World Polo League

North America, Polo News

Colorado captures Triple Crown in World Polo League

15. April 2019

In a wet, wild finish Colorado held off Audi for a thrilling 9-8 victory to capture the World Polo League’s Triple Crown of Polo Sunday at rain-soaked Grand Champions Polo Club.

After two rain delays in the two hour, 20-minute season finale, Colorado joins Valiente, Grand Champions and SD Farms among the inaugural 26-goal league’s tournament champions. Colorado (Rob Jornayvaz, 2, Juan Martin Zubia, 7, Jero Del Carril, 7, Adolfo Cambiaso, 10) finished the eight-team tournament undefeated at 5-0 and won $90,000 in prize money. Audi (Marc Ganzi, 2, Nic Roldan, 8, Pablo MacDonough, 10, Kris Kampsen, 6) dropped to 4-1. Both teams were making their second tournament final appearance.

Cambiaso, a field general for his three young teammates including 19-year-old Zubia, was the game and tournament Most Valuable Player. His horse, Gaita, was Grand Champions Best Playing Pony. Ganzi was awarded the Catena Play of the Day. “This was a great way to end the season,” Cambiaso said. “It’s always nice to win. I think we deserved to win.”

The start of the game was delayed 40 minutes and again with 3:51 left in the game because of heavy rain. “It was a super tough game,” Jornayvaz said. “We weren’t sure at the beginning if we were even going to be able to play. It was a battle from the beginning. It’s always awesome to have Adolfo on your team because he is always good in those clutch moments.”

With Colorado leading 9-3 at the start of the fifth chukker, Audi caught on fire, found its system and controlled the momentum in the rain. Audi rallied to score five unanswered goals in the fifth and sixth chukkers but came up short. “We thought it was all over,” said World Polo League guest commentator Pelon Stirling after Audi’s remarkable comeback.

“You want drama, you got it,” added play-by-play announcer Gus Whitelaw. “To ask for better polo than this would be greedy. The crowd is sticking around for this one, rain and all.” Heavy rain forced another delay at 3:51. Juan Olivera of Grand Champions, Robertito Zedda of Valiente and WCT Commissioner Dale Smicklas walked the entire field to make sure it was still playable and safe. The field held up well thanks to the tireless work of the Grand Champions field crew throughout the season.

Rodiseo, played by MacDonough, was named American Polo Horse Association Best Playing Pony of the game. Pizza, also played by MacDonough, was the American Polo Horse Association Best Playing Pony of the tournament.

Colorado players names will now be inscribed on the trophy and added to an impressive list of teams that feature several top players including Sebastian Merlos, Mike Azzaro, Tommy Biddle, Adam Snow, Nic Roldan, Matias Magrini, Jeff Hall, Mariano Gonzalez, Michel Dorignac and Kris Kampsen.

Co-founded by Grand Champions owners Melissa and Marc Ganzi and Valiente Polo Farm owner Bob Jornayvaz, the successful World Polo League is the only 26-goal polo in the world outside of Argentina. The WPL is preserving the highest level of polo and its rich, hallowed tradition in the U.S.

By Sharon Robb

www.gcpolo.com

In a wet, wild finish Colorado held off Audi for a thrilling 9-8 victory to capture the World Polo League’s Triple Crown of Polo Sunday at rain-soaked Grand Champions Polo…

North America, Polo News

World Polo League: Grand Champions capture Founders Cup

4. March 2019

In one of polo’s biggest upsets, Grand Champions knocked off Valiente, 12-11, in overtime to win the World Polo League Founders Cup Sunday at Valiente Polo Farm. – By Sharon Robb

In front of an overflow crowd, Argentine 10-goaler Juan Martin Nero scored the winning goal in the first two minutes of overtime to upset previously unbeaten Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, 2, Agustin Nero, 6, Santi Torres, 6, Adolfo Cambiaso, 10).Playing together for the first time in the WPL’s second tournament of the season, Grand Champions finished the eight-team, 26-goal tournament undefeated at 4-0. Nero and teammates Rodrigo Andrade, 9, Grant Ganzi, 3, and Juancito Bollini, 4, earned $60,000 in prize money.

“I don’t know what happened, they say that we won,” joked Nero, named the Tournament Most Valuable Player. Nero also earned the Catena Watch Play of the Day for his game-winner. Andrade was selected Tato’s Game MVP. “I saw Grant was with Adolfito, I was open and went for it. I said to myself ‘I can’t miss this goal.’ I was completely alone. I was lucky to get it. This is huge for us. This is the first tournament we played together and we won. The game was really, good, it was open. We had a lot of fun.”

