Polo in the Pampas

In the black Hilario Ulloa prepares to join Ellerstina for the Triple Crown

By Lucas Noel

After a great Gold Cup for the British Open and while he is waiting for his first appearance with Ellerstina, Hilario Ulloa plans the most transcendental moment of the year: the Argentine Triple Crown.

Lincoln is a city of 28,000 inhabitants, located northwest of Buenos Aires. It is, as its number of residents suggests, extremely quiet. Ulloa is a native of this city and on the family farm, he carried out the required quarantine upon his arrival from England, where he reached the semifinals of the Gold Cup with Park Place Vaara.

LLAMERA SERGIO

All this secluded time allowed the next member of Ellerstina to diagram the most important moment of this year. To use the word ‘diagram’ is perhaps exaggerated because in Argentina it is not yet known how the season will take place. The dates for the Tortugas and Hurlingham Open, let alone the Palermo schedule, are not yet confirmed. While the organizational conflicts are being resolved, Hilario has two clear challenges that monopolize his attention: to integrate himself into the tactical scheme of the Pieres brothers and find the formula to defeat La Dolfina. All this dressed in black.

You were summoned to play in Britain at the last minute, a surprise in one of the most important competitions. Did you wonder how far you would go?

Yes, I was very happy. I knew it was going to be a very difficult year. I had already settled in the countryside to spend the winter and make new horses. Suddenly, Andrey [Borodin] called me and, within 48 hours, I was in England, in summer and we started playing right away. It was a pleasure to compete and play for Park Place. We had a great Gold Cup. We could have even played better in the semifinal (defeated by Next Generation with the Cambiasos), but still, we were very close.

Do you feel you have formed a true partnership with Juan Britos on the field? Also, you played with two English boys with great potential: Nicholas Rogerson and Will Harper.

We have been playing together with Juano for a while now and we understand each other very well. That was a little bit Andrey’s idea and also to prepare for the season in Florida, in the United States, where we will also be playing together. It was great for us. And as for Will Harper, he is without a doubt one of the great promises of English polo. He emerged, he played incredible and it was a pleasure. When you meet a young man like that in a quartet, you automatically have a great team.

How did you adapt to the lack of spectators?

Playing without people takes away the atmosphere, takes away the passion, takes away the extra the games have—having your people, your family, your audience cheering, especially when a semi-final is played. You live differently and this year it was so much colder. Looking at the bright side, with the enormous problem that exists in the whole world, we were lucky to be playing, to be competing and, at the same time, to be working.

What did you think of some of the changes to the rules in order to avoid players being crowded on the field?

I think maybe it helped to realize that you adapt to everything. They changed the rules, some for the better and others I don’t know if that much. But we were all very happy to be in England playing. We put

our best will into it and ended up accepting the rules in the best possible way. I do not know if some are ideal to remain, but without a doubt it is good to try.

Being in the same [Park Place] organization, you shared many meetings and practices with Facundo and Gonzalo Pieres. What are you planning for the new Ellerstina?

It was truly great. I am very grateful to Andrey for taking me, because it not only helped me to work and compete, but it was also very useful to share the dayto-day life in the stables with Gonza and Facu. We were able to get to know each other much better. It was three months of constantly playing practices together or against [each other]. For the Argentine season it meant a great advance.

Hilario will wear the Ellerstina jersey near his 35th birthday on December 18. Argentine Open finalist with Alegria in 2013, today he is a world elite 10 goals. But, in joining Ellerstina, he will have the same challenge as his predecessors: joining a structure that suffers from the absence of a back with innate conditions for the position. The challenge is to snatch the title in Palermo from La Dolfina, something that has not happened since 2012. Hilario has plenty of confidence. In addition, it is an atypical year and everything is yet to be decided.

At what point in your career does this opportunity with Ellerstina come to you?

It grabs me in the prime of my career. It is my best moment between maturity, experience, desire and horse organization. Now I have more structure, without a doubt. It comes at the right time in my professional career.

Ellerstina’s issue in recent years was functioning: there was no natural back and the movements they have tried in recent seasons never solved it.

Yes, we know that. That topic is present. But we also know that with the team we have and with the players we have, we intend to be a very dynamic formation, with many rotations. Nico has been proving for years that he is a great back. Gonzalito has been playing No. 3 abroad for more than 10 years and he can do it without any problem. However, the idea is to try other positions and see if there is something else that is even better. But I think it can become a very versatile team, with a lot of circulation, a lot of intensity and that is going to be something new and different.

LLAMERA SERGIO

How much did the pandemic affect your preparation for the Triple Crown?

Now I am in the countryside, resting and enjoying [time] with my family. I like being here and I use it as a preparation before the season starts. The only thing that has affected me is that everything is delayed. My personal organization and my horses are going very well so far. All my horses are already in Pilar, working, exercising and getting ready. [We are] a little more delayed than usual, but everything is on track.

Can you imagine the season in Argentina without spectators?

Playing Palermo without an [audience] would be a pity and it wouldn’t be the same. But it is a special situation and you have to understand it. You have to know that there are people who are having a hard time and are suffering. If the entire season should be behind closed doors and colder as it was in England, so be it if it’s the best for everyone. We will be lucky to be competing and playing what we expect all year.

What if the Argentine Open final was played at Christmas?

It would be the best Christmas present ever: to play the final in Palermo and win it. •

Hilario Ulloa has traded in his orange Las Monjitas jersey for a black Ellerstina jersey in the Argentine Triple Crown.