May 2017 Polo Players' Edition

M A Y 2 01 7

Spiculus wins Gladiator Polo

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CONTENTS M AY 201 7

VOL. 20,

FEATURES

NO. 9

DEPARTMENTS

26 Young talent by Sharon Robb

USPA BULLETIN

Argentina tops PTF International Cup

30 Gladiators by Gwen Rizzo

6 Association news 10 Instructors Forum

36 Fan favorite by Gwen Rizzo

12 Full Moon

Club hopes to attract new players with arena event

by Tom Goodspeed

Love for animals helped shape engineer’s career

14 16 20 22 42

M A Y 2 01 7

OUR COVER Pelon Escapite powers Spiculus to victory in the Gladiator Polo final.

Spiculus wins Gladiator Polo

Photo by: David Lominksa/Polographics

44 58 59 60

by Sam Morton

Equine Athlete by Gwen Rizzo Polo Scene News, notes, trends & quotes Team USPA Intercollegiate/Interscholastic Polo in the Pampas

by Ernesto Rodriguez

Polo around the Globe Calendar Marketplace Yesteryears POLO REPORT

48 Tournament results

Field 1/Salamander Steals The Black Olive 6 Goal

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2 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN SIGNED COLUMNS ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE PUBLISHERS OF THIS MAGAZINE.

THE

OFFICIAL MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE

UNITED STATES POLO ASSOCIATION

Editor & Publisher GWEN D. RIZZO Deputy Editor STEVEN A. RIZZO Contributing Editors

HEATHER SMITH THOMAS, ERNESTO RODRIGUEZ, ALICE GIPPS, CHRIS ASHTON, TOM GOODSPEED

Editorial Board BOB PUETZ, TONY COPPOLA, TOM BIDDLE, DAWN WEBER, AMI SHINITZKY Art Director DAVID BEVERAGE Prepress PUBLISHERS PRESS Advertising & Editorial Offices USPA Member Subscription Inquiries (800) 232-8772 OR FAX (888) 341-7410 ldolan@uspolo.org

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VOL. 20, No.9 POLO Players’ Edition (ISSN #1096-2255) is published monthly by Rizzo Management Corp. 6008 Reynolds RD, Lake Worth, FL 33449 for U.S. Polo Association, 9011 Lake Worth RD, Lake Worth, FL 33467.

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4 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

From CEO Duncan Huyler The USPA is focused on steering the sport of polo into the 21st Century and beyond. While our 126-year history has sustained the sport as the oldest organized equestrian discipline in the United States, our current member numbers of 5,500 do not reflect the commitment of the USPA to what is arguably the most exciting game in this country.

In a recent interview with John Harper of the “New York Daily News,” Rob Manfred, commissioner of Major League Baseball commented, “The fact of the matter is the game is changing on its own. I think the issue for us is: it’s not change vs. no change. It’s change that’s organic or change that’s managed, and I do believe we need to manage the way the game is changing a little more aggressively.’’

Even in a sport that is considered “America’s pastime,” Manfred has a focus. According to Harper, that is “to keep his sport relevant in a world that offers people more entertainment choices than ever—especially so for younger generations. It’s his job to look and think ahead, and an hour in his office makes it clear just how willing he is to embrace that responsibility.”

Baseball is not the only sport embracing change. Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League recently said, “In today’s day and age, we have to give our fans every reason to watch what’s happening, find what they see on television and in the stadium as compelling. Don’t give them a reason to turn away.”

The USPA has embraced progress and change over the past several years to allow the sport to be more accessible, inclusive and diverse in this country. We have expanded the youth programs by adding an incredibly successful National Youth Tournament Series platform to complement the traditional Intercollegiate/Interscholastic program along with a Middle School League, an I/I Regular Season, Varsity Letters and College Scholarships to encourage participation in our sport at a young age. This year NYTS will add a second level to broaden

Governor-at-Large Election The governor-at-large election will be taking place from the beginning of June until the middle of August. The USPA Nominating Committee will select a list for each governor-at-large position.

Delegates of active member clubs will receive a Nominating Committee slate, nominating forms and procedures on how to nominate independent candidates.

Ballots with all eligible candidates are sent to each registered player member in good standing. Members are encouraged to 6 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

the scope of an already positive initiative.

Polo Development, LLC has numerous successful programs that did not exist 10 years ago. Team USPA, which includes our elite athlete program, interns, young player outreach and a new executive training program, have given our young polo athletes a path to continue in our sport in a number of ways. The Certified Polo Instructor Program, launched just two years ago, has helped to give polo the credibility it needs to encourage enthusiasts—young and old—to participate in our sport via instructors that have a consistent skill set along with safety training and a background check that has come to be expected in coaching and teaching.

Umpires, LLC has organized a group of professional umpires that serve the sport from coast to coast, 12 months a year. It has incorporated technology to improve the officiating and the ingame experience for our players at every level. Its recent focus on umpire fitness will only increase the significance of these professionals to our sport.

In any organization, sports included, change is inevitable, and the USPA, as the national governing body, has the responsibility to guide and manage the change. Polo in this country has a 126-year history that must be embraced and appreciated, however, we cannot live in the past. We need to look to the future of the sport. On a recent trip to California I was encouraged by comments from club leadership regarding the direction of the USPA, including equine welfare, club and member support, umpiring, instruction, communication and member outreach. The foundation of the sport is in place with an incredible history, dedicated polo clubs, members and programs provided by the USPA to provide for substantial growth in the future. .

participate in the election process.

Information on candidates, ballots and forms will be forthcoming in the mail.

Winter Polo Season Success The 2017 winter polo season proved to be a success. The international rules are continuing to be adopted by a wide variety of clubs, and as a result, many games are being played at a more open and faster pace. The USPA’s partnership with ChukkerTV to bring fans the USPA Polo Network continues to be successful. This

winter, all Florida high-goal games were live-streamed, along with several tournaments in California, one in Arizona and many more are on the horizon. The USPA communications team increased promotions for the season, incorporating a tournament landing page on uspolo.org for all live-streamed games complete with tournament history, team rosters, photos, host club information and videos. The USPA aims to continue to improve the communication strategy for all member clubs and tournaments around the country.

USPA Umpires, LLC The USPA Umpires, LLC recently participated in the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors at International Polo Club Palm Beach. TAPS offers compassionate care to all those grieving the death of a loved one serving in our Armed Forces. Since 1994, TAPS has provided comfort and hope 24 hours a day, seven days a week through a national peer support network and connection to grief resources, all at no cost to surviving families and loved ones.

On November 1, 2013, teams4taps, an initiative to create meaningful opportunities for families of the fallen to engage with the teams they cheered for with their fallen hero, was launched.

Former official Bob Delaney, and now NBA’s vice president of Referee Develop-

ment and Performance introduced USPA Umpires, LLC to TAPS after an umpire meeting with 25 USPA professional umpires at the Lake Worth offices last spring. The NBA, along with many other sport associations, brings a TAPS family to a sporting event, where the family is introduced to the officials and then watches the game.

Umpires, LLC hosted the Agami family at a USPA Gold Cup game in March.

Beth, Itzhak and Shaina Agami are the surviving family of Spc. Daniel Agami who was killed in action on June 21, 2007. “I came from a military family, so

USPA Umpires, LLC’s Maggie Mitchell with the TAPS family of Beth, Itzhak and Shaina Agami

I am very passionate for the opportunity to give back in any way,” said Umpire Manager Maggie Mitchell. “On behalf of USPA Umpires, LLC it was a privilege to work with the TAPS organization and bring the Agamis, a family of one of America’s fallen heroes, to their very first polo match.”

To learn more about TAPS, please visit the website at www.taps.org.

Membership Benefits As a member, you may be unaware of the many benefits available. The following is a list of what you receive when you join the USPA: 2017 USPA Member Benefits: • USPA Member Card and Decal • Player Handicap • Eligibility to compete in USPA Tournaments • Subscription to “This Week in Polo” email

• Subscription to Polo Players' Edition magazine • USPA Rulebook • USPA Annual Bluebook • $1 Million Personal Excess Liability Insurance Accidental Death & Dismemberment and Excess Medical Insurance • Discounts from Polo Plus on a variety of products/services • Discounts on U.S. Polo Assn. apparel • Access to PoloSkilz • Eligibility to participate in Polo Development clinics and annual Instructors and Managers Forum • Eligibility to become a Certified Polo Instructor • Umpire Training and Certification • Student members eligible to participate in Interscholastic Polo Varsity Letter Program Questions about membership benefits? Email our Membership and Handicap Manager, Lindsay Dolan at ldolan@uspolo.org.

Published by the United States Polo Association Offices at 9011 Lake Worth Rd. Lake Worth, Florida 33467 (800) 232-USPA Chairman: Joe Meyer President: Chip Campbell Secretary: Tom Gose Treasurer: Sam Ramirez Chief Executive Officer: Duncan Huyler

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 7

Costi Caset was awarded the High Goal Achievement Award for his outstanding performance in high-goal polo this year.

Caset won the Gulfstream Pacific Coast Open with Restoration Hardware and was awarded MVP and Best Playing Pony.

Caset joined forces with his cousin, Sapo Caset for the 20-goal tournaments at International Polo Club on the Tonkawa team.

Felipe Viana was selected to be the 2017 Equus & Co. Award recipient. Viana’s commitment to the sport and dedication to helping local clubs and young players embodies what it means to be a member of Team USPA. Geronimo Obregon and Branden Van Loon were also nominated and recognized for their contributions to polo.

NYTS

DAVID LOMINSKA/POLOGRAPHICS.COM

Santa Clara and International Polo Club each hosted a successful NYTS qualifier in Wellington, Florida this past month.

The level of polo at these two events gives a glimpse into the future of polo with many young, talented players com-

DAVID LOMINSKA/POLOGRAPHICS.COM

TEAM USPA

Amanda Snow, Jim Whisenand, Felipe Viana and Jimmy Newman

peting. Upcoming NYTS qualifier tournaments include Eldorado Polo Club, Midland Polo Club and Aiken Polo Club.

CPI

Kicking off the start of the season in Aiken, South Carolina, the Certified Polo Instructor program hosted an Instructor Skilz Clinic and Certification Field Test in early April. Led by Certifiers Cindy Halle and Robin Sanchez, both local and out-of-town instructors participated in the events working toward their certification.

For a full list of certified polo instructors or to learn more about how to become certified visit poloskilz.com or contact Jess Downey jdowney@uspolo.org.

Jimmy Newman, Costi Caset and Joe Meyer

8 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

PDI Program In mid-March, USPA’s Polo Development Initiative 2017 award recipients were announced. A total of 107 polo clubs and schools were awarded funds from a budgeted $750,000. These awards are designed to give a leg up to a club’s or school’s momentum as it strives toward eventual sustainability and membership growth. We look forward to recording results! The 2018 applications will be available at poloskilz.com on November 1, 2017. Contact Elizabeth Hedley (ehedley@uspolo.org) for details.

I/I Scholarship USPA Intercollegiate Scholarship Program: Open Now! For full eligibility requirements, visit uspolo.org or contact Amy Fraser (afraser@uspolo.org). Applications due May 31, 2017.

I/I Varsity Letter USPA Interscholastic Varsity Letter applications due May 15, 2017. Contact Ali Davidge (adavidge@uspolo.org) with questions.

Without officials It’s just recess.

USPA Umpires, LLC To date, our professional umpires have officiated over 1,800 ames, at over 80 clubs includ 9 international clubs.

For more information r rdin professional umpir either Charles Muldoon: cmuldoon@uspolo.or or For information r

at your club. Please contact Mitchell: mmitchell@uspolo.or

ardin umpire clinics, please contact Steve Lane: slane@uspolo.or

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CORNER STRATEGY Keep the ball close to the horse’s shoulder at slower speeds

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here has been a good deal of discussion about how to avoid charging full speed into the walls in arena polo on foul shots. To encourage shots on goal from further out and reduce play in the corner, shots from greater than 25 yards are counted as two points.

I like the idea of encouraging shots from further out from goal. In fact, I helped introduce the two pointer from beyond mid-field back in the LA pro polo days. However, I also like the strategy of playing the walls and the corners.

Basketball now gives you the option to pull up and shoot for three points or drive to the basket. Three pointers didn’t used to exist in basketball. Their introduction definitely has had a huge impact on transforming that game, but it has not lessened the importance of driving to the basket. Likewise, no matter how many points are awarded for shots beyond the 25-yard line, corner play will always be a huge part of the arena.

The inside position on an opponent is the side closest the middle of the arena.

The outside position is the side towards the boards. The speed of play through the corner pretty much determines what position that is best to be in. The general rule is to be on the outside position (against the boards) when the play slows.

The inside position is often more advantageous when the play is at speed.

The reason is that when at speed, players tend to hit too strong into the corner, causing the ball to rebound off the boards to the advantage of the player on the inside position.

A very good player, or a lucky one, may know how to cut the ball around a rounded arena corner when approaching from the right corner by putting a 10 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

clockwise spin on the ball, causing it to keep spinning back to the wall even at speed. This way you can try to meet the ball at the goal to punch it in.

If you are on your nearside approaching the goal from the left corner, put a counter-clockwise spin on the ball. Those are not easy shots, but ones to practice if you are a regular in the arena.

Angled corners will still allow for a ball to rebound to the advantage of the player on the inside position even with the spin.

So, if the ball is stopped or slowing deep into the corner and you see the players slowing to the ball, you want the outside position. But when the players are running to the corners, the odds play better to the inside position as long as you are properly riding off the opponent next to you.

One very important note is that you do not want to ride recklessly at top speed through a corner as it is possible to hurt a horse. Most horses are pretty capable of balancing themselves when at speed through a corner, but it is far better if you are more aware on how to properly balance it by using your seat, legs, and hands all working together. Sure helps to know how to properly check and switch leads when appropriate too. If leads aren’t meaning anything to you, than a couple of equitation lessons would be advisable.

Often times the play slows all the way down to a walk. That is because it is not that easy to get the horse all the way to the boards. Most horses tend to cut corners if not given proper direction from the rider, especially at speed. Getting your horse close to the boards requires a strong inside leg.

The new delay of game rule requires

players to move faster than a walk when being covered by an opponent within two strides. If the opponent is on the inside position and slowing you to a walk, that may actually be a foul called on the opponent for obstructing your right to move along the wall. If that player releases pressure on you, then you must either hit away (not a smart play unless a teammate is in position for a pass) or move into a trot with the ball still at your shoulder (very good play).

If you are not being defended by someone on the inside, an opponent will usually try to work his way in between you and the boards from behind. As long as he is going for a hook below the back of the horse and on the proper side, this is a legal play against the boards. However, the opponent moving up has to make sure to call off any teammate making contact with the hitter on the hitter’s inside position. The opponent coming up from behind will normally call to his teammate to move away from the hitter quickly.

This avoids the possibility of a two-on-one play, often called a sandwich, where two opponents are making contact with the hitter on either side.

The player’s horse that is coming in for the hook will inevitably make contact with the hitter’s horse. You can legally ride off on one side and hook on the other, but being that the play is against the boards, both opponents’ horses will usually make contact with the hitter’s horse, which is not allowed.

So, defending a player with the ball on the wall is an art form. If you are on the inside position against a good player that has control of the ball against the boards, you are not being very effective. You can try to push them close to the boards but you are not allowed to push them into the

NANO’S POLO MALLETS boards. You can also try to slow them down and allow for a teammate to come up from behind but then you must clear off when your teammate makes his move to hook.

The better play is to be on the board side initially as you come into the corner.

If you find yourself in front of the play against a good player that is schooled to keep the ball, rotate back and try to get to the wall side. When you have the ball with you on the boards in the corners, try to keep the ball at your horse’s shoulder and carry the ball with you. If you hit the ball away from you at slow speed, the ball may go to an opponent moving in front of you or to the other side of the goal mouth, both bad options.

The only reason to move quicker to goal is if the opponent is coming from behind. If the opponent is in front or on your inside, just keep the ball with you with short shots. A good team will try to block opponents from reaching the teammate with the ball. This is easier said then done.

When trying to block for your teammate, get tight along the wall and close to the rump of your teammate’s horse. Try to close any gaps, preventing opponents from getting by you. A better rider can excel at this by getting the horse to flex better to the outside by moving the horse laterally using lower leg pressure in conjuction with inside rein pressure.

If an opponent is trying to block a teammate but play is at a trot or even a walk, you may be able to get in between the hitter and the following teammate from the inside, crossing in front of the trailing teammate. This would never be allowed with any speed, it only works when the play is slow against the wall or in the corners. Most umpires are fairly tolerant of defensive efforts, especially when play slows to a walk and as long as you are not being reckless and running into or over the back legs of other horses.

At speed, the inside position usually

becomes more of an advantage, as you can hold the opponent towards the outside as the ball rebounds to the inside.

If you are the hitter on the outside position and are being covered by an opponent on the inside, you want to either slow the play to the end wall or corner and continue with the ball in your possession. If you have a clear shot on goal, it might even be two points next year if the optional tournament conditions are being used. The problem is if you miss, the opponent will usually pick up rebound. But if it counts for two points, it will definitely promote players working harder on accuracy outside the 25-yard line.

A better play if you are headed into the corner and opponents are behind you is to just angle the ball to goal with an approach shot that lands in front of goal and then tap the ball in.

How fast or slow you are going in the corners is less important than coming away with a goal as many times as possible. A great player is going to have the ability to do whatever the play situation and layout of the opponents calls for. As always, I wish you goals at any speed when heading through those corners.

If you don’t like wall play, or corner play, just take down the walls. The very nature of arena polo is learning how to play the walls and corners properly. I love outdoor polo. Come on, full throttle down a grass field? It is tough to beat the feeling of running wide open on a turf field. I also love the arena. Running full blast to the boards and pulling up without launching yourself into the box seats is another great thrill ride.

Tom Goodspeed is a renowned polo instructor, coach and horse trainer.

He achieved a 5-goal handicap outdoors and 9 in the arena. He can be reached at polotom@usapolo.com.

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PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE The polo world mourns the loss of three great individuals

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t is with great sorrow that I report on the lives of three friends that passed away in the darkest month in recent memory in our sport.

Representing the past, present and future of polo, Howard Jones, Sunny Hale and Donovan Stratemann have gone to the other side.

Howard Jones groomed in polo for over 70 years for only two people: George Oliver and Bart Evans, both Hall of Fame polo players. A tall, thin black man, Howard never seemed to age either in body or spirit most of his life. As a 12-year-old, he worked as a hot walker and ended up as a groom whose expertise as a horseman made him a legend among the highgoal community.

Grooms sought out Howard’s secrets of cleaning tack. But most importantly, the horses under his care were turned out to perfection.