The stunning victory marked a successful 26-goal final debut of longtime friends and teammates Grant Ganzi, 20, and Juancito Bollini, 22. “I am at a loss for words, I can’t describe it, this is insane,” Ganzi said. “This is a huge upset. The last time Adolfo lost at this level other than last year’s U.S. Open final was a long time ago. It’s tough to beat these guys. Congrats to them, they have been playing unbelievable polo.

About World Polo League:

Co-founded by Grand Champions owners Melissa and Marc Ganzi and Valiente Polo Farm owner Bob Jornayvaz, the World Polo League is the only 26-goal polo in the world outside of Argentina. The WPL is preserving the highest level of polo and its rich, hallowed tradition in the U.S. The WPL has its own set of simpler fan-friendly rules to improve the flow and action of the game.

The WPL, with 14 tournament-quality fields to play on, includes the Feb. 19-March 3 Founders Cup, March 6-24 Palm Beach Open which gets under way on Wednesday with two games including the debut of SD Farms, and March 27-April 14 Triple Crown of Polo.

The World Polo League is open to other teams that wish to compete in one or more of the tournaments. Games are offered on the flat (Open) and on Handicap. The World Polo League has attracted a large international field of players from all corners of the world including Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Nigeria, Uruguay and U.S.

www.gcpolo.com

In one of polo’s biggest upsets, Grand Champions knocked off Valiente, 12-11, in overtime to win the World Polo League Founders Cup Sunday at Valiente Polo Farm. – By Sharon Robb…

North America, Polo News

Valiente wins inaugural World Polo League All Star Challenge

20. February 2019

Valiente makes history with overtime thriller and captures the World Polo League’s first tournament. Pablo MacDonough was awarded Most Valuable Player. By Sharon Robb.

On a historic day of firsts at Grand Champions Polo Club, Valiente came up big.Valiente (Agustin Nero, 6, Santi Torres, 6, Pablo MacDonough, 10, Poroto Cambiaso, 3) made history with a thrilling 10-9 overtime victory over Colorado (Rob Jornayvaz, 2, Juan Martin Zubia, 7, Rodrigo Andrade, 9, Jero del Carril, 7) Sunday in the championship final of the inaugural World Polo League All Star Challenge Draw Tournament.

With 6:34 left in overtime, Argentine 10-goaler Pablo MacDonough converted a 60-yard penalty shot to clinch the win in front of a record crowd and worldwide livestream audience. MacDonough finished with eight goals all on penalty conversions and was named Most Valuable Player for the final.

“I have never had eight penalty goals in one game, that is the first time in my life I scored so many penalties in one game,” MacDonough said. “It was good, especially the last one. I just wanted to hit the ball well and if you hit the ball well you have a chance to score. I just concentrated on putting the ball up in the air and that was it. Then you need a little bit of luck and it was on my side. “This couldn’t be any better, to win the first World Polo League tournament,” MacDonough said. “I am very happy to be part of this league. This is something good for polo here in America. I am glad to be here this season and hopefully this league is here to stay.”

Poroto Cambiaso, 13, the son of polo great Adolfo Cambiaso and youngest player in the eight-team tournament, was selected Most Valuable Player for the tournament and presented a Catena Watch by Bill Kraft, Catena USA CEO and President. It was Cambiaso’s first 26-goal tournament win in his U.S. 26-goal debut. Cambiaso scored two goals in the final and matched up well against players twice his age. “This is the first time in my life I play with Poroto,” MacDonough said. “It’s unbelievable how he understands the game. He is the future of polo.”

Valiente finished the tournament unbeaten at 3-0 and Colorado finished 3-1. Both teams are owned by Wellington-based J5 Equestrian. “Valiente is an amazing organization,” MacDonough said. “I am glad to be part of one team and I am glad to be here.” With his attacking, aggressive style of play, Torres played an integral role in the game. “That whole game was tough, every second of it,” said the 25-year-old Torres. “That team was unbelievable. I was lucky Pablo made that shot. I screwed up on the play that made us go into overtime, luckily he made that.”

After Torres fouled Andrade on a potential goal run, Jero del Carril converted a 30-yard penalty with 12 seconds left to send the game into overtime. Del Carril finished with four goals to lead Colorado’s scoring. Jornayvaz and Zubia each had two goals and Andrade added one. “The game was amazing,” said Torres, who also won the 20-goal Sterling Cup last weekend with Colorado teammates Nick Johnson, Diego Cavanagh and Jornayvaz. “That team was unbelievable. We played tough and tried to keep our man, but they are an awesome team. The whole game was tough.

AHPA Best Playing Pony of the tournament was Mini Watt played by Torres. Mini Watt was also the APHA Best Playing Pony for the championship final in the 2017 $100,000 World Cup won by Torres’ team Palm Beach Illustrated.

FEBRUARY

Feb. 20-March 3, Founders Cup