The Legends – When Palermo Comes to Chantilly

A horseman and a traveller for whom the world was but a village, Patrick Guerrand-Hermès – a man who never thought small – had several visions when he founded the Polo Club du Domaine de Chantilly thirty years ago. Among them was the ambition to bring the world of polo to the Ferme d’Apremont, which at the time was still a vast, predominantly cereal-producing agricultural estate spanning 200 hectares.

Three decades later, the Polo Club de Chantilly has become one of the largest polo clubs in the world, with nine grass fields welcoming the world’s finest players, particularly each September for the Open de France.

After discovering polo during his military service in Morocco, Patrick Guerrand-Hermès caught the virus and travelled the world to indulge his passion. “I have so many unforgettable memories,” he told us a few years ago. “I’ll keep three: the first time I played among the oil derricks in Dallas with cowboys wearing chaps and Stetsons; playing among nomads in traditional dress in Mongolia’s mountains; and competing on magnificent grounds in a tropical garden in Jamaica. As for encounters, the most recent one that stands out was playing with the great Adolfo Cambiaso, who sends the ball exactly where it cannot be stopped (I‘m not sure about this translation; here PGH means that Cambiaso sent the ball to the exact spot where the player was standing and waiting for it). I’ve never seen anyone dominate a sport the way he dominates polo.”

PGH played alongside many of the game’s greats, notably when he won the Deauville Gold Cup at the age of 74 with Gonzalito Pieres. These were the players he always admired and whom he worked tirelessly to attract to “his” club at Chantilly.

From the outset, Guerrand-Hermès wanted Chantilly to have an international dimension, placing it firmly on the map of the world’s leading polo centres. After hosting its first European Championship in 1999, the club took a decisive step forward by launching the Open de France in 2001 under the umbrella of the French Polo Federation. In 2004, Chantilly hosted the FIP World Championship, won by Brazil.

By the second edition of the Open de France, a 21-year-old Argentine had already made his mark, helping Grassfield-Talandracas capture the title. His name? Juan Martín Nero, who would go on to lift polo’s ultimate prize twelve times: the prestigious and imposing Argentine Open trophy (Campeonato Argentino Abierto de Polo), polo’s equivalent of Kitzbühel in alpine skiing or Wimbledon in tennis.

Since then, thirteen other Argentine Open winners, six other finalists and around twenty additional participants in the world’s most prestigious tournament, including Copa Cámara winners, have played at Chantilly.

In the early years, as Chantilly aimed to move closer to that elite level, it welcomed the legendary Indios Chapaleufú II in 2002 and 2003 for two exhibition matches. Between 1996 and 2004, Ruso, Pepe and Nachi Heguy, together with Milo Fernández Araujo, won the Argentine Open four times.

Originally held in June, the Open de France moved to September in 2006 and was set at 16 goals, a level high enough to attract top players. It was the era of the duels between Castel and In The Wings, which brought players such as Matías McDonough (Argentine Open finalist) and Pancho Bensadón (semi-finalist and Copa Cámara winner).

With In The Wings and thanks to his patron, renowned Thoroughbred trainer André Fabre, the public discovered a 14-year-old Facundo Pieres, who reached the 10-goal handicap five years later. In 2005, Fabre’s team captured the Open de France with Lucas Monteverde, who later won the Argentine Open four times between 2005 and 2009.

Other Argentine Open finalists and semi-finalists who have competed at Chantilly include Polito Pieres (one title and two finals at Palermo) with Austria’s Power Horse, Pablo McDonough (thirteen titles and four additional finals), Facundo Sola (two finals), Sapo Caset (two finals), Fran Elizalde (one final with La Dolfina), and Ale Muzzio (one final with La Dolfina).

The year 2020 marked another turning point in the history of the Open de France, with even more competitive line-ups, notably Britain’s Lions Panarea and France’s Talandracas, both fielding the Castagnola brothers: Jeta for the French side and Barto for the British team.

After a thrilling preliminary-round match that produced 29 goals, including 17 scored by the two brothers, Barto led Lions Panarea to victory in the 20th Open de France. Two years later, Jeta returned without his brother to claim the title with Talandracas. Three months later, the brothers triumphed at Palermo for the first time and have since lifted the trophy three more times: a streak that is still ongoing.

In 2023, a third Pieres made his debut at Apremont. Nico Pieres became the first player to arrive in Chantilly, already an Argentine Open winner, representing the French team Kazak alongside Antonio Heguy, Pepe’s son and an Argentine Open finalist last December. Together, they secured the 23^rd Open de France.

Finally, with ten Argentine Open titles won with La Dolfina, Uruguay’s Pelón Stirling also left his mark on the French Open, claiming victory with Octogone.

To this prestigious roll of honour must be added other “Palermists” who have competed at Chantilly: Tito Guiñazú, Alfredo Capella, Juan Martín Zubia, Jero del Carril, Facundo Llorente, Juan-Gris Zavaleta, Beltrán Laulhé, Lorenzo Chavanne, Kubi Toccalino, Guillermo Terrera, Diego Cavanagh, Bauti Bayugar, Benjamín and Tomás Panelo, Juan-Gris and Clemente Zavaleta, Toly Ulloa, Matías Torres Zavaleta, Gonzalo Ferrari, Rufino Bensadón, Martín Aguerre (Copa Cámara winner), Tommy Beresford (GBR) and Luke Tomlinson (GBR), all rated at 8 or 9 goals.

An extraordinary honour roll — missing only one name: Adolfo Cambiaso. When will that day come?

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