When the Americans mounted a national team in the 1960s to play in Argentina, Harold Barry asked George Oliver if they could take Howard to oversee the transportation and care of the horses. Years later, Howard went with Tommy Wayman when he traveled south to play in the tournament.

Howard could stick and ball like Cambiaso, and was totally devoted to the Oliver and Evans horses, which in their eras were considered the top strings in polo. For those of us that had worked for the Evans in polo, we became a part of a fraternity that sprung up friendships that crossed age, race and social lines. Howard was always like the eccentric uncle you could always count on for friendship and 12 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

and especially their horses. He did the same for George Oliver’s daughter, Mimi. I’m sure Howard’s experience made Bart’s transition to the high goal both a smooth and colorful one. He was a part of the Evans’ family for the rest of his life.

Everyone had a Howard Jones story. He was the most affable and colorful character in polo and wasn’t shy about handing out advice to young high-goal players from the boards during the game.

“Stop taking that ball across goal. That cost your team two goals!

You gonna lose this game if you don’t stop. Your daddy hit back shots, now back the damn ball, boy!”

When photographer David Lominska, then an upstart groom in polo, rode next to Howard Jones on an exercise track, he noticed Howard wore gloves on a hot day.

When David inquired about the gloves, Howard said, “David, de women, dey don’t like dem harrrd hands.”

who would make you laugh.

If there was ever a man who lived in the moment it was Howard. When Bart Evans was inducted into the Hall of Fame, his wife Nena brought a great many of his former employees as their guests to the ceremony.

Dressed in his tuxedo, Howard leaned over to me during one of the acceptance speeches and whispered. “Are you going to eat your roll?” He took a great interest in Bart’s two sons, Robert and Gene, and would always inquire about everything from their girlfriends, to wives, children

When Sunny Hale was asked to play alongside Adolfo Cambiaso for Outback in the U.S. Open, it was like Serena Williams was playing doubles with Roger Federer—maybe the best man and woman player of all time. When I heard she passed, I went back and looked at something she wrote me last year, which I’ll share here: Adolfo called me and then brought me to Argentina (he said he was my sponsor) to play with his daughter, Mia, in the Argentine Women’s Open, 2016. It was me [and] spanky’s gang as they were 13-15 max. We

won, went undefeated against all the top players including Lia Salvo in the finals. lol, but the best part was Adolfo’s messages when he called … said “he needed me, I was his pro,” to which I replied “I’m pretty sure you don’t need anybody”… excellent story, so funny but what’s important is now the top players are getting behind their daughters thanks to all that is going on worldwide.

She thanked me for writing a review of her book and said I needed to get back to writing in polo and how much she enjoyed my articles. That was the last contact I had. She was most excited about being able to promote women’s polo in a country that until recently had mostly kept its door shut to that gender.

Her sense of humor caused us to have several belly-splitting laughs together; usually over movies or music. She played with a pure joy of the game so rare in its participants. I only played in a practice with her once. When a ball jumped over the board we were standing around while somebody was trying to get the ball back over. She dropped her whip against the board just as the ball was put in play, but everybody waited for her to get her whip that was leaning against the top of the board. I was going to lean down and get it but she yelled “Wait!” She took her mallet and smacked down hard on the whip and damned if the whip didn’t bow enough to

Sonia and Chris Stratemann raised their three kids in a storybook existence.

Alexandra, Maya and Donovan were homeschooled and worked alongside both parents among hundreds of dogs and horses. Sonia runs a greyhound rescue operation and Chris runs Orchard Hill polo team. Their kids gentled the greyhounds that came off the racetrack.

Sonia told me they had rescued a baby calf that slept on a rug next to Donovan’s bed at night. The five of them lived in a world of constant motion all together as a close family surrounded by animals.

As a result, the kids grew up thoughtful, well-spoken and with a work ethic. When the twins {Maya and Donovan] were only 6 and Alexandra, 8, they took it upon themselves to befriend my son Robert who came down to Florida from Wyoming and didn’t know anybody. They already had lots of friends but they made it a point to include him as a friend, which he cherishes to this day. I’m pretty sure they did the same for me when I lived alone in their barn but made it look like it was my idea. The Stratemann kids played like otters and fought like siblings with Alexandra usually serving as referee to the twins.

Donovan spent time learning to train horses with his grandfather, Donny Healy in Aiken, and their aunt, Rochelle at Orchard Hill. He was a sweet, thoughtful, quiet boy who had just gotten his driver’s license. He was driving himself to the Outback polo barn and riding three horses every day and then doing his school work at home. He and his Dad were

companions on the golf course, on the polo field and traveling to Michigan and Argentina. They rode their motorcycles to work together and back home to be with Sonia and the girls. When the kids began to spend more time at their own barn at home and less at Orchard Hill, both their aunt Rochelle and I were lamenting their absence.

“I feel like Puff the Magic Dragon,” I said, which made Rochelle spit her drink in the bushes. Kids grow up and eventually drift away, but as adults we never do. I got to sneak up on the gangly 15-year-old Donovan two years ago and give him a hug from behind. In that DAVID LOMINSKA/POLOGRAPHICS

bounce up for her to snatch it out of the air.

In one smooth instant she gave her horse a crack, laughing she shot through the players and was gone with the ball. That’s how I’ll remember Sunny.

moment, memories of baseballs, a fair, beach, races, footballs, and laughs with his family came back to me.

“He’s getting big enough to beat on,” I joked to his father and then let him go.

This fall he held horses for me while I worked and we had some laughs. If 17 was his limit on earth, he was given a magical life by a devoted and wonderful family that has been as kind to me as my own.

Gotta Go. POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 13

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SPRING CLEANING Spruce up your tack, barn, paddocks and trailer

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ow that the weather has warmed up in most parts of the country, many players are getting their horses ready for the summer polo season. That means getting the horses legged up for the first practice games, which will also require you to pull out your tack and get your trailer road ready.

To ensure your horses are in the best of health, it is a good time to get vaccinations up to date and deworm them if it hasn’t been done in a while. It is also a good time to get their teeth checked to be sure there are no sharp points in their mouth that can cut them once you start putting bridles in their mouths on a regular basis.

When you start getting them ready to be legged up, it is also a good idea to check them over for any injuries, cuts, rashes or other issues that may be bothering them. Keep a close eye on them as they begin work to be sure old injuries don’t flare up. If a horse has been bothered by say, a leg injury in the past, wrap the leg during and after exercise to give it some extra support.

It is also a good time to check your tack. Look over your saddles for signs of wear, cracking or tears. If billet straps, stirrup leathers or girths are beginning to look worn, get them replaced. Don’t wait until they break. If it happens while you are riding, there is a good chance you are going to end up on the ground.

Make sure the saddle tree is in good shape and be sure the saddles are not causing discomfort to your horses. Check your saddle pads when you take them off your horses. If the sweat spot on the underside is equally wet where the saddle was, it generally means the saddle pressure is distributed equally throughout 14 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

the saddle. If there are some dry spots and some wet spots, the saddle may have pressure points that can cause soreness on your horses’ backs.

Go over all of your tack, including bridles, to be sure it is in good shape.

Check buckles and straps to be sure nothing is close to breaking and if it is, get it repaired. Give the tack a good cleaning followed by an application of a quality leather conditioner at least once a week.

Store the tack in a clean, dry area off the ground. Keeping your tack in good shape, will help keep you safer.

Now, take a look at your barn. Check the stalls for protruding hooks, nails or other items that your horses may injure themselves on. Secure any loose boards and fix any broken gates. Some horses like to paw the floor in their stalls. Add fill to any holes your horses may have dug to level out the floor. Varmints may also dig into the stalls so be sure to check along the bottom of the walls or under gates to make sure there are no spaces where your horses might get a foot or leg caught while rolling.

If your stalls have rubber mats, check to make sure they are not curling up on the edges. Sometimes, flipping the mat over may solve the problem. Other times, you may need to replace the mat.

Sometimes a barn can be a great place to store things, especially in the winter.

But once horses are back in the barn, it is time to remove anything that doesn’t belong there. Keep aisle ways clean and clear, knock down cob webs, lubricate latches and gate hinges and clean out tack rooms and feed rooms.

Remove any extension cords in the barn. If you need more electrical outlets, contact a licensed electrician to ensure the electrical box can handle the extra

load, and if so, install the outlets so extension cords will not be necessary.

Install covered electrical outlets to keep dust away and be sure any wires are run through pipe to prevent rodents from chewing on them. Be sure lights fixtures are specifically made for installing outdoors and are covered to prevent fires.

Repair or replace any broken boards in paddocks. If you have wire fences, be sure the wire is safe for horses. Replace any barb wire or large, square mesh fencing, as these are never safe for horses. Any type of wire fencing may be difficult to see, even for horses, so it is advisable to have some type of rail on top of the wire to keep horses from running into it.

Remove any unnecessary items from paddocks that horses may get injured on, such as cars, tractors, or other equipment.

Spring is also a good time to get your truck and trailer ready for the road. Keep your truck maintained with regular oil changes and tire rotations. Follow the truck manufacturer’s recommendations for getting your truck serviced.

Check your trailer over for signs of rust, stress fractures on welds, loose wires or broken latches. Turn on all the lights and signals to be sure they are working properly. Replace bulbs if necessary. If you have floor mats, remove them and check the floor. If you have a wood floor, check for rotten boards or loose or missing nails. If you have an aluminum floor, check for corrosion or pitting.

Lubricate the bearings, clean and service brakes and examine tires. Tires that sit for long periods are susceptible to dry rot and may need to be replaced even without very many miles on them. Be sure all tires are the same and that they are rated for heavy loads. Rotate them and u check air pressure regularly.

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POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 15

POLO SCENE N E W S

•

NO T E S

•

T R E N D S

•

Q U O T E S

WHITE NIGHT

Polo event benefits Brooke USA

NM LUXE

N

IC ROLDAN’S 2ND ANNUAL Sunset Polo & White Party to benefit Brooke USA, the American fundraising arm of the Brooke, was held at the Wanderers Club in Wellington, Florida on March 24. The event, including a polo match and poolside white party, attracted celebrity guests including Bruce and Patti Springsteen, Jennifer Gates, Neil Hirsch and Kelly Klein among nearly 1000 others.

The polo match included the Tito’s Vodka team with Henry Porter, Grant Ganzi, Justin Daniels, Nic Roldan and Jessica Springsteen (playing in her second match), taking on Aithon Capital’s Timmy Dutta, Tony Calle, Nick Manifold, Brandon Phillips and Darren Marotta, a Palm Beach-based realtor playing in his first match.

“The sunset polo game was a lot of fun. We had a great group of guys—a mix of some of my good friends as well as younger players—who all went above and beyond with the support of the event in great spirits. It was an entertaining game and fun to be able to include Jess and my good friend Darren Mini donkeys help collect cash donations from guests at the Nic Marotta,” said

BY PARKER SCOTT Roldan’s 2nd Annual Sunset Polo & White Party to Benefit Brooke USA. Nic. “Everyone had big smiles on their faces and everyone scored at least once resulting in a draw. Everyone was happy and it was a huge success.”

After the polo exhibition, guests moved pool-side, where they enjoyed a night of dancing and drinks. American Equestrians Got Talent’s 2017 winner, Cassie Ortiz sang two songs prior to the start of the live auction, an encore of her earlier singing of the National Anthem to start the polo match. DJ Adam Lipson made sure everyone stayed on their feet and a surprise appearance by Miami Heat DJ Irie engaged the crowd and kept the party going well into the night.

A live auction saw spirited bidding for such items as a guitar painted by Miami-based artist Alex Mijares and signed by Bruce Springsteen; and an Argentine Polo Experience including two practices at Ellerstina with members of the Ellerstina team as well as four nights at the Four Season’s hotel in Buenos In forward strokes, most Aires. The event raised $280,000, double what was raised last year. players swing too late, and in Brooke USA is a United States-based fundraising organization that supports the backstrokes most players swing overseas work of Brooke, the world’s largest international equine charity. For more than 80 years Brooke has been alleviating the suffering of horses, donkeys, and too early. Practice, practice, mules owned by poor people in developing countries. Veterinarians and animal practice—all eight strokes! health teams provide treatment for working animals, and education and training to animal owners in poor communities to make longterm welfare improvements SanDiegoPolo@hotmail.com for their animals.

SHELLEY HEATLEY

PARKER’S POLO MINUTE

16 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

FIRE STAR FARM in Aiken,

Polo clinic held at new club in Aiken ERICA CRESSWELL AND CINDY KUBOVIC

chance on the wooden South Carolina held a one-day horses, it was on to real clinic on March 4 with 11 horses. Students were taught students attending. The clinic basic riding instruction, the was run by USPA certified timing of the swing and a few instructor Ken Cresswell. The basic drills including clinic got underway with a shooting at the goal. group talk, including the basic Everyone in the group rules of the game, game scored! One new student even theory and safety. Creswell took a few penalty shots. then moved on to ground Everyone enjoyed lunch mallets, which were provided after the clinic prepared by

by Grays Saddlery, and taught Peter Bach who brought his proper grip and swing food truck. techniques.

Creswell said he had great Once the group mastered feedback after the event and Ken Creswell teachs students the polo position and ball position. the foot mallets, Creswell students were signing up to mounted the students on wooden horses where he taught come back for lessons. Creswell is manager of the new Fire them how to position themselves in the saddle, as well as ball Star Polo Club, which recently started regularly scheduled position and swing mechanics. After everyone had their practices.

FUN FOR ALL

THE

Benefit match featured indoor tailgaters NICK RICE

TRIANGLE AREA Best Playing Pony Shorty.

Polo Club in Hurdle Mills, After being tied 2-2, North Carolina hosted its Maeren Honacher scored Shepherd Youth Ranch a pair of goals for Indoor Tailgate match in Crossroads only to be the heated James Hunt answered by Leslie Brooks arena at the North and Tatiana Wolf to end Carolina State the first tied 4-4.

Fairgrounds. The match Bella Hamon scored was a benefit for the early in the second, but Shepherd Youth Ranch, a David Brooks and Wolf christian nonprofit serving responded with two each emotionally wounded for an 8-5 halftime lead. youth and families by David Brooks knocked in providing restoration and a pair of goals, but hope through the Hamon and Honacher unconditional love of combined for three to cut Guests came up with creative themed tailgate parties inside the James Hunt Christ and a unique the lead to two. Wolf arena at the North Carolina State Fair. It was all for a great cause. relationship with horses. scored early in the fourth, In the match, Crossroads/NC Real Estate (Chris Wolf, making it look bleak for Crossroads but Hamon caught fire, Bella Hamon, Maeren Honacher) was spotted two goals on scoring three in a row to tie the game just before the final handicap as it took on 18 Seaboard/Overhead Doors (David horn, and bringing the crowd to its feet. David Brooks shot Brooks, Tatiana Wolf, Leslie Brooks). 18 Seaboard the golden goal in overtime. Maeren Honacher was awarded overcame the early deficit thanks to David Brook’s work on the Above and Beyond Player award.

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 17

GREAT FUTURES

Charity event raises funds for boys and girls

F

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OR THE FOURTH consecutive year, the Neil S. Hirsch because we do have so much poverty in Palm Beach County,” Family Boys & Girls Club of Wellington was the biggest winner said Walsh, co-chair of the event along with Figueras and avid at the Great Futures Celebrity Match at Grand Champions Polo polo player for 13 years. “They are saving and changing one Club in Wellington, Florida on March 12. child at a time without a doubt. This is the whole polo The star power of Nacho Figueras, John Walsh and some of community contributing, raising money for kids. Marc and the world’s top polo players helped to raise funds for the facility Melissa Ganzi are such a big part of this.” that serves hundreds of children in Palm Beach County.

Melissa Ganzi, USPA Florida Circuit Governor and Grand Defending champion Equuelus repeated as winners of the Champions president, presented Neil Hirsch with a special round-robin tournament. It was difficult to figure out who was award in appreciation for his tireless work with the club named having more fun, the winning foursome of Joe DiMenna, in his honor.

Martin Pepa, Grant Ganzi “Neil Hirsch has set a and Mariano Gonzalez or great example for our the busloads of YMCA polo community by giving kids who celebrated with back to those who players and fans after the need us most here game. in Wellington—our Equuleus finished children,” Ganzi said. ahead of Grand “The celebrity match is Champions (Annabelle making an impact on the Gundlach, John Walsh, club members, their Brandon Phillips, Nic families and our Roldan) and Valentine community.”

Farm (Olexa Celine, Will “The kids keep me Jacobs, Riley Ganzi, coming back,” Hirsch Nacho Figueras, said. “To see these kids Alejandro Novillo every day. They come to Equuleus’ Martin Pepa and Grant Ganzi enjoy interacting Astrada). the club after school. with kids from the local Boys and Girls Club during the event.

Riley Ganzi, 17, a They are in a safe place, junior at St. Andrew’s School in Boca Raton and one of the great environment and safe from the streets. That keeps me youngest players in the tournament, was named Most Valuable going.

Player. Joe DiMenna’s horse Sunbrella was named Best Playing “When I go to the club, the kids all run over to me. I get Pony. choked up every time. It’s really a special experience for me.”

Walsh, a television spokesman, a passionate children’s Figueras flew that morning to participate in the popular advocate, activist and creator of “America’s Most Wanted,” and event. He said he would never miss it and wants to give back to now with CNN’s original series “The Hunt With John Walsh,” the sport that has given him and his family so much. was just as popular as Figueras, signing autographs, posing for “To see the smiles, all the smiles, on these kids faces and to pictures before and after the game and during the Great open their world a little bit more is what we are here to do,” Futures Brunch at International Polo Club Palm Beach.

Figueras said. “Neil does so much for the community and the Busloads of boys and girls from the Boys & Girls Club got the Boys and Girls Club.” chance to watch polo, stomp divots at halftime, meet players Proceeds from the game and IPC brunch benefited the Neil and visit and pet some of the horses, including the Best Playing S. Hirsch Boys and Girls Club of Wellington, one of 13 Boys and Pony.

Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County and 1,100 across the U.S. Several players took time out to talk to the kids about the The Boys and Girls clubs, open year-round, provide services horses and the game. Figueras gave one lucky boy, smiling from during non-school hours, as well as summer camp ear-to-ear, a ride on his horse between chukkers. opportunities for nearly 7,000 boys and girls from ages 6 to 18 “It is so fantastic to play for the Boys and Girls Club here throughout the nation.

—Sharon Robb 18 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

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POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 19

High Achiever Team USPA opens doors for Costi Caset

The 2017 High Goal Achievement Award winner, 2016 Gulfstream Pacific Open Champion, Pacific Coast Open Most Valuable Player and Best Playing Pony owner—impressive accolades by any standard—were all earned by one young player this past year, Costi Caset.

Caset, who comes from a family who lives and breathes polo, is now creating a name for himself in the high-goal polo circuit. After a successful high-goal season in Santa Barbara, Caset joined forces with his cousin, Sapo Caset, on the Tonkawa team for the 20-Goal season in Wellington, Florida.

