Polo Florida

North America, Polo News

Palm Beach Equine captures Santa Rita Abierto

29. May 2019

Palm Beach Equine won its first tournament of the spring season at windswept Grand Champions Polo Club. In front of a packed house, Palm Beach Equine (Brandon Phillips, 4, Juan Bollini, 5, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, 8, Scott Swerdlin, 0) won a hardfought 10-9 game against Audi (Lucas Lalor, 5, Sugar Erskine, 6, Marc Ganzi, 2, Jared Zenni, 6).

Argentine 8-goaler Alejandro Novillo Astrada scored the winning goal with 1:45 left in the game. Astrada finished with four goals and was named Most Valuable Player. “I went to put pressure on Lucas and Marc and I got an open space and luckily I was able to score,” Astrada said. “Marc was trying to hook me and it was a little difficult but it went in. “This is a very fun team to play with,’ Astrada said. “I think we got along very well from the beginning. In our first game, once we started working as a team and did what we had to do for each other we played very well together.” When asked what the key to winning was, Swerdlin smiled and said “We put one more in than they did. You can’t take anything for granted but that was a great goal by Astrada. There was no secret, everybody was marked up and fighting, every ball was hard.”

Ava Maria, a 5-year-old mare played by Ganzi and owned by Spinacci, was Grand Champions Best Playing Pony. Palm Beach Equine was making its second championship appearance this season. In the Spring Challenge Cup, Palm Beach Equine lost a 9-8 overtime game to Aspen Valley’s Pablo Pulido, Juancito Bollini, Grant Ganzi and Alejandro Novillo Astrada.”This team played amazing, it was great fun,” Swerdlin said. “I want to thank Marc and Melissa Ganzi because without them I wouldn’t have the opportunity to play this kind of polo. It’s very generous of them to let us play with these kind of players that they have. It’s great, it’s exciting and it’s fun.”

In the second half, the teams played to a 2-2 tie in the fourth chukker with Palm Beach Equine still leading, 7-6. Palm Beach Equine had its biggest lead, 9-7, after the fifth chukker but Audi tied the game at 9-9 early in the final chukker with goals from Lalor and Erskine after a great pass from Zenni. After Astrada’s game-winner, Audi had two final scoring opportunities that fell short.

“It was fun,” Phillips said. “Juan and I have played together on-and-off for 15 years so it’s fun to play with him. This is the first time I got to play with Negro which was great, he is a very good player. He is very easy to play with.

The Santa Rita Abierto is named after Melissa Ganzi’s grandmother, who passed away on December 29, 2012, in Wellington. Grand Champions fall, winter and spring tournaments attract a large international field of players from all corners of the world including India, Mexico, New Zealand, Chile, Costa Rica, Argentina, Canada, Ecuador, Brazil, Switzerland, France, Germany, Uruguay, Azerbaijan, Australia, South Africa, Nigeria, Venezuela and England.

By Sharon Robb

www.gcpolo.com

Palm Beach Equine won its first tournament of the spring season at windswept Grand Champions Polo Club. In front of a packed house, Palm Beach Equine (Brandon Phillips, 4, Juan…

North America, Polo News

Opening of John T. Oxley Memorial at Grand Champions PC

20. March 2018

Travieso opened the John T. Oxley Memorial Tournament Monday with a hardfought win over Palm Beach Polo at Grand Champions Polo Club. Travieso (Teo Calle, Tony Calle, Sebastian Merlos, Tomas Garcia del Rio), playing well as a team, defeated Palm Beach Polo (Henry Porter, Santino Magrini, Magoo Laprida, Gringo Colombres), 13-10. Travieso led the opening two chukkers, 3-1 and 4-3, before Palm Beach Polo reeled them back in behind Laprida’s three goals to tie the game 6-6 at halftime. Travieso came back with a big 3-0 fourth quarter for a 9-6 lead and never relinquished the lead keeping at least a two-goal margin for the remainder of the game. Travieso led by as many as four goals, 10-6 and 11-7, in the fifth chukker. “We were very concerned about this team,” Teo Calle said. “It’s a big team. Henry Porter is probably having the best year of his life so far. He is by far a 4- or 5-goal player. It was difficult for us to mark him. We knew we had to play over our handicap. We tried very hard. When you try and concentrate sometimes things work a little better than you expect and you get a win. We were able to make some plays that are normally hard for us. The field played really well. It’s probably one of the best fields in Wellington. The horses are doing incredibly. We are very happy.”

Tomas Garcia del Rio led Travieso with a team-high six goals. Merlos added three and father and son Teo and Tony Calle each had two goals. This year the Calles are playing together on the same 20-goal team for the first time and enjoying every minute. The Calles have played in the 8-, 12- and 16-goal leagues at Grand Champions where the team started four years ago. “It’s been a great experience,” Teo Calle said. “Playing with my son has been one of the dreams of the family and myself. To watch your son begin to play. In the beginning, I was teaching him, now I think he is teaching me.”

