One family, one title to defend. Can anyone stop La Natividad La Dolfina? At Palermo, the challengers are lining up. And Adolfito could make history.
Palermo 2026: La Natividad La Dolfina: Who can stop them?
The Argentine Open, polo’s most prestigious title, will bring the 2026 Triple Crown to a close on 12 December. Since Ellerstina’s victory in 2012, every Palermo title has gone to either La Dolfina or La Natividad. In 2025, the two rival dynasties decided to join forces. Uncle and nephews, father and son, cousins: one big family affair. And they promptly won the Open together. Not exactly encouraging news for the opposition. So, as the Cambiaso-Castagnola clan prepares to defend its title, one question remains: can anyone actually beat them?
Judging by the results so far, the Cambiaso-Castagnola clan looks like an unstoppable force, sweeping aside everything in its path. The team won the Hurlingham Open, the first leg of the Triple Crown, with emphatic victories in every match. Even the 18–14 win over La Hache in the final, their narrowest margin of the tournament, hardly tells the full story. The blue-and-green machine was firmly in control, leading 15–9 after six chukkers and 17–12 after seven. The result was never seriously in doubt. Jeta Castagnola and Poroto Cambiaso finished as the tournament’s leading scorers, with 28 and 26 goals respectively.
The Tortugas Open brought two more contenders into the picture, as qualifiers Clinova La Irenita and La Zeta Kazak joined the competition. Both are attractive teams, featuring former Argentine Open winners and the talents of tomorrow, and their early results justify their place among the elite.
Kazak even came within a whisker of pulling off the upset of the season, losing to Natividad-Dolfina by just one goal. A one-off performance? Perhaps. The team backed by French patron Sébastien Aguettant subsequently suffered a much heavier 18–10 defeat against another leading contender, Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufú, the Pieres-Heguy alliance that reached the Palermo final in 2025.
Nevertheless, Zeta Kazak has considerable potential. Built around the experience of Nico Pieres and Sapo Caset, the team also features two exciting teenagers, Beltrán Laulhé and Lorenzo Chavanne. Aguettant knows the formula. Last September, he won the Open de France at Chantilly with three young players aged 16, 17 and 23, including Pedro Chavanne, Lorenzo’s younger brother.
La Hache, meanwhile, is another serious contender to knock the Cañuelas giants off their pedestal. Bringing together two sets of brothers, the Panelos and the Ulloas, the team has been producing some impressive scorelines of its own. Their four-goal defeat in the Hurlingham final was a setback, but hardly a humiliation. Can they find the answer when it really matters, at Palermo?
In short, La Natividad La Dolfina reaching the final at the Cathedral of Polo seems almost a foregone conclusion. But who will be waiting on the other side? The list of credible challengers has rarely been so long: Ellerstina Indios Chapaleufú, La Hache, Las Monjitas and the two newly qualified teams.
And once the ball is thrown in, anything can happen. One thing, however, is certain: the 133rd Argentine Open promises some outstanding polo.
One intriguing question remains. Could this be Adolfito Cambiaso’s last Palermo? At 51, the GOAT could claim his 20th Argentine Open title and equal the legendary Juan Carlos Harriott’s record. Or does he have something even more ambitious in mind? Could he be tempted to chase the outright record before finally calling time on his extraordinary career?
One more year, Adolfito?
133th Campeonato Argentino Abierto de Polo 2026
The semi-finals of the Argentine Open will be played on 5 and 6 December 2026, followed by the final on 12 December 2026. The venue is the Campo Argentino de Polo in Palermo, Buenos Aires – the “Cathedral of Polo”. The Argentine Open is the most important tournament in the world and the highlight of the Argentine Triple Crown.
Text by Pascal Renauldon
Photography by R&B Presse / Pascal Renauldon,
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