Polo Players' Edition is the official publication of the U.S. Polo Association. Dedicated to the sport of polo, it features player profiles, game strategy, horse care, playing tips, polo club news and tournament results.
Issue link: https://polo.epubxp.com/i/31965
FULL MOON SAM MORTON TIS’ THE SEASON Trailers roll into town, teams shuffle and horses are sold T hey roll down I-95 towards South Florida in $200,000 rigs or $750 steel trailers held together by duct tape or bailer twine. Some land in horse transporters at Miami International Airport from all over the globe. The best horses in polo arrive in Wellington, Florida and the surrounding area sometime between early November and Christmas. Following the herd of Thoroughbreds south will be every horse shoer, trainer, groom, equine dentist and veterinarian, holding on like big ticks, and hoping they stay fat. In all, close to 3,000 of polo’s top horses will arrive for the winter from Europe, South America, Canada and all over the United States, including Wyoming, South Carolina, and California. The horses are body clipped and shod, their teeth are floated, and they are put through conditioning rides and practice games to prepare for the January leagues. All the high-roller patrons jet into Palm Beach International for the winter to enjoy the competition, bask in the Florida sun and appease their wives with shopping sprees on Worth Avenue. The first practice games historically start around Pearl Harbor Day. The pros tend to show up as close to their first game as their patrons will allow. Better late than never. Wellington does not have the level of polo that is in Argentina, but, what International Polo Club has that brings every top pro in the world knocking on the door is money. Most high-goal foreign players finance their entire polo operations at home with the income they earn in the winter playing at IPC. The top 10-goal players earn in excess of $1 million plus expenses in the winter. They come to Florida because that is where the 14 POLO PLAYERS EDITION patrons are. The patrons are there because it is where their wives allow them to play in the winter. At press time there were 11 teams planning on entering the 26-goal this winter. I don’t know how anyone can dispute Adolfo Cambiaso with Crab Orchard being this year’s favorite to win the U.S. Open. He is last year’s defending champ, and has won a total five of U.S. Opens. Not since Hernando De Soto has a Spanish-speaking person marched through Florida with such authority. Cambiaso probably would have won more U.S. Opens if it had not been for the fact that he was under contract with the Jedi Team for three years, during which it did not enter the tournament. Along with Crab Orchard, this year’s U.S. Open tournament features three other teams that are captained by former U.S. Open winners: Gillian Johnston’s Bendabout; Marc Ganzi’s Audi; and Camilla Bautista’s Las Monjitas. In addition, Steve Van Andel’s Orchard Hill team made the final three times in the past 10 years. It will keep the same line-up as last year, led by Lucas Criado, Pablo Mac Donough and Hector Galindo, giving it a huge advantage, everything else considered. Fred Mannix is planning on fielding a team with his brother, Julian, and Mariano Gonzales, and Mariano Aguerre who brought home an Open win for White Birch in 2005. The Astrada brothers are split between the Valiente and Las Monjitas teams. Lyndon Lea’s Zacara team has apparently hired Sebastian Merlos and Facundo Pieres, which, if they mesh as a team, could win it all. Julio Arellano leads Bendabout with Magoo Laprida and Sugar Erskine. Lechuza Caracas features 10-goal Juan Martin Nero and 9-goal Sapo Caset; Marc Ganzi’s Audi team will be led by Gonzalito Pieres; Melissa Ganzi’s team will have Lolo Castagnola and Nachi Heguy; and Pony Express will be led by Bautista Heguy. The 20-goal leagues, preceding the 26- goal leagues, feature at least 10 teams this year. It will mark the return of 16-time U.S. Open winner Memo Gracida to the high-goal polo action at International Polo Club after a three-year absence. As for the medium goal, it is a buyer’s market as several clubs are vying for a finite number of patrons. IPC, Gulfstream, Palm Beach Polo, Port Mayaca, Outback at Hobe Sound, and Joey Casey’s Palm City Polo Club on Jog Road (known in popular circles as Jog n’ Joeys), offer a variety of leagues including 4-, 8-, 12-, and up to 14-goal polo. Down at Palm City, formerly known as Royal Palm or Boca, Casey proves that you don’t have to be from New York to enjoy yourself in Boca. At Outback at Hobe Sound, in addition to the low- and medium-goal leagues, they have instilled something called the Kangaroo League. It includes white pants, announcers, flaggers and an umpire for practice chukkers. The crowd, made up of a large, local retired population, might just rival IPC for size. Last year over 200 players traveled to Hobe Sound to play polo. Gulfstream, celebrating its 88th year as a polo club, has several teams committed including Cathy Brown’s Wildwood, Marty Cregg’s Skaneatelas, and Phillip MacTaggart’s Hawk Hill. The big news with horse flesh this year is the cloning of the top polo horses like