“The 20 goal in Wellington has the best players in the world on the field,” says Costi. After wrapping up the 20 goal, Caset played for Skaneateles in the 12 Goal with Marty Craig, Mariano Obregon and Cesar Jiménez.

In the winter of 2016, Caset joined Team USPA and immediately took advantage of training and networking opportunities. “I played polo the four years after high school, but I didn’t know many people. Team USPA helped me make connections and get my name out.”

The opportunity to play in the United States has been an invaluable experience.

Beyond the training and mentoring opportunities provided by Team USPA, it also provides a community for young players at different clubs across the country. Most mornings you can find Caset at the barn drinking maté with fellow Team USPA players Geronimo Obregon, Jesse Bray, Santi Torres and a few other young players, comparing their views on certain plays in matches and 20 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

DAVID LOMINSKA/POLOGRAPHICS.COM

The United States Polo Association established Team USPA in 2009 to grow and sustain the sport of polo by identifying talented young American players and providing opportunities to grow their abilities.

By Hayley Heatley

discussing different horses playing in the tournaments.

Caset splits his time between Wellington, Florida, his family’s estancia in Lobos, Argentina and several summer clubs in the United States, including Santa Barbara, California and Lexington, Kentucky, aiming to play the best polo available to him.

Team USPA became part of Caset’s plan about a year ago, but he confesses he wasn’t sure about the application process.

After some encouragement from fellow Team USPA players Kylie Sheehan and Geronimo Obregon, there was no turning back for this dedicated young player.

Jimmy Newman, left, and USPA Chairman Joe Meyer, right, present Costi Caset with the High Goal Achievement Award.

“Costi Caset proved by his stellar performances last summer in the Pacific Coast Open in Santa Barbara, that he was more than ready to play high-goal polo in the United States,” said Kris Bowman, executive director of Polo Development, LLC. “He has taken that momentum and turned it into a great first winter at IPC with Tonkawa.”

The High Goal Achievement Award is one of the coveted awards presented each year by Team USPA. Young players need

all the support they can get as our sport has drastically changed over the past 10 years. “A truck and trailer cost well over a $100,000 and the investment of a highgoal pony can be just as much. The High Goal Achievement Award, and the Polo Development Equus Award are just a small way we can show these young athletes that we care and support them,” said Kris.

Caset was chosen for his perseverance in making his goal of playing high-goal polo a reality.

“More players should emulate his focused mindset and determination; we have just begun to see his full potential,” said Kris.

When he is not flying down the field, Caset enjoys helping young players come up in the sport. As part of the Team USPA program, he completed his umpire certification and regularly puts his skills to use at local NYTS qualifiers and pro pool matches.

“I am dedicating my life to polo,” Caset said as he concluded his interview.

“Young up-and-coming professionals like Costi and those on Team USPA deserve as much support as we can give them so they can reach their full potential. They are the right players to get behind. Now we can stand back and watch them go!” said Kris.

The mission of Team USPA is to enhance and grow the sport of polo in the United States by identifying young, talented American players and providing mentored training and playing opportunities leading to a pool of higherrated amateur and pro players, and the resultant giveback to the sport of polo.

Team USPA is now under the newly formed Polo Development, LLC whose mission is to develop, institute, and manage USPA programs that grow polo through education, development, and assistance thereby fortifying clubs and membership. This includes the training and development of players of all ages and skill; and the training, educating and certification of instructors as well as the administration and evaluation of club development. These programs are the positive face of the USPA for clubs across the country.

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 21

Coast to coast Highlights of the collegiate and scholastic regionals

BY POSEY OBRECHT

T

he 2017 I/I season has now come to an end.

Regional tournaments took place all over the country, with teams competing to advance into the national tournaments. From Central Coast to Cornell, regionals were filled with fastpaced and competitive games. Let’s take a look back and see how the regional games played out.

In the Southeast, the Women’s

Intercollegiate Regional tournament took place at the Virginia Polo Center.

Michigan State University and the University of Kentucky both won their respective preliminary tournaments and got the chance to play against the University of Virginia in the regional.

Michigan State topped Kentucky in the first round but fell to UVA in the final. Due to a lack of Men’s teams in the Southeast region, the University of Virginia men were advanced directly to

Central Interscholastic Open Regional winners, Houston A’s Joe Mack Stimmel, Sloan Stefanakis, Coach Mark Prinsloo, Anson Moore and Grayson Price with Steve Armour

Steve Armour presents trophies to Central Interscholastic Girls’ Regional winners, Midland’s Avery Evans, April Galindo, Audrey Scott, Madison Lange and Hollis Hightower

22 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

the National Intercollegiate tournament. Both the Virginia men’s and women’s teams will travel to Santa Barbara to try and bring the trophies back to Charlottesville.

Cornell University was the site for the Northeastern Regional tournament in the beginning of March. On the women’s side, Cornell and the University of Connecticut had victories over Skidmore and Harvard respectively, sending them into the finals. This game was a barn burner, ending with UCONN beating Cornell in a shootout. Cornell was awarded a wildcard and will join the Huskies in Santa Barbara to battle it out again for the title.

The men also had some extremely competitive games. Game 1 pitted Roger Williams University from Rhode Island, against the team from Western Ontario. Roger Williams came out on top with a score of 17-11. Game 2 featured the home team Cornell against Harvard University, with Cornell coming out on top. The final proved to be just as exciting as the women’s side, with Roger Williams topping Cornell by one. A wildcard was awarded to Cornell, which hopes to have a rematch against Roger Williams in Santa Barbara.

The ERG Arena in Brookshire, Texas, was the site for the Central Intercollegiate Regional Championship.

Game 1 for the women featured Texas Tech and Texas Christian University battling it out for a chance to play last year’s national runner-up, Texas A&M University. TCU came out on top but unfortunately fell to A&M in the next game. Colorado State University and Southern Methodist University met in

Central Women’s Intercollegiate Regional winners, Texas A&M’s Taylor Smith, Marissa Wells, Alexandra Vaughn and Kendall Plank. Meehan Shirey is not pictured.

MIKE RYAN

Central Men’s Intercollegiate Regional winners, SMU’s Manuel Ituarte, JT Shiverick, Michael Armour, Coach Tom Goodspeed, Barrett Coke, Ramon De la Torre and Maxi Langlois

Southeastern Interscholastic Girls’ Regional winners, Maryland’s Maddie Grant, Abbie Grant, Catie Stueck, Isabelle Conover and Sophie Grant MIKE RYAN

the other semifinal, with CSU coming out on top in the end. The women’s final was a fast and open game between Texas A&M and CSU, but A&M galloped away with the victory.

The men’s side featured some very fast and furious games between Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Colorado State and Southern Methodist University. Texas A&M and SMU played a beautiful, fast, and competitive game for the final.

SMU came out on top with a lastminute goal to beat Texas A&M by one.

Texas A&M men received a wildcard and will travel to nationals with hopes to defend its 2016 National Championship title.

The Central Coast Polo Club in San Louis Obispo hosted the Western Intercollegiate Regionals with six women’s teams participating. Montana State University edged University of Idaho by four to take Game 1, but fell to California Polytechnic State University in the semi-finals.

Oregon State University beat Stanford University to advance and then lost to Washington State in the semi-finals. Cal Poly then handily won the final against WSU to advance to nationals. The men’s side was a round robin between home team Cal Poly, Montana State and Oregon State. Cal Poly came out on top and had its chance to play at nationals with a home field advantage.

To roundup the Intercollegiate season, we anxiously watched as regional champions, UCONN, UVA, Texas A&M and Cal Poly, along with wildcard Cornell, traveled to Santa Barbara to play some great women’s polo. The men’s games also had some great match-ups with regional champions, Roger Williams, UVA, Cal Poly and SMU joined by wildcards Texas A&M and Cornell. The National Intercollegiate Championships were played April 3-9 at the Santa Barbara Polo Club in California. Look for complete results from the tournament featured in the July edition.

The interscholastic regionals also wrapped up as teams geared up for a chance at a National Championship.

Southeastern Interscholastic Open Regional winners, Maryland’s Aidan Tydings, Jack McLean, Brennan Wells and Parker Pearce

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 23

Northeastern Men’s Intercollegiate Regional winners, Roger Williams’ George Hempt, Pedro Cabrera, Daymar Rosser and Coach Ted Torrey

Northeastern Women’s Intercollegiate Regional winners, University of Connecticut’s Anders Carlton, Julianna Gallo, Sara Tufts, Lauren Pfahler, Tessa Kell and Carly Persano

Northeastern Interscholastic Open Regional winners, Gardnertown I’s Coach Dan Scott, John Dencker, Joe Post, Matt Forbes, Pierre Chaux, Coach Bill Dencker and I/I’s David Wenning

Northeastern Interscholastic Girls’ Regional winners, Toronto’s Coach Scott Weir, Jenna Tarshis, Molly Houlton, Clare Hearn and Clare Littlechild

24 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

From Canada to Texas to Hawaii, interscholastic players played their hearts out for a chance to advance to the next round. Here are the results from all the Interscholastic tournaments.

In the Central Region, teams ascended to the ERG Arena once again.

The girls’ games had all great match-ups between Houston/ERG, Culver, Hillside, Houston, and Midland.

Midland and Houston/ERG advanced onto the final where the score was a close one, 8-7 in favor of Midland. The Midland girls advanced on to the Girls’ Interscholastic National Championship at the Virginia Polo Center in April.

The Open Regional featured returning Open National Champions Prestonwood, and Houston A, Prestonwood-Retama and Willow Bend.

Houston A and Prestonwood bested the competition and headed into the final the last day of the tournament. Houston A was victorious with a final score of 86 over Prestonwood. Prestonwood was awarded the wildcard and joined Houston A at Cornell University to try for a rematch.

Cornell University played host to six Interscholastic Open teams fighting to make it to nationals. Bloomfield/EPIC, Gardnertown I, Cornell, Yale, Gardnertown II and Country Farms competed for a chance to become Regional Champions. In the end, it was a New York showdown with Gardnertown I galloping away with the title over Bloomfield/EPIC. This year, the Northeast Girls’ Interscholastic Regional was hosted by Toronto Polo Club. Five teams headed to Canada to play for the title including home team Toronto, Cornell, Simsbury/CT, Gardnertown and Cedar Valley. Toronto and Gardnertown eventually met in the final where Toronto took the Northeastern Region title.

In the Southeast, Virginia Polo Center played host to the Southeastern Interscholastic Regional. The girls were first to take the arena with games between defending National Champion Maryland Polo against Garrison Forest School JV; and Garrison Forest School

Varsity playing Mountain View.

The final of the regional was a rematch of the 2016 Girls’ National Interscholastic Championship, with Maryland Polo taking on the Garrison Forest Varsity. Maryland Polo came away with the hard fought victory in a fantastic game of polo. Garrison Forest was awarded the wildcard to nationals, and hoped for a rematch against Maryland at Virginia in April.

The Open teams featured Blue Water Creek, West Shore, Virginia Jrs and Maryland Polo. These games were fastpaced and hard-hitting but ultimately, Virginia Jrs and Maryland Polo advanced to the final. Maryland Polo galloped away with the victory and attempted its first Open National Championship at Cornell.

Central Coast hosted the Western Girls’ and Open Interscholastic Regional this year. Three teams played a round-robin on the girls’ side. Central Coast Polo Club/Santa Barbara, Maui and South Bay took to the arena over three days to see who would make it to nationals.

Central Coast Polo Club/Santa Barbara ended with the best record and went on to represent the western region in Virginia.

The Open tournament consisted of Central Coast Polo Club/Santa Barbara, Eldorado, Lakeside, Maui V, Poway and Maui JV. CCPC/SB and Eldorado advanced to the final with CCPC/SB taking the game with a score of 16-9 to advance on to Cornell.

To wrap up the interscholastic tournaments, Toronto, Maryland, Midland and CCPC/SB headed to the Virginia Polo Center to compete for the USPA Girl’s National Interscholastic title. They were joined by last year’s runner-up and this year’s wildcard Garrison Forest School.

When the USPA Open National Interscholastic Championship began at Cornell, Gardnertown, Maryland, Houston A, and CCPC/SB were there ready to battle. Prestonwood made the trip North, also to defend its 2016 title as the wildcard entry.

Both tournaments ended up being great ones to watch! Stay tuned for the results in next month’s issue.

SE Intercollegiate winners, UVA’s Kamran, Pirasteh, Merrall Echezarreta, Felipe Gomez, Antonio Mendes de Almeida and Ali Mobtaker

Western Interscholastic Open winners, Central Coast Polo / Santa Barbara’s Jake Klentner, Charlie Walker and Luke Klentner

SE Intercollegiate winners, UVA’s Connell Erb, Meghan Milligan, Jessica Schmidt, Sadie Bryant and Coach Lou Lopez

Western Intercollegiate Regional winners, Cal Poly’s Sayge Ellington-Lawrence, Theo Anastos, Stone Rush and Jeremy Kerfs

Western Interscholastic Girls’ Regional winners, Central Coast Polo Club/ Santa Barbara’s Petra Teixeira, Sabrina Morelli, Corey Williams, Andie Rupprecht, Mia Sweeney and Taylor Olcott

Western Intercollegiate winners, Cal Poly’s Coach Megan Judge, Fiona McBride-Luman, Leah Torres, Trista Noland, Maggie Papka, Miriam Flock, Bridget Hobscheid and Hannah Heitzig

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 25

USA’s Mackenzie Weisz outruns the competition in a match against England.

Young talent Argentina tops PTF International Cup

By Sharon Robb • Photos by ChukkerTV

A

rgentina means “land of silver” and it was evident when a young Argentine squad took home the silver trophies in the Polo Training Foundation’s international event. The boys, aged 11 to 14, edged Girls International 3-2 before downing PTF USA 6-2.

Argentina, with a rich tradition in polo at every level, defeated PTF USA, 62, to win the fourth annual Polo Training Foundation International Cup February 16 at Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington, Florida.

After a thrilling 3-2 sudden death victory over Girls International (Riley Ganzi, Hope Arellano, Lolly StanhopeWhite, Mia Novillo Astrada) in the opening round, the talented foursome of 26 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Santos Merlos, 11; Poroto Cambiaso, 11; Lucas Criado, 13; and Juanse Olivera, 14; bounced back with a convincing win.

It was the first time the Argentine foursome played together as a team.

Argentina jumped on PTF USA (Mackie Weisz, Clark Mayer, Kristos Magrini, Malia Bryan) for a 3-1 opening chukker lead and never relinquished it in the championship final.

Poroto Cambiaso, the son of 10-goaler

Adolfo Cambiaso who was watching and coaching from the sidelines, was named Most Valuable Player.

Heroina, played by Magrini, was named Best Playing Pony by the tournament committee.

Cambiaso clinched the opening round win with a 30-yard penalty goal and finished with five goals in two games.

“It was a lot of fun,” Cambiaso said.

USA’s Clark Mayer heads to goal with three Argentine players in hot pursuit.

Alejandro Novillo Astrada presents Malia Bryan the Sportsmanship Award.

“I am happy with the way we played. We played better in the final.”

Added Merlos, “We almost lost against the girls. We came back harder in the final. We have a very good team. In the final the key was we just hit the ball, we didn’t tap it because you lose it when you tap it.”

Cambiaso and Olivera were members

of last year’s winning Boys International team.

“We weren’t intimidated after watching them win their first game with seven goals,” Olivera said. “We went and played our game. We talked and tried to minimize the fouls. We attacked strong and luckily we won. I’m very happy we won.”

Criado, son of 8-goaler Lucas Criado who is currently playing for Orchard Hill, was making his PTF International Cup debut.

“I like this, it’s a good idea having all these good players on the teams playing against each other,” Criado said. “It helps me get better. I wasn’t so nervous, it was fun to play with everybody.”

It was the most competitive tournament in cup history. In the other opening round game, PTF USA defeated England Jr. Colts, 7-2. Weisz led scoring with three goals. Bryan and Mayer each had two.

“I knew it was going to be tough in the final because all four are really good players,” Weisz said. “They all played really good. We could have played better.

Alejandro Novillo Astrada presents his niece Mia Novillo Astrada with the MVP award.

Polo in Argentina is growing a lot, they have a lot of players.”

“This was a really competitive tournament,” Weisz said. “They had a lot of good teams and having England play was pretty cool. It was super fun.”

England Jr. Colts (Jack Aldridge, 16; Archie Fuller, 15; Freddie Jodrell, 16; Tom Jodrell, 14) were making their U.S. POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 27

Poroto Cambiaso clinched the opening round with a 30-yard penalty and finished with five goals in two games.

Alejandro Novillo Astrada presents Poroto Cambiaso with the MVP Award.

polo debut. It was also the first time they played together as a team.

They may not have been in the win column, but relished the invaluable 28 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

experience playing on top-caliber horses and fields against some of the best youth players in the world, part of the PTFHPA’s annual exchange program. The team is scheduled to return to England on Monday after competing in the Avendano Memorial Tournament.

“It’s been quite amazing being here,” Freddie Jodrell said. “The grounds are exceptional here and the horses we’ve been given are too good to be true.”

Added younger brother Tom Jodrell, “It’s been absolutely incredible having the opportunity we have been given. We have watched some incredible polo here in Florida.”

The Jodrell brothers are following in the footsteps of their father who played polo in the Army. The family lives a minute away from the local polo club.

“To meet and play with all these players has been an incredible experience,” said Archie Fuller. “We want to come back.”

Unlike many of the youth players in the sport, Aldridge is the first polo player in his family.

“This has been an amazing

Kristos Magrini accepts an award for his Best Playing Pony, Heroina.

experience, especially the weather, we don’t get this in England,” Aldridge said.

“You don’t often get the opportunity to come out here and watch and play polo.

Girls International’s Hope Arellano and Riley Ganzi outpace an English opponent.

This has been the dream of a lifetime.I have always been with horses and did a lot of hunting. I thought I would give it a go and I liked it.”

In the consolation final, Girls International avenged last year’s lost to USA Boys with a 2-0 victory over the England Jr. Colts.

For the second year in a row, Mia Novillo Astrada was selected Most Valuable Player. Astrada scored both her team’s goals to send the opening game into sudden death overtime.

X-box, owned by Santa Rita Polo Farm and ridden by Fuller, was selected by Best Playing Pony.

The MVP honor is the Peter Perkins Best Young Player Award. Perkins was a war veteran and polo champion. The former 9-goaler was a two-time U.S. Open Champion. He died at age 78.

Sportsmanship Award honors went to Bryan and Aldridge.

One of the most-anticipated youth events of the winter season featured four teams in a mini-tournament of eight chukkers.

