September 2021 Polo Players' Edition- Pro Plan

Pro Plan

Thai Polo Takes Two of Three 22-Goal Events

Photos by Alice Gipps

Thai Polo’s Nico Pieres put in an MVP performance on his way to his first British Gold Cup title. He is followed by teammate 15-year-old Louis Hine.

As the high-goal season in Florida was beginning to wind down, teams were gearing up for the British high-goal season with a large number of teams entered in the three main events. Thai Polo, made up of four pros, including two young brothers, gave it all they had and earned two titles.

The 22-goal season began with the Prince of Wales Trophy, May 19-29, held at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club near Windsor, England.

Twelve teams divided into two brackets began the tournament. Teams played two matches within their bracket. Monterosso (Alessandro Bazzoni, Ignacio Toccalino, David Stirling, Mackenzie Weisz) and Thai Polo (Rufino Bensadon, Ned Hine, Louis Hine, Alejandro Muzzio) earned spots in the final.

Coming of some surprise was Scone (1-1), fresh off its U.S. Open victory, and defending champion Park Place, again led by Facundo Pieres with two wins, didn’t make the final cut. It was good to see the 18-year-old American Weisz playing impressively throughout the tournament, helping Monterosso go 2-2. Andrew Hine’s sons Ned and Louis played solidly for Thai Polo as well.

An initial dry spring was followed by weeks of wet weather, but clouds finally cleared revealing sunny skies for the first final. Thai Polo began with a onegoal handicap and Bensadon added to it with a Penalty 2 conversion seconds into the match. Cubi Toccalino put Monterosso on the board after a pass from Weisz, but Ned Hine responded. Toccalino converted a Penalty 2 but Louis Hine answered, ending the chukker with Thai Polo ahead, 4-2. Stirling drove to goal early in the second with Weisz finishing it off. Toccalino and Bensadon traded penalty conversions, allowing Monterosso to get closer, 5-4. The teams traded goals in the third with Toccalino capitalizing on Thai Polo’s mistakes, ending the half with Thai Polo leading by one, 7-6.

Thai Polo’s James Harper, Nico Pieres, Ned Hine and Louis Hine won the British Gold Cup at Cowdray Park.

Toccalino sunk his fifth open-goal penalty conversion to knot the score and Stirling swapped goals with Ned Hine to end the fourth tied, 8-8. The fouling continued in the fifth with Bensadon converting a pair of Penalty 2s and a field goal while holding Monterosso to a Penalty 3 conversion, giving Thai Polo the two-goal advantage, 11-9, going into the sixth period. An early Penalty 3 was stopped by Muzzio, but two minutes later, Toccalino carried the ball through traffic to goal. Less than a minute later, he sunk a Penalty 3, tying the score.

With just over two minutes left, Weisz converted a Penalty 2 to give Monterosso the lead, 12-11. But 30 seconds later, Weisz was whistled on a play and Bensadon hit the mark on the ensuing Penalty 4,

tying the match again. Bensadon shot to goal just before the warning horn, but the ball went wide, allowing Monterosso to breathe a sigh of relief as the game was sent into overtime.

The ball was thrown in at the 40-yard line with Monterosso going short. Stirling came out with the ball but over cut to goal and it was cleared by Thai Polo. Both teams had end-to-end runs before a Penalty 5 was called in favor of Thai Polo just two minutes into the chukker. The team made the most of it, with 15-year-old Louis Hine picking up a pass from Muzzio and running it through the posts for the win.

Persistent rains continued through the British Gold Cup final.

Rufino Bensadon was MVP and Louis Hine’s Irenita Dama (Open Trueno x Irenita Princesa) was Best Playing Pony. Bensadon’s Luca Penélope (River Slaney x Gete Moon) was Best Argentine Bred Horse.

Next up was the Queen’s Cup, June 1-27, at Guards Polo Club. A total of 15 teams played, divided into three brackets. It was the most teams in nearly 10 years. The teams played the other four teams in their bracket in preliminary rounds before moving on to the quarter final rounds. A highlight of the tournament was the amount of young players, including four talented 15-year-olds, competing. It was also good to see spectators in the stands after the pandemic kept them away in 2020, however it was a light crowd compared to previous years.

Defending champion Dillon Bacon, playing this year as Great Oak, finished 2-2 in preliminary play and would not get the chance to defend the title.

