World Polo League: Triple Crown of

26 Goal Season Richard Mille enjoys WPL hat-trickCulminates

The World Polo League protects 26 goal polo in America, and consists of five tournaments played throughout February and April. So far in the league, Richard Mille has dominated the trophy cabinet, with three wins under their belts (AllStar Challenge, Founder’s Cup and The Triple Crown of Polo), while Casablanca (Palm Beach Open) and Seminole Casino Coconut Creek (Miami Beach Polo World Cup) have dashed Richard Mille’s perfect record for this year.

Triple Crown of Polo

24 MAR

18 APR FINAL

Where: Grand Champions Polo Club, Florida On Saturday 17 April the fourth title of the league, The Triple Crown of Polo, culminated at Grand Champions Polo Club between Tamera and Richard Mille. Tamera received a one goal handicap advantage and Diego Cavanagh scored another for Tamera within the first 40 seconds of action, followed by a goal from Jejo Taranco, while Richard Mille got off to a slow start in the first chukka, with just one goal from a penalty conversion from Jeta Castagnola, which meant Tamera led 3-1 going into the second chukka.

Richard Mille soon woke up with an early goal from Pablo Mac Donough and a last-minute goal from Castagnola, with just one in reply from Tamera’s Taranco, so the second chukka ended with Tamera only just in the lead, 4-3. Taranco converted a Penalty 5 at the start of the third to increase their lead and a lucky break from Santi Torres saw him score two goals within a minute to maintain Tamera’s lead into half-time, with the scores resting on 7-5. However, Richard Mille flew into the fourth chukka and blocked Tamera from scoring with a strong defence and the chukka ended with the scores tied at 7-7; to and fro action between both teams saw the scores tied once again on 9-9 going into the last chukka. In the final chukka, Tamera lost an umpire challenge and Castagnola converted a penalty, followed by a field goal to take Richard Mille to 11-9; while Tamera were able to add one more goal to their tally, it was Richard Mille who emerged victorious with an 11-10 win.

Richard Mille (26)

Marc Ganzi (2) Jeta Castagnola (8) Pablo Mac Donough (10) Paco de Narvaez (6)

The Triple Crown of Polo Final Teams:

Tamera (25)

Ale Poma (1) Santi Torres (7) Diego Cavanagh (9) Jejo Taranco (8)

BPP

MVP

Pablo Mac Donough

American Horse Polo Association Best Playing Pony:

Molapata Tinta, played by Marc Ganzi

Argentine Breeding Association Best Playing Pony: Irenita Suspicasia, played by Pablo Mac Donough

World Polo League Best Playing Pony: Irenita Subaru, played by Pablo Mac Donough

Miami Beach Polo World Cup

The Miami Beach Polo is the fifth and final phase of the 2021 World Polo League and saw some of the best names in polo compete, including Poroto Cambiaso, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, Jeta and Barto Castagnola. On Sunday 25 April, not one but four matches were played and the day began with Seminole Casino Coconut Creek vs Land Rover in the Beach Polo title and saw Land Rover begin with a two goal handicap advantage. Seminole Casino Coconut Creek were quick out of the blocks and by the end of the first chukka had secure themselves the lead, 3-2. The Seminole Casino Coconut Creek trio continued to dominate the Final and going into the last chukka held a convincing 8-4 win; Land Rover attempted to close the gap but Seminole Casino Coconut Creek continued to reassert their lead, which saw the match end 9-6 in favour of Melissa Ganzi’s team.

The second match of the day saw The Setai (Grant Ganzi, Juancito Bollini and Torito Ruiz) face World Polo League (Vinny Sangaline, Jeta Castagnola and Juan Bollini) for The Casablanca Trophy. Father and son, Juan and Juancito Bollini, were on opposing teams, and the ball flitted between the pair as they both notched up goals for their respective teams, both sides were evenly matched which was reflected in the relatively low scoring match, which saw The Setai clinch the win, 4-3.

Photography by ChukkerTV

Juancito Bollini & Jeta Castagnola in action in The Casablanca Trophy

Miami Beach Polo World Cup Final Teams:

Land Rover (13)

Philip de Groot (13) Barto Castagnola (9) Tito Gaudenzi (2)

Seminole Casino Coconut Creek (15)

Melissa Ganzi (1) Nacho Figueras (6) Alejandro Novillo Astrada (8)

Where: Miami Beach, Miami

21 MAR

25 APR FINAL

The third match of the day was the Celebrity Charity Cup to benefit Give Back for Special Equestrians, which saw the shirts worn by all of the players auctioned to raise $23,000. The fourth and final match of the day was played for The Villa Collection Cup between The Villa Collection/GFI (Marc Ganzi, Horacio Heguy and Nic Roldan) and Italkraft (Govinda Quish, Juan Martin Zubia and Pablo Spinacci). The first half saw plenty of attacks on goal by both sides but no results, with only The Villa Collection/GFI’s Nic Roldan finding the goalposts. Roldan’s success continued in the second half with back-to-back goals, a penalty conversion by Govinda Quish levelled the scores and in the end Marc Ganzi took the ball to goal to secure a 4-3 win for The Villa Collection/GFI.

MVP

Alejandro Novillo Astrada