The games were live-streamed

Alejandro Novillo Astrada presents England’s Jack Aldridge the Sportsmanship Award.

worldwide by Wellington-based ChukkerTV, leaders in polo broadcasting with popular announcers Toby Wayman and Dale Schwetz.

The Polo Training Foundation, celebrating its 50th anniversary, has been instrumental in the growth of junior and youth polo players by encouraging the sport’s development with training programs, lessons and tournaments for boys and girls. The international exchange programs have been among the most popular.

The PTF was created in 1967 to teach the game of polo to youth by promoting youth clinics, interscholastic and intercollegiate competition, good sportsmanship and good will through friendly competition.

Grand Champions Polo Club president and USPA Florida Circuit Governor Melissa Ganzi is a longtime supporter of grassroots polo and Polo Training Foundation. She has played a key role in developing young players with the The Polo School at Grand Champions and Aspen Valley (Colorado) Polo Clubs. Ganzi also serves as secretary for the PTF. Most of the horses in the tournament were provided by Grand Champions Polo Club and Santa Rita Polo Farm.

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 29

Gladiators

Club hopes to attract new players with arena event

By Gwen Rizzo • Photos by David Lominska/Polographics

S

piculus unseats favored Spartacus to win the title in inaugural arena final. Seven-game series was played from January 26 to April 8, with teams vying for $250,000 in prize money.

30 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Mackenzie Weisz shows his skills during a kids’ exhibition with chukkers played before the main game and at the halftime break.

Mark Bellissimo, CEO of Wellington Equestrian Partners which purchased International Polo Club Palm Beach last year, was looking for a unique way to attract spectators, potential players and sponsors. Thinking outside the box, he worked extensively with Executive Director of USPA Services Bob Puetz, to come up with a way to make the sport more appealing.

Puetz, a former 5-goal arena player himself, helped develop the series made up for four 20-plus goal teams. With extensive signage, including banners pulled by airplanes, and local media coverage, 3,000 spectators filled the ringside stands of the Equestrian Village at Palm Beach International Equestrian Center for the inaugural event.

Initially, it was to be a three-game series for $100,000 purse, but based on the success, it was stretched to seven games and an additional $150,000 purse was added.

Dubbed Gladiator Polo, teams were named after Roman gladiators. The first match pitted the 24-goal Spartacus team

Spiculus’ Mariano Obregon, Pelon Escapite and Sebastian Merlos won $34,5000 for the final match and the Gladiator Polo title.

of 7-goalers Felipe Viana and Jason Crowder with 10-goaler Tommy Biddle against the 25-goal Crixus led by 9goalers Mike Azzaro and Matias Magrini

Spartacus (3-0): Jason Crowder Felipe Viana Tommy Biddle

24 7 7 10

Crixus (0-3): Mike Azzaro Matias Magrini Santi Torres

25 9 9 7

Spiculus (2-1): Juan Martin Zubia Pelon Escapite Sebastian Merlos alt: Mariano Obregon

23 7 7 9

Priscus (1-2): Tommy Collingwood Jeff Hall Jeff Blake Facundo Obregon Nic Roldan Julio Arellano

22 7 8 7 7 8 8

with 7-goaler Santi Torres. Differing from traditional arena polo rules, the match was split into six five minute chukkers of continuous play. After a team scored a goal, the opponent would immediately knock-in instead of coming back to the middle for a throw-in, limiting stoppages and keeping the game moving.

Fouling was kept to a minimum.

Spiculus’ Pelon Escapite explained, “It is a very physical game, if you get very technical, it makes the game really slow.

We are making it spectator friendly, so you have to let the little fouls go. We just try to be safe and make sure to put on a great performance for the crowd.”

Staying with the theme, the transformed dressage arena was renamed the Coliseum and teams were introduced to the crowd riding chariots pulled by ATVs. People dressed as gladiators were spotted throughout the venue, greeting people and offering photo opportunities.

Face painting, pony rides and rides on horse simulators were offered to the general audience, while an authentic POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 31

Spiculus’ Mariano Obregon handles the ball in the corner while being pressured by Spartacus’ Felipe Viana. The nighttime event drew large crowds to watch the professional players battle in the saddle.

Argentine asado was enjoyed by those in the VIP tent. VIP guest also enjoyed an after party in the “Lions’ Den” with music, drinks and dancing. At halftime during the first match, kids were selected from the audience to participate in a goal shooting contest using foot mallets.

Other times, the “Chukker Bear” mascot threw t-shirts into the audience.

In the first match, Biddle showed why he is 10 goals in the arena by slamming in the first goal. Torres responded but Biddle sunk a Penalty 3 conversion early in the second. Azzaro answered with two in a row to give Crixus the 3-2 lead. Both teams converted Penalty 2s in the third and a goal by Torres widened the gap to 5-3. Crowder’s two-pointer knotted the score at 5-all in the fourth.

It was a hard-fought battle between the teams, and time was briefly called after Magrini took a hit to the mouth.

Biddle dominated the fifth chukker with a pair of two-pointers added to a goal by Viana, while keeping Crixus from reaching the goal. Crixus fought back in 32 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

the sixth, with each player adding goals to close the gap to two with a minute left.

Spartacus was whistled, giving Crixus a mid-field hit worth two points but was unable to convert it. Biddle knocked in a Penalty 2 to increase the lead. A last gasp

by Azzaro cut the deficit but Crixus ran out of time, giving Spartacus the win.

Spartacus took the $24,000 purse, while Crixus settled for $6000. Biddle was pleased with the first win. “It’s fantastic. I’m really happy to have my own horses today. It’s awesome to play this level of polo with all these great players ...” Azzaro seemed less enthused, describing the match as more physical and aggressive than he expected.

Organizers learned a few lessons from the first week. The matched got off to a late start while the arena was getting prepped and then, with some pro players not as familiar with arena play, they would wind up for a big shot only to have the ball repeatedly hit out of the arena.

Before the next match, netting was added and the balls were slightly deflated

to prevent them from getting hit out.

Teams donned new uniforms with matching helmet covers, while horses wore matching wraps, saddle pads and head covers.

The next match had Spiculus, with 9goaler Sebastian Merlos and 7-goalers Pelon Escapite and Juan Martin Zubia, pitted against Priscus’ 8-goaler Jeff hall with 7-goalers Jeff Blake and Tommy Collingwood.

Spiculus jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead in the first chukker thanks to the combined efforts of Escapite and the 17year-old hot shot, Zubia. Spiculus continued to dominate through the first half while Priscus struggled, ending with a 12-3 Spiculus lead. Blake was the author of Priscus’ goals, including a twopointer.

At the half, teams of grooms raced to tack, ride the length of the arena and untack horses in the fastest time. A $500 prize went to the winner.

The teams matched each other with three goals apiece in the fourth before

Spartacus’ Jason Crowder clears the ball from the goal. The goals were built out from the wall and netting was added to more closely resemble soccer, hockey and lacrosse goals.

Spiculus gained momentum, ending the fifth 19-8. Each team was limited to a single goal in the last period, crowning Spiculus the winner of the $24,000 purse, while Priscus settled for $6000.

“Gladiator polo keeps getting more exciting with every match,” said Bellissimo. “Whether or not they had ever seen polo, spectators were mesmerized. with seating just feet away from the arena, you could see the expressions on the players’ faces and hear what they were saying.”

The third installment had Spartacus and Spiculus, winners of the first two matches, battling each other in one of the best matches of the series. Spiculus’ Pelon Escapite struck first but Felipe Viana scored followed by two in a row from Jason Crowder. Juan Martin Zubia stole the show in the second with a trio of goals before Viana struck for Spartacus.

Sebi Merlos and Zubia scored the only goals of the third for a 6-4 halftime lead.

In the fourth, Biddle smashed the ball into the goal, then scored a two pointer.

Zubia answered with a Penalty 2 and a field goal but Biddle struck again to tie the score at 8-8. Escapite put Spiculus ahead just before the bell. A defensive battle ensued in the fifth, limiting the scoring to a Penalty 3 from Biddle, knotting the score a 9-all going into the final chukker.

Biddle sunk a Penalty 3 early in the sixth, then scored from the field. Merlos knocked in a goal with a minute and half left but a two pointer from Biddle gave Spartacus the 13-10 win and the big check.

The match was filmed by NBC Sports and broadcast five days later, on February 28, following a NHL hockey game.

The fourth match in the series featured Crixus up against a whole new Priscus team, featuring Facundo Obregon, Nic Roldan and Julio Arellano.

Arellano jumped out with the first goal but a costly foul gave Matias Magrini a chance for two points with a Penalty 4, which he scored. Roldan ended the chukker with a goal. Arellano scored the only goal of the second and a pair of

goals in the third. Magrini and Obregon traded Penalty 3 conversions ending the half with Priscus ahead 6-3.

Obregon and Roldan sandwiched goals around a Penalty 3 from Magrini to widen the gap to four but Torres got Crixus back in the game with a two pointer then a field goal. Ahead by one, Priscus dominated the fifth, with each member scoring, including a two-pointer from Roldan. Torres got on the board late in the period to end the fifth with Crixus trailing 12-8.

Crixus fought back in the sixth with Torres and Magrini each hammering home two-pointers to knot the score at 12all with the clock ticking down. With less than a minute left, Obregon scooped up the ball and sent it to goal for the 13-12 Priscus win. Nic Roldan was named MVP. Crixus was back at it the following week, this time against Spiculus, that had Mariano Obregon taking Juan Martin Zubia’s place. The goals were also changed, building them out and adding netting like other sports such as soccer, POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 33

Spartacus’ Jason Crowder and Spiculus’ Sebastian Merlos head down the arena in anticipation of the pass from Felipe Viana, while Pelon Escapite tries to block him. The crowd enjoyed seeing the action up close.

hockey and lacrosse.

Merlos put Spiculus on the board early, but his goal was matched by Magrini. Obregon finished the chukker with a goal, giving Priscus a narrow 2-1 lead. Magrini’s Penalty 2 and two-point Penalty 4 in the second put Crixus in the lead but a two pointer by Escapite tied it up. Magrini and Merlos traded goals to end the second knotted at 5-5. Spiculus took control in the third with each member scoring twice, while Crixus failed to reach the goal.

A kids’ exhibition match was played at the halftime break with Spiculus (Santos Merlos, Kristos Magrini, Miguelito Novillo Astrada) taking a 3-1 win over Crixus (Landon Daniels, Hope Arellano, Hunter Azzaro).

With the adults back in the arena, neither team scored in the fourth, leaving Spiculus comfortably on top 11-5.

Merlos and Azzaro swapped goals in the fifth but a two pointer by Merlos stretched Spiculus’ lead to 14-6 heading into the final period. Crixus clawed its 34 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

way back in the sixth with the team scoring a goal a minute, but it wasn’t enough and Spiculus took the 15-11 win, along with the check.

Spartacus was back in the irons on March 31 for its match against Priscus, that was restructured once again. This time Jeff Hall teamed up with Nic Roldan and Facundo Obregon. A fairly even first half had Obregon and Crowder trading goals in the first. A two pointer and a Penalty 3 off the mallet of Biddle put Spartacus on top but another goal by Roldan kept it close. Biddle knocked in another Penalty 3 and Roldan struck again ending the half with Spartacus ahead 5-3.

The teams kept pace in the fourth, with each counting three goals. Roldan and Biddle traded Penalty 3s in the fifth and a two pointer by Obregon tied the score at 9-all going into the last period.

Crowder and Obregon traded goals before Spartacus let loose. Biddle found the goal with a Penalty 3 and a two pointer. Viana sandwiched a pair of two

pointers around a goal from Crowder and before you knew it, Spartacus had doubled its score in a matter of minutes.

Roldan finished the chukker with a goal but it was a drop in the bucket as Spartacus took the win and the riches.

The win also secured Spartacus’ spot in the final against Spiculus and a chance at the lion’s share of the $50,000 prize. The 24-goal Spartacus team was the only one to go undefeated to that point and 23-goal Spiculus’ only loss came at the hands of Spartacus. The crowd anticipated a fight-to-the-finish rematch, though Spartacus was generally favored to win.

The games were played on the flat and Spiculus knew it had to keep Spartacus from getting the momentum. Pelon Escapite wasted no time in getting Spiculus on the board with a Penalty 2 conversion and teammate Sebi Merlos followed with a two-pointer. Felipe Viana put Spartacus on the board late in the chukker. A two-pointer by Viana in the second tied the score at 3-all. It was the

Spartacus’ 10-goal Tommy Biddle tries to beat Spiculus’ Pelon Escapite to the ball.

Spartacus was the only team to go undefeated in preliminary play but sputtered in the final.

only goal of the second, with both teams focusing on defense.

That all changed in the third, as Merlos shot from 250-feet for a twopointer, bringing the crowd to its feet.

Escapite scored two in a row, one a twopointer and Merlos added another twopointer for a 10-3 lead. While it seemed Spiculus couldn’t miss, Spartacus struggled. Viana shot another two-pointer to end the third down 10-5.

Escapite was the work horse and reached the goal three times in the fourth, one a two-pointer. Biddle, who had been quieter than normal came to life in the third with a pair of goals, one a Penalty 2 conversion. Spartacus trailed 14-7 at the end of the fourth.

Spartacus seemed to be spinning its wheels, while Spiculus kept hammering away. Merlos found the goal twice more to widen the spread to nine goals. Viana found the mark twice, one a two pointer, to cut the deficit to six, but Merlos shot to goal once more to put the game out of reach. Merlos and Escapite scored six

goals a piece for Spiculus, including several two pointers. Viana led Spartacus with five goals including three two pointers. Biddle, who was good for nine points in the last battle with Spiculus, was held to two this time.

Spiculus was rewarded with $34,500 and the players’ names engraved on the grand Gladiator trophy. Spartacus took $15,500 in the loss. Merlos was named Most Valuable Player.

He said, “We lost to them in our second game by a few goals. That day Tommy had an amazing game. We learned from that and knew what we had to do. Today we worked well together.”

“This is incredibly exciting for our sport. High-goal arena polo is faster paced than its outdoor counterpart due to the smaller size of the playing field and the added element the side boards bring to the game,” said Puetz. “We haven’t seen an organized high-goal arena polo league since LA’s pro pool in the 80s. Spectators are more engaged in the game and feel the intensity of the

players from a new perspective.”

Bellissimo was happy with the concept. “The sport evolved every week.

We did little tweaks to make the game more exciting, and I think the crowd tonight was fantastic—they were really engaging. Unlike a lot of equestrian competitions in general, the crowd was clapping at great plays and paying attention the whole time. I think the level of sport was remarkable and I think this is going to grow.”

Overall, the matches drew large crowds and Bellissimo indicated 100 people had inquired about polo lessons on the polo horse simulator. Further, NBC Sports has shown interest in broadcasting next year’s series.

“Next year, we are going to have eight teams with team owners and a draft, so the teams will be formulated that way.

We are hoping to do a heavily televised circuit with shows each week for 10 weeks,” said Bellissimo. “I think this is great traction to use both nationally and internationally.”

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 35

Fan favorite

Love for animals helped shape engineer’s career

By Gwen Rizzo

B

rittany Adam loves a challenge. That love has led to a pretty interesting life for the 30-something research engineer at Big Ass Solutions in Lexington, Kentucky. It is also what attracted her to the sport of polo.

36 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Brittany calibrates a Dewtect controller, a control mechanism that measures temperature and humidity, and automates Big Ass Fans to prevent condensation on metal coils and concrete slabs.

worked in the gift shop are screaming and we’d be trying to corral the octopus back and it’d hold on to things. It was way worse than a 2-year-old having a fit.

“I’d be like, time to leave and the octopus would have seven arms around MARSHALL BLEVINS

Growing up in Southern California, Brittany rode hunters and jumpers, skied, ran track and cross-country, played soccer and served as a lifeguard. As she got more serious with soccer, she gave up riding.

Soccer took a lot of her time so she did not attend high school on a regular schedule. Brittany explains, “I played internationally, and I’d come home … for like two weeks before Thanksgiving or something and it wasn’t really a time where I could get involved in anything.

My mom … was like go volunteer, go do something productive …” So, Brittany found an aquarium down the street from her parents’ house.

She wanted to work with the animals, and there was ample opportunity to do so.

The aquarium had sharks, a program with dolphins, and others with walruses, sea lions and a few other things. Brittany explained that dolphins were challenging.

“They are really funny, cute and smart.

Oh my gosh, it was like trying to maintain the attention of six teenage Russian boys that don’t speak English. You’d be like, today we’re going to learn a trick. You’re going to spin and they’d look at each other and laugh … and be like, she’s crazy, let’s see how many times she can spin to try to show us what she wants and they’d all start laughing. You’re like, wow, I’ve never felt bullied by so many animals before.

They were hilarious. They were some of the biggest troublemaker class clowns I’ve ever met. They put humans to shame!”

The aquarium was also doing neurological studies with Octopuses, which Brittany says have more intelligence than dogs, and considering her father trained search and rescue dogs, that is high praise for the eightlegged mollusc.

Brittany says, “There was this female [octopus] that could escape from the aquarium in the gift shop. We’d put lids on it, we’d weigh down the lid with rocks, and it was the funniest thing ever, but she would lift the lid a tiny bit, get one arm out and roll the rocks off the top until she could get out. Then she’d come barreling down the front of the gift shop, making her way on all eight legs going across the floor and people are scattering. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen them run across the floor. These older ladies that

Brittany is taking time off from polo for a back injury she suffered riding cross country.

things. You’d pull one off and it would put another one right back on. And they’d hide in the stuffed animals, which was really funny. They hated astroturf, so we’d cover their surroundings, kind of marooning them but they’d get really creative and use rocks and shells as stilts to walk on. They were brilliant little suckers.”

Brittany explained that octopuses have some of the better eyes in the entire animal kingdom and can recognize different people. “They could recognize hand motions and gestures really well so we’d train them to do all sorts of things. They were really funny and some of my favorite animals to interact with,” says Brittany.

“The only hard part of their entire body is their little beak, which is kind of like a parrot beak. We would put a shrimp in a beer bottle and the octopus would squish itself—their eyes would be up against the glass, there would be legs everywhere—to get the shrimp and get out. We taught them how to open spaghetti jars with twist lids and they’d sit on top and kind of scooch themselves around in a circle to open it. They are good at herding too, so we’d give them rock crabs and if they got the crabs to go through a maze, they’d get a reward.”

Brittany said the time working with the octopuses taught her a lot about how she interacts and trains horses now.

“They’re very good at positive POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 37

Brittany was part of a group examining models and rewriting equations to predict wildfire behaviors.

She was trained as a wildland firefighter so she could take care of herself while collecting data on the frontlines.

reinforcement. I think it has to do with Sea World and a lot of those places have gotten a really bad rap for containing animals that are generally not contained.

They were very cognizant of the fact they wanted to treat these animals with absolutely the best of care.

