In front of a large crowd at Santa Rita Polo Farm, Mayer Ranch won the Polo Training Foundation’s Tackeria Cup on President’s Day.
By Sharon Robb
Photos by Candace Ferreira
Mayer Ranch (Valentina Villamil, Benjamin Obregon, Sacha Musy and Milo MacDonough won with wins over The Tackeria (PJ DeAngelis, Sailor Schwaber, Joseph Schwartz, Greg Shepard) and GJ Racing (Max Scott Barnes, Cruz Bilbao, Amelia Massey, Harrison Reicher).
Obregon scored three goals and was named Most Valuable Player. PJ DeAngelis earned the Sportsmanship Award and Harrison Reicher’s first chukker horse Angela was Best Playing Pony.
The Polo School (Bennett Hasser, Jayda Link, Santos Valent, Celestino Merlos) won the 44th Avendano Memorial. The Polo School defeated Grand Champions and CTV Sports in the preliminary rounds, Santa Rita in the semifinals and The Tackeria in the final.
Celestino Merlos led scoring with five goals and was selected Most Valuable Player. Benjamin de la Fuente won the Sportsmanship Award. Alejandro Ontiveros’ final chukker mare, Wallet, was Best Playing Pony.
Other award recipients were:
Avendano Division II play, Alex Photo (Fred Mannix, Isabella Oluyole, Hilario Ontiveros, Felipe Saracco) defeated Red Barn and Mayer Ranch. Mannix earned the MVP award after scoring four goals. Benjamin Toccalino won the Sportsmanship Award. Candy Girl, played by Sophie Ferreira, was Best Playing Pony.
Avendano Division III, Walk/Trot/Canter: Casablanca defeated Husk. Antonio Dorignac of Casablanca was Most Valuable Player after scoring four goals. Milo Vilche earned the Sportsmanship Award. Felipe Teves’ horse Frijol was Best Playing Pony.
Avendano Division IV, Walk, Trot: CTV Sports defeated Rich Properties. Silvestre Gomez Romero scored three goals and was named MVP. Elijah Uys’ horse Boina was Best Playing Pony.
The well-organized, day-long tournaments under the direction of PTF Executive Director Jennifer McLeavy, attracted more than 100 players.
A large number of spectators, including families and polo enthusiasts, gathered at Santa Rita to watch the showcase of talent and to enjoy the fun and asado provided by Grand Champions Polo Club.
There were fun matches including the Avendano V lead line that attracted a record 17 leadline players. The atmosphere was lively and encouraging. The crowd was a showcase of talent as well with dozens of pro players in their parent’s role including Facundo Pieres, Juan Martin Nero, Pablo MacDonough, Fred Mannix, Tincho Merlos, Kris Kampsen, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, Jesse Bray, Nic Roldan and Tomacho Pieres.
The PTF is celebrating its 58th anniversary this year. The nation’s oldest and most successful junior youth program has been instrumental in the growth of junior and youth polo players. The PTF encourages the sport‘s development with training programs, lessons and tournaments for boys and girls.
Grand Champions Polo Club President and PTF Chairman Melissa Ganzi is a longtime supporter of grass roots polo. Several of the PTF events are hosted at Santa Rita Polo Farm.
The PTF was created in 1967 by Palm Beach Polo and Country Club founder and former 7-goal amateur Bill Ylvisaker to teach polo to youth by promoting youth clinics, interscholastic and intercollegiate competition.
The PTF offers much more than just an introduction to polo. These young athletes are learning valuable life lessons, from teamwork and sportsmanship to the responsibility of taking care of the horses, all key aspects that contribute to their development both as players and individuals.
The Polo Training Foundation is a 501(C) 3 organization and relies on tax deductible donations for financial support. The PTF has an annual budget of $600,000 of which $400,000 is funded yearly by tax-deductible donations. For more information go to www.polotraining.org. Other Florida events are the: March 3 Major Collin Memorial; March 24 Buzz Welker & Sunset Polo Cup and April 19 Jimmer Newman Memorial. The season-opening Johnston Cup & Blanco TX Cup were postponed because of rain.
For those interested in participating in upcoming events, there is a Florida Junior Polo Registration Form available on the website or contact McLeavy at JMcLeavy@polotraining.org.
During the winter polo season, Grand Champions Polo Club, the nation’s largest and most innovative USPA-sanctioned polo club cradled in the heart of the world’s winter equestrian capital, hosts a wide range of tournaments: 6, 8, 12, 20, and 26-goal leagues, 26-goal World Polo League, The Polo School Women’s Weekly Polo League, WCT Finals, several Polo Training Foundation junior tournaments, World Polo League Pride and Sunset Chukkers & Cocktails at both Grand Champions and Santa Rita Polo Farm.
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 10 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, now located at the former Pony Express facility, operates in Wellington January through May and September through November. The stand-alone USPA-sanctioned polo club is dedicated to teaching polo to all ages, particularly grass roots youth. The Polo School has nurtured several junior, men and women polo players now playing in the pro and amateur ranks since its inception.
For more information on leagues or Polo School contact Juan Bollini at 561-346-1099 or Cale Newman at 561-876-2930.