Audi, Colorado, Scone Win World Polo League Games; Patagones Plays Valiente Friday In Battle Of Unbeatens

November 30
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WELLINGTON, Fla., February 15, 2019---On a perfect day for polo in front of good crowds, Audi and Scone led for most of their games while Colorado remained unbeaten after a thrilling finish Thursday in World Polo League play.

By Sharon Robb

Juan Martin Zubia of Colorado hooks Gussie Busch of Flexjet.

In the first game of the All Star Challenge Draw Tournament tripleheader Thursday morning at Grand Champions Polo Club, Scone (David Paradice, 0, Guillermo Terrera, 8, Alejandro Taranco, 8, Juan Martin Nero, 10) defeated Grand Champions (Grant Ganzi, 3, Alfredo Bigatti, 8, Juancito Bollini, 4, Adolfo Cambiaso, 10), 14-10.

Colorado (Rob Jornayvaz, 2, Juan Martin Zubia, 7, Rodrigo Andrade, 9, Jero Del Carril, 7) remained undefeated (3-0) with a thrilling come-from-behind 10-9 victory over Flexjet (Gussie Busch, 1, Pablo Spinacci, 6, Diego Cavanagh, 9, Alejandro Novillo Astrada, 8) at Santa Rita Polo Farm West (Buenos Aires Field).

Jero del Carril of Colorado balances the ball with defender Pablo Spinacci of Flexjet on his hip.

In the final game of the day, Audi (Marc Ganzi, 2, Nic Roldan, 8, Pelon Stirling, 10, Kris Kampsen, 6) broke open a close game in the sixth chukker to hold off upset-minded Cria Yatay (Juan Cruz Merlos, 5, Nacho Figueras, 6, Pite Merlos, 8, Tommy Biddle, 5), 14-9, to win its first World Polo League game at Santa Rita Polo Farm East (Aspen Field).

Tommy Biddle of Cria Yatay defends Nic Roldan of Audi as he hits a back shot.

On Friday at 4 p.m., Valiente (Agustin Nero, 6, Santi Torres, 6, Pablo MacDonough, 10, Poroto Cambiaso, 3) will host Patagones (Santi Wulff, 5, Santiago Toccalino, 8, Tomas Garcia del Rio, 8, Gonzalo Avendano, 2) in a battle of unbeatens in the semifinal to determine Colorado's opponent in Sunday's championshipl.

Scone won its second game of the tournament with an impressive win over Grand Champions. Scone has now defeated Flexjet, 11-9, and lost to Colorado, 11-9.

Juan Martin Zubia of Colorado hooks Pablo Spinacci of Flexjet in mid-hit.

Grand Champions jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the opening chukker but fell behind quickly in the second with Scone outscoring them, 4-0, for a 6-4 advantage. Scone led the rest of the game, 8-6, 10-7 and 13-8.

Rob Jornayvaz of Colorado works the ball away from Diego Cavanagh of Flexjet.

For Scone, Terrera scored a game-high eight goals. Nero and Taranco each had three goals. Bigatti led Flexjet with four goals. Ganzi had two. Bollini and Cambiaso each had one goal.

Flexjet, looking to win its first game, was leading until the final two minutes when Colorado rallied for five goals in the final chukker after going scoreless in the fifth to win its third game of the tournament.

Juan Martin Zubia of Colorado hits a back shot past defender Gussie Busch of Flexjet.

With Flexjet leading, 9-8, Zubia scored the tying goal with 1:49 remaining. With less than a minute, Andrade won the throw-in to set up Zubia's long pass to Jornayvaz who scored with 34 seconds left to win the game.

"I don't think you can plan that," Jornayvaz said with a smile.

With their backs against the wall for most of the game, Colorado was able to fine tune before Sunday's final.

Rodrigo Andrade of Colorado works the ball out of the air with Diego Cavanagh of Flexjet defending.

"We came out a little bit relaxed today," Jornayvaz said. "We are in the finals already so you don't want to push any horse because there is no point in pushing a horse in this game.

