narrowly defeating Bell Bush Farm and Knightmares in third. Club President John Tinsley presented the trophy and chose the Most Valuable Player as Steve Brown, who took up polo last year.

Cirencester Park Polo Club

Irongate, winners of The Cirencester May 12 Goal

OKL, winners of The a’Brassard Trophy A good crowd gathered alongside the Peddington ground to watch the first Finals of the season, on the bright but breezy afternoon of Saturday 7 May. The tournament was The Cirencester May 12 Goal and in the Final James Scott-Hopkins with his Irongate team took on Smiths Polo and after four entertaining chukkas won the trophy 7-6. In the Subsidiary Final which followed, Marco Devence and his Maitland team made the most of their half goal handicap allowance to just beat Tafia Mafia 4½-4.

On Sunday 15 May, OKL (Huan Yan, Olivia Lamphee, Caspar West & Tom Beim) defeated Syreford/Manton Racing (William Tobin, Hugo, George Meade & Ed Walker 7½-4 in The a’Brassard Trophy Final at Cirencester Park Polo Club.

White Waltham Polo Club

Cedar Polo Team, winners of The Camelot Bowl Over the weekend 14 – 15 May, the 0 goal Camelot Bowl Polo Tournament was played at Carlitos White Waltham Polo Club. Four teams competed on Saturday with Bilal Shaykh’s Cedar Polo Team qualifying for the Final on Sunday along with Georgina Brittain’s Mount Loftus Polo Team.

The Camelot Bowl Final started at 2pm on Sunday and both teams scored four goals each in the first two chukkas, then in the third chukka Cedar took a surprising lead with a further four goals, Mount Loftus fought hard to come back in the fourth chukka with another three goals but just ran out of time, leaving Cedar Polo Team (Corporal of Horse Anthony Kitchen, Nicola Bonito-Oliva, Bilal Shaykh & Kaveh Shakib) to win The Camelot Bowl.

Tedworth Park Polo Club

Photograph by TPPC

Maize Dulce, winners of The QRH 4 goal

Congratulations to Maize Dulce who secured The QRH 4 goal win over the weekend of 7 – 8 May. Advance tickets are available for The Rundle Cup which will be held on Saturday 9 July and alongside the feature Royal Navy vs British Army match, will also include a parachute display, military band, pony dash, British Polo Gin bar, plus their first ever Rundle Cup After Party from 6pm, with half price drinks for Happy Hour! Visit tedworthparkpolo.com to get your tickets today.

Beaufort Polo Club

The Gloucestershire Festival of Polo will be returning to the Club over 11 – 12 June

The Gloucestershire Festival of Polo will be returning to the Club over 11 – 12 June, with an International Test Match pitching England against Ireland in aid of World Horse Welfare. The second day of action will be raising money for LAP Research with an afternoon feature match plus some of England’s up and coming young players taking to the field for The U15 Javier Novillo Astrada Cup Final. Advance tickets can be booked at beaufortpoloclub.com

The Badminton Cup opened the season at the Club, with 12 teams competing, with CANI and Smiths Polo making the Final on Sunday 8 May. With both teams closely matched, the Final was pushed into an extra chukka which saw CANI take the 5-4 win. The following weekend, Los Chinos faced R&R Polo in The Kernow Cup Final, but Los Chinos put their half goal handicap to good use and took the win.

CANI, winners of The Badminton Cup

Guards Polo Club

Brian Stein has been unanimously elected Chairman for a further four years, while Mindi Byrne, patron of Tex8n Polo, has been reelected to the Board and Harum Scarum patron, Jonathan Hare, is the new Club Director.

Tchogan Dogs defeated Bel Polo Team, 6-5, in an extra chukka to take home The Spring Tournament, with Will Drewitt named Most Valuable Player and Lovelocks Chechnya, played by Tommy Severn was the Polo Times Best Playing Pony – to read more about Lovelocks Chechnya turn to our Pony Power pages.

Congratulations to Bel Polo Team who won The Committee Cup after defeating AFB 7-6 in the Final on Sunday 22 May. The Subsidiary Final saw Conosco defeat Tchoagn/Libertine 9-8. Ed Banner-Eve’s Chapelco winning the Polo Times Best Playing Pony.

Tchogan Dogs, winners of The Spring Tournament

Houston Polo Club

Photograph by HPC

BTA/ No Le Hace, winners of The J. Talasek Homes Cup Final ML Bar Ranch/Team Tejas, winners of The Don Julio Classic ML Bar Ranch/W-S, winners of The USPA Officer’s Cup Final

The J. Talasek Homes Cup Final was played at Houston Polo Club between BTA/ No Le Hace and Horsegate/ Pegasus. Horsegate/ Pegasus began with a two goal handicap advantage, however BTA/ No Le Hace came alive in the second chukka to take the lead, with back-toback goals from Steve Krueger and by half-time they had maintained their lead and went into half-time, 5-4. Horsegate/Pegasus surged to a two goal lead in the fourth chukka and both sides traded goals throughout the second half, with the final score resting on a narrow 10-9 win in favour of BTA/ No Le Hace. Steve Krueger was chosen as the Most Valuable Player and Salute, played by Mason Wroe, was the Best Playing Pony.