“Some of the reasons I struggled so much with the dolphins was you literally weren’t allowed to acknowledge incorrect behavior,” explains Brittany. “With horses, if they don’t do the right thing, like they are in your space, you correct that behavior right away. Well, for [the octopuses] you just don’t reward them and they are pretty sensitive. They watch your facial expressions …”

Over the course of a few years, she had amassed thousands of volunteer hours.

She eventually was offered a job at the aquarium, working with a new MIT graduate with his PhD in ocean engineering. The graduate, Brian Bingham, was working on developing under water navigation exhibits. Brittany 38 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

helped Dr. Bingham set up obstacle courses off the coast of California to train people wanting to get certified to pilot unmanned underwater vehicles.

This led to Dr. Bingham and his boss, Bob Ballard inviting Brittany to help pull up Phoenician ship wrecks in Turkey.

Brittany explains, “I was like oh my gosh, what an opportunity. … They’d fly out to this boat, high-five everyone and go out on these giant dives. They’d bring up really cool things, and I was like what do you guys do? And they were like, ‘we’re mechanical engineers.’ Man, they totally misrepresented what mechanical engineering, for the most part, can be.

“So, I got really excited about that, and I headed to college and was like, I’m going to be a mechanical engineer and I’m going to work on these under water vehicles. I actually did for a while and loved it, but I found out pretty early I can get excited about pretty much any project as long as it offers the right amount of challenge.”

Brittany was offered an athletic scholarship for soccer at Union College in Schenectady, New York. She ended up breaking her back while she was there and couldn’t play soccer anymore. The school said if you play soccer again, awesome. If you never play again, don’t worry about it. She switched her focus from playing soccer for them to studying.

“It was probably a good change,” explains Brittany, “I don’t think soccer could have sustained me for very long.”

Tired of upstate New York winters, Brittany went to Portugal to study ocean wave energy. “It looks a lot like California so I was like I’m going to go surf and sit in the sun for a little while, and it turns out I did something career-wise that was pretty interesting. … It turned out I was the only American that had ever done it. … I was studying down in the Azores, a tiny little Archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic and subject to giant storm waves coming through there. … I came back and people were like we want to talk

Brittany rode for a time with Ed Armstrong when the USPA offices were in Kentucky.

Ed said she would riding anything he asked her to, and she was a joy to have around.

to you. I was really flattered.”

When Brittany returned to the U.S., she planned to work on ways to scale back ocean wave energy. The vice president of GE was her mentor and he worked on all power and energy generations. “I got dragged into GE, and they have global research groups that are essentially their R&D (research and development) department. I was so excited, I was like, this could be a job I would absolutely love. They were like, yeah, we just want to talk to you but go get a PhD, maybe two,” says Brittany.

So, instead of working, she ended up going to the University of Kentucky to work on her PhD. “It was pretty funny coming from marine engineering and then heading to the land-lock state,” says Brittany. “I ended up doing combustion, a very applicable thing because it was also for energy generation. It had to do with scaling different fires and the energy you get out of them. “ Brittany explained the project she worked on was to describe how land wildfires spread in extreme fire behavior.

“If you are burning a field of grass … people can predict where it’s headed, but there are a few different forms of heat transfer, like conduction, convection, radiation. … In the 70s, these guys got together trying to create models that predicted where fires spread and they decided it was radiation dominated. It

Brittany builds a control box for a portable fan the company is working on.

turns out, it is not. All the models were terrible but no one changed them because they can’t figure out how to edit them.

“The U.S. was spending an incredible amount and also Portugal, Spain, the Mediterranean, Australia and Greece. All these people were spending all this money because they had made a prediction [about where a fire would be headed] and it would be totally wrong.

“The models also didn’t predict extreme fire behaviors, including some of the more dangerous ones, like crowning.

That is where just the top of the trees

ignite, kind of like candlesticks. The fire roars through the top of the trees, moving very quickly and doesn’t necessarily burn down the tree but it spreads. These kinds of fires are most dangerous for people working in close proximity but are the worst at being modeled.”

Brittany was part of a group examining models and rewriting fundamental scientific equations to predict wildfire behavior from the frontlines. “They trained us all as wildland firefighters because we had to be able to take care of ourselves. I would pack equipment and cameras and these funny little boxes that would allow the fire to burn over them. They’d have little Go Pros in them and different sensors to test ions, temperature, humidity and wind speed. We’d put them all over and hope the fire burned through 40 percent of them so we’d get data from that place in the fire.”

Brittany’s responsibility was to write the equations. Instead of being radiation driven as was previously believed; they learned the fires were driven by convection. “When a bunch of people are standing around a fire, the smoke always happens to go in your eyes. You move and it follows you. It turns out,” Brittany explains, “the only way the fire can get fresh air is pulling fresh air in between the people standing there. People are blocking airflow into the fire so the only place smoke can go is to that protected area, which happens to be the front of your body and your face.

“It turned out this really hot air was driving fire spread. The hot air ahead of the fire basically crisps all the grass in front of it creating very flammable gases around the grass.” Her work was published in the National Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences.

Where did Brittany develop the motivation to pursue such unique interests? “Our family motto was we do difficult things,” quips Brittany. If something came up, she learned to seize the opportunity and move with it.

“Something would come up and I’d be like, of course I’m going to take this. Why on earth would I not? Then, it would get me to a new place and there would be an even harder challenge and I would be like POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 39

I’d be crazy not to take advantage of this. I snowballed my way into a difficult subset of engineering.”

Brittany said she likes continual challenges and would get bored if things remained the same, which is why she loves working with animals. “That is why I like polo,” says Brittany. “I have a horse, I have a teammate that is not going to speak English to me and that is my challenge. In work, I constantly want new challenges and R&D is perfect because it mimics new challenges every single day.”

Big Ass Solutions basically works on air movement, lighting and controls for a variety of industries, from equine and diary to produce and even the Air Force.

Based in Kentucky, the company works with some of the largest breeding and racing stables in the area. “The stallions and breeding horses, to keep them in tip-top shape and glossy, they need the bedding to be dry, the temperature needs to be right. We also work with some of the veterinary clinics and if they have a horse born in January, and it ends up with respiratory distress or immune suppression within the first two weeks, it has shown later that they have repressed immune response.

We are tracking these things because horses born in conditions under 65 degrees are more likely to get pneumonia and more likely to bleed. … Or if a horse is not doing well and they throw them on waterbeds at Rood & Riddle, it is awesome until the horse pees on it and you have vaporized ammonia in the air. For us, [we help with] indoor air quality, thermal management and temperature management,” she says.

The company also works with the University of Kentucky’s agricultural extension program, especially for cattle and livestock. The company builds sensors to read air movements, temperature and relative humidity, which allows farmer to keep cattle more comfortable.

Plants also benefit from air regulation.

“We have a greenhouse that is all instrumented. It operates everything by itself. There are about 120 loggers in the 40 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Brittany went to college on an athletic scholarship for soccer. She stopped playing after breaking her back.

state logging different sensor readings, so they take air temperature, air moisture, CO2 and O2. They track how much oxygen the plants put out and how much CO2 they take in base on light levels and based on the temperature of the air and soil,” explains Brittany.

The company has even worked with the Air Force. Brittany says, “For every airplane in active duty, they have two more just sitting there [as back-ups] because they know the planes rust and corrode and things go wrong. They came to us and asked if we could help them with corrosion and all the things that go wrong in the sand keeping things clean and the air dry, and mixing air in pop-up tent structures and garages. If they have apache helicopter blades, then how do we keep these blades sealed in Norway as opposed to Guam as opposed to Virginia.”

The company is made up of people with a variety of backgrounds. Many of the people that work with livestock have backgrounds in agriculture. Mike Roszkowski played professional polo in Florida before joining the company.

Another man was a sheep farmer while one

of the women came from cattle ranching. Other employees have diverse backgrounds. A chemist worked in the pharmaceutical industry, while the physicist was a professional musician. An engineer worked with race cars and two others worked on submersible vehicles. Brittany says, “It is quite a mix of people but everyone comes with very cool stories. They all have the right mix of characteristics to bring something to the table.”

A few years ago, Brittany organized a work outing with about 20 people to come out and give polo a try. She says only two of the 20 had ever ridden before.

Jorge Vasquez and the U.K. polo team brought out a bunch of polo ponies and they had walking games of polo. She says her colleagues were so excited and had an amazing time.

Brittany’s time in the saddle has been temporarily curtailed due to back injuries. In fact, she broke her back for the third time, fracturing some vertebra while riding cross country. But that hasn’t stopped her love of horses.

She got into polo after finding a job grooming polo ponies to help supplement her income while she was in grad school.

She also galloped racehorses at Keeneland and at the Thoroughbred training center. The guy she groomed for would let her borrow his horses anytime the club needed a player.

She also took lessons and helped exercise Ed Armstrong’s polo ponies.

Armstrong says, “Brittany was a joy to have around. She is very intelligent and learned quickly. … She would ride any horse I asked her to and had a very calm way about her.” Not only was she a good rider, but Armstrong said she was very responsible about checking over the horses and noticing any issues with them.

She also loved treating them. When Armstrong and his wife moved east, she found her way to Vazquez’ polo school.

Once her back has healed, she is looking forward to getting back to polo once again. In the meantime, she will enjoy her time developing new ways to keep horses, livestock and plants more comfortable.

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BY ERNESTO RODRIGUEZ

FROM THE SEA Olympic champion assists one of Argentina’s biggest organizations

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participations (from 1996 to Beijing 2008) earned two bronze medals.

At the beginning of 2015, a dark cloud shrouded his life when a doctor performing a routine checkup discovered a tumor in his lung. Surgery was required to remove the mass and part of his lung.

While convalescing at a hospital in Barcelona (Spain), he began planning what would be his sixth Olympic participation, in Brazil the following year.

It was a journey that culminated with a Hollywoodesque ending: the gold medal hung on the podium raised on the beaches of Río de Janeiro, embracing

Cecilia Carranza, his navigator in the competition of Nacra 17 Mixed Multihull class, and his sons Yago and Klaus, participants in another of the competitions (29er skiff class), as privileged witnesses.

“That embrace in the water with Cecilia when the last regatta finished, and seeing my boys come swimming from the coast is an indelible image that shows well that the sustenance for a victory are the convictions and the support that everyone has, intimate and external. I believe that what helped me to overcome the physical and mental aftermath of the operation is

SERGIO LLAMERA

ater occupies three quarters of planet earth, and Santiago Lange is a recognized sports figure in the aquatic environment. As a naval engineer in Southampton (U.K.), this Argentine yachtsman has more than four decades as a competitor and achieved remarkable accomplishments: four times world champion, crew member who participated in the respected America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race around the globe, had his Olympic debut in the 1988 Games in Seoul, and in the following four Olympic

Santiago Lange, center, listens as coach Mariano Aguerre discusses the match with members of the Ellerstina team.

42 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

SERGIO LLAMERA

in the water?

SL: I think not. I did not really want to talk about my background. What united us were the common acquaintances and the good vibe that we generated from that first encounter. When I got the gold medal in Río de Janeiro, jokingly, they started texting me saying that they could not believe what a crack I was and asking me if I would continue saluting them now that I was an Olympic champion, hahaha!

Healthy jokes ...

Santiago Lange’s involvement with the Ellerstina team is to point out small details such as not to waste time with complaints and protests.

to have been educated in the sport. It forges character and teaches how to overcome adversity.

“In sailing, the sport is even more complicated because the vicissitude of competition is added by the wind and the sea, which hits you in the face and you have to endure whatever. At some point, I felt that having cancer was an injustice to me because I always took care of my body.

But I posed it as another challenge that had to be overcome, one of the many that I had in my life,” says Lange, 55, in an interview with Polo Players’ Edition from Bermuda, where he leads the Swedish Artemis team, one of seven challengers of Oracle Team USA in the 35th America’s Cup to be held next month in waters of the Sargasso Sea. Even after becoming a celebrity in his country, Lange, a man who lived on a ship for years after he divorced, has little connection with the world of polo.

However, it was Lange who Gonzalo Pieres Sr. thought to reach out to in order to generate a renovation in his Ellerstina team, led by his sons and a nephew, that witnessed La Dolfina take three Triple Crowns from them.

“The link was a friend of mine, who knows the parents of the Piereses (Facundo, Nico and Gonzalo). In January 2016, I participated in the Sailing World Cup in Miami and I took a day to go to Palm Beach. There I met with the guys and also with the coach Mariano Aguerre and we decided to start working together, contributing with my experience,” explains Lange, who last November was chosen as the best helmsman in the world by the International Sailing Federation, the entity that governs nautical sport, an honor that no other Argentine had previously achieved.

From Ellerstina’s first game at the Tortugas’ Open, the first step of the Argentine Triple Crown, Lange became a habitual presence in the Zeta’s corner of the field, although always occupying a lateral position, true to his low profile. At each break, Santiago was one of the few people approaching the circle of Pieres cousins and Gonzalo, Facundo and Nico’s brother-in-law Aguerre, to listen, evaluate and make mental notes.

PPE: In the first meeting, did the Pieres cousins know what you had done

PPE: What is your role with the team?

SL: I come to add the experience of my years of sports’ planning. I come to provide a global vision. I have had fundamental positions on ships with large crews, in competitions around the world where a decision does not make you lose a race but can put your survival at risk.

I never had any interest in getting involved in the technical details because they are four great players and they have Mariano, who is brilliant. I look at everything with a lot of respect, almost from the side. I do not like to disturb another’s work. I go, I think, I ask and I question but always they have the final word. I am very respectful with the tradition of the sport, and any change that is produced is going to be determined by the team, not by me.

PPE: In what areas do you help with?

SL: I point to the small details that make differences: Let the horses always be in the same place in the mounting area; Do not waste time in protests; Consider the time of rest between chukkers is for that and to plan the next period, not to waste in complaints; Stipulate timetables and guidelines to be respected so that no part of the team is disengaged.

PPE: Do you also handle the motivational aspect?

SL: I do not. They do not need that.

They have a lot of desire and are excellent (continued on page 59) POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 43

The Jnan Amar Polo Club in Marrakech hosted its Polo Patrons Tour on March 10-12. The event had four teams, made up of players from as far as Switzerland, Italy, France, Argentina, Lechtenstein and Slovakia.

The club is situated within a 120-some acre estate, against the backdrop Polo action at clubs in Marrakech and Asilah of the Atlas Mountains, just WORDS BY RABII BENADADA 20 minutes from Marrakech.

Initial amenities included a world class polo field, stabling, locker rooms and a club lounge. The estate is also home to an 80-room Ritz Carlton hotel, and the second phase included building a polo club house with a fine-dining restaurant,

DESTINATION: MOROCCO

Jnan Amar Polo Club owner Amar Abdelhadi throws the ball in from the back of a camel.

44 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

pool, tennis courts, and an equestrian center. Additional stabling houses up to 120 horses for the polo academy, and two more fields, one for practice and one for matches, were added.

Polo in Morocco dates back to 1888. In the early years, fields were built in places like Marrakech, Casablanca and Fez, mostly used by army officers. Eventually these fields were abandoned. Polo reemerged thanks to Patrick GuerrandHermés, who established a private polo club back in the 1980s.

Amar Abdelhadi founded the Jnan Amar Polo Club, designed in partnership with Santa Maria Polo Club in Sotogrande, Spain. He also consulted with Guerrand-Hermés.

The club has twice hosted (2014-2015)

Swiss Ambassador Massimo Baggi tries to catch Moroccan Royal Guards’ Ahmed Moukachi.

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

S P O T L I G H T

TGCC: Ignacio Tejerina Christoph Allemandou Bruno Rossi Ahmed Moukachi Nespresso: Massimo Baggi Michele Cattadori Mohamed El M Abo Haytam Hanadi

Marrakech’s Governor with Argentine Ambassador Maria Fernanda Canas, left, and Amar Abdelhadi, far right, present prizes to Ignacio Tejerina, Martin Magal, Bruno Rossi and Ahmed Moukachi.

the British Polo Day, a fundraiser for the Eve Branson Foundation, a charity established in 2005 to support education, employment and healthcare initiatives in the rural villages of the High Atlas Mountains. There are preliminary plans

to hold the event again this year.

For the Polo Patrons Tour, six international patrons and three local patrons, along with Argentinian professionals formed four teams playing over three days. The players enjoyed lunch

Dar Sabra: Pablo Casero Adrien Cahpoutot Gerardo Cosentino Ahmed Bentaibe Ritz-Carlton: Juan Casero Martin Magal Eduardo Guerrand-HermĂŠs Aouhair Lechgar

Participants in the Polo Patrons Cup at Jnan Amar Polo Club in Marrakech.

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 45

and dinner at local hot spots including Dar Crystal Riad, Le Flouka, Dar Sabra Hotel and Le Palais Paysan, as well as an asado and dinner party at the club.

There is plenty to do in the area including trips to Marrakech’s ancient Medina district to shop at the traditional markets; Richard Branson’s Kasbah Tamadot retreat; Nikki Beach for the party scene; or spending a day relaxing at the Spa at the Beldi Club & Day Retreat.

Guerrand-Hermés’ PGH La Palmeraie Polo Club also provides a unique polo experience for guests. Recently, a group of 15 polo players from polo clubs in California and Rhode Island spent the week of March 22-28 playing polo at the club in the Northern Coast of the Kingdom of Morocco, located near the city of Asilah, an hour drive from the international city of Tangier.

Often referred to as the gateway to North Africa, the North Coast of Morocco sizzles in the spring and summer as the place to be for tourists from all over Europe as well as for Morocco’s bourgeois families.

Occupying its own petite peninsula, the beautifully landscaped PGH La Palmeraie Polo Club and beachfront hamlet was built

by Guerrand-Hermés to introduce the sport of kings in Morocco and to attract the elite of Europe and the Middle East, seeking to balance polo and outdoor beach enthusiasm with a busy social calendar.

The PGH La Palmeraie Polo Club is composed of three new fields, located in front of the sea with a lovely view of the dunes, miles of virgin beach and the wild landscape.

The property is a beautiful polo destination retreat where over 200 PGH top-bred polo horses are played from March through October with a variety of all inclusive polo packages available at all levels. For those who desire equestrian rhapsody without the polo, the estate’s esteemed horses are always ready for 46 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Owner of La Palmerie Polo Club Patrick Guerrand-Hermés, center, visits with the American guests.

Lt Col. Dean Dagget USMC, Sharon Bendek, Lamar Rutherford, Alexander King, Barbara Bowers, Nicole Deberg, Nourdean Anakar, Laurel Howe, Todd Rendall, Amy Rice, Imad Ounsi and Rosemary Ryan do some sightseeing while on their trip.

Dean Dagget and Rosemary Ryan meet a new foal while on a visit to the breeding center.