While Scone (David Paradice, Poroto Cambiaso, Isidro Strada, Adolfo Cambiaso) wasn’t as successful in the first tournament, it improved in this event and eventually made it to the quarterfinal with a 3-1 record where it met King Power (Hugo Lewis/ Charles Cooney, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, Hilario Ulloa, Francisco Elizalde). Scone advanced to the semifinal round with a 9-7 win, meeting Monterosso (Alessandro Bazzoni, Ignacio Toccalino, David Stirling, Mackenzie Weisz), the only team it lost to in preliminary play. Never to be counted out, this time Scone prevailed, 11-8.

Thai Polo’s Louis Hine, Ned Hine, Rufino Bensadon and Ale Muzzio won the Prince of Wales Trophy to start the season.

On the other side, UAE Polo Team (HH Sheikha Maitha, Tomas Panelo, Polito Pieres, Tommy Beresford), led by HH Sheikha Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the daughter of the ruler of Dubai, went 3-1 in preliminary rounds, falling only to Murus Sanctus-La Magdeleine (Matt Perry, Sapo Caset, Facundo Sola, Alexandre Garese), 15-10. The two teams met again in the quarters, where UAE got the 10-9 edge. Advancing to the semifinal, UAE faced UAE II (Jaime Huidobro, Hugo Taylor, Lucas Monteverde Jr., Alfredo Capella). UAE advanced with a 13-10 win.

During the tournament, Juan Martin Nero broke his leg falling with his horse after turning in front of oncoming traffic. Adding insult to injury, he received two yellow cards for the incident. He was replaced for the remaining games, but hopefully will be healed up in time for the Argentine Triple Crown.

Heavy clouds returned for the final match with rain forecast but miraculously it held off.

Adolfo Cambiaso passed to Poroto early in the chukker to score first. Soon after, Adolfo was hit in the arm by Beresford and Scone was awarded a Penalty 2, which Adolfo converted. UAE took over in the second half of the chukker with Beresford and Pieres finding the target. Strada opened the third with a goal and Adolfo followed, chipping a ball over Pieres’ head and into the goal. The action went back and forth before Pieres carried the ball through traffic to score at the end of the chukker, bringing it close, 4-3.

One of the umpires came off his horse early in the third. With Cambiaso carrying the ball in his direction, the players stopped to allow the umpire to remount. The umpire dropped the ball for Cambiaso, who hit it once then missed it. UAE jumped on the ball and a Scone mistake gave UAE a Penalty 2, which Beresford easily converted to knot the score at 4-all. At the halfway mark, Paradice got a ball in the backside, requiring a few minutes to shake it off. Scone was awarded a Penalty 5 from mid-field, which Strada sent nearly to the goal. Adolfo got a piece of it about 10 yards out, deflecting it wide. UAE brought the ball to the other side of the field, but Strada accidentally knocked it out and UAE was awarded a Penalty 6. Beresford shot was off Strada’s horse. UAE got the ball back and Pieres necked it to goal with two minutes left in the half.

Pieres then brought the ball to the other side, passing to Maitha, who carried it through the posts. Umpires called Maitha for a crossing penalty, so the

goal didn’t count. Later, with seven seconds on the clock, UAE was awarded a spot hit and shot to goal, but it was wide. UAE carried a narrow 5-4 lead into the half.

UAE’s Tommy Beresford, Polito Pieres, HH Sheikha Maitha and MVP Tomas Panelo won the Queen’s Cup.

The UAE defense was making Adolfo work and he was struggling a bit, uncharacteristically missing balls and not able to get distance on the balls he was hitting. In the fourth, UAE was awarded a Penalty 2 after a hard bump by Poroto shook Panelo’s horse, earning Poroto a yellow card. Beresford converted the penalty then nearly found the goal from the Penalty 5 midfield hit that followed. Pieres helped it through the posts giving UAE a three-goal lead. Late in the chukker, UAE cleared a Poroto shot in front of the goal then got the ball to the other end of the field where Pieres fired, doubling up Scone, 8-4.

The play went back and forth, Scone unable to break through the UAE defense since the second chukker. With just over a minute remaining, Poroto got the ball by the goal and flicked a back shot through the posts but Pieres responded, taking the ball from the throw-in and running unchallenged straight to goal to maintain a four-goal difference heading into the last seven minutes.

