P O L O I N T H E PA M PA S
A Warrior Returns Triple Crown pre-season unites feuding families By Lucas Noel • Photos by Sergio Llamera
Fran Elizalde comes up short trying to hook Poroto Cambiaso in the San Jorge final.
The Argentine spring season began in early September with a special story. A triumph mixed the return of one of the most winning names of this century in Palermo with representatives of the new blood rising in the most important polo of all. Bartolomé ‘Lolo’ Castagnola was back to La Catedral at the age of 51 to share a team with his son Bartolomé Jr., his nephew Adolfo ‘Poroto’ Cambiaso and ‘Lukin’ Monteverde, son of Lucas Monteverde, a friend and former partner at La Dolfina. The combination was a resounding success for La Natividad in the 53rd Open of the Club Hípico Militar San Jorge—the San Jorge Open, a competition that inaugurates the high-goal season. “It had been five years since I last played and the truth is that I had planned not to play anymore, but
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doing it with the boys is a lot of fun. I didn’t want to come because I was out of shape, but they insisted and I came. I’m very happy. Coming back to Palermo and playing with them was a pleasure,” confessed Lolo once the tournament was over. In the team’s debut, they won 14-10 against La Dolfina BP, a line-up that included Adolfo Cambiaso, Diego Cavanagh, Alejo Taranco and Malaysian patron James Beh. The match was characterized by the amusing duels between the Cambiaso father and son and the crosses between the brothers-in-law Adolfo and Lolo, who shared several years and titles playing together on La Dolfina, but then distanced themselves when the Argentine multi-champion was reorganized. Castagnola and Cambiaso had been like brothers