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

Laurel Howe from Rhode Island enjoys a relaxing ride on the beach.

San Diego J. Craig Venter Polo Team’s Nicole Deberg leads the pack followed by, from left, Ignacio Tejerina, Laurel Howe, Dean Daggett and Nourdean Anakar.

The American women, visiting from Rhode Island and California, wear the traditional Moroccan dress over their polo outfits.

S P O T L I G H T

Amy Rice

exhilarating rides on miles of unspoiled beach.

The PGH La Palmeraie Club functions as a self-contained destination, so the daily agenda for the group included beach rides and stick and ball in the morning with polo matches after lunch. Later, guests enjoyed different themed dinner parties each evening organized by the club’s social manager, Lucia Halabicova. The polo agenda included a full tour of the PGH polo breeding ranch and lab nearby where the group was shown top polo stallions and mares from Argentina, Europe, and Canada, and saw first hand the new colts and fillies that were recently born.

The group also went on a shopping excursion to the local markets in Asilah, as well as enjoyed a traditional Moroccan dinner and folklore show in Tangier at the historic El Minzah Hotel, where the design and architecture and people watching was as delicious as the food.

The club manager and pro, Ignacio Tejerina, organized a weekend tournament for the group with the San Diego J. Craig Venter Polo Team, the Newport PGH Polo Team, and the Morocco La Palmeraie Polo Team competing for the La Palmeraie Tagine Cup. Every game was a close battle with the Morocco La Palmeraie Team squeezing out a one-goal advantage by defeating all of the other teams to win the final on Sunday.

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 47

POLO REPORT DISPATCHES FROM THE WORLD OF POLO FLORIDA

FIELD 1/SALAMANDER STEALS THE BLACK OLIVE 6 GOAL

Field 1/Salamander’s Stacie Simpkins slips away from Port Mayaca Polo Club’s Will Johnston in a preliminary match of The Black Olive 6 goal at Port Mayaca Polo Club in Okeechobee, Florida.

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ield 1/ Salamander defeated Indubitable in the final of the Black Olive 6 Goal at the Port Mayaca Polo Club in Okeechobee, Florida on March 25. Five teams divided into two brackets filled the roster. Field 1/Salamander was the only team to go undefeated.

The action began on March 11 with Field 1/Salamander (Stacie Simpkins, Tom Gorman, Agustin Mahun, Pelon Escapite) edging Palmers/Aliano (Nick

48 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Aliano, Hugo Lloret, Rob Neis, Adrian Ramirez) 5-4. Field 1/Salamander topped PMPC (Will Johnston, Steve Orthwein Jr., Meghan Gracida, Hayden Walsh) 6-4 a few days later. Shamrock (John Walsh, Max Segunda, Frank Evans, Mariano Gracida) took a 6-5 win over Palmers/Aliano in its first game.

Palmers/Aliano got its first win, edging Indubitable (Scott Swerdlin, Josh Daniels, Adrian Wade, Christian Baden) 4-3. Indubitable rebounded with an 8-7

win over PMPC. Two days later, PMPC was on the winning side of an 8-7 score over Shamrock to end preliminary games.

Indubitable took on Field 1/Salamander in the final. The game started slow, with teams defending the other heavily. The score was 1-1 at the half. The teams got moving in the third with MVP Tom Gorman and Pelon Escapite each putting two goals on the board. Indubitable was held to a goal by

P O L O

Field 1/Salamander’s Stacie Simpkins, Tom Gorman, Agustin Mahun and Pelon Escapite won The Black Olive 6 goal.

Wade for a 5-2 Field 1/Salamander lead going into the final chukker.

Indubitable fought back with Josh Daniels and Adrian Wade splitting the uprights. The team also capitalized on a penalty but Field 1/Salamander responded with goals

by Escapite and Simpkins for a 7-5 final score in its favor.

Daniel Tognini’s Corazon, played

by Agustin Mahun for the Indubitable team, was Best Playing Pony.

In the consolation, Palmers/ Aliano defeated PMPC 6-4.

In other action, four teams battled in the 16-goal Heritage Cup from March 3-15. Cria Yatay/Beverly Polo (Bill Ballhaus, Ramiro Cordero, Inaki Laprida, Carlucho Arellano) edged PMPC (Robert Orthwein, Steve Orthwein Jr., Whistle Uys, Calao de Mello) 9-8 in the opening game.

Hillcroft (James Miller, Tommy Collingwood, Magoo Laprida, Herndon Radcliffe) handed Cria Yatay/Beverly Polo a 6-3 loss and Newport (Gene Goldstein, Felipe Viana, Pedro Falabella, Luis Escobar) an 8-5 loss. Newport defeated PMPC to close preliminary play.

Hillcroft met Cria Yatay/Beverly Polo in the final. Cria Yatay/Beverly Polo started off the scoring but Hillcroft came back with three in a row.

Hillcroft’s MVP Magoo Laprida scored three goals in the third off Best Playing

R E P O R T

Hillcroft’s Magoo Laprida, Tommy Collingwood, Herndon Radcliffe and James Miller won the USPA Heritage Cup.

Palmers’ Tim Kine, Joaquin Panelo, Hugo Lloret and Rob Neis won the Shady Lady Pairs Tournament at Port Mayaca.

Pony, Felicia, added to a penalty conversion by Collingwood to end the half with Hillcroft on top 7-1.

Cria Yatay/Beverly Polo kept fighting but each goal was matched by one from Hillcroft. Time expired with Hillcroft ahead 9-3.

Two weeks later, on April 2, Palmers was named winner of the 10- to 12-goal Shady Lady Pairs Tournament by default. Three teams played off in a round robin in the first round on March 31. PMPC (Steve Orthwein Jr., Sam Ramirez, Whistle Uys, Will Johnston) was eliminated after falling to Palmers (Tim Kine, Hugo Lloret, Rob Neis, Joaquin Panelo) and Palm Beach

Equine (Scott Swerdlin, Gringo Colombres, Leo Mandelbaum, Gene Goldstein).

That left Palmers to face Palm Beach Equine in the final. Palm Beach Equine came out strong with a trio of unanswered goals in the first period. Palmers got back into the game after outscoring Palm Beach Equine 3-1 in the next two periods to trail by just one, 4-3.

Palm Beach Equine widened the gap to 5-3 early in the fourth, however just two minutes into the chukker, Palm Beach Equine patron Scott Swerdlin took a spill. He banged his head and though alert he was transported to the hospital as a precaution.

Palm Beach Equine chose to forfeit the game rather than put in a substitute player, giving the title to Palmers.

WHISKEY POND ACES 6 GOAL GOVERNORS CUP

Four-goal Jamie Mirikitani led Whiskey Pond to victory over La Irenita/Siaana in the final of the 6goal Governors Cup at the Sarasota Polo Club in Sarasota, Florida on January 15. Four teams played for the title.

Mirikitani struck first putting Whiskey Pond (Mirikitani, Manuel Ontiveros, Brent Hamill, Nick

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 49

R E P O R T ERIC NALPAS

ERIC NALPAS

P O L O

Whiskey Pond’s Holly Chamberlain, Nick Johnson, Brent Hamill, Jamie Mirikitani and Manuel Ontiveros won the Governors Cup.

Johnson) on the board without an answer. La Irenita/Siaana (Teresa Mull, Miguel Lis-Planells, Charly Cendoya, Francisco Llosa) jumped ahead in the second by capitalizing on a trio of penalties, all of which Llosa sank.

Cendoya scored for La Irenita early in the third but Whiskey Pond fought back with a pair of goals by Johnson and another from Mirikitani to tie the score at 4-all going into the half.

A pair of Penalty 2s from Mirikitani put Whiskey up by two.

Mirikitani traded goals with Llosa in the fifth to head into the last period with La Irenita/Siaana trailing by two.

Manuel Ontiveros widened the gap early in the sixth. Johnson added another before Lis-Planells struck for La Irenita/Siaana. Time ran out and Whiskey Pond had the 9-6 win.

Nick Johnson was MVP and Mirikitani’s Lily was Best Playing Pony.

Other teams competing included Regent (Anneke Beck, Scott Doyle, Luis Galvan, Stuart Campbell) and Barefield/Shepherd Partners (Tony Natale, Mark Mulligan, Leandro Berrios, Dennys Antonio Santana) In preliminary games La Irenita/ Siaana defeated Barefield/ Shepherd Partners 13-11; Whiskey Pond defeated Regent 10½-9; Barefield/ Shepherd Partners defeated Regent 11-10; La Irenita/Siaana defeated

50 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

La Irenita/Siaana’s Charly Cendoya, Francisco Llosa, Teresa Mull and Miguel Lis-Planells won the Sportsmanship Cup.

Whiskey Pond 10-6½; Regent defeated La Irenita/Siaana 13-9; and Whiskey Pond defeated Barefield/Shepherd Partners 12½-8.

La Irenita /Siaana (Teresa Mull, Miguel Lis-Planells, Charly Cendoya, Francisco Llosa) had more success in the USPA Sportsmanship Cup on January 27. It topped Barefield/ Shepherd Partners (Tony Natale, Mark Mulligan, Leandro Barrios, Dennys Santana) 13-10 in the final.

In that match, Barefield/Shepherd Partners got on the board with goals

by Dennys Santana and Mark Mulligan. Francisco Llosa struck for La Irenita/Siaana. Santana added another but Cendoya answered. A Penalty 2 conversion early in the second by Barrios put Barefield up by two but Llosa and Cendoya scored to tie it up. Cendoya caught fire in the third scoring three goals, including a Penalty 2. Santana added a goal, but a Penalty 1 for La Irenita put the team up 8-5 at the half.

Cendoya kept the momentum with a goal early in the fourth but Barrios responded with a Penalty 2 conversion. Santana slapped in a Penalty 4 and a field goal to bring Barefield within one 9-8. Mull scored her first goal and Llosa followed with a Penalty 2. Santana sunk a Penalty 4 to stay in the game.

Down 11-9 going into the last period, Santana cut the deficit to just

one. He missed another penalty opportunity from the 60-yard line.

Meanwhile, Lis-Planells and Llosa found the mark to put the game out of reach. La Irenita/Siaana had the 1310 victory.

Charly Cendoya was name MVP and Mark Mulligan’s Peggy, played by Leandro Berrios in the sixth chukker, was named Best Playing Pony.

Three teams competed in the event. In preliminary matches Regent (Anneke Beck, Scott Doyle, Luis Galvan, Stuart Campbell) was eliminated after being defeated by La Irenita/Siaana 15-11 and Barefield 7-5 in preliminary play.

A few weeks later, Hillcroft slipped past GMC in the USPA President’s Cup on February 12. It was a battle between GMC’s Mirikitani and Hillcroft’s Tommy Collingwood.

Mirikitani was ably assisted by Lisa Schott, Buck Schott and Gabriel Caro while Collingwood had the help of Joe Watkins, James Miller and Herndon Radcliff.

Mirikitani struck first with a Penalty 3 conversion. Radcliff answered with a field goal and Collingwood scored a Penalty 3. Caro found the uprights to end the game tied 2-2. The second chukker was limited to a Penalty 2 from Mirikitani.

Caro and Mirikitani added two goals in the third to end the half with GMC ahead 5-2.

R E P O R T

ERIC NALPAS

ERIC NALPAS

P O L O

Hillcroft’s Joe Watkins, James Miller, Herndon Radcliff and Tommy Collingwood won the President’s Cup.

Miller started the scoring in the second, but Mirikitani responded with a Penalty 4 conversion. Collingwood just missed from the 40-yard penalty line but redeemed himself with a pair of goals from the field to bring Hillcroft within one, 6-5. Radcliff found the goal in the fifth to knot the score and Collingwood gave Hillcroft a brief lead. Caro tied it back up and goals by Mirikitani and Buck Schott put GMC on top 9-7 going into the final period.

Collingwood tied the score early in the sixth with a Penalty 3 and a field goal. Mirikitani’s Penalty 2 conversion put GMC back on top but Radcliff scored to force overtime. Radcliff also scored the golden goal to win the match. His efforts earned him MVP honors.

Tommy Collingwood’s Doctora was Best Playing Pony.

Five teams competed in the tournament. In addition to the finalists, teams included Tito’s (Ryan Gilbertson, James P. Uihlein, Wesley Bryan, Joe Wayne Barry), Barefield (Mark Mulligan, Tenzin Tognini, Hernan Tasso, Juan Martin Baez) and New Hope (Tim Cheromcka, Dennys Santana, Jesus Ontiveros, Luis Galvan).

In preliminary matches, Hillcroft defeated GMC 9-6; Tito’s edged Barefield 10-9 and New Hope 9-8; GMC beat New Hope 14-8; Hillcroft defeated Barefield 9-6; GMC edged

Landhope’s Cullen Howe, Jamie Mirikitani, Juan Martinez-Baez and Dixon Stroud won the USPA Officer’s Cup at Sarasota Polo Club.

Tito’s 10-9 and Hillcroft got the best of New Hope 9-5.

On March 5, Landhope (Cullen Howe, Jamie Mirikitani, Juan Martinez-Baez, Dixon Stroud) edged Regent (Scott Doyle, Manuel Ontiveros, Luis Galvan, Stuart Campbell) in a tight final of the 6-goal USPA Officer’s Cup. Landhope was led by 4-goal Jamie Mirikitani who scored all but two goals, most from the penalty line.

Landhope’s Mirikitani knocked one between the posts to get the scoring started. Luis Galvan responded for Regent, but Cullen Howe had the answer for Landhope.

Juan Martinez-Baez scored early in the second, but Stuart Campbell sunk a 60-yard penalty and Scott Doyle and Galvan found the mark to take a 4-3 lead. Mirikitani split the uprights on a Penalty 4, the only goal of the third, to end the half 4-4.

Mirikitani and Campbell traded goals in the fourth and fifth. Both players tapped in Penalty 2s in the sixth but Mirikitani also added one from the field to tip the scales in Landhope’s favor. Juan Martinez-Baez was named MVP and Stuart Campbell’s Moonshine was Best Playing Pony.

Four teams competed in the tournament. In preliminary matches Regent defeated Siaana/La Irenita (Miguel Lis-Planells, Teresa Mull,

Francisco Llosa, Charly Cendoya) 10-7, and Barefield/Shepherd Partners (Tony Natale, Mark Mulligan, Leandro Berrios, Dennys Antonio Santana) 157 but fell to Landhope 11-6. Landhope also topped Barefield/Shepherd Partners 12-8 and Sianna/La Irenita 11-6. Siaana/La Irenita got the best of Barefield/Shepherd Partners 12-8.

VALIENTE VICTORIOUS IN 26-GOAL USPA GOLD CUP

Valiente took its second 26-goal title of the season after dowing Coca-Cola 9-6 in the final of the USPA Gold Cup at International Polo Club Palm Beach on March 26. Coca-Cola poured it on in the first two periods with Julian del Lusarreta necking the ball to goal in the opening minutes, followed by a Penalty 6 conversion by Julio Arellano.

Gillian Johnston and de Lusarreta found the mark in the second.

Meanwhile, Valiente was held to a single goal by Cambiaso in the first few minutes.

Scoring in the third period was limited to open-goal penalties: one by Miguel Novillo Astrada for Coca-Cola and two by Diego Cavanagh for Valiente. Coca-Cola held the 5-3 advantage at the half. Cambiaso traded goals with Novillo Astrada in the fourth but a Penalty 2 conversion by Cavanagh brought Valiente within one.

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Valiente’s Adolfo Cambiaso, Diego Cavanagh, Matias Torres Zavaleta and Bob Jornayvaz won the USPA Gold Cup.

Coca-Cola had kept the game open and flowing through the first half, but Cambiaso changed all that in the fifth.

Mounted on Best Playing Pony Chocolate (owned by J5 Equestrian), he slowed the game down, zig-zagging around the Coca-Cola players.

With quick starts and stops, no one could keep up with or stop and turn as fast as the flashy brown gelding. In a blink of an eye, Valiente had the 8-6 advantage thanks to a trio of goals from Cavanagh, including two Penalty 2s, all while Coca-Cola was silenced.

Matias Torres Zavaleta scored the only goal of the sixth, giving Valiente the 9-6 win. Cambiaso was named Most Valuable Player. He was happy about the win but said his team needs some work. “I think first half we didn’t play that well, but what counts today is that we won,” said Cambiaso. “I think coming into the U.S. Open having won two tournaments is important, but to win the U.S. Open, which is the tournament we want to win, we need to improve.”

Four teams divided into two brackets played off for the title. Playing a cross-bracket format, preliminary games determined the teams’ positions in the semi-final. Orchard Hill (Felipe Vercellino, Polito Pieres, Facundo Pieres, Steve Van Andel) lost 11-10 to Coca-Cola in an exciting overtime game in the first semi-final while

52 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Jorie Butler Kent, center, presents the Butler Handicap to CocaCola’s Julian de Lusarreta, Julio Arellano, Gillian Johnston and Miguel Novillo Astrada.

Valiente defeated Audi (Marc Ganzi, Rodrigo Andrade, Gonzalo Pieres Jr., Tomas Pieres) 12-8 in the second semifinal.

Coca Cola bounced back to take the Butler Handicap over Flexjet on April 2. With just two teams entering the tournament, the final was the only match played.

It was a tight game through the first half with Coca-Cola holding a narrow 6-5 lead after three periods. Gonzalito Pieres put Flexjet on the board first, but two in a row from Gillian Johnston gave the lead to Coke. Pieres tied it up but Miguel Novillo Astrada gave the lead (3-2) back to Coke at the end of the first seven minutes.

Rodrigo Andrade scored the only goal of the second to knot the score at 3-3. Astrada and Johnston gave Flexjet the one-two punch early in the third.

Pieres wrapped goals around another from Astrada to keep it close.

Rodrigo Andrade tied the score early in the fourth, but Astrada found the mark on a run to goal and Arellano sunk a Penalty 2 to take an 8-6 lead.

The teams matched each other 2-2 in the fifth, leaving Coca-Cola ahead by two going into the final period. A Penalty 2 by Pieres cut the lead to one, but goals by Johnston and Arellano put Coca-Cola up 12-9 with not enough time for Flexjet.

Gillian Johnston led her team with

five goals earning her MVP honors and her 11-year-old grey mare, Luna, was Best Playing Pony. Gonzalito Pieres led Flexjet with seven goals.

GSA CAPTURES NATIONAL 12-GOAL

GSA became the youngest team in tournament history to capture the fourth annual $50,000 National 12Goal Tournament at Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington, Florida on March 14.

GSA’s foursome of Henry Porter, 17, Santino Magrini, 15, Juan Martin Zubia, 18, and Victorino Ruiz, 18, turned in one of the most dominating performances to defeat Casablanca (Matias Gonzalez, Grant Ganzi, Juancito Bollini, Jesse Bray), 13-6.

