Opening the high season in South Florida, the anticipated fifth edition of the Gauntlet of Polo was officially underway at the National Polo Center – Wellington (NPC). Vying to be crowned champion of the prestigious C.V. Whitney Cup, Sunday’s doubleheader kicked off between Scone (sub. Cable Magness, Cody Ellis, David ‘Pelon’ Stirling, Poroto Cambiaso) and Pilot (Curtis Pilot, Lucas Escobar, Matias Torres Zavaleta, Facundo Pieres), followed by Dutta Corp/Show+ (Timmy Dutta, Joaquin Avendaño, Mariano ‘Nino’ Obregon, Tomas Garcia del Rio) and Tamera (Alejandro Poma, Segundo Saravi, Pedro ‘Pedrinho’ Zacharias, Diego Cavanagh).
Earning a spot in the 2022 C.V. Whitney Cup final, Scone faced stiff competition within in their bracket against current reigning USPA Gold Cup and U.S. Open Polo Championship victors, Pilot. Commanding an early lead from Cambiaso, seven goals from the 9-goaler, including four in the third chukker gave Scone an impressive 9-4 advantage at the half. Rebounding in the second half, a three-goal effort from Pilot’s captain Pieres in the fourth brought Pilot back within two. Bearing down on defense, Pilot managed to hold Scone to just two second half goals from Ellis and Cambiaso. Continuing to lead his team with two from the field and another two at the line, Pieres forced overtime where a final thrilling drive from the 10-goaler sealed the victory for Pilot 13-12.
Reconvening on Field 4, a contested first half saw offensive efforts from Dutta Corp/Show+’s Obregon and Garcia del Rio narrowly edged by a Tamera team effort that included three off the mallet of Cavanagh to give Tamera a 5-3 lead at the break. Kicking off the second half on Penalty 2 for Cavanagh, teammate Poma reached the scoreboard to become the fourth Tamera player to find the posts. Trailing by four to enter the final chukker, Dutta Corp/Show+ continued to lean heavily on Garcia del Rio who accounted for all but two of his teams’ goals, but the diversified scoring efforts of Tamera ultimately allowed them to hang onto the lead for the 10-7 win.
Upcoming Schedule:
Monday, February 13
La Elina vs Valiente at 11:00am ET
Two Trees vs Shack Attack at 3:00pm ET
Photo Credit: David Lominska