"It was one of those games where it's sort of tough and you want to play but you can't really play," Jornayvaz said. "I think we did okay. It's nice to go into the final undefeated. We need to prep the horses and make sure they are ready and we'll be good to go. I'm excited to play with these guys."

Rob Jornayvaz of Colorado takes out Diego Cavanagh of Flexjet to allow teammate Juan Martin Zubia to hit away.

Del Carril led Colorado with four goals. Zubia scored three goals, Jornayvaz added two and Andrade had one.

Spinacci led Flexjet with four goals, Cavanagh had two goals and Astrada added one goal. Gussie Busch, the son of polo player Billy Busch, 1991 U.S. Open winner with Grant's Farm Manor teammates Andy Busch, Mike Azzaro and Carlos Gracida, filled in for starter Melissa Ganzi in the lineup, and played well.

Pablo Spinacci of Flexjet goes to hook Rodrigo Andrade of Colorado.

In the third and final game of the action-packed day, Audi won its first game in league play after struggling in the fourth and fifth chukkers.

Big-hitting Tommy Biddle rallied Cria Yatay in the second half after falling behind, 10-5, midway through the third chukker. After getting shut out in the fourth chukker, Audi found its offensive attack in the final chukker with two goals from Roldan and two goal from Kampsen, coming off the Ylvisaker Cup title with Dutta Corp.

Marc Ganzi of Audi on his way to scoring one of his four goals.

Roldan led Audi with a game-high seven goals. Ganzi had four goals and Kampsen added three goals. Biddle scored five goals, all on penalty conversions and Juan Cruz Merlos added one goal. Cria Yatay started with a 3-0 advantage on handicap.

Eight teams are competing in bracket play with the final set for Feb. 17 at Grand Champions Polo Club at 4 p.m.

Pelon Stirling of Audi hits the ball out of the air with Tommy Biddle of Cria Yatay defending.

Scone, Grand Champions, Colorado and Flexjet are in Bracket A and Audi, Valiente, Cria Yatay and Patagones are in Bracket B.

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 exciting new league, that will offer major prize money starting in the semifinals, is preserving the highest level of polo and its rich, hallowed tradition in the U.S.

Nacho Figueras of Cria Yatay reaches to hook Pelon Stirling of Audi.

The WPL has its own set of simpler fan-friendly rules, including no yellow cards, to improve the flow and action of the game.

The WPL, with 14 tournament-quality fields to play on, also includes the Feb. 20-March 3 Founders Cup, March 6-24 Palm Beach Open and March 27-April 14 Triple Crown of Polo.

The WPL game finals will be held Sundays on Field Two at Grand Champions at 4 p.m. and semifinal games at Valiente Polo Farm, Fields One and Two. Several games will also be held throughout the week at various times. Admission is free along with food and refreshments at the featured games.

Nacho Figueras of Cria Yatay is double teamed by Audi teammates Pelon Stirling and Kris Kampsen.

The World Polo League is open to other teams that wish to compete in one or more of the tournaments. Entries are still open and everyone is welcome to play. Games are offered on the flat (Open) and on Handicap.

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, 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.

Kris Kampsen of Audi working the ball away from Nacho Figueras of Cria Yatay.

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.

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.

2019 WORLD POLO LEAGUE SCHEDULE

Feb. 7-17,

All Star Challenge Draw Tournament

Friday 2/15:

4pm Valiente vs. Patagones

Final Sunday 2/17 4pm

at Grand Champions Polo Club

FEBRUARY
Feb. 20-March 3, Founders Cup

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.

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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Rob Jornayvaz at Polo Channel at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Watch Games Live

Jan-Eric Franck

"The Voice of Polo"

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 Beach 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.


Josh Cohen


	Julian Zaldivar

GRAND CHAMPIONS POLO CLUB

WHERE: 13444 Southfields Road, on the corner of South Shore Boulevard and Lake Worth Road, Wellington, 33414.

DIRECTOR OF POLO: Juan Olivera, 561-644-5050, juan.olivera @gcpolo.com; hotline 561-644-5050.

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.

STAY CONNECTED:

Grand Champions Polo Club, 13444 Southfields Road, Wellington, FL 33414

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