US Polo Assn.

North America, Polo News

2021 PACIFIC COAST OPEN FINAL

3. September 2021

SANTA BARBARA, CA. (August 29th, 2021) – After two thrilling semi-finals, Klentner Ranch and BenSoleimani.com became the two final teams for the 2021 Pacific Coast Open. Both the stadium side of the US Polo Assn. Stadium Field and the tailgating side of the main field were packed with eager fans awaiting the action. The match did not disappoint with both teams giving an all out effort to secure the title of 2021 Pacific Coast Open Champion.

Klentner Ranch came into the final with a line-up change due to an injury in the semi-finals, resulting in Tomas Garcia Del Rio taking the reins for Santiago Toccalino. Despite the new team dynamic, Klentner Ranch cut right to the chase, starting the first chukker up three to nothing for BenSoleimani.com.

BenSoleimani.com picked it up a bit in the second chukker to slow Klentner Ranch’s lead. This chukker saw defense as the dominating strategy, with only one goal scored off a penalty the whole chukker. Tomas Garcia Del Rio converted this penalty to end the second chukker 4-0 for Klentner Ranch.

The tide turned as BenSoleimani.com managed to put their first two goals on the board in the third chukker. Klentner Ranch maintained their style of play, capitalizing on BenSoleimani.com fouls and converting two more penalties of their own. This ended the third chukker 6-2 for Klentner Ranch.

The fourth chukker saw a battle between teams, BenSoleimani.com came alive and put a few more goals up on the board. Klentner Ranch returned the favor with one field goal from Jesse Bray. However, Santi Wulff stole the show for the chukker by putting in an unreal open back shot with a 90 degree angle into the goal. The chukker finished at a closer score of 7-5.

BenSoleimani.com utilized Tommy Alberdi’s accurate shot to convert four penalties throughout the fifth and the sixth chukker. This effort brought BenSoleimani.com within one goal with a minute left, but Jesse Bray grabbed the ball out of bowl-in and ran it in to score as time ran out to secure the victory for Klentner Ranch with a final score of 11-9.

This victory marked the third high goal title for Klentner Ranch, as they secured the USPA FMB Silver Cup and Robert Skene Memorial earlier in the season. Jesse Bray was awarded the Most Valuable Player for his consistent and impressive plays. Jesse Bray’s famous grey mare, Disney, was selected as the Best Playing Pony. The Best Argentine Bred horse in the match was Machitos Abeja, owned by Ben Soleimani and played by Inaki Laprida. Santiago Toccalino was awarded the 2021 Robert Skene Season MVP Bronze for his dominating performance throughout the season. The award for best overall string of horses went to Jesse Bray.

The Santa Barbara Polo Club thanks its sponsors, fans, players, and all additional supporters for an amazing high goal season.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit our website, www.sbpolo.com

Photos: ©David Lominska

SANTA BARBARA, CA. (August 29th, 2021) – After two thrilling semi-finals, Klentner Ranch and BenSoleimani.com became the two final teams for the 2021 Pacific Coast Open. Both the stadium side…

North America, Polo News

2021 PACIFIC COAST OPEN

27. August 2021

SANTA BARBARA, CA. (August 22nd, 2021) – The past Sunday, Pacific Coast Open narrowed the six teams down to just four to go through to the semi-finals to be held on Friday. Therefore, all the teams came out with their best horses, best strategies, and best focus to secure a spot, or keep their spot, to advance in the tournament.

At 11 AM, Klentner Ranch and BenSoleimani.com played each other. Klentner Ranch had a strong first chukker with five goals between Santiago Toccalino and Jesse Bray.

BenSoleimani.com fired back in the second with four goals of their own, all from Inaki Laprida. The first half ended at a close 8-6. However, Klentner Ranch turned it on in the second half to pull away in score, ultimately coming out on top, 17-11.

The first afternoon game at 2 PM matched up Antelope and Farmers and Merchants Bank. Antelope held the lead after two chukkers, but remarkable play from Luqitas Criado pulled FMB ahead to finish the half. Good defense and strategic play dominated the second half with few goals, almost all of them off of penalty shots. After a hard-fought match, FMB took the win with a two goal margin, 11-9.

Wrapping up the day at 4 PM, Santa Clara and Lucchese battled it out on the US Polo Assn Stadium field. Santa Clara came out strong in the first and second chukkers with six total goals, Lucchese made it up by winning the third chukker three goals to none for Santa Clara. This made the score all tied up 6-6 at half-time. Lucchese used the fourth and fifth chukkers to gain a lead of one goal. Santa Clara pulled out all the stops in the final chukker, with equally impressive back to back goals from Nico Escobar to tie the game up. But it proved to be not quite enough as Jeff Hall scored the winning goal, ending the game 11-10 to Lucchese.

At the end of the day, BenSoleimani.com, Klentner Ranch, Lucchese, and Farmers and Merchants Bank continued on in the Pacific Coast Open. Klentner Ranch will face Farmers and Merchant Bank on Friday in one of the semi-finals and Lucchese will take on BenSoleimani.con in the second semi-final. The next press release will report the Pacific Coast Open Finals.

About Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club
Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club is the premier destination for summer polo. Players and Patrons from all across the globe call Santa Barbara their home for the summer, bringing world class polo to the Southern California coast. We welcome spectators back to our club to enjoy the matches in 2021. Please visit the “Spectator Information” page for more information.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit our website, www.sbpolo.com.

Photos: ©David Lominska

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SANTA BARBARA, CA. (August 22nd, 2021) – The past Sunday, Pacific Coast Open narrowed the six teams down to just four to go through to the semi-finals to be held…

North America, Polo News

2021 USPA Intra-Circuit finals

23. June 2021

SANTA BARBARA, CA. (June 20th, 2021) The 2021 USPA Intra-Circuit came to a thrilling close at the Santa Barbara Polo Club last weekend. The game took place in the US Polo Assn. Stadium with the first post-COVID crowd of spectators since Fall, 2019. To no surprise, the two teams came to the field ready, mounted with top-tier horses, and both putting in impressive effort to win. The BenSoleimani.com team donned their iconic Hulk jerseys to express their hero power polo.

Klentner Ranch displayed their own super powers by completely dominating the first two chukkers. Each member on the team had meaningful contributions to making the scoreboard 8-0 after only 15 minutes of polo play. Patrick Uretz produced two field goals and one penalty conversion. Jesse Bray had four goals, one being an impressive full-speed carry the length of the field on Indigo, his big black mare that has played the Intra-Circuit for the past seven years. Jake Klentner also put one up on the board and Justin Klentner displayed exactly how to play a game of exemplary defense.

The next four chukkers totally flipped with BenSoleimani.com shutting out Klentner Ranch. Again, each player contributed to the comeback in score. Remy Mueller headed this comeback with two field goals in the third chukker and another in the fourth. Inaki Laprida converted a crucial penalty two and took the ball by himself, weaving through players to score another. Ben Soleimani also drilled the ball through the posts in the fifth to put the score at 8-6 to Klentner Ranch going into the last chukker.

The sixth chukker flaunted quality polo with both teams still in the running. They battled out the final minutes of the game both playing their hardest. BenSoleimani.com was awarded multiple spot hits, but Klentner Ranch earned a critical penalty three which Patrick Uretz successfully converted, making the score 9-6 for Klentner Ranch. Bayne Bossom made a valiant effort to pull BenSoleimani.com back with a field goal, but with not quite enough time to win the game. The final score was 9-7 to Klentner Ranch.

Most Valuable Player went to Patrick Uretz for his consistent penalties, marking abilities, and powerful play. The Season MVP award went to Inaki Laprida for his impressive play during the entire two months of 12 goal polo. Ben Soleimani’s bay mare, “Mystery”, played by Remy Mueller was awarded Best Playing Pony. The award for Best String was given to Roberto Zedda’s barn of horses brought to Santa Barbara.

Dundas II won the subsidiary final of the Intra-Circuit 11-10 over Farmers and Merchants Bank. The Most Valuable Player award went to young player, Ryan Kerley, and the Best Playing Pony Award went to Geronimo Obregon’s chesnut mare, “Cambalache.”

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit our website, www.sbpolo.com.

Images: ©David Lominska

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SANTA BARBARA, CA. (June 20th, 2021) The 2021 USPA Intra-Circuit came to a thrilling close at the Santa Barbara Polo Club last weekend. The game took place in the US…

North America, Polo News

2021 USPA Intra-Circuit

16. June 2021

SANTA BARBARA, CA. (June 13th, 2021) The 2021 USPA Intra-Circuit saw another exciting week of polo with tensions and aspirations running high to secure a place in the semi-finals. Three games took place on Sunday, the 13th, each one-upping the next in their intensity of play.

Kicking off the day at 10 AM, Farmers and Merchants Bank took on Klentner Ranch. Tony Uretz substituted for patron Justin Klentner on Klentner Ranch.This game featured participation from all players on the field with everyone scoring at least two goals. The high-scoring game ended at 15-10 with Klentner Ranch finishing victorious.

The second match up at 2 PM was between Folded Hills/FMB Too! and Antelope. After three chukkers of play, the game was close at 6-5 to Antelope. Both teams had strong, tactical team strategies and played a remarkable game of defense with classic polo theory. This impressive exhibition of play resulted with only two goals scored the entire second half, but was astounding to watch nonetheless. However, Antelope came out on top with Grant Palmer passing the ball to Jim Wright to score the winning goal at the tail end of the sixth chukker. The final score was 7-6 to Antelope.

The 4 PM featured match in the US Polo Assn. Stadium hosted Dundas II and BenSoleimani.com. Dundas II started off strong with back to back goals to secure the lead and finish the half at 7-4. BenSoleimani.com turned it around in the last three chukkers by playing

strategically and with patience to climb back from the deficit and into the lead. At the end of the game, BenSoleimani.com was victorious 11-9.

Next week, two semi-finals will take place to determine the two teams for the finals. These exciting match-ups will be between Dundas and Klentner Ranch, then BenSoleimani.com and Antelope. The finals are sure to be thrilling and take place on the 20th of June.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit our website, www.sbpolo.com.

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