GSA, making its final appearance of the winter season, was the most dominant 12-goal team this season, losing only to Patagones (Santi Wulff, Joaquin Avendano, Benjamin Avendano, Tavi Usandizaga) in overtime in the January Limited Edition 12-Goal series.

Juan Martin Zubia was Most Valuable Player and his mare, Buddha, was Best Playing Pony.

“I am very happy the team did well,” Zubia said. “Matias [Magrini] is a good coach and the organization is

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Juan Bollini presents a check to GSA’s Santino Magrini, Henry Porter, Victorino Ruiz and MVP Juan Martin Zubia.

great. We played very well. This is what we wanted to do.”

“They had a great season,” said coach Matias Magrini. “Unluckily, they are splitting apart but it was a lot of fun to be with all of them. They are a great pleasure. They proved they are a hell of a team. They beat some amazing teams.”

GSA started out strong, jumping on Casablanca for a 5-0 lead and shutting them out the first two chukkers.

Trailing 7-2 at the half and 8-2 after the fourth chukker, Casablanca could never find its rhythm or offense against GSA’s swarming defense.

“We didn’t expect this score,” Matias Magrini said. “Casablanca is an amazing team, really, really good. This game could have been for anybody. I think that GSA got lucky at the start with a couple of breakaways. The result doesn’t reflect the game it was.”

In addition to top-seed GSA and No. 4 seed Casablanca, the seven-team tournament attracted Tackeria, Polologistics, Westhaven, Port Mayaca and County Line Feed and Supply/Team USPA. While Zubia and Santino Magrini headed back to Argentina, Porter and Ruiz stayed in Wellington. Ruiz joined the Travieso team in the 20-goal Sterling Cup and three days later was back on the trophy stand.

In one of the most exciting games in the club’s history, Travieso staged a

Travieso’s Hugo Barabucci, Sebastian Merlos, Tony Calle and Torito Ruiz won the 20-goal Sterling and Molina Cups.

remarkable comeback to capture the prestigious Sterling Cup trophy on March 16.

In front of a packed house and worldwide ChukkerTV audience, Travieso (Tony Calle, Torito Ruiz, Sebastian Merlos and Hugo Barabucci) rallied from a 6-2 halftime deficit for a thrilling 13-8 victory over Casablanca (Harrison Azzaro, Grant Ganzi, Gonzalito Pieres, Rodrigo Andrade).

Argentine 9-goal Sebastian Merlos turned in one of his finest careerperformances leading his team’s comeback with a game-high six goals and was name Most Valuable Player.

We needed to wake up after the first half, we were terrible,” Merlos said. “We were still in bed, watching Gonzalito and Ro carry the ball. We needed to do what we talked about in our team meeting.

“It is good for Travieso from the low and medium goal and now we champion the high goal,” Merlos said. “I am really happy for the team and what I mean by the team is everybody behind us who make a huge effort and work a lot.”

Merlos’ 9-year-old grey mare, Fletcha, was just as spectacular with lighteningquick turns, sheer strength and athleticism in Merlos’ four-goal output in the fourth chukker.

After being shut out in the second and third chukkers, Travieso stormed back in the second half, outscoring Casablanca, 10-2, in the fourth and fifth chukkers.

Travieso outscored Casablanca, 6-0, in the key fourth chukker to take an 8-6 lead going into the fifth chukker.

Travieso continued its relentless attack in the fifth chukker outscoring Casablanca, 4-2, for a 12-8 lead. Travieso continued attacking in the final chukker to shut out Casablanca once again.

Travieso carried its momentum into the Molina Cup, where, in a spectacular finish, Sebastian Merlos scored the winning goal to lead the team to a thrilling 10-9 overtime victory over Beverly Equestrian (Bill Ballhaus, Carlucho Arellano, Magoo Laprida, Inaki Laprida) on April 1.

It was a physical, defensive battle for most of the game. Beverly Equestrian dominated the first half with its tight man defense, taking Travieso out of its game and shutting them out in the second chukker.

Led by the Laprida brothers, Beverly Equestrian jumped out to leads of 3-1 in the opening chukker, 41 after the second and 6-3 at the half.

After Inaki Laprida opened the fourth quarter with a goal that rolled just inside the goal post for a 7-3 advantage, Travieso started to dig itself out of a hole.

Despite Beverly Equestrian’s smothering defense, Travieso scored three unanswered goals in the fourth chukker and early in the fifth to trail by only one, 7-6, with 4:10 left in the fifth.

Beverly Equestrian came back with two

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Participants in the March Women’s League at Grand Champions. CrossFit/El Cid (grey jerseys) won the event, led by MVP Anne Ahern, fourth from right.

goals of its own (from Arellano and a Penalty 1) to pull ahead, 9-6.

Travieso saved its best for last in the sixth chukker with three more unanswered goals for a 3-0 advantage in regulation and a fourth goal in overtime. Barabucci came up with his first goal of the game at 1:46 to trail, 98, and Calle scored with 32 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

In overtime, Travieso went into full attack mode. Barabucci won the throwin and Merlos moved the ball downfield.

After Barabucci had a goal attempt turned away, Calle came up with the play of the game, stopping the ball just inches from going over the back line to set up Merlos’ heroics.

The two-week Molina Cup tournament, featured a star-studded lineup of some of the world’s top players from six different countries including Ecuador-based Travieso, one of the winningest teams in Grand Champions history.

The 120-year-old handcrafted silver Molina Cup trophy was given to Marc Ganzi by Alfredo Molina, Chairman of the Phoenix-based Molina Group and owner of Molina Fine Jewelers.

In women’s action, Cross Fit/El Cid won its second Women’s League monthly tournament on March 29.

The team of Ashley Emerson, Anne Ahern, Slaney O’Hanlon and Courtney Asdourain defeated La Herradura (Meghan Gracida, Siobhan Gallagher,

54 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

Alina Carta, Tiffany Busch) with an impressive 5½-3 victory in the seasonfinale.

Ahern was named Most Valuable Player. Samson, a 5-year-old black gelding owned by legendary Hall of Famer and former 10-goaler Memo Gracida, was named Best Playing Pony.

Both awards were sponsored by Tato’s Mallets.

Asdourain led CrossFit/El Cid in scoring with three goals. Ahern added one goal. The team received 1½ goals on handicap. Busch scored two goals and Carta had one for La Herradura.

Asdourain, a top player who has competed around the world, most recently in Thailand, was the League’s inaugural MVP. “This was an amazing, phenomenal idea,” Asdourain said. “Next year I plan to set aside three or four horses of my own just to play in this League.”

Asdourain was her team’s field general and most vocal, coaching her teammates throughout the game.

In the consolation game, San Saba (Dawn Jones, Jocelyn Grouix, Dawn Weber, Clarissa Echezarreta) won with a 7-2 victory over Scribble Horse Polo (Kathy Iverson, Amy Huson, Marisa Bianchi, Kylie Sheehan). Jones led scoring with four goals, Echezarreta had two goals and Grouix added one.

A month earlier, CrossFit/El Cid, won the Sunset “Sunny” Hale Memorial Tournament. The tournament was

played just days after Hale died due to complications from cancer. She was 48.

The players got the chance to honor her the only way she would have wanted, by playing polo.

CrossFit/El Cid (Hope Arellano, Meghan Gracida, Slaney O’Hanlon, Cecilia Cochran) narrowly defeated Designer Hair by Nikki (Amy Huson, Ashley Emerson, Alyson Poor, Clarissa Echezarreta), 4-3½.

Clarissa Echezarreta, another women’s polo pioneer, was named Tackeria Most Valuable Player.

Lychee, ridden and owned by Cecilia Cochran, was named Polo Gear Best Playing Pony.

“I wish [Sunny] had been here to see this,” Echezarreta said. “This was her vision for us. It is emotional today. I think it would be nice if everyone who has more experience and knowledge helps develop a younger player.”

In the consolation game, Scribble Horse (Kathy Iverson, Annabelle Begg, Kylie Sheehan, Laura Willson) defeated Masai of Palm Beach (Lynn O’Connor, Marisa Bianchi, Alina Carta, Belinda Brody), 4-1, in the consolation.

A moment of silence was held in Sunny’s honor before each game.

Every player on the four polo teams had been touched by Hale’s influence in the sport.

“I was crying during that moment of silence,” Belinda Brody of Masai of Palm Beach said. “Sunny is such an inspiration. It kills me that I am never going to be able to sit down and have a conversation with her and get words of advice from her when things get tough.

“It was important to play this today.

This is her dream. She wants women’s polo and polo in general to succeed and become more public and better quality.

Today you could see there were two open, pretty games of polo with good women players.”

—Sharon Robb

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JIM BREMNER/POLOZONE.COM

JIM BREMNER/POLOZONE.COM

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STG’s John Ziegler, John Bickford, Max Menini and Ignacio Deltour won the Champions Cup title, Rich Roenisch bronzes and $30,000.

PAC I F I C C OA S T

STG CHAMPION IN 8G CHAMPIONS CUP

second half, but had difficulty around the goal. The fourth chukker saw just a single goal, a Penalty 4 conversion from Deltour. Bickford split the uprights in the fifth, but Tejera responded. Trailing 9-5 going into the final period, Lockton was unable to cut the deficit, while STG was on a roll.

JIM BREMNER/POLOZONE.COM

STG dominated Lockton 12-5 to take the 8-goal Champions final and the big check at Empire Polo Club in Indio, California on April 2.

STG (John Ziegler, John Bickford, Ignacio Deltour, Max Menini) might as well stand for Shoot To Goal because that is what the STG team did from the get-go. The team capitalized on Lockton’s mistakes, with Max Menini converting a pair of Penalty 2s in the opening minutes. Bryan Middleton put Lockton on the board with a field goal but John Bickford responded for STG. Middleton found the mark in the second, but Menini struck twice to increase the lead to 5-2. Ignacio Deltour added a goal in the third but Middleton had the answer with a Penalty 2 conversion. Bickford shot back with a field goal but Hernan Tejera found the mark for Lockton.

STG held a 7-4 lead at the half.

Lockton tried to catch up in the

Empire’s Erik Wright, Jim Wright, Kristin Hiller and Rob Scapa won the 4-Goal Lions Cup over Evergreen.

STG’s Ignacio Deltour heads to goal on Best Playing Pony Cheesy Weezy, challenged by Lockton’s Hernan Tejera.

Menini popped in a Penalty 2, then followed up with a field goal. Deltour got the last word with a run to goal ensuring STG the victory.

STG took home a hefty $30,000 check and beautiful Rick Roenisch

bronzes, while Lockton settled for $10,000. John Bickford took MVP honors while Ignacio Deltour’s Cheesy Weezy was Best Playing Pony.

The same day, Empire squeaked past Evergreen by the half-goal handicap it received, 11½-11, in the final of the 4-goal Lions Cup final.

Evergreen sprung to life with a pair of goals by Carlitos Galindo in the opening minutes. Jim Wright put Empire on the board, adding to the handicap, to end the first with Evergreen ahead 21½. Kristin Hiller pushed Empire ahead in the second and Wright traded goals with Galindo to keep Empire narrowly ahead.

Noah Sprung gave Evergreen the narrow lead in the third. Wright took it back with a Penalty 2 conversion. Galindo gave it back to Evergreen but Wright took it back for Empire. Erik Wright said enough of this, scoring his first goal. Jim Wright sunk a Penalty 4 and a field goal to put Empire up 8½5 before Galindo scored one more to close the half with Evergreen trailing 8½-6.

Hiller struck again, but Juan Jo Gonzalez had the answer. Gonzalez scored a Penalty 2 early in the fifth but

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Lockton’s Hernan Tejera, Bryan Middleton, Athena Malin (subbing for Tim Kelly), Jim Wright and Tim Kelly won the Constitution

Wright shot back with a pair of goals to put Empire ahead by three and a half.

Empire was out of bullets in the last period while Gonzalez snagged two goals and Galindo one, but time was not on Evergreen’s side and Empire took the narrow victory.

That half-goal lead put a hefty $6,000 in Empire’s pockets and beautiful bronze trophies in their trophy cabinets. Kristin Hiller was MVP and Carlos Galindo’s Kahuna won Best Playing Pony.

Two weeks prior, it was a whole different ball game in the 8-Goal Constitution Cup, as STG fell to Lockton 15-10. STG (John Bickford, John Ziegler, Ignacio Deltour, Max Menini) had a good game, but Lockton (Tim Kelly, Bryan Middleton, Hernan Tejera, Jim Wright) was firing on all cylinders.

Two goals by John Bickford got the scoring started for STG. Lockton shot back with goals by Bryan Middleton and Hernan Tejera. The second belonged to Lockton as Jim Wright sunk a pair of Penalty 2s and Middleton and Tejera found the mark.

STG was held to a goal by Bickford, ending the chukker with Lockton ahead 6-3. Middleton and Wright scored in the third to increase the lead to five, but Bickford, Deltour and Menini each found the mark to get back in the game, 8-6, at the half.

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Hanalei Bay’s Ignacio Deltour (subbing for Ashton Wolf), Alvaro Tadeo, Randy Heredia and Baine Bossom (subbing for Krista Bonaguidi)

STG came up empty in the fourth while Lockton added goals by Wright (Penalty 4) and Middleton.

Menini sunk a Penalty 3 early in the fifth, but Lockton answered back with goals from each of its players to double STG’s score at 14-7. STG would need a goal a minute to force overtime but when Wright scored early in the sixth, it became nearly impossible.

Still, Menini kept fighting, scoring twice. A Penalty 1 brought the team closer but not enough. Lockton won.

STG’s Deltour and Lockton’s Jim Wright were both playing their second game of the day. Earlier, Deltour, subbing for an injured Ashton Wolf, helped Hanalei Bay defeat Empire, led

by Wright, in the USPA 4-Goal Congressional Cup. Hanalei’s Alvaro Tadeo struck first but Jim Wright and Eric Wright answered to add to Empire’s two-goal handicap. Randy Heredia split the uprights, but Jim Wright scored a hat trick to lead 7-2. Tadeo added one more to cut the deficit to four, 7-3.

Baine Bossom, subbing for Krista Bonaguidi, brought Hanalei to within two, 7-5 but Wright’s Penalty 4 conversion put Empire ahead 8-5 at the half.

Tadeo continued to chip away at the deficit in the fourth, scoring two unanswered goals to come within one, 8-7. Tadeo was on fire in the fifth

scoring three in a row to take a 10-8 lead. Jim Wright traded goals with Deltour (Penalty 2) to end the chukker with Hanalei ahead 11-9. Deltour struck early in the sixth, but Jim Wright had the answer. With time winding down, Tadeo added another, his eighth, to ensure the 13-10 victory.

BORDER

PATHLIGHT FINANCIAL WINS TWO ARENA CUPS Arizona Polo Association’s winter tournament action got under way with Pathlight Financial’s Dan Coleman, Allison McFarland and Bob Brotherton capturing the 2017 Azteca Arena Challenge Cup on February 4-5. Dan Coleman was MVP and his pony Bucky was Best Playing Pony.

Pathlight got off to a great start with a 12-6 win over VIP. VIP (Steve McFarland, Conrad Loretto, Dan Faherty) tied BTC (Thomas Phelps, Zak Coleman, Savanah McFarland) 7-7 and Pathlight edged BTC 11-10.

After several weeks of rain-outs, the club played two tournaments in one weekend with VIP Mortgage winning both the 11th annual Coleman Cup and the Border Circuit Arena Masters on February 25.

The USPA Master’s Cup, played in a

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VIP’s Rebecca Fowler, Savanah McFarland, R. Jorge Estrada and Ward McDaniel won the Masters Cup.

VIP’s Theo Wakefield, Steve McFarland, Savanah McFarland and Ward McDaniel won the Coleman Cup.

Pathlight Financial’s Bob Brotherton, Allison McFarland and Dan Coleman won the Arena Challenge Cup.

LARCHER PHOTOGRAPHY

Dr. James Rusher presents trophies to Pathlight Financial’s Sarah Coleman, Allison McFarland and Dan Coleman in the Rusher Cup.

round-robin format, saw VIP Mortgage (Rebecca Fowler, Savanah McFarland, Ward McDaniel, R. Jorge Estrada) defeat BTC (Thomas Phelps, Allison McFarland, Steve Bentz, Theo Wakefield, Steve McFarland) 4-2. Steve McFarland and Steve Bentz struck early for BTC, but Ward McDaniel answered with two goals added to one from Jorge Estrada for a 3-2 lead. BTC was shut out in the second chukker, while Estrada added a penalty conversion for the win.

BTC rebounded in the next round, taking out Pathlight 4-1. Thomas Phelps wrapped goals around one from teammate Steve McFarland for a 3-0 first chukker. Dan Coleman converted a penalty for Pathlight, but Phelps answered for the win.

VIP took on Pathlight in the final round. Coleman and Estrada traded

goals in the first and second, but Estrada added one more, leaving VIP ahead 3-2 for the title. Estrada was MVP and his pony, Dodger was Best Playing Pony.

In the Coleman Cup, BTC (Thomas Phelps, Sarah Coleman, Allison McFarland, Bob Brotherton) took on Pathlight (Dan Coleman, Conrad Loretto/ Rebecca Fowler, Vinay Bangalore/ Victoria Johnson) for the first round with Pathlight taking the 42 win. Pathlight’s goals came from Coleman, Loretto and Johnson, while Phelps scored both of BTC’s goals.

In the next round, VIP (Theo Wakefield, Savanah McFarland, Ward McDaniel, Steve McFarland) downed Pathlight 4-2. Coleman and Bangalore scored for Pathlight, while Wakefield, McDaniel and Steve McFarland scored for VIP.

Next, Wakefield scored all the goals for VIP while shutting out BTC. Action continued on March 24-25 with the Rusher Cup at Azteca Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. Dr. James Rusher was on hand to see Pathlight Financial (Sarah Coleman, Allison McFarland, Dan Coleman) win the round-robin final over BTC (Thomas Phelps, Rob Phipps, Rebecca Fowler, Conrad Loretto) and VIP Mortgage (Steve McFarland, Savanah McFarland, Steve Bentz). Pathlight edged BTC 5-4 in the first round, while BTC fell to VIP 7-5 in the second round. Pathlight crushed VIP 7-2 in the final round.

Dan Coleman was named MVP and Ozzie, owned by BTC, was named Best Playing Pony. The Rusher Cup honors James Rusher, DVM, a longtime player and manager at the Arizona and North Scottsdale Polo Clubs.