Tony Calle, a senior at Lynn University, and rising young star in the sport, is enjoying playing with his father just as much. In the fourth chukker with 1:19 left, Teo Calle connected on a pass to Tony Calle for a goal and 9-6 lead. The two have developed a chemistry on the field and work well with Merlos and Garcia del Rio. “Sometimes we know what each other is going to do before we even get to the ball,” Tony Calle said. “I told him to turn the ball and I knew he wasn’t going to listen to me and he hit a back shot. I was able to fool the defender, got the pass and score. It was just from playing so much together. “Our goal was to come to Florida and work up to be able to play together on a high goal team,” Tony Calle said. “It’s special because it took a lot of effort with the horses, every day in the barn, getting the right staff and bringing our polo level up. It was really hard and it’s very satisfying to win and play at this level.”

Travieso was coming off a loss to Valiente in the Sterling Cup semifinals. “We think that this can be our tournament,” Calle said. “We are playing well and our horses are performing well. So hopefully we can keep the momentum going.” Palm Beach Polo was led by Laprida with a game-high seven goals. Porter added two and Colombres had one goal. Palm Beach Polo, with one game under its belt, will try and rebound on Thursday morning at 10 a.m. against Dutta Corp (Tim Dutta, Timmy Dutta, Piki Diaz Alberdi, Matias Magrini). Travieso’s next game is March 26 at 10 a.m. against Dutta Corp.

Wellington-based ChukkerTV, leaders in polo broadcasting, is live streaming the entire John T. Oxley Memorial.

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www.chukkertv.com

Travieso opened the John T. Oxley Memorial Tournament Monday with a hardfought win over Palm Beach Polo at Grand Champions Polo Club. Travieso (Teo Calle, Tony Calle, Sebastian Merlos, Tomas…

North America, Polo News

Team Tonkawa takes the 2018 Joe Barry Cup title

29. January 2018

Team Tonkawa wins the Joe Barry Cup title with a 12-9 score against Team Modere: Going head-to-head in a passionate final which would decide the winner of the 2018 Joe Barry Cup, undefeated teams Tonkawa and Modere met Sunday, January 28, to settle the score at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Florida. Although Modere played with renewed energy and strategy in the second half, Tonkawa’s unity proved insurmountable and they rode away with the title 12-9.

Eager to get on the board, Sterling Giannico nailed a fast backshot to goal, capitalizing on Modere’s broken play at the goal mouth and scoring first for Tonkawa. As the first half progressed, it was clear that Tonkawa was working as a well-orchestrated team, shutting down their biggest offensive threat in Hilario Ulloa at every opportunity. Goals continued to elude Modere as several missed shots went wide both on the field and from the penalty line, ending the second 5-1 in favor of Tonkawa. Determined to get Tonkawa’s early lead under control, the third chukker saw aggressive plays by both teams continue, leading to the third yellow card of the day against Hilario Ulloa. Fighting every stride for their second goal, Ulloa finally caught a lucky break and ran to goal while teammate Jared Zenni* held off two strong defenders. Tripling the scoreboard at halftime 6-2, Tonkawa would see a different Modere return to challenge them in true second half style.

Finding their footing in the second half, Modere kicked their game into high gear with four additional goals in the fourth. Slowly creeping up the scoreboard, Ulloa converted two penalty shots in the fifth for the ultimate comeback, tying the score 8-all. Matching Lusarreta’s attempt to break the tie, Modere leveled the scoreboard again 9-all heading into the final chukker. Ultimately the “green machine” powered by Caset could not be stopped, scoring eight out of Tonkawa’s 12 total goals, just above his goals per game (GPG) tournament average of 6.5.

In a final that became a battle between the two 10-goal captains, Caset led his team to victory and simultaneously achieved the first high-goal tournament win of the season. “Modere was really tough. We controlled the first half, but I think they had a really strong fourth chukker and they came back into the game,” Caset said. “At that point, it was anyone’s game, it was really tight and they fought hard; Hilario is really tough. In the last chukker we got the advantage and were able to keep it.”

“This is my first season with Tonkawa, it has always been a dream of mine to play with one of these top teams and I was super excited. Sapo is an amazing player and great to be around because he gives us all confidence.” – Tonkawa’s Sterling Giannico

The Joe Barry Cup, started in 2005, honors the great polo legend Joe Barry, who passed away in 2002. Appropriately, Tonkawa’s home base is in Houston, Texas, and with Barry originally from Texas, the title will return to his home state. In honor of her late husband, Sharon Barry presented awards at the tournament final. Most Valuable Player was awarded to Tonkawa’s team captain Sapo Caset. Best Playing Pony honors went to Lavinia Castellana, Ulloa’s six-year-old homebred mare whom he rode in the second and sixth chukker.

Photo: David Lominska