The “gauntlet” comes from the phrase “throw down the gauntlet”, which is a physical action to issue a formal challenge. For the first time ever in the sport of polo, the GAUNTLET OF POLO trophy was played at the International Polo Club.
The GAUNTLET OF POLO presented by the United States Polo Association is the sport’s newest and most challenging tournament series in the US with an unprecedented $1Million prize purse, and pits the world’s top polo teams in a fierce competition to be crowned GAUNTLET Champion. The GAUNTLET OF POLO consists of three major tournaments. It officially began with the C.V. Whitney Cup in February, continued with the USPA Gold Cup at the end of March and finished on April 21 with the US Open Polo Championship at the International Polo Club Palm Beach (IPC) on the U.S. Polo Assn. stadium field in Wellington, Florida.
Pilot polo team with Facundo and Gonzalito Pieres, Curtis Pilot and Matias Gonzalez secured its place in history as the inaugural winner of the GAUNTLET OF POLO title 2019 with a score of 12-7 over Las Monjitas by winning the U.S. Open Polo Championship, the third leg of the GAUNTLET series. The GAUNTLET was created to increase team participation and attendance, enhance fan experience through interactive events, build public awareness for polo, establish a hero campaign to feature some of the best players in the world, and drive event viewership on CBS Sports. “The GAUNTLET will challenge the world’s top players and horses to strive for the most prestigious tro-phies in the United States and provide a new platform for athletes, teams, sponsors and polo fans,” said Robert Puetz, CEO of the USPA.”
Over the three GAUNTLET months, Pilot played against the high-est level of skilled athletes and ponies and managed to clinch wins in all three GAUNTLET events “It’s amazing to win, it’s like a fairy tale for all of us, the whole team. I started playing polo when I was 49 years old. It’s been an amazing three months and I have to give a shout-out to Mia Bray, a young up-and-coming female polo player, who covered three chukker for me,” said Curtis Pilot, team owner.
