After a delay because of weather, the much-anticipated fall season got underway at Santa Rita Polo Farm Saturday with the Tackeria Invitational.
By Sharon Robb
Photos by Candace Ferreira
Audi (Marc Ganzi, Martin Jauregui, Sugar Erskine, Dominic State), The Polo School (Phil Gutman, Pablo Dorignac, Pedro Gutierrez, Santos Bollini) and Travieso (Johnny Castillo, Leo Mandelbaum, Jason Crowder, Juan Bollini) opened play in a competitive nine-chukker round robin.
In opening round robin action, The Polo School defeated Travieso, 6-2; Audi topped Travieso, 4-1 and Audi edged The Polo School, 3-2.
The scores will carry over into Sunday’s championship final at 10 a.m. followed by an awards ceremony.
The Tackeria Invitational has a special place in club history as the inaugural tournament when the club first opened in 2007. The Tackeria was founded in 1975 by Tony Coppola.
In last year’s final, Aspen Valley (Govinda Quish, Jason Crowder, 5, Sugar Erskine, 6, Nic Roldan, 8) edged Casablanca (Santos Bollini, 2, Grant Ganzi, 3, Tomacho Pieres, 6, Martin Jauregui, 6), 10-9, to win the club’s oldest tournament. With four seconds left, Roldan scored the game-winner on an incredible lofted angle shot from the sideboards.
The nation’s largest and most innovative polo club, is celebrating its 18th anniversary with two new additions to the fall schedule: Nov. 14 WPL Pride Polo Miami and Nov. 15-17 Beach Polo World Cup Miami. It’s the first time the popular beach polo tournament and WPL Pride Polo are being held in the fall on South Beach.
The Beach Polo World Cup Miami Beach is the largest and most notable Beach Polo event in the world. It features international teams and over 120 horses.
Grand Champions will host both medium and high goal tournaments this season.
The family-friendly club welcomes spectators of all ages. All matches, food and refreshments are free (with the exception of special catered events) and open to the public and dogs on leashes.
Among the season’s other highlights are the Oct. 29-Nov. 6 USPA North American Cup and Nov. 4-13 USPA National 20-Goal Championship and Nov. 23 doubleheader featuring the Legends of Polo Carlos Gracida Memorial and International Cup.
In last year’s International Cup, Spain knocked off previously unbeaten GCPC USA to snap its 11-year win streak in front of a packed house at Santa Rita Polo Farm. Spain (Nicolas “Tuki” Ruiz Guinazu, 4, Luis Domecq, 3, Pelayo “Pela” Berazadi, 5, Nicolas Alvarez, 2) upset GCPC USA (Santos Bollini, 2, Juan Bollini, 3, Nic Roldan, 8, Louis Devaleix, 1), 6-5, in overtime.
GCPC USA, with various lineups, had won every International Cup since 2012, beating England, Chile, Mexico, South Africa, Uruguay, Brazil, Azerbaijan, France, Argentina twice and Switzerland in the annual battle for the coveted cup. But the talented Spain foursome had other ideas winning its third international tournament win in 13 months.
The fall medium goal schedule features six tournaments. The others are Oct. 15-20 Pedro Morrison Memorial; Oct. 22-27 Banyan Cup; Oct. 30-Nov. 3 Fall Plates; and Nov. 6-10 Casablanca Fall Cup.
The well-organized fall tournaments attract players from all over the world including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay, San Salvador, England, France, India, Mexico, Azerbaijan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, South Africa and United States.
The Grand Champions Fall Invitational League is geared toward improving a player’s polo skills at every level. Roster lineups change from tournament to tournament with evenly-matched teams featuring pro and amateur players. It’s also a great opportunity for players and sponsors to prepare for the winter season highlighted by the 26-goal World Polo League, now entering its seventh season at Grand Champions.
The fall league features: stick-and-ball sessions during the week; two medium tournament games every weekend; ambulance and USPA umpires for all tournament games; world-class polo fields; club-sponsored social events every weekend for all players; and top-of-the-line trophies for all teams every weekend.
Grand Champions and Santa Rita Polo Farm is the largest and most unique private 102-acre polo facility in Wellington with 212 stalls in nine self-contained barns, two tracks, five climate-controlled tack rooms, vet room, staff quarters, guest house and four polo fields with state-of-the-art underground irrigation and short work arena. The club has 11 well-manicured world-class fields at GCPC and Santa Rita.
Grand Champions Polo Club caters to men, women and youth polo players at all levels. Its’ expert staff can customize a complete playing experience including horses, pros and certified umpires in addition to lessons and practice sessions as part of its’ Polo On Demand program. The Polo School is for all ages and ability levels and operates in Wellington year-round.