Thai Polo's Ned Hine played lights out all season, including in the Prince of Wales Trophy Final.

An early possession play in the sixth allowed Adolfo to shoot to goal but it went wide. With just over four minutes remaining, Scone was whistled on a play and UAE was awarded a Penalty 2, which Pieres easily converted. It was the nail in Scone’s coffin, separating the teams by five goals. Scone continued to struggle for control, but a persistent UAE defense wouldn’t allow it. At the two-minute mark, Scone was awarded a Penalty 2. Adolfo handed over the duty to Poroto, who found the goal. With a minute remaining, one of Adolfo’s strongest hits went into Beresford’s back, bouncing wide. After a minute to catch his breath, Scone was awarded a Penalty 6. Adolfo’s attempt went wide. Time ran out with UAE holding the trophies.

The 21-year-old Tomas Panelo was named MVP while UAE’s JB Bleach, an 11-year-old Chestnut mare played by Polito Pieres, was Best Playing Pony. Bred by James Beim, he sold the mare to pro Emma Boers, apparently saying the mare wasn’t up to his level of play. She sold it to UAE, and the mare more than proved herself in one of England’s biggest tournaments.

An emotional Panelo was anxious to celebrate with his family members, including his 99-year-old grandmother.

Team coach Lucas Monteverde was happy for Sheikha Maitha. “To play the Queen’s Cup against the best player in the world and win it, I am very happy for her,” he said.

In the subsidiary, Park Place (Juan Britos, Andrey Borodin, Will Harper, Facundo Pieres) defeated King Power, 12- 9. Borodin was out with an injury, so he was replaced by Emily Johnson.

The British Open Gold Cup at Cowdray Park Polo Club began immediately after. Adolfo and Poroto Cambiaso were on the Next Generation team when it won in 2020 and were hoping for a repeat, this time with Scone. Thirteen teams divided into three brackets competed over several weeks. UAE carried the momentum into the semifinal, where it defeated Great Oaks Les Lions (Guillermo Terrera, Dillon Bacon, Barto Castagnola, Cruz Heguy), 12-10, to reach the final. It faced a revamped Thai Polo (Louis Hine, Ned Hine, Nico Pieres, James Harper) that crushed Scone, 12-4, in the semifinal.

UAE’s JB Bleach, an 11-year-old chestnut mare, proved herself in the Queen’s Cup final, earning Best Playing Pony honors.

The final was played July 25 under a persistent rain. Two minutes into the game, Thai Polo opened the score after Ned Hine left the ball for Harper, who necked it between the posts. Nico Pieres followed, outrunning Beresford and hitting the ball out of the air to end the chukker, 2-0. Ned Hine scored early in the second to increase the difference before the game was temporarily called because of heavy rain. Once back in play, Beresford sunk a Penalty 4 to put UAE on the board. Polito Pieres passed to Panelo to bring UAE within one, 3-2, but Louis Hine gave the team a 5-2 lead at the half.

The wet conditions impacted scoring throughout the game, but the teams kept pushing, trading goals. The Hine brothers each scored in the fourth, increasing the lead. Beresford responded with back-toback goals to bring UAE within three, 7- 4. Louis Hine scored a back shot early in the fifth and Nico Pieres scored another. Panelo tallied to get UAE closer but time was not on UAE’s side. Beresford converted a penalty late in the chukker to bring the team within two, 9-7, but the clock ran out with Thai Polo on top.

Nico Pieres, winning his first Gold Cup title, was MVP and his 9-year-old Argentine mare, Open Lourdes (Virgin x Sportivo) was Best Playing Pony. Emily Pearson, daughter of Lord Cowdray presented the trophies.

After the season, handicap changes were announced. Going down are Juan Martin Nero and Pablo Mac Donough from 10 to 9 goals; Alejandro Muzzio from 8 to 7 goals; Jack Richardson and James Biem from 7 to 6 goals; and James Beh from 1 to 0. Going up are Jeta Castagnola from 8 to 9; Poroto Cambiaso from 7 to 8; Tomas Panelo from 6 to 8; Lucas Monteverde Jr. from 5 to 6; Cruz Heguy, Mackenzie Weisz and Ned Hine from 4 to 5; Hugo Taylor from 3 to 4; Louis Hine from 2 to 4; and Max Voelker from 0 to 1.