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Valiente Defeats Colorado, Plays Grand Champions In Sunday Founders Cup Final At Valiente; Audi Plays Flexjet Saturday At Santa Rita
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WELLINGTON, Fla., March 2, 2019---The stage is set for the battle of the unbeatens in the championship final of the World Polo League's Founders Cup Sunday afternoon at Valiente Polo Farm.
In one of the best games in the young history of the World Polo League, Valiente (Bob Jornayvaz, 2, Agustin Nero, 6, Santi Torres, 6, Adolfo Cambiaso, 10) defeated Colorado (Rob Jornayvaz, 2, Juan Martin Zubia, 7, Diego Cavanagh, 9, Jero del Carill, 7), 10-7, in the semifinals Friday in front of a packed house at Grand Champions Polo Club.
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Agustin Nero of Valiente follows his hit with Diego Cavanagh of Colorado defending.
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Valiente, overtime winners of the season-opening All-Star Challenge Draw Tournament with Nero, Torres, Pablo MacDonough and Poroto Cambiaso, will try to make it two in a row when they face Grand Champions in the final at 4 p.m. Both teams are undefeated at 3-0.
The subsidiary Powerhorse Cup featuring Scone and Colorado is 1 p.m. also at Valiente.
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Jero del Carill of Colorado out of the saddle battling for the ball with Adolfo Cambiaso of Valiente.
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Grand Champions (Grant Ganzi, 3, Juancito Bollini, 4, Rodrigo Andrade, 9, Juan Martin Nero, 10) won its Tuesday semifinal with a 12-9 victory over Scone (David Paradise/Santino Zedda, 0, Guillermo Terrera, 8, Alejandro Taranco, 8, Pelon Stirling, 10). It will be the first 26-goal career final for Ganzi and Bollini.
On Saturday, one World Polo League game is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Santa Rita Polo Farm between Audi (Marc Ganzi, 2, Nic Roldan, 8, Kris Kampsen, 6, Pablo MacDonough, 10) and Flexjet (Melissa Ganzi, A, Alfredo Bigatti, 8, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, 8, Pablo Spinacci, 6). Both teams are looking for their first tournament win.
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Juan Martin Zubia of Colorado hits downfield with Adolfo Cambiaso of Valiente stride for stride.
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In a hardfought, fast and furious semifinal battle, neither Valiente or Colorado would give each other an inch in the first five chukkers.
Valiente opened with a 2-0 advantage on handicap but the lead was shortlived with Colorado reeling them in for a first-chukker 3-2 advantage.
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Santi Torres of Valiente reaches for the ball with Jero del Carill of Colorado defending.
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Valiente outscored Colorado, 2-1, with goals from Torres and Nero to end the second chukker tied, 4-4. The swarming defensive attack from both sides ended up with a 0-0 third chukker.
The second half was just as exciting with the teams tying 5-5 after four and 7-7 after five. It all came down to the sixth chukker when Valiente came up with an offensive attack behind Torres' two goals and Nero, who was relentless on both ends of the field, to outscore Colorado, 3-0, to clinch the win.
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Adolfo Cambiaso of Valiente reaches to hook Jero Del Carril of Colorado.
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For Bob Jornayvaz, who played against his son, it will be his first final in his WPL tournament debut.
"It was a highly-defensive game, everyone played well, just incredible back shots and horsepower," Jornayvaz said. "It was always a race to get there first and hit another back shot. It was good, wide open polo.
"Both teams missed several easy goals," Jornayvaz said. "I thought it easily could have been three or four goals higher on each side. I think everyone had missed shots at goal. It was just a great wide open game and that's what I am most proud of. It was fun to play against them, they make you work. Those guys played really well and clicking like crazy. It was fun polo."
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Bob Jornayvaz of Valiente goes to hook Diego Cavanagh of Colorado.
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Cambiaso, with more moves than LeBron James, turned in his finest performance of the WPL season with his uncanny anticipation and sense of where the ball was every time it was hit.
"I told you it was going to be a war," Cambiaso said. "We were a bit lucky on a couple of plays, we got a couple of fouls and I scored the last two penalties that were important. Agustin and Santi played a hell of a game. Santi was the MVP.
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Adolfo Cambiaso of Valiente leans out of his saddle to work the near side shot with Diego Cavanagh of Colorado defending.
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"It was fun," Cambiaso said. "When you are out there it is fun, those are the games you want to play. They played amazing, too. I am happy for Bob, that he is back and in the final."
Cambiaso and Torres each had three goals and Nero added two goals. Rob Jornayvaz, Zubia and del Carill each had two goals and Cavanagh had one.
"It was a tight, very tough game," Nero said. "The field was good despite all the rain that came down. This was one of the best games I have been in. It was very intense."
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Agustin Nero of Valiente puts his body into riding off Juan Martin Zubia of Colorado.
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Torres, in the midst of his finest high goal season, will be going after his third title of the winter season after winning the 20-goal Sterling Cup with Colorado and WPL opener with Valiente, both J5 Equestrian teams.
"We tried, that is a hell of a team," Torres said. "I don't know what happened. Luckily, we were able to come out with the win. It was anybody's game. Every play was the game, every play you had to try and win it. If not, then win the next one because they went hard on every play. It was one of the toughest games I've been in for sure."
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Juan Martin Zubia of Colorado reaches to hook Santi Torres of Valiente.
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In the early sun-drenched Friday game, Alegria (Freddie Mannix, 8, Jesse Bray, 6, Mariano Obregon, 6, Juan Martin Obregon, 5) won its first World Polo League game with a 14-11 victory over Black Watch (Juan Cruz Merlos, 5, Nacho Figueras, 6, Pite Merlos, 8, Tommy Biddle, 5).
