Nobility for Ability Charity Cup at the Polo Club Domaine de Chantilly: Between a sublime Indian fashion show and a spectacular ‘‘haute école’’ show by Mario Luraschi, the Polo de Chantilly gave a great moment of sport with the final of the Nobility for Ability Charity Cup, a match between two German teams with a victory of Los Nocheros (the Noctambulists).
‘‘Coming to Chantilly is always a challenge for the German teams,’’ said Sebastian Schneberger, the captain of the victorious team. “Here, the fields are bigger and the game is faster than in Germany and, ironically, two German teams were in the final; we know each other well and we were able to take control of the game from the start … fortunately because it was starting to get tight at the end of the match.’’
If, indeed, it is the 7-goaler of Las Hermanitas, Martin Aguerre, who scored the first goal, the Nocheros then dug a significant gap on the first two periods thanks to a goal from his captain and three penalties Valentin Novillo Astrada (6/1). Las Hermanitas would then try to reduce this gap to return to 8/6 by the end of the fourth period. But the fifth chukker resumed on an easy penalty on the spot, 3 meters from the goals, that Valentin Novillo Astrada did not hesitate to transform for Los Nocheros. Louis Jarrige, one of the young hopes of the French polo entered for this Cup by Los Nocheros, then stopped a penalty at an important moment and the last goal of the German Naomi Schröder at the very end of the match could not change this match (9 / 7). ‘‘This is our first big win here in Chantilly”, said a delighted Sebastian Schneberger. “The level of this tournament has been incredibly high and it is all the more beautiful. And that’s for sure: we’ll be back next year at Chantilly for this series of spring tournaments.’’
This day was not only under the sign of India (the team of Chantilly won the match against Jaipur), but also under the sign of the thoroughbred, which, thanks to polo, can have a “second life” after the racetrack. And the best thoroughbred of the day was named Charrua (a 9 years-old grey mare by Calito and Uruguaya), ridden by Valentin Novillo Astrada.
But Charrua has never known racetracks since she was directly oriented towards polo. She was born in Cordoba in a stud farm named La Francia. A predestined name since it is in France that this mare has been dedicated yesterday! The high-level polo continues next week in Chantilly with the PGH Cup … and the woman will be again in the spotlight with a tournament dedicated to the only to them – and there are more and more of them: the Ladies Polo Cup.