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APRIL 25-MAY 20 Delegates Cup (4-8) Houston, Houston, TX APRIL 26-MAY 7 Southwestern Regional Classic (10-14) Houston, Houston, TX A P R I L 2 8 - M A Y 14 Members Classic (8) New Bridge, Aiken, SC MAY 3-6 USPA Arena Amateur Cup (2) Maui, Makawao, HI MAY 3-7 USPA Sherman Memorial (6) Maui, Makawao, HI M AY 3 - 13 League Play/Pro Pool (0-4) Willow Bend, Little Elm, TX MAY 4-JUNE 25 Pro-Pool League Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, CA MAY 5-7 USPA Sun Cup Grand Champions, Wellington, FL The McLin Burnsed Tournament (6) The Villages, The Villages, FL M A Y 5 - 14 USPA Congressional Cup (4) Willow Bend, Little Elm, TX Lisle Nixon Memorial (12) Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, CA Black Gold Extravaganza Midland, Midland, TX M A Y 5 - 21 Pete Bostwick Memorial (12) New Bridge, Aiken, SC MAY 6 Polo on the Lawn Prestonwood, Oak Point, TX Beginner Polo Clinic Mountain View, Charleston, WV Derby Day Los Angeles Will Rogers, Los Angeles, CA Nat’l Youth Tournament Series Maui, Makawao, HI

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MAY 6-7 USPA Arena Challenge Cup (3) El Conquistador, Anthony, NM Derby Day Polo Bluewater Creek, Killen, AL Retro Classic New Orleans, Folsom, LA MAY 9-20 Aiken Saddlery Tournament (6) Wagener, Aiken, SC M A Y 1 0 - 21 USPA Western Challenge (12-16) Houston, Houston, TX M A Y 1 2 - 14 USPA Eastern Challenge (12-16) Spring Challenge Cup Grand Champions, Wellington, FL The Arden’s Jewelers Tournament (6) The Villages, The Villages, FL MAY 12-28 Spring Classic (8) New Bridge, Aiken, SC M AY 13 Pacific Polo Tours Hollywood Cup Will Rogers, Los Angeles, CA Ability Connection Charity Cup Prestonwood, Oak Point, TX M A Y 1 3 - 14 Club Polo Tournament Bluewater Creek, Killen, AL Mother’s Day Chukkers New Orleans, Folsom, LA Adult Polo Camp Mountain View, Charleston, WV M A Y 14 22nd Annual Island Biker Smackdown Maui, Makawao, HI M A Y 17 - 21 USPA Arena Delegates Cup (6-9) Maui, Makawao, HI M A Y 17 - 2 7 League Play/Pro Pool (0-4) Willow Bend, Little Elm, TX M A Y 17 - 2 8 Jake Kneece Memorial (4) Aiken, Aiken, SC

MAY NATIONAL YOUTH TOURNAMENT SERIES F E B RUA RY 18 - J U LY 3 0

The National Youth Tournament Series runs through July. Last year, the NYTS program had hundreds of youth players, ages 19 and under, play grass tournament polo, with a select group of All-Stars traveling to Boston for the NYTS Championships.

Become a vital part of polo’s future by hosting a National Youth Tournament Series event at your club.

Contact Amanda Snow or Hayley Heatley by email at NYTS@uspolo.org to schedule your NYTS event today.

M A Y 19 Spring Fling Arena Tourney (4) Denver, Denver, CO M A Y 19 - 2 0 Garrison JV Spring Invitational Mountain View, Charles Town, W.V. M A Y 19 - 21 The UnitedHealthcare Tournament (6) The Villages, The Villages, FL Polo Gear Invitational Grand Champions, Wellington, FL M A Y 19 - 2 8 Pope Challenge (12) Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, CA Rosemary Cup (4-8) Willow Bend, Little Elm, TX Tumbleweed Tournament Midland, Midland, TX M A Y 19 - J U N E 4 Tommy Hitchcock Memorial (12) New Bridge, Aiken, SC MAY 20 Frisco Life Cup Prestonwood, Oak Point, TX 24th Annual Dallas Polo Cup Dallas, Red Oak, TX M A Y 2 0 - 21 USPA Sherman Cup (6) Arranmore, Barrington, IL

MARKETPLACE (continued from page 43)

19th Annual Ronald Reagan Tourney Will Rogers, Los Angeles, CA Preakness Race & Polo Bluewater Creek, Killen, AL Addison Memorial Conservation Cup Challenge Cup New Orleans, Folsom, LA Copenhagen Cup Guards, Smiths Lawn, UK M A Y 21 USPA Delegates Cup (6-9) Maui, Makawao, HI MAY 24-JUNE 3 USPA Congressional Cup (6) Wagener, Aiken, SC MAY 26-28 USPA Sherman Memorial (6) USPA Arena Sportsmanship Cup (3) St. Croix, Woodville, WI The Sharon Tournament (6) The Villages, The Villages, FL MAY 26-29 The Memorial Grand Champions, Wellington, FL MAY 27 Polo Rocks Cup Prestonwood, Oak Point, TX MAY 27-28 USPA George Patton Jr. (2) Texas Military, Poteet, TX USPA Governors Cup (2) New Orleans, Folsom, LA Nat’l Youth Tournament Series Bluewater Creek, Killen, AL MAY 28 MacGregor Cup Honolulu, Waimanalo, HI MAY 29 Manduke Memorial Invitational Cup Maui, Makawao, HI

Note: All dates are subject to change. “USPA” refers to tournaments sponsored or sanctioned by the United States Polo Association.

athletes, the best in their sport and their motivation is big enough. My style is not to give big talks but to add a small phrase or ask a question like, “Why do this and not the other?”

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PPE: What similarities do you find between polo and yachting?

SL: There are some, though not many.

In polo you have to plan and do it all the time because the weather, as happens with our races. We have boats and they have horses on which we always depend.

In addition, as happens in yachting, working groups in polo usually have a very large emotional component: they are family members or longtime friends. You have to be able to intelligently manage tensions and balance what happens on the playing field and what comes from the outside.

PPE: How did your presence help Ellerstina defeat La Dolfina in Hurlingham, the first success in almost four years, since Palermo in 2012?

SL: Nothing (he says, blushing). My work is organizational. It does not have to do with the game. I do not have the authority or knowledge to enter into that area. I contribute in what has to do with the structure. And I understand what this brings: when you change methods, there are always things that are worse, because one is accustomed to doing them in a certain way. This is longterm work. The results are not visible from one day to the next. If they win, that’s because of how they play. My thing is to give them tools to go out and play.

PPE: Will you continue working with Ellerstina in the 2017 season?

SL: We ended 2016 being a better team than when we started. That is why we will continue working in the 2017 season. I have to find the time within my nautical schedule since, besides the America’s Cup, I must start preparing for my participation in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

But my commitment to Ellerstina is still legitimate.

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TACKROOMPRODUCTS.COM CORRECTIONS • In the coverage of the National museum of Polo and Hall of Fame induction ceremony in the April issue, we incorrectly identified Justin Daniels as Julian Daniels.

• In the story on Thoroughbreds, we incorrectly stated that Chocolate was the first American-bred horse to win the Copa Lady Susan Townley Award in Argentina. John T. Oxley’s Ragamuffin won the award in 1969 and Bob Daniels’ Silverada won it in 1996.

• The photos from Adelaide Beach Polo in Australia were taken by Joe McInally, polopics.com.

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 59

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1936

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INTERNATIONAL PLAY U.S. team downs Brits in two-game series to regain Westchester Cup

I

n the summer of 1886, certain members of the Westchester Polo Club (of America) subscribed for a silver cup, to be known as the International Challenge Polo Cup. In 1911, the cup was transferred by deed of gift from the Westchester Polo Club to the United States Polo Association as a perpetual International challenge cup for a friendly competition between polo teams representing officially the Polo Association of America and the Hurlingham Club of London. By

the original rules it was provided that the cup should be played for in the country of the holders.

In the 1930s, Maj. J.J. Astor, then chairman of the Hurlingham Club, indicated that since England had not been as successful at the U.S., it had to send teams, with their ponies, across the Atlantic many times. “This entails many difficulties of transport and expense. The players have to get used to the climate and other conditions ...” he explained.

Capt. W.B. Oakley, the captain of the “American Banker” ship, hands the International Polo Cup to Lt. Col. J.R.C. Gannon, secretary of the Hurlingham Club, upon its arrival in England.

60 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

In 1935, after U.S. teams won 15 of 22 matches in 11 years, the U.S. Polo Association very sportingly agreed to waive this rule, and allow the matches to be played alternatively in the two countries every third year. A year later, the Americans agreed that any subject of the British Empire would qualify to play for England.

Astor wrote, “If all international problems could be approached and solved in the same spirit as the Americans have shown in this connection the world would, no doubt, be less perplexed than it is, and a happier place for all concerned.”

Great Britain took the cup home after the first series in 1886. It won again in 1902 on its own soil, but lost the next three times (1909, 1911, 1913). The cup was played again in 1914 and England continued to have its struggles.

Lord Wimborne agreed to take a team to Meadow Brook, but after taking his team and ponies to Spain to practice, it was evident the team would need some strengthening. Wimborne was evidently so discouraged at one point that he nearly pulled the team. The U.S. Polo Association got wind of the English team’s troubles and offered to postpone the first match two weeks to allow Lord Wimborne time to find a stronger team. Capt.

Cheape agreed to join the team and Lord Wimborne cabled his appreciation to the Americans for their proposal, but the team would play as originally scheduled.

Upon arriving in New York, word came that Capt. Cheape’s sister had died. In his grief, he sat out the first practice game.

During the second practice, he was hit in the face with a ball, breaking his nose.

The first match was postponed four days to allow Capt. Cheape to heal. The teams

streak of bad luck ended there, as it went on to win the two-game series.

With the cup back in England, a U.S. team defeated England 11-4 and 10-6 to regain possession in 1921. The U.S. squad was successful in 1924, 1927 and again in 1930. Looking back, England realized it would have to get better, faster ponies if it were to win the cup in future years.

When Great Britain issued a challenge for the cup in 1936 and the United States accepted, agreeing to play the games in London in June, there was no time to hold practices for potential candidates before it was time to set sail. A selection committee of Louis Stoddard, Carlton Burke, Devereux Milburn, F.S. von Stade and Lawrence Waterbury would choose a team, while Robert Strawbridge Jr. was charged with every detail of the expedition from ponies to men once they left.

The selection committee wanted to choose a team from a group including Elbridge Gerry, Winston Guest, Thomas Hitchcock Jr., Stewart Iglehart, Eric Pedley, Michael Phipps and William Post.

Hitchcock and Post were unable to make the trip so the others formed the squad.

After players selected their ponies, 53 were shipped in February and the players departed in April. With the exception of ponies lent by Charles Wrightsman, nearly all of the ponies were owned by the individual players. Pedley didn’t have ponies of his own, however J.M. Spalding loaned him ponies he regularly played in California.

Just before leaving for England, Winston Guest lost part of his left index finger by accidentally discharging a harpoon gun while fishing in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Florida. There was some concern that it would prevent him from competing, however that proved not to be the case.

With the U.S. agreeing to alternate countries regardless of who wins the cup, the trophy returned to England for the 1936 series. The trophy made its voyage by sea aboard the ship, “American Banker.” It was met by Lt. Col. J.R.C. Gannon, secretary of the Hurlingham

The teams line up for a throw-in from the boards in the first international match. The U.S. team went on to defeat England 10-9 in a spirited match.

Maj. J.J. Astor, chairman of the Hurlingham Club, welcomes The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester to the second polo match. Their Royal Highnesses presented trophies to the American team.

POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 61

Club, when it arrived at the Royal Albert Docks in May of that year.

The American team also arrived in London in mid-May for a series of trial matches in preparation for the contest.

The British team proved to be a bit ragged, though the players appeared to improve with each game. It was generally accepted that because the Brits were trying out new ponies, it was understandable that they may not be playing up to par. As the trials continued, it became evident the Americans were going to be tough to beat. In fact, the general concensus was the Americans would win by a margin of six or eight goals.

The team trained in Norton before arriving London. The team practiced with Pedley at No. 1; Phipps at No. 2; Iglehart at No. 3 and Guest at back, and though the line-up was not made official until just before the first match, it did not change.

The British team got off to a rough start when Rao Raja Hanut Singh, the highly-regarded Indian player, injured his shoulder in an accident during practice

Stewart Iglehart played No. 3 for the U.S. He did remarkably well in the international matches and critics pronounced him the most effective player in the series.

His handicap was raised to 10 in England.

sessions and was unable to play. The team eventually lined up with Hesketh Hughes, Gerald Balding, Eric Tyrrell-Martin and Humphrey Guinness, who took the spot Singh was expected to play.

The first match was played at Hurling-

ham on June 10, and resulted in a narrow victory for the Americans, 10-9. The players and horses were pretty well matched, and with a little more luck the British side might have won the match. Nonetheless, the team was commended for staying

Stewart Iglehart jumped from his pony, Brown Fern, after the horse’s bit broke. The umpires blew the whistle to stop the play, causing some to complain. A groom brought another horse, but Iglehart wanted Brown Fern back. The pony was the best played by either side.

62 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

England’s Gerald Balding and Hesketh Hughes (in dark shirts) mark the Americans closely in the second match in the series. The U.S. team won 8-6.

so close to a team that was expected to beat them by a wide margin. Its efforts were seen as a marked recovery of English high-goal polo.

The weather was cool and comfortable with only a little rain falling near the end of the match. The crowd was estimated at about 8,000 people, though many seats were empty on one side of the field. Organizers were disappointed more people didn’t seize the opportunity to see the finest polo in the world under the best possible conditions, but the numbers were sufficient for financial success.

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester were in attendance and presented trophies to the winners. King Alfonso of Spain also enjoyed the match.

The game was played with minimal fouling. Umpires Robert Ashton and Capt. H.C. Walford only went to the referee, Jack Nelson, three times in the course of the match. There were no free hits from 40 yards and the number of 60-yard hits were far and few between. The U.S. was awarded a Penalty 1 after being fouled in the mouth of the goal.

The match got underway with the U.S. side starting with a handicap goal. England shot at goal twice in as many minutes with both attempts going wide of the

mark. A Pedley attempt was stopped by Tyrrell-Martin, but moments later Pedley passed to Guest for the score. After Guinness shot the ball downfield, Hughes finessed it through the goal.

England had several shots miss the mark, while the Americans kept up the pressure. At the end of the third, the Americans were leading 7-3. Spectators had long faces, expecting it was the beginning of the end for the Brits. But the English players were undaunted and soon had the crowd roaring with enthusiasm.

Hughes hit to Balding, who shot the ball through the goal. Balding returned the favor, hitting to Hughes from the throw-in. Hughes sent the ball straight and true through the posts. Several other attempts were stopped by the Americans, who also sent several shots just wide of the mark. Hughes then jumped on a pass from Tyrrell-Martin, escorting the bouncing ball through the posts. Things looked considerably brighter for the British with the score now 7-6.

England attacked early in the fifth, but a Hughes attempt was deflected off a pony. Neither team was able to reach the goal until the sixth period when Guinness kept a Balding shot from going wide and shot from an impossible angle to tie the

score for the third time.

The Americans retaliated with three unanswered goals to take a 10-7 lead into the seventh and final chukker. The challengers made a remarkable effort to pull the match out of the fire. Balding found himself with an opening from 60 yards and drove the ball to goal. After a few more unsuccessful drives, Hughes carried the ball from the boards through the posts. The crowd went wild. There was still a few minutes to go and the determined Brits trailed by just one. Hughes sent the ball to Balding, but he was unable to complete the play. Moments later, the Americans were called for crossing and the Brits were awarded a free hit from 60 yards. Balding sent the ball directly to goal, only to have it hit a pony in the chest. That was the last opportunity for England to even the score and the U.S. side held on for the victory.

Although England had suffered defeat, the feeling of the onlookers was of genuine satisfaction rather than depression.

For the first time in 15 years, a team worthy of the best traditions of British polo had evolved.

Newspaper reports from the time called it one of the finest and most exciting games of polo ever played. A reporter from “The Times” wrote, “There was little or nothing between the two teams from start to finish, and if anything England can count themselves unlucky to have lost. A slight superiority in pony power was responsible for the Americans’ victory, although the English side very nearly negated this disadvantage by their hard riding and dashing play.”

The “Daily Telegraph” wrote, “There was not one dull minute in the game. It was fought out from start to finish at the maximum of speed and with the minimum of mistakes; its fluctuations were such as to arouse in the supporters of each side alternatively the hope of victory, and the result was in doubt up to the last stroke of the game.”

The British side had great hopes for the second match, scheduled for three days later. However, that morning a delPOLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N 63

The U.S. team’s Eric Pedley on Foolproof, Michael Phipps on Primrose, Stewart Iglehart on Bataclan and Winston Guest on Carpe Diem

uge of rain made the field unfit for play.

The game was delayed for a week, until after the Ascot races. This gave the ponies time to recover from the tough first match.

Before the match, the majority of ponies, except those playing in the first chukker, were paraded around the field before the Coldstream Guards band per-

formed for the crowd. This time, the spectators numbered 12,000, with no empty seats to be seen. The weather was perfect and the field in remarkable shape despite heavy rain earlier in the week.

The first chukker was similar to that of the first game with the U.S. leading 2-1.

Guest scored early in the second to put the U.S. up by three before Hughes sent

After the trophy presentation by the Duchess of Gloucester, Winston Guest carries away the cup, while Michael Phipps carries its base. Eric Pedley follows behind and Stewart Iglehart is ahead.

64 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N

the ball wide. Pedley and Phipps combined to get the ball close to goal but it just went wide. It was at this point that one of the most discussed incidents of the match occurred. Spectators were surprised to see Iglehart drop from his pony and roll over once or twice before finding his feet.

The whistle blew and Iglehart’s superb gray mare, Brown Fern, galloped across the field toward the pony lines. Another pony was brought in for Iglehart but he waved it off and asked for Brown Fern to be returned. Few people realized the cause of the mishap and the reason for the stoppage of the game.

Brown Fern’s bit had broken so the pony was out of control. Iglehart jumped from the pony and the umpire’s whistle blew for “broken gear.” Some argued the game should have been allowed to proceed, however the ball was in neutral territory and a pony running across the field could have easily caused a dangerous situation.

Neither team tallied again until the third chukker when Iglehart scored with the second of two attempts to put U.S. up by three, 4-1. The fourth chukker was full of excitement with five goals tallied, two

by USA and three by England for a 6-4 score. Each team scored in the fifth, and Great Britain scored the only goal of the sixth to come within one, 7-6. England had its chances but failed to connect. Iglehart scored with just two minutes left.

Balding shot to goal, but again, it was wide of the posts. The match was over and American had the 8-6 win.

The quality of polo was said to have been better in the first match but the play was no less thrilling. “The Times” correspondent wrote, “The victory was well deserved, as the American team were just that little bit the more convincing side in everything they did that made the difference between leading and being led. ...

The English players were gallant losers of two of the finest polo matches ever seen in this country, and have nothing at all with which to reproach themselves.”

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