Sunday 24 April saw Pegasus/Propaganda win The Cowboy Cup Final with a 12-9 win against Horsegate/No Le Hace at Houston Polo Club. The high-scoring Final was pushed into a tie in the last chukka when Horsegate/ No Le Hace scored four goals, but Pegasus/ Propaganda’s Shane Wroe scored his eighth goal of the match to cement their win. David Andras was the Most Valuable Player and Goose, played by Shane Rice, was the Best Playing Pony.

The last weekend in April saw The Don Julio Classic Final between BTA/Tonkawa and ML Bar Ranch/Team Tejas. ML Bar Ranch/Team Tejas’ Cody Ellis scored a hat trick of goals in the first chukka, as BTA/ Tonkawa’s Jimmy Seward and Steve Krueger kept the score tied 3 to 3, both sides traded goals throughout the first half which saw the scores very close at 6-5 at half-time with BTA/Tonkawa just ahead. The second half saw a substitution for team ML Bar Ranch/Team Tejas with Fox Benton being replaced by daughter Abby. With two goals from BTA/Tonkawa’s Seward and Krueger, and three from ML Bar Ranch/Team Tejas’ Benton, Ellis, and Wroe, the score was tied up again 8-8. A strong fifth chukka from ML Bar Ranch/Team Tejas’ with a goal from Benton and two from Ellis saw them reclaim the lead 11-8. The final sixth chukka was a battle as BTA/Tonkawa put forward a strong defence to keep ML Bar Ranch/Team Tejas scoreless. With two goals from BTA/ Tonkawa’s Hildebrand and Krueger, closed the gap to 11-10, but ran out of time and ML Bar Ranch/Team Tejas took home the win.

BTA/Propaganda took on ML Bar Ranch/W-S in The USPA Officer’s Cup Final at Houston Polo Club on Sunday 8 May, which saw ML Bar Ranch/W-S take the win, 12-9 after six chukkas of intense competition, with Jenny Vargas named Most Valuable Player and Buckwheat, played by Cody Ellis, the Best Playing Pony.

Grand Champions Polo Club

Casablanca, winner of The Eastern Challenge Knockers Field, winners of The Sun Cup

On Sunday 24 April, Casablanca (Steve Cox, Grant Ganzi, Pablo Spinacci & Tomacho Pieres) secured the first trophy of the Club’s spring season – The Eastern Challenge – with a 5-4 win in the final round robin match against Bored Ape (Ryan Shank, Jason Crowder, Pablo Pulido & Tommy Biddle). Grant Ganzi was named Most Valuable Player and Creyente, played by Pablo Spinacci, was chosen as the Best Playing Pony.

The last Grand Champions Polo School Ladies League was won by Eagle Prime Lending (Giuliana Tarazona (0), Valentina Tarazona (0), Ava Rose Hinkson (1) & Malicia von Falkenhausen (2)), who defeated Pilot (Giuliana Tarazona (0), Jem Handler (0), Ana de la Fuente (2) & Kerstie Allen (3)) 4-3, with 11-year-old Valentina Tarazona, named Most Valuable Player, which made her the youngest MVP in the League’s history. Murco, owned and played by Ava Rose Hinkson, was chosen as the Best Playing Pony.

The Sun Cup Final was held at Grand Champions Polo Club on US Mother’s Day, with Knockers Field (Annabelle Gundlach, Marc Ganzi, Brandon Phillips & Alejandro Novillo Astrada) defeated Bored Ape (Ryan Shank, Gene Goldstein, Nic Roldan & Juan Bollini/Pablo Spinacci), 10-7, with Novillo Astrada chosen as the Most Valuable Player and Isadora, owned and played by Gundlach named Best Playing Pony.

On Sunday 15 May, Casablanca secured their third tournament of the spring season at Grand Champions Polo Club, with a 12-9 win against Audi in The Spring Challenge Final which saw Ganzi father and son pitted against one another. Nic Roldan was named Most Valuable Player and Tinta, played by Marc Ganzi, was chosen as the Best Playing Pony.

Kerstie Allen going for the big hit defended by Ava Rose Hinkson on Best Playing Pony Murrco Casablanca, winners of The Spring Challenge

Kirtlington Park Polo Club

On Sunday 1 May, Salty (David Ashby, James Hall, Archie Heseltine & Dane Csaszar) secured The James Budgett 4 Goal Trophy after defeating La Rosada (Charlotte Pykett, Charlie Peagram, Nico Fontanrossa & Neil Cox) in a very close Final at Kirtlington Park Polo Club.

Summer Sounds Pop-up Festival will be returning to Kirtlington Park Polo Club over 12 – 14 August with Mania – The ABBA Tribute, Symphonic Ibiza, Majesty – A Tribute to Queen and much more. Visit summer-sounds.co.uk to book your tickets.

Photography by Melissa Bastin/www.poloimages.org