Alegria had lost its first two games to Valiente and Colorado.
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Tommy Biddle of Black Watch and Freddie Mannix of Alegria battle for the throw-in.
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"We played well today," Mannix said. "We have good energy on the team and everyone is getting along. We are trying our best out there."
Black Watch jumped out to a 5-2 lead early in the opening chukker before Alegria started to reel them in for a 6-6 tie at the end of the second chukker on Bray's nice goal run.
After six lead changes, Alegria took the lead for good at the end of the fifth chukker on Juan Martin Obregon's goal with 1:25 left for an 11-10 advantage. Juan Martin Obregon extended the lead, 12-10 on a 30-yard penalty conversion. Bray's lofted goal shot run off the throw-in and Juan Martin Obregon's last-second goal iced the win.
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Freddie Mannix of Alegria drives the ball downfield with Juan Cruz Merlos of Black Watch defending.
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Alegria was able to bounce back despite its first two losses in its WPL tournament debut.
"You have to be realistic," Mannix said. "Valiente is the New England Patriots of polo right now. They have the wizard Adolfo and Bob's support. They are always going to be tough to beat at any level whether it's 8-goal or 26-goal. Any time you play against Valiente, watch out, because they are going to be organized.
"We took it all in stride," Mannix said. "Nobody likes to lose. It's not like Alegria is fooling around. We watched a lot of videos, been training in the gym and been riding. I think that showed up today. Our first win in the World Polo League is in the books."
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Freddie Mannix of Alegria works the ball out of the air with Nacho Figueras of Black Watch defending.
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For Alegria, Bray and Mariano Obregon each had five goals. Juan Martin Obregon and Mannix each had two goals.
"I'm very happy that we won," Bray said. "It means a lot to get your first win and get everything moving. The two teams that played the final were our first two games but it was good for us to set us to reality and show us how far away we were. I think we improved a little bit every game and today we finally got a win."
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Juan Martin Obregon of Alegria hits a neck shot downfield.
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Biddle led Black Watch with a game-high six goals, all on penalty conversions. Juan Cruz Merlos had two goals and Pite Merlos added one goal.
The WPL is being live streamed on ESPN Deportes and ChukkerTV/Horseplay with Gus Whitelaw calling the action. For more information go to
www.worldpolo.org
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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.
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Father and son Pite and Juan Cruz Merlos of Black Watch work together to move the ball downfield.
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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 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.
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Jesse Bray of Alegria on his way to scoring one of his five goals.
Photos by Ramon Casares
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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.
Grand Champions and Valiente are also launching the U.S. National Mixed Doubles Championship, featuring two men and two women with combined handicaps, in March.
In addition to the World Polo League, season highlights for 2019 at Grand Champions are the Sterling Cup, March 1-31 $50,000 National 12-Goal Tournament, March 1-16 John T. Oxley Memorial and March 3-24 $100,000 World Cup Tournament, a unique 0-40-goal, winner-take-all single-elimination tournament and WCT Final.
Grand Champions and Santa Rita Polo Farm is the largest and most unique polo facility in Wellington with 120 stalls in five self-contained barns, exercise track, five climate-controlled tack rooms, vet room, staff quarters, guest house and three polo fields with state-of-the-art underground irrigation including one field for stick-and-ball with plans to build more polo fields in the future.
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2019 WORLD POLO LEAGUE SCHEDULE
FEBRUARY
Feb. 20-March 3, Founders Cup
Sunday, March 3:
1 p.m.. Powerhorse Cup Subsidiary Scone vs Colorado at Valiente Polo Farm
4 p.m. The Founders Cup Final Valiente vs Grand Champions at Valiente Polo Farm
MARCH
March 6-24, Palm Beach Open
March 27-April 14, Triple Crown of Polo
Games at Grand Champions Polo Club, Valiente Polo Farm and other local fields.
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Chukker TV is live streaming the entire World Polo League season with film material content provided by Polo Channel. ChukkerTV, featuring cutting-edge technology, was the first to introduce state-of-the-art live streaming technology and instant replay in January, 2014 at Grand Champions Polo Club. For advertising opportunities please contact Mike Ferreira at
mike@chukkertv.com
or Rob Jornayvaz at Polo Channel at
rob@horseplay.tv
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"The Voice of Polo"
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ESPN West Palm (106.3FM) and ESPN Deportes (760AM) signed an exclusive contract with the World Polo League and will target the West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami markets with various broadcasts, commercials and exposure on radio, ESPN.com, ESPN app and social media platforms to promote the exciting new 26-goal league. With nearly two decades of sustained success in sports and entertainment broadcasting, Josh Cohen is among the most influential, respected and popular on-air personalities and live event hosts in South Florida. Julian Zaldivar has been a part of ESPN West Palm team and ESPN Deportes760AM manager since its inception. He is the host of Comunidad ESPN Monday through Friday that features all-sports talk and interviews with the Latino community leaders from the local Hispanic market.
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Josh Cohen
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Julian Zaldivar
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GRAND CHAMPIONS POLO CLUB
WHERE: 13444 Southfields Road, on the corner of South Shore Boulevard and Lake Worth Road, Wellington, 33414.
INFORMATION: For spectators, there are great field side views for tournament action and also the Grand Champions Polo Club Boutique. The club is home base for pro teams Audi and Flexjet. Everyone is welcome to watch every level of polo in a relaxed atmosphere with food and refreshments during the featured games of the winter, spring and fall tournament seasons and other special events. Admission is free except for some special events.
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